New Zealand's Record-Cold March; Antarctica; Rare April Snow To Dust Bay Area Peaks; More Snow For The Midwest/Northeast; + Scandinavia Extends Spell Of Historic April Cold, As Europe's Mountain Snow

Thursday, April 4 made for Cuovddatmokki's fourth consecutive sub -25C (-13F) reading in a row -- a historic feat.

New Zealand's Record-Cold March

March was a cold one across New Zealand.

More than 25 locations experienced record or near-record low mean temperatures for March, according to the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), with 28 locations setting records for overnight minimum temperatures.

The cooler month was "driven by a double-barrel low pressure anomaly south and east of New Zealand working in tandem with a high pressure area in the Tasman Sea to produce a southwesterly wind flow anomaly across the country," explained NIWA.

Overall, and despite the rug-swept Urban Heat Island effect, last month saw a mean temperature of 14.8C (58.6F) across New Zealand, which was 0.99C below the multidecadal average and made for the country's coldest March since 2012.

Many parts felt an early onset of autumn, wrote NIWA in its March climate summary, released today.

Antarctica

Another yearly temperature low has been set on Antarctica.

On April 4, -74.2C (-101.6F) was posted by Dome Fuji AWS, besting the previous mark of -73.4C (-100.1F) set March 31 at Concordia.

Most puzzlingly for the AGW Party, the Antarctic continent continues to cool, has been for decades — the data are clear on that.

Dome Fuji AWS

And regarding Sea Ice Extent, there is currently substantially more ice around Antarctica than there was in 1980: