>
> >
> > > Yes, that's a pretty deep low. I have cancelled flying for tomorrow,
> > > and we are in East Anglia, near Huntingdon.
> > >
> >
> > Judging from the time factor alone, this looks like it evolved from
the
> > abnormally cold weather we had here a week ago. Large Arctic airmass
moving
> > to the southwest from Hudson Bay. For six days here it did not get
above
> > 55ºF. That's very cold for this part of the world (Phoenix, AZ),
perhaps
> > balmy for other places (Spitzbergen).
>
> I should say! I visited Phoenix in 1990, shortly before returning to the
> UK after a tour in Florida: it was 120deg F and around 95%RH, pretty
> uncomfortable . . .
>
Normally our winter weather consists of large low-pressure systems
originating in the Gulf of Alaska, moving down the coast or just off-shore,
bringing a lot of cold maritime moisture. But, in the past five years or
more the northern hemisphere has been in climatological upheaval due to many
reasons, such as ENSO, MJO, Arctic and North Atlantic Oscillations, melting
Arctic ice fields, etc. The storm of last week began inland around the
Yukon, coming straight south. It pulled in cold, dry Arctic air from Hudson
Bay as well as two additional low-pressure systems from inland Alaska.
The result was some of the coldest daytime temperatures I've seen here
plus five mornings in a row of rooftop frost, which may be a record in
itself. Fortunately there was no damage to my two frost-sensitive desert
plants. The drop in temperature was so sudden that the ground remained
above 40ºF, and the frost cloth we use here for such plants was not needed,
though I did deploy it for the two coldest nights just to be safe.
Part of what's to blame is a superstorm that took place just south of
the Bering Strait along the northern edge of the jet stream which caused a
40-foot sea in the Bering Sea and almost that bad in the Chukchi Sea. A
small remnant of that storm was all it took to get things started.
We did enjoy a couple of days above 60ºF over the weekend, but now we're
shoved back into the low 50's and will probably remain there for some time
to come.
Chris
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