This is all fascinating! What always surprises me is how very opposite the trends tend to be from the west side of Beringia (Chukotka) and the east side (Alaska). Can you provide some explanation for why this is often true? Thanks, Rick!
This pattern you noticed is very common, especially in the cold season. This is directly related to the characteristic scale of the mid-atmospheric steering flow "waviness", which happens to correspond the longitudinal spread of Beringia (say, 40º, roughly 175E to 135W). This "characteristic scale of waviness" is fundamentally a result of the atmosphere being a fluid on a rotating sphere. The net result is that in the cold season, winds at mid-levels of the atmosphere will often be of roughly opposite directions between the far ends of Beringia, e.g. south in west and north in the east, or vise versa. In the summer local factors can be more important, e.g. sea surface temperatures or wildfire smoke. Make sense?
The effects of the “stuck” January 2025 pattern in the Arctic extended further south also. It seems that February has changed to a different pattern, at least in California.
Very good write up of our continuing warming. Despite the predictable down spikes the trend lines all point to a linear rise. The mantra of this era should be "warmer than anticipated, sooner than anticipated."
This is all fascinating! What always surprises me is how very opposite the trends tend to be from the west side of Beringia (Chukotka) and the east side (Alaska). Can you provide some explanation for why this is often true? Thanks, Rick!
This pattern you noticed is very common, especially in the cold season. This is directly related to the characteristic scale of the mid-atmospheric steering flow "waviness", which happens to correspond the longitudinal spread of Beringia (say, 40º, roughly 175E to 135W). This "characteristic scale of waviness" is fundamentally a result of the atmosphere being a fluid on a rotating sphere. The net result is that in the cold season, winds at mid-levels of the atmosphere will often be of roughly opposite directions between the far ends of Beringia, e.g. south in west and north in the east, or vise versa. In the summer local factors can be more important, e.g. sea surface temperatures or wildfire smoke. Make sense?
The effects of the “stuck” January 2025 pattern in the Arctic extended further south also. It seems that February has changed to a different pattern, at least in California.
The Kanuti Lake SCAN station recorded -58°F on January 30 and 31.
Thanks for pointing that out.
Thanks Rick for the report of this odd winter!
Very good write up of our continuing warming. Despite the predictable down spikes the trend lines all point to a linear rise. The mantra of this era should be "warmer than anticipated, sooner than anticipated."