Aleman

I don't know if this is a computer glitch or a reflection of large snowfalls in coastal areas after temperatures have dropped significantly around the Arctic perimeter last week, but the latest map on climatereanalyser shows lots of light sea ice growing out from a multitude of coastal areas, including large amounts of new ice around much of the Canadian Archipelago and, oddly, bits of northern Hudson Bay and Western Greenland coast where it should be warmer. It's much easier to see if you zoom in but I've never seen new ice forming in so many areas at once. Also note new ice around Wrangel and East Laptev islands, all at the same time. It seems a bit too much. There has been a lot of snow, though. We'll see over the next few days if it is genuine or not. (EDIT - I've no idea why my image, when clicked, is being linked to images posted previously by others. Only the climatereanalyser image of Sept 25th is relevant.)

Houston, we have lift off.

There's been a small but significant increase in ice at the North of Baffin Bay (west of Greenland). It's mostly ice drifting south rather than new ice but temperatures have dipped to 0 to -5C by day and -5C to -10C at night amongst the islands so will soon see any gaps filling in to add to southern drift. Ice Products - Product - Product Search - Canadian Ice Service ICEWEB1.CIS.EC.GC.CA I also see LOTS of settled snow is projected for Siberia and some more modest snows for Canada that should drop Arctic and sub-Arctic temperatures further. WWW.METEOCIEL.FR Meteociel propose des cartes de prévisions du modèle americain GFS

The mild spell in the Northwest Passage as a couple of big lows went through is over and a little snow has settled on the back of them. Temperatures have plummetted and pleasure craft scarpered. Big supply and research ships have thinned out. It's been a very busy summer. I've seen 5 pleasure craft get through east to west, playing cat and mouse with residual ice floes, and seen reports of a couple going the other way earlier, though at least one of them was ice-class and they got past Alaska while there was ice there so expect both were. Ice was slow to clear this year but it's been a fairly clear sail for about two weeks and now looks very clear after the lows churned up what was left. It might close a little late thanks to that but it has now turned very cold (-7C to -12C lows at Resolute) so I expect we'll see new ice among the islands of the Canadian Archipelago soon. A high has rebuilt near the pole and lows pushed further south again so similar recent churning along the Russian Coast/Northern Route/Northeast Passage has eased. Calmer conditions, and again a little light snow on the edge of lows, might stop the main pack edge melting and allow the first ice formation in sheltered bays around Kara/Laptev (100 to120E), perhaps. Resolute, NU - 7 Day Forecast - Environment Canada WEATHER.GC.CA Current conditions and forecasts including 7 day outlook, daily high/low temperature, warnings, chance of precipitation, pressure, humidity/wind chill (when applicable) historical data, normals, record values and... MarineTraffic: Global Ship Tracking Intelligence | AIS Marine Traffic WWW.MARINETRAFFIC.COM MarineTraffic Live Ships Map. Discover information and vessel positions for vessels around the world. Search the MarineTraffic ships database of more than 550000 active and decommissioned vessels. Search for...

Shap's station is 249 meters or 817 feet. This morning's low there was 3.2C somewhere around 2am. Decoded synop reports WWW.OGIMET.COM

Shap looking favourite to secure England's first frost of the season. It was 2.6C there this morning and colder is expected. It sounds like there could be plenty of the usual places recording frosts by Saturday morning.

Alert in northernmost Canada is probably the most northerly weather station to report regularly and it's been -10C there the last two nights. For a few weeks, the polar high has been weak or displaced and lows have tracked higher around the Arctic circle, with cloud and churned seas lifting the temperatures higher than average - either side of 0C at Alert. The ice melt season would have normally eased but has lasted a bit longer than normal after a slightly colder Arctic summer than normal. Ice levels that were tracking closer to long term averages through the summer months have dipped back towards lower levels again. The Northwest Passage had remained blocked but opened at the start of the month and is wide open to non-ice class vessels now. The Northern Route/Northeast Passage Looks to have possibly only just opened belatedly in the last day or two. With all the churn of late from significant lows of late, both of these routes might close a bit later than recent years as well. That polar high looks to be building back a bit now, pushing lows further south, and it's turning markedly colder so that should end the melt season except in isolated spots or unless there is a significant storm. Alert, NU - 7 Day Forecast - Environment Canada WEATHER.GC.CA Current conditions and forecasts including 7 day outlook, daily high/low temperature, warnings, chance of precipitation, pressure, humidity/wind chill (when applicable) historical data, normals, record values and... Reports from the Northwest Passage showed there was ice reforming in Pasley Bay at the end of August in calm weather - but it was unusual in that it was a bay that had been filled up and blocked with ice floes in the prevailing wind, so the bay temperature would be colder than other open areas. Looking at temperatures of down to -7C expected this week along the NWP in Nunavut, bays beginning to freeze up again will become commonplace. The very high number of vessels touring the area this year, after a Covid ban for two years, all seem to be vacating. The smaller pleasure craft have gone since sea spray at -7C can freeze onto small vessels and make them top-heavy, possibly toppling them. Only a few cruise liners and supply ships remain. They can handle light ice but will also soon be gone. The Arctic winter has returned after possibly the busiest tourist season on record. MarineTraffic: Global Ship Tracking Intelligence | AIS Marine Traffic WWW.MARINETRAFFIC.COM MarineTraffic Live Ships Map. Discover information and vessel positions for vessels around the world. Search the MarineTraffic ships database of more than 550000 active and decommissioned vessels. Search for...

The weather outlook is for a cooler settled spell midweek. I'm not sure it will bring widespread frosts but it might see several frosts in the usual isolated areas of the North, and possibly into England this time.

The Scandinavian high has seen northerlies across central Russia which has pushed the main ice pack closer to the coast and possibly started infilling with some recent snow there, beinning to close the Northern Route/Northeast Passage at the west end. It has not opened all summer at the east/ Siberian end and that also has started seeing snow that is likely to be doing some infilling of ice floes. The Northwest Passage has fully opened yesterday to non-ice class vessels, having been cat and mouse for a couple of weeks. Now that small pleasure craft can get through without fear of wandering ice blockages, the weather has turned rather inhospitable, with snow coming in on northerlies that might also drag pack ice back down. The number completing a transit (east to west) remains at 2, while 3 wait in the Amundsen Gulf for the northerlies and snow to ease. In the colder central areas of the Canadian Islands, the snowy low signals the change to cooling and possible slushy seas forming, as current daily temperatures are averaging around 0C but expected to drop to a daily average of -5C on the back of the low that will drag cold air across from Greenland. That cold and snow should start freezing the bays up again, creating hazardous conditions for the numerous pleasure craft still in the area who need to decide which way they are going to get out. The NWP might have now opened but it's cold and icy enough that the door will start to swing closed again soon.

Snows looking a little ahead of normal: Current Snow Cover | Canadian Cryospheric Information Network CCIN.CA A host of pleasure craft trying to get through the Northwest Passage to Alaska (after two years of Covid bans on such attempts) are currently being held up by NW winds gusting to 50mph at Amundsen Gulf and bearing light snow. That snow is expected to move east to the colder Canadian Islands in the next day or two where melt of sea ice seems to have already stopped. Settling snow on land might see temperatures drop a few more degrees and kick off the refreeze there when churn from this low has passed.

Unusually warm temperatures along the Alaskan coast (eastern Chukchi) in recent days are expected to drop off imminently, from highs around 15C+ to around 5C+. In central areas of the Northwest Passage (Canadian Archipelago), highs are expected to drop from about 3C to -2C over the next week, after a few freezing days last week. Expect ice that feeds into the NWP on prevailing currents to stop melting and some sheltered bays to start to refreeze in calmer weather, especially under the influence of any snow. After not fully opening enough to allow safe non-ice class passage, the NWP looks about to start closing up again for the winter. 5 pleasure craft have sneaked west after floes in central areas opened and closed behind them, they should all get through if floes along the Alaskan coast continue to melt and no strong northerlies arrive to push the main ice pack back down. Another several pleasure craft to the NE seem to be waiting for the central NWP floes to melt away. Even if they clear, expanding wintery weather will now present problems for safe passage. The vessel that was trapped in an isolated bay there by the same blocking floes has seen icebreaker activity that suggests a rescue. Numerous large cruise liners and commercial cargo and tanker vessels seem to have been getting through the relatively modest area of 10-30% ice with care, occasionally with icebreaker assistance. Freezing rain and snow could be problem for them from here and a nightmare for small pleasure craft. It's time to vacate again as risk increases. More polar areas are already seeing ice expand again. You can see the effect a little if you step this DMI link backwards and forwards a day at a time. Note how open sea north of Greenland fills in, probably recovering the world's most northern landmasses for another 11 months as ice can get pushed over them. Ice in the Canadian islands is moving around more than melting. Also, ice has wrapped itself around Svalbard again and is approaching the Russian coast further east. There is stlll ice melting out in Northern Hudson Bay areas but even they will see wintery temperatures soon. DMI Modelled ice thickness OCEAN.DMI.DK Kaffeklubben Island - Wikipedia EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

Widespread snows are expected imminently over Siberia so expect to see lots more pixels and significant temperature drops WWW.METEOCIEL.FR Meteociel propose des cartes de prévisions du modèle americain GFS The 30%+ ice blockages in central and western Northwest Passage areas are down to 10% in places so it is now effectively open throughout with care. It's a bit later this year but it's a lottery with how the ice moves around. It is exceedingly busy with cruise liners, research vessels, icebreakers and cargo this year after a quiet couple of years due to slightly higher ice and Covid. MarineTraffic: Global Ship Tracking Intelligence | AIS Marine Traffic WWW.MARINETRAFFIC.COM MarineTraffic Live Ships Map. Discover information and vessel positions for vessels around the world. Search the MarineTraffic ships database of more than 550000 active and decommissioned vessels. Search for...

Some might recall I follow attempts to transit the Northwest Passage by non-ice class pleasure craft each year. (They're mad but it's entertaining.) They were banned for two years yet somebody got himself in trouble for ignoring it last year and going through despite it never opening clearly - ice blockages in different places at different times but no fully open route - so very risky "going through trap doors". Despite ongoing melt, wind changes can encase you in ice until refreeze starts and you're then stuck for 11 months - if you don't crush and sink! They've been making up for lost time due to Covid this year with loads of pleasure craft, cruise liners and ice-class supply vessels all over the place. They've been having trouble with central and western areas due to high ice levels flowing in from the main polar ice pack and more old ice which is harder and slower to melt. Ice cover this summer has been at or a whisker above the average for the 40+ year satellite series, helped by a colder than average Arctic summer but there has been milder weeks recently and ice cover has eased below average again in the last couple of weeks. (I'm just talking about the Canadian/Alaskan ice along the NWP here and not polar or Russia.) Despite that there are still ice blockages along the Alaskan coast and in the central area above Gjoa Haven. After coming in from the east, ice drifting SE closed behind some of the pleasure craft without a way out west - but with more melt expected given fair weather. One has sneaked through a few days ago somehow. Another 3 are trying to head west under very favourable weather conditions at the moment - a mild tailwind pushing the Alaskan blockage away towards Siberia and dispersing it. Alaska seems to be the only Arctic area left showing significant melt at the moment (from casual observation rather than scanning numbers). The yachts should make it through but snowy lows have started coming around from Siberia where they've dropped the temperature on Siberian high ground. Winter is kicking in there. Alaskan coast temperatures are still very mild but predicted to drop a bit in 3 or 4 days when the first snows look likely on the back of earler said low going east. Snow is a catalyst to early sea ice formation, forming a slush that calms the surface and stops warmth churning up from deeper, allowing the top to freeze if it gets thick enough. Snow can then deepen on the solid top, perhaps melting and refreezing into a harder ice - even if warm sea water is still melting it a little underneath. Eventually the sea gets cold enough that ice builds from the bottom, too, freezing out the salt, though that comes perhaps a few degrees colder and couple of weeks later. So significant snows have restarted and sea ice will be starting to form but it's slush to begin with that can drift in and out of satellite measurement. (I'm no expert but this is my understanding on reading a bit over numerous years now.) Snow has already started along the Siberian coast and more is likely thanks to a building polar high and falling temperatures as the sun drops. The easterlies across the tops of the lows around the polar high look like sucking more pack ice across from the Alaskan side to block out the open sea's warmth in places. I doubt the remaining significant blockage to the Northern Route/Northeast Passage near Wrangel Island is going to melt out if Alaskan ice is joining and snow fills in the gaps. It's the flipside of the melt and dispersion still going on at Alaska. Whilst I suspect 4 pleasure craft look set to complete a NWP transit east to west, many turned back, perhaps not being offered a clear (safe) enough run to risk it. One also got itself trapped for days in ice by choosing an unpopulated harbour NE of Gjoa Haven that wind subsequently filled in with ice floes. It's signal vanished as it hugged very close to shore or even looked to be on it to avoid crushing (both dangerous - uncharted rocks and polar bears). I'll be looking for what happened to it. These central NWP areas, such as Resolute in Nunavut, that still have sea ice near are getting frosts at night and snow or freezing rain. The latter is very dangerous for small craft so getting out of there is a good idea even if there is no sea ice. Melt season there, at the pole and Siberia seems to be over but Alaskan melt remains higher than normal for now. We have reached that September limbo where there's some melt, some freeze and some other stuff going on like sea slush, frasil and grease ice which might not always record on satellite but quickly could with a bit more snow on top - the numbers can jump up an down a bit but they're not necessarily really jumping up and down so much as changing in nature. There's just lots of different types of intermediate sea ice as temperatures ease down through 0 to -5C. Exactly what they are facing is very important to small pleasure craft if they're mad enough to go sailing at this time of year as winter eases out of its slumber.

Aboyne had 4.0C on June 20th, 4.2C on July 14th, It had another 5 or 6 cold August days including 1.4C on the 17th and 2.0C at midnight last night. It got down to 0.3C this morning but that's September and the new season (according to meteorologists). Dry ground is probably helping diurnal swings a bit so maybe we will get a few dry places see early frosts a bit further south if we don't all get a drenching soon? Shap had 2.6C yesterday morning so there was probably an early riser around there somewhere who saw a bit of white stuff on grass or cars if there was enough moisture in the air to provide. That would be the first likely visible frost in England as far as I know. Decoded synop reports WWW.OGIMET.COM Synop report summary WWW.OGIMET.COM

My garden has broken the old record with 39.3C and might not be finished yet. Is there something special about Malton? 3 stations there on the wow network have 43C on the summary page- specifically 42.8C, 42.9C and 43.4C as latest readings. You get odd rogue readings on wow but 3 giving similar rogue figures in close geographically proximity would be rather unsual. /Assets/Images/logo-global.png Met Office WOW - Home Page WOW.METOFFICE.GOV.UK The UK Met Office Weather Observation Website (WOW). WOW allows anyone to submit their own weather data, anywhere in the world.

The cool overnight temperatures in central and Eastern Yorkshire soon departed. Back to 34.0C here (from 18.8C overnight), 3-4 hours earlier than yesterday. I reckon we're headed for 39C so somewhere in Yorkshire should do 40C+ and maybe 41C+ in North Lincolnshire.

Topcliffe hit a low 13.4C overnight, compared to a high of 34.7C yesterday and 17.9C the night before. My garden low was 18.8C after 35.1C yesterday and 19.7C the night before but it's lifting quite quickly again at 25C+.

These temperature drops in North and East Yorkshire are remarkable. Leconsfield Sar was 18.3C at 11:00pm. That's 5.9C colder than the same time last night and a drop of 17.1C in the 5 hours from 6pm's 35.4C. However, I also note that Topcliffe has risen from 19.6C at 10pm to 21.1C at 11pm so the downward trends might not continue. /Assets/Images/logo-global.png Met Office WOW - WOW.METOFFICE.GOV.UK The UK Met Office Weather Observation Website (WOW). WOW allows anyone to submit their own weather data, anywhere in the world.

Here's a station on the wow network at Riccal. That's half way between York and Selby. 28.0C at 20:19pm but dropped quickly to 21.1C at 22:01pm. /Assets/Images/logo-global.png Met Office WOW - WOW.METOFFICE.GOV.UK The UK Met Office Weather Observation Website (WOW). WOW allows anyone to submit their own weather data, anywhere in the world.

Here in the Vale of York, our garden high was 35.1C but it's already dropped to 25.0C and does not feel anything like as bad as I was expecting. On the current course of dropping nearly 2C per hour, tonight could well end up cooler than last night's 19.7C.

Several modest showers have bubbled up in a line running across N. Yorkshire this evening and running down more sparsely to Peteborough. Nothing dramatic but perhaps indicating there could more than expected tomorrow? Weather Radar - Live UK Rainfall Radar | Netweather WWW.NETWEATHER.TV Live weather radar for the UK including weather type to track whether rain, sleet or snow is falling. Updated every 5 minutes. Edit - Don't know why it's copied like this but it's a line running down the middle of the Irish Sea and a line over N. Lincs and East Yorkshire that recently dropped rain on the northern half of York. I've not seen the rain but I've seen the moody cloud and it suddenly turned very sticky after a dry day.

Snowdrops did not start blooming until the first week in February and still looking strong. Crocuses only started blooming last week and have not hit their best yet. Daffodils just started to pop out in a few places this weekend. So pretty much a week to two weeks behind (advanced) recent years for the usual suspects. I presume this is down to the very murky/drizzly December and very frosty January in the Vale of York, both of which were significantly drier than average, which could be key. Gorse seems about normal. Few Cherries seen yet but a few buds on our Ornamental Plum are opening, which seems a few days early. I've noticed Aubrieta has opened early in a few places on the ground where it probably had moisture and plentiful sun from melting frost but not on walls where they've only received moisture - too much - in the last couple of weeks. Oh, and that grey drizzly December seems to have been great for ivy. It's far from in flower but has grown a lot when I'm trying to get rid of the chuffing stuff!

Wow. What changeable weather we have had. We had some freezing after sunset but there's hardly anything left of Frostie after some heavy rain cleared the fog and brought warmer temperatures. I'm surprised the Ouse is not higher. It actually looks marginally lower than yesterday, but I think the snow and heavy rain might not have moved much further north to feed its tributaries. Farson Digital Watercams - Hi-def webcam on River Ouse, at York WWW.FARSONDIGITALWATERCAMS.COM Hi-def webcam at York offering up to the second live imagery on River Ouse. With regular river reports from the area, and an extensive archive of images from the past days, months and even years, this is the...

Sun coming out now so that was about 2 and 1/2 hours of snow. Now how long can Frostie hang on?

Rain briefly then huge sloppy wet flakes (2 or 3 x 50 pences) in the Vale of York. I don't recall ever seeing bigger flakes and I'm no spring chicken. You could easily see them falling slowly from height so the kids were getting giddy trying to outdo each other to catch the biggest one. Took a while to start settling but now 2cm after 2 hours and had thinned out but actually starting to get heavier again. It's really sticky stuff so we have built a 3-foot snowman on a patio table with hat, scarf and gloves and black grapes for eyes and buttons. It feels like a proper winter now there'll be a melting snowman around for a while. (Could have built bigger but my hands can't take it these days!) We don't often get chance down here at 25-30m asl. It's the 6th snowfall this year but only the 2nd one to settle. Radar has yet to indicate snow - only sleet. It used to be spot on all the time but most snowfalls in the last 12 months have shown only as sleet. I wonder what they tweaked to make it less accurate.