Source:
"Following on the heels of New Zealand’s all-time cold, record lows are now sweeping the Y-shaped South Pacific Ocean archipelago of VANUATU–which consists of roughly 83 volcanic islands and stretches approx. 1,300 kilometres.
On May 27, the mercury sank to 14.3C (57F) at Pekoa Airport, located on Espiritu Santo Island
On May 28, a low of 12.5C (54.5F) was registered at the Port Vila Airport, situated on Efate Island. ...
May 28 was a historic ‘double-whammy’ of a day in Toronto, Canada.
First off, the day entered the weather books as the city’s coldest May 28 ever recorded, according to Environment Canada warning preparedness meteorologist Peter Kimbell.
The daytime high had only reached a frigid 4C (39.2F) by Friday afternoon.
For the next coldest May 28 you have to turn all the way back in 1889, according to books for downtown Toronto dating back to 1840.
... it’s been 130 years since Torontonians have suffered a May 28 this cold.
Even more astonishingly, just a few days ago Toronto hit a high of 33C (91.4F) — this serves as yet another powerful example of the ‘swings between extremes’ suffered during times of low solar activity:
Secondly, Friday also delivered rare, late-May snowfall to the city.
This is Toronto’s second latest snow on record after June 4, 1945 (solar minimum of cycle 17).
“It’s a bit of a shock to see flurries and white snowflakes when it’s supposed to be a normal high of 22C (71.6F),” said Kimbell.
Zoologist Susan Crockford has called late-May’s distribution of thick Arctic sea ice (3.5-5m/11.5-16.4 ft – or more) “surprising,” particularly given the WMO’s suggestion that we may be only five years to avert a “dangerous tipping point” in global temperatures.
There is the usual and expected band of thick ice in the Arctic Ocean across northern Greenland and Canada’s most northern islands, writes Crockford on her website polarbearscience.com,
but there are also unexpected patches in the peripheral seas (especially north of Svalbard, southeast Greenland, Foxe Basin, Hudson Strait, Chukchi Sea, Laptev Sea),
This is plenty of sea ice for polar bear hunting.
That thick ice will provide summer habitat for bears that choose to stay on the ice during the low-ice season.
According to Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI) data, there is far more ice north of Svalbard this year than there was last year–when thick ice caused the Arctic research vessel Polarstern debacle.
Also, the thick ice off Greenland this year is hardly surprising, given the current record-breaking accumulations of snow and ice across the island:
Thick ice in Foxe Basin (west of Baffin Island) at this time of year is to be expected, continues Crockford, but in Hudson Strait north of Quebec, not so much"
First off, the day entered the weather books as the city’s coldest May 28 ever recorded, according to Environment Canada warning preparedness meteorologist Peter Kimbell.
The daytime high had only reached a frigid 4C (39.2F) by Friday afternoon.
For the next coldest May 28 you have to turn all the way back in 1889, according to books for downtown Toronto dating back to 1840.
... it’s been 130 years since Torontonians have suffered a May 28 this cold.
Even more astonishingly, just a few days ago Toronto hit a high of 33C (91.4F) — this serves as yet another powerful example of the ‘swings between extremes’ suffered during times of low solar activity:
Secondly, Friday also delivered rare, late-May snowfall to the city.
This is Toronto’s second latest snow on record after June 4, 1945 (solar minimum of cycle 17).
“It’s a bit of a shock to see flurries and white snowflakes when it’s supposed to be a normal high of 22C (71.6F),” said Kimbell.
Zoologist Susan Crockford has called late-May’s distribution of thick Arctic sea ice (3.5-5m/11.5-16.4 ft – or more) “surprising,” particularly given the WMO’s suggestion that we may be only five years to avert a “dangerous tipping point” in global temperatures.
There is the usual and expected band of thick ice in the Arctic Ocean across northern Greenland and Canada’s most northern islands, writes Crockford on her website polarbearscience.com,
but there are also unexpected patches in the peripheral seas (especially north of Svalbard, southeast Greenland, Foxe Basin, Hudson Strait, Chukchi Sea, Laptev Sea),
This is plenty of sea ice for polar bear hunting.
That thick ice will provide summer habitat for bears that choose to stay on the ice during the low-ice season.
According to Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI) data, there is far more ice north of Svalbard this year than there was last year–when thick ice caused the Arctic research vessel Polarstern debacle.
Also, the thick ice off Greenland this year is hardly surprising, given the current record-breaking accumulations of snow and ice across the island:
Thick ice in Foxe Basin (west of Baffin Island) at this time of year is to be expected, continues Crockford, but in Hudson Strait north of Quebec, not so much"