There's snow let up to Winter for some! by Matt Taylor
In yesterday’s Weather News, Isobel focused largely on some of the snowy weather that we’ve been experiencing around the globe, particularly in the United States.
Since then, snow has been making the headlines across other parts of the world, chiefly eastern Asia. During Saturday and Saturday night, parts of eastern South Korea were battered by strong winds and heavy snowfall. Up to 56 cm (22 inches) of snow fell in the Gangwon and North Gyeongsang provinces by midday on Sunday. At one point Kimhae International Airport, the gateway to South Korea’s second largest city of Pusan, was closed to all flights due to the conditions.
It was a similar picture across the Sea of Japan. The Japanese regions of Kanto and Tohoku, especially towards the Pacific coast, were particularly badly hit by the snow and strong winds. Around 50 cm (20 inches) of snow fell in places, as a deep area of low pressure tracked across the country towards the Pacific. The worst of the weather here, and in South Korea, occurred on the rear edge of this system as the winds strengthened at swung into a cold northerly direction.
With the continuing focus on wintry conditions, I can’t avoid returning to the United States where it appears to be one severe weather story after another at the moment. As tornado’s cleared the likes of Georgia, the north-western states are once again in the grip of an icy blast.
An ice and freezing rain storm caused havoc across Oregon and Washington states on Saturday. This is where rain from a warmer layer of air higher in the atmosphere falls through sub-zero air closer to the surface. The rain drops become super-cooled as they fall through the bitterly cold air and then freeze on impact to most surfaces in its way.
Frozen roads lead to numerous accidents on the roads, and at Portland, Oregon flights in and out of the international airport were severely disrupted.
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