Scandinavian snow 2014

[WillinGlossop]

My brothers got a snowstorm warning for 15-30cm of snow with drifting becoming a problem tonight....hes in birkerod, north of Copenhagen, denmark. I will tell him to send some our way....its the first proper snow theyve had all winter....

http://vejret.tv2.dk...ap/warnings/dk/

http://vejret.tv2.dk/artikel/id-73338143:se-kortet-her-er-der-størst-risiko-for-snestorm.html

Norway and southern sweden also looklike they could be in for snowfall today through sunday of 20-40cm.....

Edited January 16, 2014 by WillinGlossop

[WillinGlossop]

I will try and get my brother to take some photos tomorrow and post them up.....

Meanwhile here are traffic cams in denmark

http://www.vejdirektoratet.dk/da/trafik/webkameraer/sider/default.aspx#.UtgjhHwgGSM

Heres some cameras near gotenburg and malmo too

http://www.trafiken.nu/goteborg/Kameror/Alla-Kameror/

Edited January 16, 2014 by WillinGlossop

[WillinGlossop]

Snows taking it up a notch north of copenhagen now..... Radar shows the band intensifying as it turns to readily to snow..... Wind gusts of 70-90kmh going to make for whiteout conditions from now until 7-10am...

[WillinGlossop]

Ramping up big time now some very heavy sideways snow....winds gusting 100kmh lots of drifting....

[cheese]

Heavy snow in Stockholm, temp -6C:

 

http://www.webbkameror.se/webbkameror/gondolen/webkamera_eriks_640_4.php

 

Current temps:

 

 

Overnight lows:

 

Edited January 17, 2014 by cheese

[WillinGlossop]

-36C in places overnight..is stupidly cold, even for them! Double brrrr.

In southern sweden and denmark last night windchills were -20 to -25c with gusts to 28m/s with heavy snow....some severe drifting with snow in northern denmark expected by tomorrow morning to be 40-50cm....with deep drifts.....

[WillinGlossop]

Snowing heavily north and south denmark....some heavy thundersnow reported too....

[WillinGlossop]

Have posted in media reports thread...but this one easily fits in here too. Incredible! Flash frozen fish in Norway? http://www.independent.co.uk/news/weird-news/harsh-wind-hits-norwegian-bay-so-suddenly-that-thousands-of-fish-are-flashfrozen-9068088.html

Wow thats amazing...... Findus will be onto that.... You couldnt have a fresher fish.....

[Vorticity0123]

In southern sweden and denmark last night windchills were -20 to -25c with gusts to 28m/s with heavy snow....some severe drifting with snow in northern denmark expected by tomorrow morning to be 40-50cm....with deep drifts.....

Those are very impressive amounts of snow, especially near Denmark!

 

Competing airmasses

 

The meteorological situation causing this high amounts of snow is also very interesting. The snow is caused by a sharp temperature gradient (large temperature differences at a very short distance), caused by two competing airmasses. The temperature gradient can be seen below:

 

GFS T0 850 hPa temperatures.

 

Note the 10*C temperature differences just to the north of Denmark.

 

As a result of the different airmasses competing with each other, a frontal zone (also called a winter front) has developed along the temperature gradient causing high levels of snow over these areas.

 

Synoptic situation

 

The synoptic pressure chart responsible for this snow can be seen below:

 

GFS surface pressure chart (T0)

 

What can be seen is a strong high pressure area over Scandinavia, as well as a large trough (a North-South elongated area of low pressure, also visible in the 500 hPa thicknesses, the color shading on the map) extending from Ireland to Spain. The high pressure area is sending frigid air from the east toward the area around Denmark. Moreover, the long-stretched trough is sending mild air from the Mediterranean toward the area around Denmark as well. (this can also be seen in the 850 hPa charts given above). 

 

As the synoptic situation is not forecasted to change much over the next few days, more snow will be likely for southern Scandinavia and Denmark.

 

Mountainous effects

 

The precipitation distribution for the next 72 hours can be seen below:

GFS total precipitation amounts (up tot T72)

 

Note the area of increased precipitation over the eastern part of southern Norway. This is caused by the hills just west of the precipitation spike. When the air from the east meets the hills over western Norway, the only way the air can go is upward. As a result, there will most likely be increased amounts of precipitation over that area.

 

Concluding, it will be interesting to see how the battleground around Denmark will evolve. Most likely, they will see a white world in the next couple of days! 

 

 

EDIT: Of note is that the battleground area was forecast to be over the UK one and a half week ago! 

 

Sources:

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/topkarten/fsavneur.html

http://www.weer.nl/weer-in-het-nieuws/weernieuws/ch/e23c4b083d8d5bc9423437531b60521a/article/grote_tegenstellingen.html

Edited January 17, 2014 by Vorticity0123

[virtualsphere]

I went to Sweden the week before Christmas and was hoping to see some snow... ended up with the same weather as back home - dull and cloudy 6C with occasional rain. Looks like I should have visited this week!

[cheese]

I went to Sweden the week before Christmas and was hoping to see some snow... ended up with the same weather as back home - dull and cloudy 6C with occasional rain. Looks like I should have visited this week!

Yeah, very mild December in Sweden and northern Europe in general. Much improved now though - it's been a week since Stockholm was last above freezing - normal weather for them. They'll probably have snow until mid-March.

Edited January 17, 2014 by cheese

[cheese]

Seems like the warm(er) waters of the Baltic are helping to create 'lake effect' snow in eastern Sweden. Almost 24  hours of snow in Stockholm.

 

Oslo has also had falling snow for a similar time period - even longer even.

 

 

 

Edited January 18, 2014 by cheese

[WillinGlossop]

Wowza

[cheese]

Where's that William? That's very impressive!

[WillinGlossop]

Where's that William? That's very impressive!

Its in north denmark north of aalborg in hjorring.....theyve got more snow next week after a brief lull.... My brother in birkerod had 15cm but its drifted quite a lot....

[cheese]

First -40 of 2014 in Sweden. The first -40C of the winter occurred back in December.

 

Edited January 18, 2014 by cheese

[WillinGlossop]

Cant believe heavy snow at that temp.....wow

[damianslaw]

First -40 of 2014 in Sweden. The first -40C of the winter occurred back in December.

 

 

 

Some very cold air has built over Scandanavia in the past 2-3 days helped by the rapid deep snow cover I would imagine. After a very mild start to the winter, its good to see winter has now settled in properly over northern and northeast Europe. Not too long ago Moscow was recording maxima of 2-4 degrees, and no European capital was sub-freezing - a very sorry state of affairs.

 

Fingers crossed some of this cold eventually advects our way...

[WillinGlossop]

Northern denmark this morning after 47hrs of blizzard conditions resulting in 50cm snow and drifts 2-3 metres..... Windchills still in region of -20c too....

http://vejret.tv2.dk/artikel/id-73345485:snestorm-varede-i-47-timer-og-30-minutter.html

[keithlucky]

Frozen fish in Norway according to experts the fish were to close to the surface and the windchill froze them 

Edited January 19, 2014 by keithlucky

[WillinGlossop]

Crazy stuff....

[keithlucky]

Even Sweden are struggling to cope with -40c http://t.co/9qpewaBFfN

Edited January 20, 2014 by keithlucky

[cheese]

Some cold spots in Scandinavia recently (including Finland):

 

Karesuando, Sweden -42.5°C

Karasjok, Norway -41.9°C

Kautokeino, Norway -41.0°C

Cuovddatmohkki, Norway -40.8°C

Nikkaluokta, Sweden -40.2°C

Kevo, Finland -39.8°C

Kvikkjokk, Sweden -39.2°C

Salla Naruska, Finland -39.1°C

Pajala, Sweden -37.9°C

Enontekio, Finland -36.8°C

Edited January 20, 2014 by cheese

[Dancerwithwings]

Danmarkshavn (Greenland) as had 7.32 in Last 24h. Thats just mind blowing if it was just rain alone, but the temperature are around -15, so it would be snow

 

Just one question how many feet would that be in regarding snow fall.

Edited January 21, 2014 by Dancerwithwings

[WillinGlossop]

1 inch of rain equals 10 inches.....if im right if its dryer snow and colder temps then 1 inch water equivalent can be as much as 12-15inches....so yes a lot of snow.....