Antarctic waters cooling again
The waters northwest of Antarctica are showing signs of cooling after nearly a decade of unusually mild conditions.
Last month, a Canadian cruise ship struck a huge submerged iceberg near Antarctica’s South Shetland Islands. About 20 hours later, the vessel slipped quietly beneath the waves. Fortunately, all 154 passengers and crew were plucked to safety by another passing cruise ship. There were no injuries.
For the first time since the early 1930s, numerous icebergs are being sighted as far north as the South Island of New Zealand and close to extreme southern Chile and Argentina in the Southern Hemisphere.
Cooler-than-normal water temperatures, possibly associated with La Niña, and powerful southerly Antarctic winds have allowed these enormous icebergs to survive much longer than usual. Some of these icebergs have lasted into that region’s early summer period.
Although global temperatures have been rising, the latest information indicates that parts of the massive ice sheet are beginning to expand again and thicken. The ozone hole is also beginning to shrink in size.
Just a couple of weeks ago, the ripening winter wheat crop in Argentina was hit by the most damaging freeze late in the spring season in recorded history. This was very similar to the disastrous killer freeze early last April in the central United States that helped send domestic wheat prices this summer to all-time highs.
Unfavorable weather patterns in Australia also sent global wheat prices out of sight. That continent has suffered from back-to-back drought years. It doesn’t seem to matter whether we have a La Niña or an El Niño sea-surface temperature event. The extreme dryness in that part of the world seems chronic in nature, much like in parts of Africa, Asia, southern Europe and the United States.
Our planet continues to endure extreme weather conditions. In the United States alone, nearly 10,000 weather records have been broken or tied since Jan. 1. More than 60 percent of those extremes are warm temperature records with about 20 percent cold temperature records.
As far as our near-term weather is concerned, it looks like our stormy weather regime continues next week as another series of snowstorms will arrive in the Inland Northwest. Temperatures will warm up a bit following this stormy period. There will be more snowy weather around the Christmas holiday, which should give us at least a 60 percent chance of a brilliant white Christmas. There’s also a chance of snow falling on Christmas Day. It’s going to be close. But remember, Ma Nature has the final say.
Another round of warmer than normal temperatures is expected around the last few days of 2007 before more cold and snowy weather arrives in the middle of January.
Longer-term, from now through early to mid-March, I see at least 220 to 250 additional inches of snow falling atop the area’s ski resorts. This forecast, if it indeed comes true thanks to the chilly and moist La Niña, should provide an excellent ski season.
Down here in the lowlands, I’m still looking for approximately 40 inches of snow in the Spokane area between now and the end of the winter season. In Coeur d’Alene, approximately 80 inches of the snow is expected. Stay tuned.