Saskatoon Challenges 108-Year Cold Record; Hami Hit By Mid-May Blizzard; Europe’s May Cold Sets In As Glaciers Take Two Feet Of Snow; The Arctic Lost Ice At 230 PPM; + Giant Farside Sunspot

The Arctic has shifted between ice regimes for thousands of years, including an open-ocean episode around 14,000 years ago, when CO2 was just 230 ppm.

Saskatoon‘s 108-Year Cold Record

Canada’s long Victoria Day weekend has been cold.

In Alberta, fresh snow blanketed Canmore and the Bow Valley, with nearby mountain zones seeing a foot:

On the Prairies, Saskatoon‘s preliminary May 17 daily-high came in around 3C (37F). If the observation verifies, the city will have at least challenged, or possibly beaten, its 108-year-old low-max reading.

Regina also turned white, with high temps struggling to 3C to 4C (37F to 39F) — 15C below normal.

Hami Hit By Mid-May Blizzard

Hami, Xinjiang, issued a red blizzard warning over the weekend.

Hami’s meteorological office upgraded its yellow blizzard warning to orange at 5:01am on May 16, but soon after raised it again to red, China’s highest level, after 1.5 feet was forecast for Baishitou and nearby mountain areas.

Specifically, the warning called for up to 45 mm (1.8 inches) of snow-water equivalent, which under China’s 24-hour snowfall scale qualifies as “特大暴雪,” commonly translated as “extreme blizzard” or “extraordinary snowstorm.”

Using a rough 10:1 ratio, 45 mm (1.8 inches) SWE would produce around 45 cm (18 inches) of snow (with higher totals possible in colder, drier mountain conditions).

[Snowy onset in Ili Prefecture, Xinjiang]

Europe’s May Cold Sets In As Glaciers Take Two Feet Of Snow

Europe’s mid-May chill showed up in the records, the frosts, and the snowpack.