Canberra's First Freezing Summer Temp On Record; Northern China To -42.7C; Winter Arrives In North America; + Extinctions Are Slowing — New Study

...extinction rates have flattened or declined over the past century...

Canberra’s First Freezing Summer Temp On Record

Canberra has logged its first sub-zero summer temperature in more than a century of record-keeping.

At 5:50 am on December 2, Canberra Airport fell to -0.3C (31.5F), breaking the previous summer record of 0.3C (32.5F) set in 2012. The older Acton site reached 0C (32F) in December 1924, but no Canberra station had ever dipped below freezing in summer until now (books dating back to 1912).

A sharp push of Antarctic air into southeastern Australia on Monday delivered rare summer snow to Tasmania and the mainland Alps, including Mt Hotham:

Then a strong high centered over the region, in a position more typical of winter, delivered clear, calm overnight conditions. Temperatures at Mt Hotham sank to -2.8C (27F), with Thredbo Top Station shivering at -4.0C (24.8F) — both anomalously cold.

Northern China To -42.7C

Northern China has plunged into severe early-winter cold, with a broad slice of the northeast locked under a deep freeze.

Vast areas of the Mongolian Plateau and the Greater and Lesser Khingan ranges fell into the -20C to -40C (-4F to -40F) bracket this morning (Dec 2), delivering the coldest readings of the season so far.

China’s national network logged a cascade of extreme lows.

Tulihe National Station hit -38.7C (-37.7F), Genhe followed at -38.6C (-37.5F), and Mohe touched -36.9C (-34.4F). Hulunbuir City dropped to -31.7C (-25.1F), but the city’s coldest automatic station sank to an extraordinary -42.7C (-44.9F) — sub -40C readings in these parts before mid-December are historically rare.