La Leñas, Argentina Hit With 8 Feet Of Spring Snow; Winter Arrives Early In Madesimo, Italy; + NCAR Predicting Bumper Snow Season For Much Of The U.S.

La Leñas, Argentina Hit With 8 Feet Of Spring Snow

Recently, Las Leñas, Argentina was forecast an impressive 1m (3.3ft) of spring snowfall within a 24-hour period. However, so much snow fell that the official accumulation remained unclear, nobody could get out to measure it — until now.

As per the official reporting, an astonishing 2.5m (8.2ft) accumulated at the mountain summit in less than a day.


Despite these historic falls, however, eager winter sports enthusiasts remain unable to hit the slopes due to what snowboarder.com has described as a “sky-high avalanche danger”.


As touched on yesterday, additional cold and snow is forecast to sweep Patagonia well into spring, into mid-October, at least:


Winter Arrives Early In Madesimo, Italy

Alarmists were bemoaning a lackluster 2022-23 snow season across the European Alps, only for spring–and indeed summer–to consistently bury the higher elevations, dumpings which, in many cases, more than recouped the winter deficit.

Prematurely book-ending what was a short, though at times hot, summer season, heavy snow is returning to Europe.

Most recently, impressive snow has been pounding the likes of Madesimo, in late-September.

“Winter has come early in Madesimo in Italy,” writes powederhounds on Instagram:


But heavy snow was hitting such regions as the Italian Dolomites all summer, heavy “atypical” snow was building in August, reported leggo.it, at the time.


Dolomite resident and manager of Capanna di Punta Penia, Carlo Brunel–responsible for the above video–gives his take on the 2023 summer season as a whole, writing on Facebook:

“I’m just saying what I’ve been through up here this summer…. Yes it is true we reached the record high of 14.3(C) but there were many more cold days than hot days…. This is just my idea that I live up here…”


Spells of anomalous warmth are expected during low solar activity-induced ‘meridional’ jet stream flows — a regions will ether be ‘under’ or ‘above’ a buckling jet (in the NH), as explained in more detail here:


However, whereas bursts of summer heat are largely enjoyable, winter outbreaks of polar air masses are anything but. Heat can be uncomfortable and prolonged spells something to be endured, but its deadliness pales in comparison to that of cold:


NCAR Predicting Bumper Snow Season For Much Of The U.S.

I foresee the emerging El Niño being used as the sole excuse for America’s bumper snow year to come.

The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder is forecasting one of the strongest El Niño’s on record, according to their newly developed experimental prediction system.

An NCAR chart compares the actual temperature of the tropical pacific ocean to the forecasted temperature, a tool used to predict an El Niño event.


A strong El Niño could hold the potential for significant snowfall this winter across the likes of Boulder County.

NCAR is predicting an event comparable to the major El Niño of 1997 and 1998. Back then, a round of winter storms dumped heavy snow along the Front Range. A single snowstorm–stretching Oct 24 into the 25–saw Boulder received ≈30 inches.

Bob Henson, meteorologist and journalist with Yale Climate Connections, explained El Niño events increase the odds of higher snowfall across the lower portions of the U.S., particularly in the fall or spring.

Specifically regarding Boulder, Henson said the odds of a 20-inch or more single snow event is typically one in every four years. And when there’s an El Niño event the odds increase to a one-in-two chance.

“Now is a fantastic time to get your snow preparation in hand,” said Henson, urging Coloradans to brace for a potential powerful snow event in late October.


NCAR scientist Stephen Yeager, speaking to 97-98’s record-strong El Niño, warned of a similar setup developing this season: “We do think that what we’re going to be experiencing in the coming winter is going to be analogous to that event,” he said.

Buried — a powerful snowstorm slammed the likes of Boulder (Oct 1997).


As touched on above, NCAR scientists have used an experimental prediction system to forecast the emerging El Niño event. And while Yeager is confident that there will indeed be an event, he is much less certain of its the size and potential impacts.

“It is a research tool,” he pointed out, “so people should take this info with a grain of salt.”

Can we do that with all climate models…?

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