Antarctica Dips Below -100F; "Significant Spring Snowstorm" Takes Aim At Canada/Northern US; April Snow Builds Across Europe's Higher Elevations; + Himalaya Road Clearing

The COLD TIMES are returning...

Antarctica Dips Below -100F

The last day of March saw Antarctica dip below -100F for the first time this season.

Concordia was the culprit.

The -73.4C (-100.1F) on Easter Sunday (23:14 UTC) made for one of the coldest March temperatures ever recorded on the continent, and one that wasn't too far off the record monthly low: the -75.7C (-104.3 F) set March 30, 2013 at Dome Fuji AWS.

Note: -73.9C (-101F) was registered in Vostok on March 30 but doubts have arisen regarding the data, so I won't count it (possible confusion between the dew point and the daily temp).

More assured though, the provisional March monthly average for the South Pole Station is in.

At -54.8C (-66.6F), March 2024 has come in -1.1C below the multidecadal baseline, thus continuing Antarctica's cooling trend.

For additional links, see here.

Also, here.

"Significant Spring Snowstorm" Takes Aim At Canada/Northern US

Canadian provinces, such as Alberta and Ontario, will see the weather pendulum swing back towards winter this week.

Alberta's cold and snow of last week, the -2C (28.4F) in Calgary on Saturday for example, is giving way to some anomalous warmth. However, a fresh polar chill will soon send thermometers back down to the low-single-digits, by the end of the week.

This returning chill has prompted Environment Canada (ECCC) to issue a "significant weather outlook" across the likes of eastern Ontario, where the capital Ottawa is forecast going on a foot of snow Wednesday through Thursday.

Daily snowfall records are under threat here. Thursday needs to drop more than 9.2cm (3.6 inches) in order to break the April 4 record, currently held by 2004; while Ottawa's April 3 record stands at 26.7 cm (10.5 inches), set back in 1975 (that's unlikely to fall).  

Headed south, a spring storm is expected to arrive in New England Wednesday afternoon, lasting into Friday.

Inland areas are expecting a foot or more of late season snow, while the forecast is remains uncertain along the coast.

"April 4th, but might as well be February across New England as powerful Spring blizzard intensifies off the coast," says meteorologist Ryan Maue. "We'll see if it's cold enough for heavy snow in Boston, but Maine looks assured for another 1-2 feet."