Having this strong coupling sustained at a time of year where there is zero daylight, can allow the cold to intensify like we are seeing.
This is the anomaly for month so far and the 7 day forecast.
🔵 = colder than normal
🔴 = warmer than normal
A lot of people will have heard of the polar vortex.
The polar vortex in the southern hemisphere is much more powerful than the one we see in the north
It is a formidable beast at this time of year.
The main reasons for this intense cold:
- Strong positive Antarctic Oscillation (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic…)
- Having a strong and well coupled stratospheric vortex
- This combination being sustained for many days during the depths of the long winter night.
But there are uncertainties. Interesting points by @khaustein
Some places in Europe didn't just record their warmest February on record.... They went on to beat their warmest MARCH temperature levels.
[THREAD]
Effectively everywhere in the dark red shading smashed warmest February record - most by large margin. Austria 🇦🇹 has over 250 years of temperature record and nothing compares to this. Not even close.
BREAKING: Valencia 🇪🇸 has just scorched its previous heat record by a shocking +3.4°C
The new provisional record stands at 46.8°C (116.2°F). This is a huge record-break.
Before commenting.... please read the thread.
Historical record can be found here:
Simply select the variables you would like to check. This weather station has data since 1966. A lengthy period of observation to smash a record by such huge margin. https://t.co/JHyxNLmKZXaemet.es/es/servicioscl…
The final maximum to the decimal point may still change in final daily maximum but it is a clear record by large margin.
Please read through this thread... There is a lot of detail. The temperature dropped suddenly after the maximum and can be explained.
The Mediterranean is now completely outside all previous records. We have never measured this level of heat across the basin at any time of year.
It is only July. We usually see the annual maximum in August.
We could also be looking at a new world record in ocean heat from Manatee Bay (Florida). Please carefully read the excellent thread by @DrJeffMasters, there are a few uncertainties explained
Our oceans have been breaking heat records across the globe daily since March.
Excessive and sustained heat in the oceans can have enormous impact on many types of marine life. We have seen damaging marine heatwaves before, but not like this.
A short thread...
Let's start with the Mediterranean...
The Mediterranean Sea has never been this warm so early in the year (in modern record). The current heat is challenging some of the hottest moments which usually occur in August.
We know from past study that the some of the fiercest marine heatwaves (like 2003 and last year) led to mass mortality of some species in the Meditteranean