Polar Maritime

Arrived in Fort William today, was a nice drive through Caingorms with clear skys at times and plenty of snow on the higher mountains, Nevis range is coming on well to. An interesting few days coming up, im glad im up here to enjoy it.

A widespread snow storm blanketed a large portion of the Middle East on December 13, including the areas of Egypt, Israel, Syria, Lebanon, and other nations. Syria received 13cm while Egypt was blanketed in smaller amounts. Jerusalem received an astounding 50cm, allowing children to build snowmen as emergency personnel scrambled to open roads and attend to those lesser fit to handle the unprecedented snowfall. Atmospheric air pressure and temperature measured in at 850 hPa and -3 degrees Celsius, but the cause of the snow can be mainly attributed to "Lake or Sea Effect snow". Winter Storm Alexa swept across the region bringing in remarkably cold air and strong winds originating from the colder winter weather of Asia. As this large pocket of cold air swept across the warm air of the Mediterranean Sea, the existing moisture was evaporated, making the air mass very humid and unstable. As the strong, humid, and unstable winds hit land, they accumulated as a result of "atmospheric friction" due to the presence of land. The humid air, as it was pushed up, underwent rapid cooling and subsequently precipitated by snow. This process was all made possible primarily through a SST (Sea-Surface Temperature) difference of 13 degrees Celsius and hills on the coasts that accelerated uplift. Precipitation is very rare across the Middle East, as one might expect. Cairo receives, on average, less than 1 inch of rain per year. Nevertheless, this snowfall produced a massive response on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, ranging from utter shock to delight to satirically mocking the snow as "mystical work" of Egyptian generals. Unfortunately, snow was not met with delight by all, and was harmful to many. The unprecedented harsh conditions made the situation far more difficult for thousands of Syrian refugees residing in Lebanon, often in shelters that are exposed to the cold elements. Ben-Gurion Airport was closed, and transportation was stricken down in many regions across the Middle East. This rare snowfall is met with mixed reactions, while being an exciting moment for meteorologists worldwide. This certainly did change life for a brief moment in the Middle East. http://rgsweather.com/2013/12/14/sea-effect-snow-for-jerusalem-and-the-sphinx/ http://www.weather.com/news/weather-winter/rare-snow-egypt-cairo-20131213 http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-snow-israel-egypt-20131213,0,1691393.story#axzz2nbPiGi64 http://news.sky.com/story/1182209/egypt-sees-first-snow-storm-in-years

I'm off up to Fort William tomorrow staying in Glen Nevis for the week, Im hoping to get some climbing done but chances look slim what with the storms forecast... Anyway I love Scotland and wish i had never moved, as you say Lorenzo at least we will have some interesting weather. Thursday looks a little breezy and plenty of snow for the Mountains (that's if it doesn't get blown away..

Researchers at the University of Toronto have, for the first time, detected a greenhouse gas in the atmosphere known as perfluorotributylamine (PFTBA, for short and for sanity!). PFTBA has an 100 year global warming potential of 7,100- meaning that a solitary PFTBA molecule has the equivalent warming impact of 7,100 molecules of CO2!! This is, to my knowledge, the highest potential to affect climate of all known chemicals to date. The researchers measured the concentration of PFTBA in the atmosphere to be around 0.18 parts per trillion; trace amounts. On the downside, they also discovered that it is long lived in the atmosphere, taking up to 500 years to be removed. The chemical has been used since the mid 1900’s; mainly in electrical equipment and to date there is no policy in place regulating its use. The researchers are hopeful that more analysis will follow and that relevant legislation will be put in place regulating its use and subsequently safeguarding our fragile environment. The study was published online Nov. 27 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters which can be found here:http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2013GL058010/suppinfo For those without journal access, the press release can be found here:http://media.utoronto.ca/media-releases/arts/new-long-lived-greenhouse-gas-discovered-by-university-of-toronto-chemistry-team/

GFS has more potential this morning, with a split vortex towards the end of the run.. As Ali says we could see widespread snow around Christmas..

I disagree with your Mild outlook Gibby. Unless you live in the South.

Fire vs. Ice: The Science of ISON at Perihelion After a year of observations, scientists waited with bated breath on Nov. 28, 2013, as Comet ISON made its closest approach to the sun, known as perihelion. Would the comet disintegrate in the fierce heat and gravity of the sun? Or survive intact to appear as a bright comet in the pre-dawn sky? Some remnant of ISON did indeed make it around the sun, but it quickly dimmed and fizzled as seen with NASA's solar observatories. This does not mean scientists were disappointed, however. A worldwide collaboration ensured that observatories around the globe and in space, as well as keen amateur astronomers, gathered one of the largest sets of comet observations of all time, which will provide fodder for study for years to come. On Dec. 10, 2013, researchers presented science results from the comet's last days at the 2013 Fall American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco, Calif. They described how this unique comet lost mass in advance of reaching perihelion and most likely broke up during its closest approach, as well, as summarized what this means for determining what the comet was made of. http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/fire-vs-ice-the-science-of-ison-at-perihelion/#.Uqe60ujGT38.buffer

Some nice PM shot's this morning on the lead up to Christmas shown by the GFS. And the big day could see some snowfall from the Midlands North, the charts are looking much better this morning for something more seasonal with blocking of some sorts starting to build over Greenland... ECMWF at t192 would feel bitter in the N/W wind with snow over the hills in the North. -4c 850's covering most of the UK A perfect set-up for snow sports in the Scottish Highlands over Christmas which is where i shall be spending it, but many areas North of the Midlands and especially over the hills will see snow from this.

COMET ISON UPDATE: Later this month, NASA plans to point the Hubble Space Telescope at Comet ISON to see if anything remains after the comet'sdeath plunge through the sun's atmosphere on Nov. 28th. http://www.spaceweather.com/

MYSTERIOUS ERUPTION -- 9 DEC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vegZC-GNyRQ

Wrong link..?

NASA Rover Results Include First Age Measurement on Mars and Help for Human Exploration Dec. 9, 2013 This mosaic of images from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) instrument on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows a series of sedimentary deposits in the Glenelg area of Gale Crater, from a perspective in Yellowknife Bay looking toward west-northwest. In a little more than a year on the Red Planet, the mobile Mars Science Laboratory has determined the age of a Martian rock, found evidence the planet could have sustained microbial life, taken the first readings of radiation on the surface, and shown how natural erosion could reveal the building blocks of life. Curiosity team members presented these results and more from Curiosity in six papers published online today by Science Express and in talks at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. The Age of 'Cumberland' The second rock Curiosity drilled for a sample on Mars, which scientists nicknamed "Cumberland," is the first ever to be dated from an analysis of its mineral ingredients while it sits on another planet. A report by Kenneth Farley of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, and co-authors, estimates the age of Cumberland at 3.86 billion to 4.56 billion years old. This is in the range of earlier estimates for rocks in Gale Crater, where Curiosity is working. http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/msl/mars-rover-curiosity-20131209.html#.UqYXWvRdVXa

GEOMAGNETIC STORM--NOW! A geomagnetic storm (Kp=6) is in progress on Dec. 7-8 as Earth enters a stream of fast-moving solar wind. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras. http://www.spaceweather.com/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_J00i10c5M

GFS is better this morning maybe widespread snow by the 20th, even for the South ? Look N/ N/W..

A dusting here this morning with snow showers blowing through.

Yes TM, a nice dusting of snow this morning. Temp 0.8c.

Army are erecting flood defence in Norfolk

A stormy period around midday with gust's reaching 87mph mph at my location. lot's of trees and branches down with some minor roads blocked, this soon blew through leaving a blustery evening with clear intervals. Currently; Snow showers and blustery. Temp 1.9c Dp 0.4c Wind Chill -3.6c Wind N/W Gusting 41mph Rain since midnight 5.3mm

Light/mod snow falling here now.

Sat up Fox House in car having a brew befor work, realy blowing a gale up here would say 70/80 mph gusts at times... worst is expected to hit around mid-morning here.

Correct, and until this has been resolved people should hold off writing off the next couple weeks for cold weather. Statements such as "no other possibilities" based on only a few runs are jumping the gun a little. Even the METO are leaning to the East during the run up to Christmas.

Yes Liam.. Touching 70mph during rush hour over the spine of the country

An interesting post from Matthugo over on the Stratty thread... http://forum.netweather.tv/topic/78161-stratosphere-temperature-watch-20132014/page-22#entry2852445 ECM32 is showing blocking over Scandinavia this morning from mid Month.

A little pocket of -13 uppers showing on the East Coast, Yes Chio welcome to winter !

-12 uppers getting into the Midlands and the S/E. A real shock to the system...