Russia's Deep Freeze; Iceland At -20C; Study: 80% Of Today’s Cat 5 Hurricanes Would’ve Been Missed In 1940s–50s; Warming Natural, Not CO2; New Study: Antarctica Has Cooled Since 2003; + Sunspots Slip
Cycle 25 now appears to be past its peak, with solar activity trending lower and the descent gaining momentum.
Russia’s Deep Freeze
Russia closed October under a wave of brutal cold, with multiple stations in Yakutia plunging below -37C (-35F) — the lowest readings of the season so far.
Baimka-Baimra led with -37.9C, followed closely by Oymyakon at -37.1C, Nera at -37C, and Delyankir at -36.5C — all within Siberia’s core cold basin, where winter has now firmly taken hold.
Further east, Anadyr in Chukotka dropped to -27.4C (-17.3F) on October 30 — its second-lowest October temperature since records began way back in 1898 (just 0.8C shy of the all-time monthly record).
The early-season chill underscores the rapid onset of winter across northern Russia, with widespread snow cover deepening not only in Russia (now over 50% covered), but also across Mongolia and parts of China.
Iceland At -20C
Following the record-breaking October snow of recent days (heaviest since records began in 1921), Iceland is now enduring bitterly cold nights, with widespread frost and a host of stations approaching all-time October benchmarks.
