The forecast is including some more clouds now but don’t expect it to bring us much if any precipitation. The models are still very much in agreement that this week will remain dry. However there is getting to be more indication that Thursday and Friday might signal a change.
This is Friday morning.
We will have a pattern of air rolling in from the NorthEast and the Interior which I believe we had back in late June.
We’ll know more as the day approaches.
Is Santa Sinking?:
You probably saw this picture on the news or around the web recently:
The Headlines were something along the lines of this CBC Headline:
“North pole turned into lake from global warming”.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t exactly accurate. While the webcams are, incredibly, sending images from the farthest reaches of the north, and did start out at the North Pole. They are buoys, and buoys float (or move with the floating ice they are trapped in), so they are not actually at the North Pole anymore. The webcam and buoy in the picture were almost 600km away from the North Pole when these image were taken… Port Hardy to Victoria is 500km. Not a huge distance in the grand scheme, but not the North Pole.
They are part of a large project involving many agencies, scientists, and universities, you can check them all out here:
http://imb.crrel.usace.army.mil/newdata.htm
The buoy with the famous picture is 2013E in the jumble just to the right (towards Greenland) of the North Pole in this picture:
If you want a full picture of what the ice looks like this year, and compare it to where the buoys are the University of Bremen is a good source:
Here is an image from the same camera this morning, beautiful ice-scape, maybe I should add it to my webcam page?:
It is currently at 84.84 N, 3.95 W which is about 577km from the North Pole. The Buoy reports an air temperature of -0.7C, a snow depth of 2cm, but is not reporting ice thickness. If you’re wondering how ‘big’ things are in the picture. Apparently the white/black bars on the posts you see in the picture are 10cm apart, so actually things are not as big as they might appear.
Another buoy and webcam, 2013B, is a nearby, a little closer to the pole (440km), it’s +0.6C, snow depth is 0cm and ice thickness is 259cm (8’6″). Here is its view… which is a little more barren:
And there is yet another buoy (2012J) closer yet to the pole (330km), but without a webcam. It is reporting a balmy +1.6C, 16cm snow depth and no current ice thickness.
I got all this info from an excellent threat at the Arctic Sea Ice Forum.
As you have already heard,… lack of sea ice is quite likely affecting our jet stream, and so weather patterns across the Northern Hemisphere. How anomalous will this year be in the Arctic? We’ll find out in September.
About The Author
