Historic Arctic front moving across Europe this weekend.”

[Mark]

Historic Arctic front moving across Europe this weekend.”

“Winter is coming back in May!” exclaims reader. “It’s almost summer, but vast areas of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Northern Italy are going to experience real winter conditions for the next few days (May 4th – 7th).”

“Frost is going to destroy large crops over Central Europe during the next days. I really feel for them as it is quite extreme. I’m not sure if this is record-breaking cold, but it might be.”

(I don’t know if it’s record-breaking either, but the word “historic” could be an indication.”)

UPDATE on the historic Arctic front moving across Europe this weekend, May 3-6th – Severe Weather Europe

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[ato2]

Sounds pretty grim, for sure!

[Mark]

https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/europe-late-spring-feels-winter-190506133328138.html

Hail storms, snowfall and gale-force winds brought wintry conditions across Europe.

Traditionally, Britons expect it to be cold and wet on a Bank Holiday Monday, so May 6, 2019, lived up to expectations, with temperatures in the UK a full 15 degrees Celsius below last year’s record-high figures.

Almost the whole of Europe has seen a brief return to a few days of winter-like weather because an Arctic wind blew south as the month of May came in. Temperatures dropped typically at least 10C from one day to the next. The driving force, a centre of low pressure over Scandinavia, seems to be reluctant to move.

[Mark]

Arctic attack of exceptional magnitude, never so in the last 70 years. Flakes up to 150 m, 20 cm to 5/600 m on the Modena Apennines. Here are the details
Per approfondire L’Uragano Artico flagella l’Italia, maltempo di portata eccezionale: mai così negli ultimi 70 anni, neve a 150 m - Meteo Web

Cold waves in May, with winter characteristics, are not certain unusual, but we must say that most of them, documented at least 6/7, came in the 50/90 years. There are no traces of other cold waves of this entity in the last 30 years. Some late frosts in May there was also a few years ago for the Apennines, but it was manifested in large part with thermal drop and some night-morning frost due to the serenity of the sky, little associated cyclonic activity and also non-striking snow effects. The cold break in progress during these hours and which sees the highlight on the North Apennines, has few precedents in recent weather history and, moreover, is associated with a depression system of significant intensity and vorticity with bad weather, even intense, although circumscribed.

In the morning of today the winter cyclone has raged with rains and showers on many areas of the Po Valley, from Southeast Piedmont, Central South Lombardy, on most of Veneto, even on Liguria, Emilia Romagna, gradually spreading to Tuscany, Umbria, Marche, already with snow in the hills locally on the Ligurian hills. But from late morning and central hours a strong winter bad weather has struck in particular on Emilia Romagna with often heavy rains, especially on central northern areas, and very consistent hilly snowfall.


Per approfondire L’Uragano Artico flagella l’Italia, maltempo di portata eccezionale: mai così negli ultimi 70 anni, neve a 150 m - Meteo Web

[Mark]

80 cm (32 inches) of snow since yesterday.

___________________

Almost 6 meters (19.5 ft) of snow still covers Zugspitze, Germany’s highest peak.

Since yesterday, 80 cm (32 inches) of snow has been added at Germany’s highest peak. In the next few days it will snow there again and again. It is possible that by the middle of the month significantly more than six meters of snow will lie on the Zugspitze.

Measuring 5.80 meters deep, the snow on the Zugspitze towers is already as high as it has been in 20 years.

There was a similar amount of snow in Winter of 1998/1999, when a maximum snow depth of 6.10 meters was measured.

Fast 6 Meter Schnee auf Zugspitze. Soviel wie seit 20 Jahren nicht mehr! - Science Skeptical Blog

[Mark]

At the Norwegian Trondheim Airport, the temperature dropped to -2.5 C, leaving behind the previous record of -2.2 C set in 1941.

The cold in the western Scandinavian Peninsula will continue in coming days.
îÏ×ÏÓÔÉ ÐÏÇÏÄÙ

[Mark]

Many record lows already reported, with another blast of cold expected from May 11 to 18.

A significant Arctic blast is affecting almost entire Europe and parts of northern Africa. Some regions are dealing with heavy snow, below-freezing temperatures and late-season frost.

Temperatures plunged close to and below zero in many places, with many record low temperatures reported.

Higher altitudes of Germany (above 700 m / 2 300 feet) saw some snow on May 4 but significant amounts were registered in the Alps with up to 30 cm (1 feet) or more.

Heavy snowfall was reported mostly in northern Italy and Slovenia on May 5 and 6.

The Watchers calls it an “Historic Arctic Outbreak.”
https://watchers.news/2019/05/06/historic-arctic-outbreak-affecting-europe-and-northern-africa/

[Mark]

Record cold poses a serious danger to vegetation.

Temperatures have collapsed over the whole of France following the influx of arctic air and, on May 6th, set cold records at numerous locations.

The lowest minimum occurred in Barcellonnette in the Alpes de Haute Provence, on the eastern border with Italy, where the thermometer fell to -6.9 ° C, breaking the previous record of -6.5 ° C set in May 1979.

In Romorantin, 85 meters above sea level in the Loire, a famous producer of grapes for white wine, the temperature collapsed to a dangerous (for vines) of -3.8 ° C.

In this case the new cold record for this month was established, prior to -1.7 ° C on 2 May 2017, the record was therefore exceeded by more than 2 ° C.

A new record was also set in Gueret St. Laurent, 365 m above sea level, with -2.8C.

The record was only touched on at Alencon, with -1.6 ° C, against a value of -2 ° C reached on 8 May 1974. In this case the database started in 1932.

Lowest May temperature in two centuries

In Rodez, a city in southern France, the temperature dropped to -2.7 ° C, breaking a record of -1.9 ° C set on 9 March 1974.

Here the temperature database began in 1846, making it the lowest temperature recorded in May in the last two centuries.

Unfortunately, below-zero temperatures constitute a serious danger to vegetation and necessitated the firing of paraffin-based fires on all main vineyards, as also happened last April.

https://www.meteogiornale.it/notizia/58245-1-meteo-freddo-record-in-francia

https://www.meteogiornale.it/img-maxi/news/meteo-freddo-record-in-francia-58245_1_1.png