Exceptional July Cold Grips Russia; N. California’s Coldest Summer; Antarctic Fronts To Sweep Australia; New Zealand Nears All-Time July Lows; + No, Guterres, Fossil Fuels Aren’t Sabotaging Economies

The more solar and wind in the mix, the more expensive power becomes.

Exceptional July Cold Grips Russia

A powerful mass of polar air remains locked over Russia, breaking summer cold records across the Urals and delivering one of the most extreme July cold snaps on record.

In Izhma, in the Ural region, the mercury plunged to -3C (26.6F) — a reading that will likely, once confirmed, represent the coldest peak-summer temperature ever recorded there. It’s freezing. In high summer.

To the north in Vorkuta, thermometers dropped to -0.7C (30.7F) — just 0.3C shy of its all-time July record low. Vorkuta typically endures long, brutal winters, but the region's summers, as short and cool as they are, rarely come anywhere close to freezing.

Elsewhere, Ust-Shugor registered -2.4C (27.7F), which ties its all-time July record low.

This a potent Arctic air intrusion — a cold anomaly the media will neglect to mention its in 'baking' climate reports.

Vegetation, crops, and wildlife in these latitudes rely on brief windows of summer warmth. This cold surge will deal lasting damage. And it isn't over yet—though it does shift a little eastward today, July 23:

GFS 2m Temperature Anomalies July 23 [tropicaltidbits.com].

Northern California’s Coldest Summer

Much of northern and central California are shivering through one of their coldest early summers in 30–40 years.