Sunny skies may well dominate across much of the UK today, but with the nights drawing in there’s no mistaking the fact that we’re on the steady slide into Winter. Much of the northern hemisphere is also gearing up for the varying extremes of weather that Winter can throw at us.
For some, Winter has arrived rather early. Siberia, in the east of the Russian Federation, is well known for the bitter chill that descends upon it during the Winter months. During the past couple of days though, some parts have seen an early snowfall. At Chara, around 300 miles northwest of Lake Baikai, an active cold front brought a covering of snow during Tuesday and Wednesday. By 1200GMT on Wednesday, several centimetres of snow were lying, and in the previous twelve hours the rainfall equivalent of 8mm (0.3 inches) had fallen. This may not sound a great deal, but 8mm of rain approximates to 8cm (3.1 inches) of snow, and their average rainfall equivalent for the whole of November only stands at 7mm (0.3 inches).
Contrast that early descent into Winter with continuing late Summer warmth in the south of France. At Nice, temperatures have been closer to those you would expect in early September rather than early November. On Wednesday, the mercury had risen to 23Celsius (73F). This is well above their average maximum for November of 16.7 Celsius (62F).
In parts of the southern hemisphere, the transition from Winter towards Summer has been just as rocky.
New Zealand has perhaps been fairing the best over recent days. With high pressure in charge and winds generally from the north, much of the country has been dry and fairly sunny. Temperatures have also responded accordingly. At Dunedin, on the southeast coast of South Island, the temperature on Wednesday reached 24.8Celsius (77F). This is some 8 Celsius higher than their November average of 16.7Celsius (62F).
The weather hasn’t been quite as settled across the Tasman Sea in eastern Australia. There have been torrential thunderstorms in Queensland, and parts of Victoria and New South Wales are also seeing spells of prolonged rain. However, in a country that is blighted by drought, any rain can usually be viewed as good news.
