Omega blocking highs can remain in place for several days or even weeks [image credit: UK Met Office]

We note that’s the period of two solar cycles. Meanwhile it’s reported to be milder than average around the Arctic: December serving up baked Alaska and warming most of Arctic. Much is made of lower sea ice than a few decades ago. But could the two events be related, as a blocking high pressure system has hovered over Scandinavia and western Russia in the last two weeks?
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The cold spell that began on November 30 continues in Moscow, reports Gismeteo.

Yesterday was the sixth day of the cold anomaly. The average daily temperature has been 4°C to 7°C below normal.

It is mostly sunny and dry, with the mercury dropping to -10…-14°C at night (down to -18…-20°C in the Moscow region) and rising to -5…-8°C in the afternoon.

How often does this happen at the beginning of the calendar winter?

There have been cases of even colder weather in recent years, for example in 2018, but they were short-lived and lasted one or two days. Right now, Moscow is experiencing the longest cold spell in early December in the last 22 years.

As a result, ice has formed on the Moskva River. Transparent ice up to 6cm thick has been observed in the city center.

A powerful continental anticyclone that has been determining the weather all this time has started collapsing. The atmospheric pressure is gradually falling, and the cold weather has begun to subside.

However, the next two days (December 6 and 7) will remain cold, with the mercury to drop to -10…-12°C at night (down to -20°C in the Moscow region) and to rise to -6…-8°C and higher in the afternoon.

Full report here.

via Tallbloke’s Talkshop

December 6, 2022 by oldbrew

Longest early December cold spell in last 22 years in Moscow — Tallbloke’s Talkshop