The Politics of Cold

I just liked that title, this is more about cold, cold, cold.

We are now entering our cold phase.  December had tremendous tropical plume activity.  They started from the 'cradle of heat', crossed North America while sucking up Gulf of Mexico heat, and went on to prevent 'GIANT SNOWSTORMS' for the British tabloids.  Now that's all over.

This is our 'default' or stagnant air weather.  A big cold air mass.  Normally, the Arctic ice volume would show a high rate of increase, but it is being attacked by a huge Pacific current.

The currents are complex, and they are important for ice volume.

That Pacific current carves a huge trench down the middle of the Arctic ice, and forms a long ice ridge down the side of Greenland.  That current then demolishes the Gulf Stream.  You can tell by the slight wobbles in the ice accumulation rate whether it is strong or not.

The Jet Stream is just the boundary between hot and cold, and does nothing by itself.  Hopefully, this year we don't hear about the Jet Stream or the phoney Polar Vortex.

The ski lifts in Scotland are closed today because of a horrendous snow storm.