Summer Skiing In Europe After Record-Breaking Spring Snow; 1,000 Years Of Hurricane Data Ruins The Narrative; + Long Duration X-Flare

"Something special has happened in recent months [across the Alps]. "So much snow has fallen that amounts are now at record levels."

Summer Skiing In Europe After Record-Breaking Spring Snow

Alpine glaciers across Europe —from parts of Scandinavia, to the Pyrenees, and of course the Alps— have enjoyed another week of low temperatures and spring snow as ski areas commence their summer season openings.

Passo Stelvio, Italy, for example, is scheduled to open for summer skiing on June 1, but delays are expected due to its base hotels not having their access roads cleared owing to the late-season storms.

La Rosiere, France is also still busy clearing the way (below photo shot May 28):

This has been the theme across the Alps in recent months; that is, unprecedented spring dumpings, which are following, let's not forget, "Europe's best start to a ski season in memory" when record-breaking powder accumulated as early as October.

The Swiss Glacier Monitoring Network (GLAMOS) has been measuring snow depths on Swiss glaciers for decades.

Incorporating measurements from 14 different locations, the latest GLAMOS report shows a significant uptick in snow cover across Switzerland's glaciers since the beginning of April, with heavy snow falling and totals soaring.

"Something special has happened in recent months," writes Brian Rodriguez for aviationanalysis.net. "So much snow has fallen that amounts are now at record levels."

Indeed, the snowfall on such glaciers as Ticino and Engadine has been "remarkable," Rodriguez continues, with new records set there. A host of other glaciers have also set records, a number in western Switzerland and also on the northern hills of the Alps.

On average, the snow is currently 3 to 6 meters (10 to 20 ft) deeper compared to the same period last year. And compared to 2011-2020 norms, GLAMOS data reveals a snow surplus of between 12% and 60% across the 14 glaciers (the average being 31%).

Looking ahead, similarly cold and snowy conditions are forecast over the Alps in the coming week, as the calendar flips to June.

Taking a world view...

Recently, a late spring snowstorm was noted in the northern Rockies. Also, given the impressive end to the season across the Western US more broadly, Arizona’s Snowbowl has announced it will remain open into June for the first time in its history (1938).

While eyeing the Southern Hemisphere, further big snowfalls totaling more than a meter (40 inches) have hit the South American Andes. Chile has just opened its fourth ski area of the season as winter continues its transition from the NH to the SH.

South America's snow area extent has impressed in recent weeks, taking a monster (record-setting) step up:

Northern Hemisphere mass is also faring well, currently holding above 1998-2011 norms:

1,000 Years Of Hurricane Data Ruins The Narrative

A new hurricane paper published in Nature uses 1,000 years of data to show that nothing alarming is occurring.