World is seeing weather extremes
Heavy, wet snow blanketed London on Oct. 29 as the House of Commons debated the global warming issue. It was the English city’s first measurable October snowfall since 1922 and only the third time prior to Nov. 1.
In the chilly Northern Hemisphere, all-time record October snowfalls were also measured in parts of Scandinavia, Tibet, southeastern Canada and the northeastern U.S., where some farmers still had crops left in the fields that were planted late in the spring season due to record cold and wet conditions, the worst in decades in some areas. In northern Ireland, readings were the coldest since 1934 as snow made some roads practically impassable.
In Alaska, temperatures during October across the state were the third coldest on record. McGrath, in south-central Alaska, reported a record 13 mornings with subzero readings in October. Heavy snows were observed across southern Alaska. The pack ice is already 6 feet thick along the north slope of Alaska near Barrow.
By contrast, parts of Australia recently experienced the average highest temperature in 14 years. Despite a chilly Northern Hemisphere, the Arctic continues to be much warmer than normal as autumn temperatures averaged about 9 degrees above normal. Last year was the warmest on record in the Arctic region and this year is not too far behind. Scientists say this is a general trend of rising temperatures in that area which began in the mid-1960s.
At Spokane International Airport, October was drier than normal and relatively mild. The average temperature last month was 47.8 degrees, which was about 0.6 degrees above normal. Only 0.30 inches of moisture fell, compared to the normal of 1.06 inches.
As of early Tuesday, conditions were not as favorable for snow during the full moon cycle of Nov. 12 through 18. We did get our major change earlier this month with a series of storms bringing clouds and showers to the Inland Northwest. Since Nov. 1, the airport has received close to an inch of rain as of early Tuesday. Despite the moisture, we’re approximately an inch below our seasonal normal of about 13 inches.
There is still a chance of a few snowflakes by early next week before high pressure moves back into our region. From the middle of next week to the early portion of the following week, it looks drier than normal with lots of fog.
Our next chance for measurable snow in the lower elevations is during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend into early December.
Our first day of snow of the 2007-’08 season occurred on Nov. 19, 2007.