Heavy Snowfall Hits Northern China; Saudi Arabia Deserts See Their First Ever Snow; Global Temperatures Cooled In October; + Politics
Heavy Snowfall Hits Northern China
Northern China is enduring an early blast of winter, with freezing lows and heavy snows significantly impacting agriculture and transportation, with local authorities warning of dangerous roads and blizzards persisting through the rest of the week.
In China’s northernmost city, Mohe, located in Heilongjiang Province, the early wintry conditions have attracted thousands of snow sports enthusiasts. Known for its extended season, which spans mid-October to late-April, Mohe is already bustling with tourists drawn by its fresh snowfall. Already, on November 1, the city’s first ski resort has opened its slopes for the 2024-25 season.
Chinese authorities have warned of a harsh winter to come. So far it’s following script:
Saudi Arabia Deserts See Their First Ever Snow
This week, the Al-Jawf region of Saudi Arabia has witnessed its first snowfall in recorded history.
The unprecedented snow arrived on the back of a rare weather front that swept through the area, creating a surreal scene of snow-blanketed mountains and valleys where desert terrain usually reigns.
The Saudi Press Agency highlighted that this rare snowfall, combined with the rains at other locales, has rejuvenated the landscape, filling dry valleys with flowing water and waterfalls, infusing the area with new life.
Unusual weather patterns have also affected the United Arab Emirates, where a low-pressure system extending from the Arabian Sea has brought similar rain and hailstorms to the region.
Looking ahead, Saudi Arabia’s National Center for Meteorology has issued ongoing warnings, forecasting more of the same as the week progresses.
Global Temperatures Cooled In October
Through October, global lower atmospheric temperatures experienced a notable drop, as reported by the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH).
As per the UAH satellite data, September’s global temperature anomaly was +0.96C, with October’s posting a sizable drop to +0.73C above the multidecadal average.
In part, this reduction was due to a version update of the chart itself from Version 6.0 to Version 6.1.
This update addresses an important issue with one of the key satellites, NOAA-19, which had drifted significantly from its originally scheduled observation time, affecting temperature accuracy.
The primary change in Version 6.1 involves removing NOAA-19 data starting in 2021. This satellite, which contributed critical data since 2009, has drifted beyond its original “afternoon” orbit, transitioning to a later observation time due to gradual orbital decay. Because of this drift, UAH’s correction methodology could no longer accurately adjust for its readings, resulting in artificially elevated temperature anomalies.
With NOAA-19 data truncated, UAH now relies solely on the MetOp-B satellite, which maintains its intended orbit and therefore provides more consistent data.
Satellite-based temperature records require complex adjustments due to various orbital and calibration factors. This is explained in greater detail on Dr Roy Spencer’s website, but I’ll go into them briefly here:
- Satellite Calibration Biases: Each satellite is calibrated to prevent temperature biases. As new satellites replace old ones, overlapping periods allow UAH to align data for consistency.
- Orbital Drift Correction: Most satellites drift over time, altering the timing of their measurements. UAH uses an empirical correction approach, where data from a drifting satellite is compared to a stable one. This ensures that the time-of-day temperature variations do not skew long-term trends.
- Instrument Body Temperature Effects: Older instruments required further adjustments for internal temperature changes, a problem avoided in newer instruments.
- Orbital Altitude Decay: While altitude decay adjustments were once necessary, UAH now uses a multi-channel approach to improve data accuracy.
For Version 6.1, the critical adjustment relates to the diurnal drift. As NOAA-19 drifted outside the training dataset’s modeled diurnal cycle, its data was removed, as UAH determined that the diurnal drift correction could no longer reliably adjust for these changes.
UAH’s temperature data has recently shown warmer trends than RSS and NOAA products. This discrepancy appears to stem from NOAA-19’s orbital drift. By truncating NOAA-19’s data, UAH’s updated Version 6.1 now aligns more closely with RSS and NOAA data, especially for recent years.
A comparison chart (below) shows that the Version 6.1 update significantly lowers temperature anomalies for recent years, correcting what would have been a +0.94C anomaly in October 2024 to the current +0.73C.
The update reduces the overall temperature trend by a minimal amount—from 0.16C to 0.15C per decade. However, it marks a step toward refining and standardizing satellite-based temperature data, which is essential for long-term climate monitoring.
And briefly speaking to the monthly temperature drop itself, to 0.73C above baseline, it may indicate that the warming affects of Hunga-Tonga, Solar Maximum and/or El Nino are potentially waning, finally. Is this the beginning of the global cooldown?
For further details, readers can access the data directly via drroyspencer.com.
Politics
I don’t usually talk politics; I think, globally, the system is rigged to maintain the status quo no matter which of the two colors you vote for. However, I have been ‘suckered in’ by a few points this time round, this being one of them…
In a recent interview, Bernie Sanders made case that if Donald Trump were to win, it would signal the end of the global climate change agenda as we know it. Sanders said, “If Trump wins, the struggle—the global struggle—against climate change is over. Because if the largest economy in the world, the United States, pulls back, so will China, so will Europe.”
As far as I’m concerned, that’s as good a reason as any to vote red. For all those frustrated with policies aimed at restricting personal freedoms—such as carbon footprints and restrictive energy choices—this could be a pivotal moment.
But I would argue the red wave needs to be great in order to overcome any potential ‘interference’.
