Thursday, 21 November 2024

Snow In Global Warming World?

As i am 150 miles up the country, i thought i could very well wake up to a blanket of snow this morning and i wasn't disappointed but what i wasn't expecting was a flurry of text messages to say that it was snowing on the South Coast of the UK.
Snow in the UK in November is unusual but not unheard of especially over the hills and mountains but so snowfall as far south as low as London and the Southern Coast is definitely irregular and is yet more proof that the direction our weather patterns are moving in is more extreme.
Changing weather patterns is a direct impact of climate change which is sometimes referred to as Global Warming but it doesn't necessarily always mean we see higher temperatures, British temperatures have actually been lower than average this November due to the wobble of the Gulf Stream which delivers our usual more temperate weather.
So how do we square warming temperatures with extreme cold weather and snowfall in the UK?
Think back to your science class and being told that warmer air holds more moisture and for each Celsius increase the air holds 7% more water vapor and as the temperature creeps up that is more moisture in the atmosphere.
Now think again about the Jet Stream and how anything above it is cold and wet with the air being blown down from the Arctic  and anything below it is warm as it is the air from the Equator and it blows along at approximately 250mph but  in recent years there is evidence that as the Arctic warms it weakens the jet stream by decreasing the temperature differential along this warm air-cold air boundary so it 'wobbles' more than usual and if it dips down and the UK finds itself on the cold and wet side, then grab your scarf and gloves .
The combination of very low temperatures and more moisture in the atmosphere ready to be dropped results in a country cold enough for snow as far down as the jet stream had dropped and what would normally fall as rain is now snow and sleet.
With Climate Change now really having an effect on our Planet and the resulting weakening of the Jet Stream as the differential lessens, so it buckles more wildly and allows frigid Polar air to penetrate farther south than normal, as happened today, so we should expect more of it.