Heavy Snow Slams Northwestern Iran; Europe Braces For Spring Freeze; + Bureau of Meteorology Forecasts Record-Warm Winter For Australia, Ignoring The Data (And Cooking The Books)

"Why is perfectly good raw data manipulated to turn a cooling trend into a warming one."

Heavy Snow Slams Northwestern Iran

Rare mid-April snow has blanketed areas of northwest Iran, including in the town of Khalkhal.

The snow has been heavy and all, with reports suggesting 50 cm (20 inches) has fallen, resulting in widespread road closures.

In line with the snow, temperatures have also fallen in recent days -- to record-challenging levels for the time of year.

This region of Iran is considered one of the agricultural hubs of the country. And as reported by ifpnews.com (who provide the below video), "the sudden cold snap has caused concern among local farmers during the spring season".

Europe Braces For Spring Freeze

While spring 2024 has delivered record-breaking cold and snow to the likes of Scandinavia and the Alps, more central and eastern regions of Europe have been enjoying unusual spring warmth, an early onset of summer.

This week, however, that anomalous heat will be disappeared by a dramatic temperature drop. Highs of 30+C (86+F) this past weekend will be replaced by single digits by mid-week as well as damaging overnight frosts/widespread lowland snows.

This return to winter will be long lived too, lasting until at least the end of the month.

Latest GFS runs reveal the swing between extremes, calling for a dive from 16C above seasonal norms on Sunday, April 14 to as low as 16C below by Wednesday, April 17--where temperatures are expected to remain for the foreseeable.

GFS 2m Temperature Anomalies (C) April 19 [tropicaltidbits.com].

The BBC ran articles last week claiming 'global boiling' was to blame for Europe's heat, adding that we're in "uncharted territory".

BBC 'journalists' were keen to ignore the position of the jet stream in their reportings of the heatwave, but now they're more than happy to incorporate it in their analysis of this upcoming cool down. Where excretions of "planet-warming gases" were to blame for a toasty start to spring, natural forcings are of course responsible for this encroaching spring freeze (and heavy snow).