Sweden Sets Coldest April Temperature; Swiss Avalanche Kills 3; Utah Snowpack At 132%, California Defies The 'Experts'; Anchorage Only 6.3″ Away From All-Time Record; + 35 Sunspots

Let the slide back down to solar minimum commence...

Sweden Sets Coldest April Temperature

This week, exceptionally low temperatures have gripped all of Fennoscandia — a peninsula in Europe which includes Scandinavia, Kola, Finland, and Karelia.

Following a historically cold winter, the likes of Sweden, Norway and Finland are still posting sub -30C readings.

The thermometer in Nikkaluokta, Sweden dipped to -34.1C (-29.4F) on Wednesday, marking 1) a monthly record at the station, pipping the old record of -34C (-29.2F) set in 1955, and 2) —more impressively— a new national low for the month of April.

Historic cold extended to Finland, and all (as forecast yesterday).

As per a recent X post by @meteorologit (below), Wednesday’s -34.3C (-29.7F) in Savukoski Tulppio marked the coldest temperature in the municipality of Salla since 1977's -34.5C (-30.1F).

While across Finland, locales were breaking April benchmarks, including Sodankylä Lokka (-32.8C/-27F), Inari Väylä (-29C/-20.2F) and Inari Saariselkä (-25.8C/-14.4F).

Further south —namely across the Alps— Europe's tremendous late-season snow is persisting, intensifying even. Below is a shot of Monte Moro, located on the Swiss-Italian border, showing its ski lift all-but buried under a whopping 4+m (13+ft) of snow.

Swiss Avalanche Kills 3

Europe's heavy snow is making for treacherous conditions.

As a result, the avalanche danger has been raised across the board: "Very large, and in some cases extremely large, spontaneous avalanches are to be expected," warns the Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research.

Three people have been killed and another injured in an avalanche at Riffelberg, located near the Swiss Alpine resort of Zermatt—one of the most luxurious ski resorts in the Alps.

Footage shows a wall of snow crossing an off-piste sector of Riffelberg:

Here's another angle:

Authorities were quick to launch a major rescue operation, but bad weather soon greeted them, suspending the effort.

Utah Snowpack At 132%...