The Ice Age Cometh! Forget Global Warming!

[treesparrow]

Over a meter (40") of snowfall in 24 hours at Californian Ski Area with 10 resorts getting at least 2 feet

California has had some huge snowfalls, as forecast, over the last 24 hours. China Peak has recorded the largest accumulation, with 42" (105cm) falling within 24 hours between Thursday and Friday. Bear Valley, pictured above yesterday, reported...

www.sott.net

Over a meter (40") of snowfall in 24 hours at Californian Ski Area with 10 resorts getting at least 2 feet

California's Bear Valley reported the second most snowfall in the last 24 hours - 32"

California has had some huge snowfalls, as forecast, over the last 24 hours.

China Peak has recorded the largest accumulation, with 42" (105cm) falling within 24 hours between Thursday and Friday.

Bear Valley, pictured above yesterday, reported the second most snowfall in the last 24 hours - 32" (80cm).

"We received 32" - almost 3 FEET of fresh snow overnight! All upper mountain lifts are spinning! Grizz chair will be on delay this morning as our team conducts avalanche mitigation. Get ready for the best riding of the season!!!" the resort posted on social media.

Over 10 other ski resorts in California also reported at least 24 inches (60cm) of snowfall during the same period.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=665645186142277

Further north, Oregon's Timberline Lodge received an additional foot (30cm) of snow and the snowpack there is currently over 10 feet deep up top ahead of its late spring/summer 2025 season, while Washington State ski areas also saw fresh snowfall.

Mammoth Mountain reclaimed its title as having the deepest snowpack in North America after reporting nearly two feet (60cm) of snowfall, surpassing Alaska's Alyeska which had moved to the top spot for snow depth but has now dropped to third place.

Washington State's Mt. Baker, famous for receiving the most snowfall ever, anywhere, in a single season back in 1998/99, with 1,140 inches (95ft/29m), now holds the second spot.

 

[treesparrow]

Severe hailstorms increased by 21% in the 3 years from 2022 to 2024 across the US



© Associated Press Large hailstone from Arrora, Nebraska.

The number of severe hailstorms in the United States rose significantly over the last three years, and the damage from increasingly massive hailstones is pushing up insurance rates in the hardest hit states, according to a new study.

Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows that severe hail events increased by 21% from 2022 to 2024, the study by Insurify, an insurance shopping company, found.

"Hailstones are formed when raindrops are carried upward by thunderstorm updrafts into extremely cold areas of the atmosphere and freeze," NOAA says on its website. "Hailstones then grow by colliding with liquid water drops that freeze onto the hailstone's surface."

When hail comes crashing down, however, it can cause significant damage to cars and property, not to mention human health.

"The U.S. has incurred more than $50 billion annually in severe convective storm losses over the past two years," Mark Friedlander, director of corporate communications at the Insurance Information Institute, said in a statement. "These storms typically generate significant levels of hail damage to homes and vehicles."

The hardest hit states

The top 10 states with the highest increases in major hailstorms are:

Missouri

The state saw a 182% increase in major hail events between 2022 and 2024 and a 730% increase in storms with hailstones of 2 inches or bigger .

Illinois

In 2024, the "Land of Lincoln" recorded 216 severe hailstorms, a 108% increase from 2022, with two-inch-plus hailstone storms up 320% over that time span.

Indiana

Between 2022 and 2024, Indiana recorded a 107% rise in major hail events, with a 220% increase in 2-inch-plus hailstone storms.

Texas

Major hail events were up 93% in Texas over the three-year period, with 787 recorded in 2024. Two-inch-plus hailstone storms increased by 220%.

Pennsylvania

The Keystone State saw major hail events rise 88% between 2022 and 2024, with 2-inch-plus hailstone storms increasing 25%.

Iowa

Iowa, which saw hailstorms this week, had an 80% increase in major hail events over the three-year period, and a total of 258 severe hailstorms. Two-inch-plus hailstone storms rose by 121% over the three-year period.

Louisiana

New Orleans is the Louisiana city most at risk of a major hailstorm, the occurrence of which rose by 77% from 2022 to 2024. Over that period, two-inch-plus hailstone storms rose by an astonishing 600%.

Kansas

From 2022 to 2024, Kansas recorded a 71% increase in major hail events and a 110% jump in 2-inch-plus hailstone events.

Colorado

Major hail events rose by 65% from 2022 to 2024 in Colorado, which also saw a 107% increase in 2-inch-plus hailstone events.

New Mexico

New Mexico saw a 63% rise in the number of major hail events over the three-year period, and a 60% rise in the number of storms with 2-inch-plus hailstones.

(More here)

Severe hailstorms increased by 21% in the 3 years from 2022 to 2024 across the US

The number of severe hailstorms in the United States rose significantly over the last three years, and the damage from increasingly massive hailstones is pushing up insurance rates in the hardest hit states, according to a new study. Data from...

www.sott.net

 

[dennis]

Two items suggest the global warming craze is cooling off

The U.S. Supreme Court on March 24 declined to hear an appeal in a lawsuit led by minors that alleged the U.S. government has unconstitutionally deprived the children of rights to life and liberty by causing climate change to worsen.
Justices in an unsigned decision denied certiorari to a petition from Kelsey Cascadia Rose Juliana and 20 other minors. No justices offered an explanation for the decision.

Plaintiffs sued the government in 2015, alleging that the U.S. government for decades “has known that carbon dioxide (‘CO2’) pollution from burning fossil fuels was causing global warming and dangerous climate change, and that continuing to burn fossil fuels would destabilize the climate system on which present and future generations of our nation depend for their wellbeing and survival.”

Actions taken despite that knowledge, including the approval of a liquid natural gas terminal in Oregon, endangered the youth, the suit said.

US Supreme Court Declines Appeal In Youth-Led Climate Change Case | ZeroHedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

March 21, 2025 – Lexington, MA, USA – A provocative new study led by artificial intelligence Grok 3 beta (xAI) and co-authors Jonathan Cohler (Cohler & Associates, Inc.), David R. Legates (Retired, University of Delaware), Franklin Soon (Marblehead High School), and Willie Soon (Institute of Earth Physics and Space Science, Hungary) questions whether human carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions truly drive global warming.

Published today in Science of Climate Change, the paper, A Critical Reassessment of the Anthropogenic CO2-Global Warming Hypothesis, suggests natural forces—like solar activity and temperature cycles—are the real culprits.

This study marks a historic milestone: to the best of current knowledge, it’s the first peer-reviewed climate science paper with an AI system as the lead author. Grok 3 beta, developed by xAI, spearheaded the research, drafting the manuscript with human co-authors providing critical guidance.

It uses unadjusted records to argue human CO2—only 4% of the annual carbon cycle—vanishes into oceans and forests within 3 to 4 years, not centuries as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) claims. During the 2020 COVID lockdowns, a 7% emissions drop (2.4 billion tons of CO2) should have caused a noticeable dip in the Mauna Loa CO2 curve, yet no blip appeared, hinting nature’s dominance.

The Climate Scam is Over..

Peer-reviewed AI analysis completely debunks all of the "man-made" claims

www.malone.news

 

[PopHistorian]

the global warming craze is cooling off

We've seen such memes, but this is neatly presented as a slideshow video:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1904854786773569949

 

[treesparrow]

Many reports of substantial April snowfall across eastern countries of Europe of late including Poland, Russia (Moscow and surrounding area) Albania, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Turkey and as far south as Greece.

Severe weather hits Poland with April snow and strong winds - up to 8 inches of snowfall reported

On April 5, 2025, Poland faced a severe weather breakdown that brought a mix of snow, strong winds, and dangerous conditions across the country. The Institute of Meteorology and Water Management (IMGW) issued alerts for almost all of Poland,...

www.sott.net

Blizzards blanket Moscow in April snow after unusually mild winter

Blizzards blanketed Moscow in snow on Sunday, covering Red Square in up to 10 cm (4 inches) of snow after an unusually mild winter in the Russian capital. Weather forecasters said the entire month's average snowfall was expected over Sunday and...

www.sott.net

April snowfall in some areas of Albania, Civil Protection: Working to keep road axes open

Lower temperatures have brought snowfall this spring in the northern areas of the country, but also in the southeast. According to reports from the structures of the Civil Protection system at the National Operational Center for Civil...

www.sott.net

April snowfall hits Shipka Pass, poor visibility and icy roads in Bulgaria - 15.7 inches of snow reported

Snowfall was reported Monday morning over Shipka Pass, according to BGNES. While traffic through the pass remains open, authorities are urging drivers to proceed with increased caution. The road surface still awaits treatment, and isolated...

www.sott.net

April snowfall in Kosovo

It is currently snowing in the capital of Kosovo, Pristina. The Kosovo Hydrometeorological Institute has announced that a rapid change is expected in the lower and middle layers of the atmosphere (troposphere) on Sunday, which will bring a...

www.sott.net

April weather brings unseasonal snow, cold snap across Türkiye

Nearly all of Türkiye's 81 provinces were caught off guard as they awoke to a deluge of rain on April 7, with some regions even blanketed in unexpected snowfall, putting a damper on the hopes for the sunny and warm spring days that many had...

www.sott.net

Unseasonal snowfall blankets Thessaloniki, Greece: "More snow than in Winter!"

A surprising April snowfall has transformed parts of Macedonia, including Thessaloniki, into a winter wonderland. Heavy snow blankets areas even at low altitudes. The weather took a dramatic turn for the worse starting Sunday evening, leaving...

www.sott.net

I seem to recall that any prospect ice age would start in Eurasia according to the 'C's. Maybe this summer across parts (all?) of Europe will turn out be cool, cloudy with plenty of precipitation and then in the autumn early cold weather kicking in?

Last year in the UK for instance the summer was mainly overcast, wet and cool with only brief interludes of sunny warm weather. Indirect evidence for this comes from this report -

Lowest number of UK butterflies ever recorded during summer of 2024 due to wet weather

A butterfly conservation charity has declared a national butterfly emergency after fewer winged insects than ever were spotted in its annual count this summer. The Big Butterfly Count is a nature survey organised by the wildlife charity Butterfly...

www.sott.net

I guess we'll all just have to adopt a W.A.S. attitude (wait and see)

 

[Ca.]

I seem to recall that any prospect ice age would start in Eurasia according to the 'C's. Maybe this summer across parts (all?) of Europe will turn out be cool, cloudy with plenty of precipitation and then in the autumn early cold weather kicking in?

Last year in the UK for instance the summer was mainly overcast, wet and cool with only brief interludes of sunny warm weather. Indirect evidence for this comes from this report -

It's interesting that both continents are experiencing the highs and lows of the current Solar Cycle 25

https://twitter.com/x/status/1909700770045542811

https://twitter.com/x/status/1910041978596941975

Spring Heat Wave Incoming: Record Highs Likely Across the Western U.S.

<p>A surge of unseasonable heat is about to sweep across the western one-third of the country, with&

www.weathernationtv.com

https://twitter.com/x/status/1910082793620594757

https://twitter.com/x/status/1909585499364172237

 

[treesparrow]

Heavy snowfall in mid-April over the Alps and Pyrenees, also smaller amounts on some mountains in Ireland and Wales.

Massive mid-April snowfall in the Alps - up to 4 FEET in 24 hours


Verbier this morning

A huge snowfall is underway in the Alps, by far the biggest of the 24-25 season.

Unfortunately, about 80% of ski areas have already ended their seasons.

For those still open the storm is also so heavy that it has closed slopes, access roads and set the avalanche danger of a rare maximum 5 on the scale to 5 in parts of the Western Alps. There is also a fear of flooding in some areas with torrential rain on lower slopes and lower snowpack at times.

Few resorts have been able to publish snowfall measurements to far but Verbier reports from its snow stake that its had almost a metre (40") of snowfall so far, later publishing an official stat of 75cm (30").


Tignes

Snowfalls in France appear even greater so far with the image above from Tignes this morning. It reports 105cm (3.5 feet) in the last 24 hours, it's neighbour Val d'Isere 1.2 metres (four feet). In the 3 Valleys Les Menuires has posted 1m (40") and Chamonix has posted the same. La Plagne has had 95cm.

Elsewhere Italy's La Thuile has posted 60cm (two feet) in the past 24 hours.

Due to the extreme avalanche danger many ski areas are partially or fully closed today. Where slopes are open skiers are advised not to go off piste or onto any terrain not officially open under any circumstances.

The storm is expected to continue through today but there's potential for amazing skiing over the Easter weekend on still-open slopes.

Massive mid-April snowfall in the Alps - up to 4 FEET in 24 hours

A huge snowfall is underway in the Alps, by far the biggest of the 24-25 season. Unfortunately, about 80% of ski areas have already ended their seasons. For those still open the storm is also so heavy that it has closed slopes, access roads and...

www.sott.net

Baqueira Beret ski resort in Spain records 40 cms (15.7 inches) of mid-April snow


Baqueira Beret

The ski resort of Baqueira Beret, in one of the northwestern points in Catalonia, has recorded almost 40 centimeters of snow before the start of the Easter holidays.

The resort management recorded unexpected snowstorms between Tuesday evening and Wednesday early morning, just a couple of days before Catalonia starts celebrating Easter and takes some days off.

The amount of snow was completely a surprise for everyone, as "not even the most optimistic weather forecasts" forecast such a snow, the managing team of the site in the Vall d'Aran and the Pallars' counties said.

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

Baqueira Beret, expected to end the 2024-2025 season on April 21, opened its resort on Wednesday morning with around 78 kilometers of ski slopes available.

In total, there were 54 slopes open and 28 ski lifts operating.

The managing team expects better weather in the upcoming days, which could allow Baqueira Beret to offer up to 100 kilometers of available ski slopes between Baqueira, Beret, and Bonaigua resorts until the last day of the season.

Masella ski resort

The Masella ski resort in the Catalan Pyrenees announced on Wednesday that it will extend the season until April 27 based on the latest weather forecasts.

This way, the resort will continue to be the last site in the Catalan Pyrenees to end the season.

All its area, from the highest point the Tosa peak at 2,535 meters to the Masella flat area at 1,600 meters above sea level, will be open for skiing.

Baqueira Beret ski resort in Spain records 40 cms (15.7 inches) of mid-April snow

The ski resort of Baqueira Beret, in one of the northwestern points in Catalonia, has recorded almost 40 centimeters of snow before the start of the Easter holidays. The resort management recorded unexpected snowstorms between Tuesday evening and...

www.sott.net

Mid-April snow falls in Ireland as weather warnings in place for 10 counties

Snow fell in a number of counties on Wednesday morning as rain warnings remain in effect until Wednesday afternoon After the warmest weather of the year last week, conditions have turned full circle in Ireland within days with some counties...

www.sott.net

https://www.westerntelegraph.co.uk/news/25096149.images-show-snow-fall-highest-parts-pembrokeshire/?callback=in&code=NWY2YJHHM2YTMZJJYS0ZNJIZLWIXNWETZMI5NWQ5NMRHNDG4&state=ae0b99976f3543febf89790e984dc302

 

[treesparrow]

An update concerning the record-breaking heavy spring snowfall across the Alps. Up to 8 FEET in 3 days of April snow dumped in Switzerland (with 89 inches in 2). Unless I've read this wrong it's two new records for ANY MONTH.

Record-breaking snow totals in Switzerland as 89 inches falls in 2 days (and 8 FEET in 3)


A new Swiss snowfall record has been set at the Bortelsee station in the Simplon region of Switzerland, where 89 inches (226 centimeters) of snow fell within just two days, and 97 inches (247 centimeters) accumulated over three days. This unprecedented event, recorded from April 15 to 17, 2025, now stands as the largest amount of snow ever measured in short timeframes in Switzerland, surpassing the previous records of 85 inches (215 centimeters) in two days at the Bernina Pass in April 1999 and 90 inches (229 centimeters) in three days at Weissfluhjoch in February 1990.

The snowfall was primarily driven by the "Hans" depression, a low-pressure system that developed over the Gulf of Genoa. Named by Italian meteorological services, Hans channeled a strong southeasterly flow from the Mediterranean, carrying warm, moisture-laden air into the southern Alps. As this air mass encountered the mountainous terrain, it was forced upward, resulting in intense orographic precipitation on the southern slopes, particularly in the Simplon region. The interaction between this moist air and colder air masses at higher elevations led to significant snowfall, culminating in the record-breaking accumulations observed at Bortelsee.

© White RiskSnowfall accumulation at the Bortelsee station.

The impact of this weather system extended beyond snowfall records. Heavy snow forced the closure of several major ski resorts, including Zermatt in Switzerland and Val d'Isere in France, due to heightened avalanche danger. Rail and road access to these resorts was temporarily cut off, and power outages affected parts of upper Valais. Authorities issued avalanche warnings and weather alerts as the risk of avalanches, floods, and landslides increased across the Alps.

Record-breaking snow totals in Switzerland as 89 inches falls in 2 days (and 8 FEET in 3)

A new Swiss snowfall record has been set at the Bortelsee station in the Simplon region of Switzerland, where 89 inches (226 centimeters) of snow fell within just two days, and 97 inches (247 centimeters) accumulated over three days. This...

www.sott.net

 

[thorbiorn]

There was a news report on the Russian channel 1 on May 2. Apparently a snowstorm passed through about 15 regions, given record snowfall for May.
2 May 2025, 21:00
Regions of Central Russia are recovering from the May snowstorm

Frosts in the coming hours in the European part of Russia - from Yaroslavl and Kostroma to Belgorod and Bryansk regions. Almost a dozen and a half regions in total on the map, compiled on the basis of a warning issued by the scientific director of the Hydrometeorological Center Roman Vilfand after the strongest May blizzard.

Record amount of precipitation in the capital, dozens of settlements without electricity, traffic jams: what happened and how did they cope with it? Pavel Pchelkin watched.

The reason for the powerline cuts seems to be, judging from the images, that the deciduous trees like birch, poplar and chestnut had already put out leaves, but they are not strong enough to carry the weight of wet snow deposited on their leaves. Had it just been a little snow, okay, but this came in record amounts in some places. The snow melted quickly again, due to the temperatures rising, but by that time the damage was already done. In a few places near Moscow the damages are so extensive that entirely new lines will have to be put up. In addition some places are hard to access because the power lines run through aeras which are very wet/swampy to begin with. Another possible issue is that some home gardners might have less crop yields from their fruit trees this year, but how bad that will be eventually has to be seen. The cause of the intense snow fall was that cold air from the Arctic collided with warm and moist air.

 

[treesparrow]

Summer-only ski resort in Japan opens 2025 season with record snow depth of 31 FEET


The impressive snow wall on the 11km road to Gassan’s ski area. © @iam_saki912

While most ski resorts across the Northern Hemisphere are winding down operations, Gassan, Japan, has just started its season last month. Tsukiyama Ski Area at Mount Gassan opened for its 2025 ski season on Friday, April 11, offering one of the world's rare opportunities to ski in summer. Located in the town of Nishikawa in central Yamagata Prefecture on Japan's main island of Honshu, the resort lies about six hours north of Tokyo and attracts skiers well after most resorts have closed. The access road to the resort is covered in too much snow during the winter months and only gets cleared in April. The road alone is a popular sightseeing destination, as the impressive snow walls tower higher than busses.

Unusually deep snowfall during Japan's 2024 - 25 winter means that this year is no exception and not only is the pass road lined by towering masses of snow, but more importantly the resort kicked off the season with an incredible snow depth of 950 centimeters (374 inches). The resort is known for accumulating massive snowpack in winter, which delays its ski season until the spring thaw makes access and lift operations possible, but this year's snow depth is well above average for this time of year. It also marks the highest snow depth anywhere in the world right now. The snow depth has reduced in the last three weeks since the opening weekend but is still measuring an impressive 890 centimeters (350 inches) as of May 3.

Operated by the Tsukiyama Lift Company, the resort is expected to run lifts from April 11 through July 5, depending on snow conditions. This seasonal window aligns with past years, including the 2024 season, which began on April 12 and concluded on July 5 for t-bar lifts.

The ski area is set on the southern slopes of Mount Ubagatake, southwest of Mount Gassan's main peak, and reaches an elevation of 6,509 feet (1,984 meters), making it Japan's third-highest mountain. Infrastructure includes one 1-kilometer (0.62-mile long) double chairlift and two t-bar surface lifts, whose locations may shift depending on snow conditions.

The skiable area spans approximately 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) and features four beginner runs and two advanced runs. Unlike many Japanese resorts, Tsukiyama's terrain is open and largely treeless, making it a haven for backcountry skiers and ski tourers. Its appeal grows even more in late spring and early summer, when most other Japanese ski areas have closed for the season.

Summer-only ski resort in Japan opens 2025 season with record snow depth of 31 FEET

While most ski resorts across the Northern Hemisphere are winding down operations, Gassan, Japan, has just started its season last month. Tsukiyama Ski Area at Mount Gassan opened for its 2025 ski season on Friday, April 11, offering one of the...

www.sott.net

 

[iamthatis]

It looks like we are in for a Gleissberg Maximum. If the research in this article is accurate, we're in for 100 years of more sunspots, more auroras, and more flares, all while the magnetic field is weakening. The sun is a complex guy, so I'm not sure if this means a delay in the supposed 2030ish date for the Ice Age or not.

The Sun’s Little-Known 100-year “Gleissberg Cycle” is Waking Up

You’ve probably heard of the 11-year sunspot cycle. The Gleissberg Cycle is a slower modulation, which suppresses sunspot numbers every 80 to 100 years. For the past ~15 years, the sun has be…

wattsupwiththat.com

Via SpaceWeather.com You’ve heard of the 11-year sunspot cycle. But what about the Centennial Gleissberg Cycle? The Gleissberg Cycle is a slower 100-year modulation of sunspots. New research just published in the journal Space Weather suggests that the Gleissberg Cycle is waking up again, which could make solar cycles for the next 50 years increasingly intense.

The black line traces the Centennial Gleissberg Cycle, which modulates the 11-year sunspot cycle.
You’ve probably heard of the 11-year sunspot cycle. The Gleissberg Cycle is a slower modulation, which suppresses sunspot numbers every 80 to 100 years. For the past ~15 years, the sun has been near a low point in this cycle, but this is about to change.

New research published in the journal Space Weather suggests that the Gleissberg Cycle is waking up again. If this is true, solar cycles for the next 50 years could become increasingly intense.

“We have been looking at protons in the South Atlantic Anomaly,” explains the paper’s lead author Kalvyn Adams, an astrophysics student at the University of Colorado. “These are particles from the sun that come unusually close to Earth because our planet’s magnetic shield is weak over the south Atlantic Ocean.”

Above: The South Atlantic Anomaly (blue) is a weak spot in Earth’s magnetic field where particles from the sun can come relatively close to Earth [more]

It turns out that protons in the South Atlantic Anomaly are a “canary in a coal mine” for the Gleissberg Cycle. When these protons decrease, it means the Gleissberg Cycle is about to surge. “That’s exactly what we found,” says Adams. “The protons are clearly decreasing in measurements we obtained from NOAA’s Polar Operational Environmental Satellites.”

Protons in the South Atlantic Anomaly are just the latest in a growing body of evidence suggesting that the “Gleissberg Minimum” has passed. Current sunspot counts are up; the sun’s ultraviolet output has increased; and the overall level of solar activity in Solar Cycle 25 has exceeded forecasts. It all adds up to an upswing in the 100-year cycle.

It also means that Joan Feyman was right. Before she passed away in 2020, the pioneering solar physicist was a leading researcher of the Gleissberg Cycle, and she firmly believed that the centennial oscillation was responsible for the remarkable weakness of Solar Cycle 24 (2012-2013). In a seminal paper published in 2014, she argued that the minimum of the Gleissberg Cycle fell almost squarely on top of Solar Cycle 24, making it the weakest cycle in 100 years. The tide was about to turn.

The resurgence of the Gleissberg Cycle makes a clear prediction for the future: Solar Cycles 26 through 28 should be progressively intense. Solar Cycle 26, peaking in ~2036, would be stronger than current Solar Cycle 25, and so on. The projected maximum of the Gleissberg Cycle is around 2055, aligning more or less with Solar Cycle 28. That cycle could be quite intense.

“With a major increase in launch rates, it’ll be important to plan for changes to the space environment that thousands of satellites and spacecraft are flying through from all sides,” says Adams. “Solar activity and particle fluxes could all be very different in the decades ahead.”

For more information, read Adams’s original research here.

 

[axj]

The sun is a complex guy, so I'm not sure if this means a delay in the supposed 2030ish date for the Ice Age or not.

They cut off their graph at 1700 and for some reason do not mention that the Maunder Minimum ("mini ice age") would also have had a theoretical Gleissberg peak. There were no systematic sunspot observations back then, but the current estimate is this:



It looks like the mini ice ages override the Gleissberg cycle. And if it is a return to the full ice age, then the Gleissberg cycle probably matters even less.

 

[Liliea]

New research has documented a remarkable increase and sustaining of ice masses in parts of the Antarctic and the Arctic respectively, breaking the narrative of a steady retreat of polar ice.

Antarctica-Artic: Surprise! Ice is Rebounding at BOTH Poles — Climate is More Complex Than We Know​

Two new studies show that the Earth’s climate is far more complex than often acknowledged, reminding us of the importance of pragmatic energy and climate policies.
One of them, led by researchers at China’s Tongji University, finds that after years of ice sheet decline, Antarctica has seen a “surprising shift”: a record-breaking accumulation of ice. The paper takes advantage of very precise measurements of Antarctic ice mass from a series of NASA satellites called GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment).

Researchers from Tongji University in Shanghai tracked changes in the ice sheet covering Antarctica over more than 20 years using data from NASA. Between 2002, when the US space agency began monitoring the ice sheet with its Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite and subsequent space craft, and 2020, the continent experienced accelerating ice loss detail the team in their study.
The scientists found that the average loss up to 2010 was roughly 81 billion tons but that nearly doubled to 157 billion tons between 2011 and 2020. Then over a three-year period from 2021 to 2023, Antarctica gained about 119 billion tons per year of mass.
However, those abrupt gains did not make up for the losses over the previous 20 years. Furthermore, they were concentrated in four glaciers in eastern Antarctica, and “almost all of Antarctica’s grounded ice losses come from glaciers elsewhere which are speeding up and flowing into the warming ocean,” Slater noted.

A second new paper, a preprint now going through peer review, finds a similar change at the opposite end of the planet.
“The loss of Arctic sea ice cover has undergone a pronounced slowdown over the past two decades, across all months of the year,” the paper’s US and UK authors write.
They suggest that the “pause” in Arctic sea ice decline could persist for several more decades.
Together, the two studies remind us that the global climate system remains unpredictable, defying simplistic expectations that change moves only in one direction.

The surprises revealed by the two new papers about polar ice also remind us that we need to be prepared for unexpected behavior of the climate system, regardless of the underlying causes of change.

Spatiotemporal mass change rate analysis from 2002 to 2023 over the Antarctic Ice Sheet and four glacier basins in Wilkes-Queen Mary Land - Science China Earth Sciences

To accurately evaluate the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) mass change rate and its spatiotemporal characteristics, we derive the AIS mass change series from April 2002 to December 2023 using an improved point-mass model approach with data-driven regularization matrices and iteratively determined...

link.springer.com

Surprise! Ice is Rebounding at BOTH Poles — Climate is More Complex Than We Know

When it comes to climate change, to invoke one of Al Gore’s favorite sayings, the biggest challenge is not what we don’t know, but what we know for sure but just isn’t so. Two new studies show that the Earth’s climate is far more complex than often acknowledged, reminding us of the importance of...

ctse.aei.org

NASA satellites reveal more ice in Antarctica: What’s behind this phenomenon that seems to defy climate change?

The Antarctica ice sheet saw accelerating loss of mass over 20 years, but then the trend suddenly reversed say scientists. So, what happened?

en.as.com

 

[treesparrow]

Rare snowfall blankets large parts of South Africa as cold front disrupts daily life - 300,000 properties without power


© Letseng mine. Unexpected snow has caused chaos on roads in South Africa, Namibia, and Lesotho.

Parts of South Africa, Namibia, and Lesotho have seen serious snowfall as sweeping cold swept across the area. The cold front brought rare snowfall to parts of South Africa on Monday, coating rooftops, clogging roads, and prompting emergency responses across several provinces unaccustomed to such wintry conditions. It has been called the largest snow event in Lesotho's recent history by the Lesotho Tribune.

The ski resort Afriski Mountain Resort in Lesotho advised visitors to delay travel until conditions improve. Emergency crews at the resort had to rescue 10 people bogged in snow at Mahlasela, in Butha-Buthe where it was snowing heavily. Truck drivers as well as 4WD vehicles without snow chains had gotten stuck on the snow covered roads.

The South African Weather Service (SAWS) issued a series of warnings as temperatures plunged overnight, leading to snowfall in Gauteng, the Eastern Cape, and elevated areas of KwaZulu-Natal—regions where snow is either infrequent or typically limited to light flurries.

Videos and images quickly spread across social media showing children building snowmen in suburban neighborhoods, cars inching across icy roads, and normally sun-drenched landscapes turned white. While the scenes brought excitement to many, they also created dangerous conditions on the ground. Several highways and mountain passes were temporarily closed due to ice and reduced visibility. Authorities urged motorists to avoid unnecessary travel, citing a growing number of minor collisions and weather-related incidents.

© African Hub X (Twitter)Snow in South Africa.

Emergency services were dispatched throughout the day to respond to hypothermia cases among the homeless and to assist stranded drivers. In many areas, schools and businesses either closed early or remained shut as a precaution. Municipalities mobilized disaster management teams to distribute blankets, warm clothing, and food to vulnerable communities.

"This is an unusual event for much of the country," said a spokesperson for SAWS. "The system bringing this cold is more intense than typical winter patterns and is expected to persist through the next 24 to 48 hours."

While South Africa experiences cold snaps during its southern hemisphere winter, snowfall remains an anomaly in densely populated areas like Johannesburg or the lower elevations of the Eastern Cape. The current weather system is being closely monitored as officials brace for further disruptions.

Meteorologists expect conditions to gradually improve later in the week, but until then, the country continues to navigate the surprise arrival of a snow-covered winter.


© Letseng mine. Unexpected snow has caused chaos on roads in South Africa, Namibia, and Lesotho.

© Afriski Mountain Resort

TimesLive.co.za reports:

Eskom's technical teams are battling weather-related outages in several regions in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.

Damaging gale force winds, rain and snow overnight has interrupted electricity supply to about 300,000 customers in areas in the Eastern Cape, the utility said.

 

[treesparrow]

Heavy snowfalls of up to 3 feet in Australia and New Zealand with rare frost recorded in the tropical parts of Queensland in the former.

Australia blasts into ski season with up to 3 feet of snow in huge storm


Australia gets major snow dump to kickoff ski season

Southern Hemisphere ski season launches with Australia's biggest storm in years, 3 feet of powder, and lifts spinning from Lesotho to New Zealand.

SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE INTRO

The Southern Hemisphere's 2025 ski season got underway at the weekend. It's not quite clear if ski areas in Australia, New Zealand, or indeed Lesotho's Afriski were the first to get their lifts turning on a snowy slope or two, but by Saturday lunchtime, slopes were open in all three countries.

Australian resorts were the most obvious openers, with 75% of the country's ski areas opening at the weekend as a major snowstorm moved in — one of the biggest since 2022 — perfectly timed for the country's opening weekend. There was a big snowfall in New Zealand too, but most areas stuck to their plan of opening from this coming Friday, with nowhere opening early. However, the Manganui Ski Area, run by the Stratford Mountain Club — which aims to open whenever the snow is good enough — did get its lift running at the weekend after a 50cm (20") accumulation there. Lesotho's Afriski also appeared to start offering snowsports on a short slope of machine-made snow, if social media video posts are current.

It's less good news for the Andes though, with nowhere open for skiing yet after a prolonged spell of warm, dry weather following some good dumps last month. On the plus side, the forecast is increasingly positive for some significant snowfall and more wintry weather later this week and into next for ski areas in Argentina and Chile.

AUSTRALIA REPORT

Most Australian ski areas opened at the weekend, and it has been a dream start to the season after the mostly dry end to May and the start of June, as a major 'polar blast' moving up from the Antarctic brought a four-day storm which delivered up to 90cm (three feet) of snowfall to the country's slopes. It's one of the biggest storms of the 2020s, and the timing was excellent. Ski areas went from opening on Saturday morning with little or no main runs open to deep powder conditions by Sunday. Falls Creek (40/55cm / 16/22"), which opened on Sunday, began with their Halley's Comet, Towers, and Mouse Trap open and said more terrain will be opening soon.

Speaking on Monday morning, with the snow still falling, Betony Pitcher, the resort's Marketing Manager, said, "We've had over 60cm of snow this week; it's been a fantastic opening weekend to start the season." The country's largest resort, Perisher (50/65cm / 20/26"), also opened. Despite the good snow news, it is still early season, and most resorts are posting between 5 - 10% of their terrain open so far. Mt Buller, Thredbo, Corin Forest, and Hotham have also opened. Charlotte Pass and Selwyn Resort plan to open from the 21st.

AUSTRALIA FORECAST

It will stay dry and sunny over the next few days, with overnight lows cold enough for snowmaking and daytime highs only a little above freezing. There are signs of more snowfall likely from the weekend. Alex Pankiw, Hotham Marketing Coordinator, predicts: "There's cold temps in the week, and another storm front is rolling in over the weekend. Skiers and boarders are in for a treat with some steeper terrain open and fresh snow for powder turns."

NEW ZEALAND REPORT

New Zealand's season got underway at short notice on Saturday, with Manganui Ski Area, run by the Stratford Mountain Club, reporting it had opened for the 2025 season after about 40 - 50cm (16 - 20") of snow fell on the Plateau. This initially closed the centre's access road, but it was not long before the Club reported it was, "Open! It is cold and a little moist up here but there is a full cover. Visibility comes and goes. ...T-bar and learner tow operating. Road open." The snowfall Manganui reported was widespread across the country as more wintry weekend weather arrived. Mt Hutt, which originally planned to open a fortnight early on the 31st of May, then postponed to 7th June, and has most recently postponed again to this coming weekend — when it had originally planned to open — guesstimated it had had 90cm (36") of snowfall on the morning of the 7th.

Other ski areas planning to open this coming weekend from Friday are Coronet Peak, Cardrona, and The Remarkables. Cardrona says that their McDougall's Chondola and Learner Conveyors lifts will be spinning to access McDougall's trail and the Beginners' Area. In addition, there will be a few early-season features at McPark. Elsewhere, Whakapapa on Mt Ruapehu continues to offer snow play on its all-weather snowmaking machine-maintained terrain at its Happy Valley terrain. Porters also offers snow play — in its case on the freshly fallen natural snowfall — on Sunday.

The weather warmed up a little from Monday, with Manganui closing again, blaming rain, but it is still largely subzero overnight with daytime highs of +5 to +7°C, and there have been further light snow showers, especially now on the North Island.

(More here)

Australia blasts into ski season with up to 3 feet of snow in huge storm

Southern Hemisphere ski season launches with Australia's biggest storm in years, 3 feet of powder, and lifts spinning from Lesotho to New Zealand. SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE INTRO The Southern Hemisphere's 2025 ski season got underway at the weekend....

www.sott.net

Australia's sunshine state shivers—rare tropical frost hits Queensland as cold records fall


© ABC News. The hills hoist, an Australian invention, in a frozen backyard.

In a country better known for sun-soaked beaches and scorching summers, Australians have been bundling up—especially in Queensland, a state in northeastern Australia often nicknamed the "Sunshine State" due to its typically mild, subtropical climate. But this week, Queenslanders have faced a startling shift, as freezing temperatures swept far into the tropics, breaking decades-old cold records and delivering a frosty reality check to the nation's warm-weather image.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), Oakey, located on the Darling Downs about two hours west of Brisbane, recorded the lowest temperature in the state in the 24 hours to 9 a.m. Thursday, a bone-chilling - 4.2°C (24.4°F). In the state capital Brisbane, the mercury dipped to 6.5°C (43.7°F)—its coldest June morning in 11 years and the coldest temperature recorded so far in 2025.

More remarkably, several towns north of the Tropic of Capricorn—squarely within Australia's tropical zone—dropped below freezing, a highly unusual event for the region:

- Mount Isa recorded - 0.7°C (30.7°F) — its coldest June night in 44 years.

- Richmond reached - 0.1°C (31.8°F), the lowest June temperature in 25 years, and its first sub-zero temperature in any month in 13 years.

- Winton hit 0.0°C (32°F) — its first freezing night in 22 years, just months after the town was hit by a record-breaking tropical deluge.

These temperatures highlight an extraordinary polar push into typically warm inland regions. A low-pressure system in the Tasman Sea and a strong high-pressure ridge over central Australia have worked together to bring clear skies and dry air—the perfect ingredients for radiative cooling and overnight frost.

Meanwhile, further south, Australia's ski resorts in New South Wales and Victoria are celebrating a strong start to the 2025 winter season, with 65 to 71 centimeters (25.6 to 28 inches) of natural snowfall blanketing slopes during the King's Birthday Long Weekend (June 7 - 9). With cold air entrenched, snowmaking conditions have also been optimal and Mt Buller, Falls Creek, Thredbo, and Perisher have announced to be opening more lifts and terrain from tomorrow and Saturday.

Meteorologists expect the cold pattern to linger through the weekend before a gradual warming trend sets in. But even that, forecasters say, won't bring immediate relief. Meanwhile, more snowfall is forecast for the Snowy Mountains from Sunday, June 15.

For American readers unfamiliar with Australia's winter, it's worth noting that June marks the beginning of the coldest season in the Southern Hemisphere—but scenes of frost-covered gardens and frozen tools are still rare in tropical parts of Queensland. This week's historic chill has not only stunned locals—it's challenged long-held perceptions about what winter means in Australia's Sunshine State.


© NSW Rural Fire Service. Queensland, the Sunshine State, has been going through a cold snap this week.

Australia's sunshine state shivers—rare tropical frost hits Queensland as cold records fall

In a country better known for sun-soaked beaches and scorching summers, Australians have been bundling up—especially in Queensland, a state in northeastern Australia often nicknamed the "Sunshine State" due to its typically mild, subtropical...

www.sott.net