Canada’s Fleeting Warmth To End With Crashing Temperatures And Heavy Snow; + Europe’s Energy Crisis Deepens
Canada’s Fleeting Warmth To End With Crashing Temperatures And Heavy Snow
Blowing snow, blizzards and historically-low temperatures have been the theme this winter/early-spring across much of Canada, with the nation failing to post a 20C (68F) reading in the second week of April–one of the latest occurrences on record.
After several provinces are finally getting a taste of spring warmth this week, incoming Arctic air, riding south on a buckling low solar activity-induced meridional jet stream flow, will return swathes of Canada, and indeed the U.S., to winter-like conditions.
Daytime highs could near 30C (86F) in a few spots over the coming days, but then will struggle to break north of the freezing mark barely a week later — a true spring rollercoaster ride, a textbook ‘swing between extremes‘.
The warmth will be enjoyed most in southern Ontario, where daily highs are already touching the upper 20s.
Below is the Thursday forecast, courtesy of The Weather Network:
But the message is enjoy these temperatures while you can because yet another Colorado low is looming, threatening to deliver freezing daily highs and a swath of accumulating snow across the likes of southern Saskatchewan and parts of the Prairies
As the system advances into Ontario, a heavy dumping of snow is forecast for province’s northwestern region, where totals are expected to exceed 40 cm (1.31 ft).
Wet snow will also make its way into southern Ontario and southern Quebec early next week, with a shot of colder, potentially record-breaking cold following close behind.
The mass of anomalous cold looks quite encompassing, and by April 25 is forecast to have pushed well south of the border and into the majority of the Lower 48–as visualized below:
Europe’s Energy Crisis Deepens
Europe’s winter overall held mild –though was book-ended by outbreaks of extreme lows and heavy snows– which helped the continent’s failing energy infrastructure cope. However, the issues remain; in fact, they’ve gotten worse…
Reserves of oil and gas held up okay this past winter, but mainly because spiraling costs priced many homes and businesses out of the market.
The UK government issued more than five million Cold Weather Payments totaling over £130 million between November 2022 and the end of March — 430 times more than it had originally planned to as Brits struggled to keep the wolf from the door.
Such payments are a mere band-aid, though.
During the first quarter of 2023, shortfalls in Europe’s hydro and nuclear output easily offset the expansion of wind and solar sites, leaving the continent extremely vulnerable to acute energy shortages for the second year running.
Faced with the prospect of ‘the end of the world’ (that’s either via global warming or Russian annihilation — take your pick), European leaders were coerced, blackmailed and remunerated into fast-tracking renewable energy capacity development.
The continent successfully upped its renewable supply by a record 57,290 megawatts in 2022, or nearly 9%, according to the International Energy Agency, amid a desperate scramble to replace Russian gas with the added bonus of saving the planet.
However, steep drops in both hydro and nuclear output mean that Europe is an even worse spot than a year ago when the energy shock first hit. The establishment’s nonsensical drive to eradicate ALL energy solutions but for wind and solar is inexcusably idiotic at best; intentionally destructive at worst.
Europe’s total electricity generation over the first quarter of 2023 was 1,213 terawatt hours, which is some 6.4% less than during the same period in 2022, according to data from think tank Ember.
And with efforts underway to try and revive activity at scores of European factories, industrial plants and production lines that were shuttered or curtailed in 2022, Europe’s electricity demand is only set to increase for the remainder of the year.
Russian gas isn’t really an option — not politically or physically. This means Europe’s power producers will need to deploy alternative methods. However, wind and solar are the only options on the table. Hydro and nuclear may be green and may have accounted for 40% of the total electricity generation in Europe from 2000 to 2020, but they are now out of favor. This indicates that the establishment may not be seeking a fix here, rather a controlled demolition — what other explanation is there…?
In 2022, generation from hydro and nuclear dropped to less than 35% in 2022, in no small part due to shutdowns of aging nuclear plants. France, in particular, Europe’s top nuclear power producer, is enduring sharply lower nuclear generation, by 6.2% in the first three months of 2023 from the same period in 2022, and by 18% from the average of the years 2019 through 2021.
Delving into the data, hydro and nuclear lost 43 terawatt hours of electricity generation versus the same period in 2022, with wind and solar adding just 11 terawatt hours. Quickly running the math …. that equals disastrous planning by European officials.
If hydro and nuclear output remains curtailed and barring a political return from fairyland where nation’s recommission their retired coal plants–as we did recently see in the UK–this will spell disaster come the winter of 2023-24 for a great many Europeans.
Dang, I’ve just started putting plants outside in my greenhouse (Manitoba). Guess I’ll need to cover them w another blanket.
Oh well, the spring ice sailing season has been pretty good. I’m ok w a few more weeks of it!
We live in Metcalfe County KY and the ground JUST got warm ebuf for cold crops…a MONTH late. Getting ready to plant maters, taters, green beans, maybe carrots and Corn…silver queen.
The height of the lower layer of the stratosphere varies with latitude. 4 miles at the poles 12 miles at the equator. Not sure about the latitude where Bezymianny & Shiveluch erupted but both of them reaching the stratosphere is likely. Shiveluch twice. A little bit concerning at the period when we have our best chance to absorb some heat from our feeble sun.
A bit of clarification. The mid latitudes extend from Tropic of Cancer to the Arctic circle. The lower Layer of the stratosphere begins at 33,000 feet. These two volcanoes 🌋 exist
at the northern region of the mid latitudes. Shiveluch sits at 56* north close to the Arctic circle. In that location the stratospheric boundary is apt to be lower than 33,000 feet.
The Psychopaths are in charge. But the people who vote them into power are the real
fools. These voters seem to have no problem following a path that leads to death and destruction.
Sadly in the UK, and probably a lot of Europe, there’s no real option other than to vote for “psychopaths”. In the UK all the mainstream parties are fully signed up to the WEF new world order, net zero agenda. The only difference is how quickly they want ordinary people, but obviously not the ruling elites, to return to 19th century standards of living and what madcap schemes they have for producing non fossil fuel energy, although they claim doing so will create hundreds of thousands of new jobs and lead to prosperity for everyone. Also a lot of people are victims of propaganda and genuinely believe that if the government says a certain course of action is essential they’ll follow that advice, witness what happened during the covid (non)pandemic.
Let’s see…increasing demand for electricity + reduced generation of electricity + colder temperatures for decdes + energy and transportation mandates & restrictions… = yeah, get those EVs rolling, Europe.
The Termination event . might just throw a spanner at solar cycle 25.
still plenty of volcanoes popping, ….
Hi, what is the latest a 20C temperature has been recorded in the UK please?
Shiveluch plume thick Alaska, Canada, NW US now and a Mag 6 off Vancouver Island BC:
https://www.windy.com/-Show—add-more-layers/overlays?tcso2,51.700,-147.744,4,i:pressure,m:eX2acs4
See the plume from the Oregon volcano cams:
https://www.timberlinelodge.com/conditions
https://www.mtbachelor.com/the-mountain/webcams/mountain
My internet has been extra slow, couldn’t get it to work at all last night. My phone went stupid I had to take the battery out and that got it to work again. WTF….?
G’day Cap
This one cropped up on the rada regarding the Cascadia fault line.
https://hotair.com/jazz-shaw/2023/04/13/cascadia-fault-line-could-be-ready-to-shift-and-that-would-be-very-bad-n543592Food for thought and comment
Cheers
Dave
Matt Dalby’s comments seem to fit Australia as well. Only yesterday it was announced that by 2025 Australia’s biggest battery would be built/completed?? near Canberra (Capital city of Aust). It will be able to power only 1/3 of that city for JUST 2 hours!!!
So much for a nationwide grid supported from battery storage. Not even enough power – once it is built – to get one city through 1 night. Major wind power projects are finally starting to be questioned for the clearing of forests needed to let them operate in North Queensland. How stupid -to clear CO2 using trees (and destroy thousands of year old eco diversity) to build 20-30 year life span wind towers.
Fortunately we do not have the issue of snow regularly blanketing solar panels – just the issue of “when the sun does not shine etc” ie at night.
The major pumped hydro project is years behind schedule and M$$$ over initial budget- another “battery” solution found wanting. Add to this one of the nation’s biggest coal fire power stations near Sydney to shut/be blown up ?? by the end of this month April 2023 – there will be no reprieve for this station.
I expect to see energy rationing by this time next year.
Bit tricky for the EV owners. Even more tricky if imports of petrol and diesel are curtailled.