What's the weather where you are?

Stockholm, Sweden
28 March 2023 • 13:30

It is deep winter up here (due to the snow) -1.1°C while I am writing which means the temperature isn't going above 0°C, and the snow is lasting. Overcast and snow continued to fall - plus some wind gusts swooping through, howling through the roof, I hear.

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During the past days

colder air together with cyclones are swirling around over the city - which together with the open waters of the baltic sea create a dynamic cresting snow showers and snowfall, pulling in over land. The Baltic sea provides the energy to fuel. Once again larger amounts of snow have fallen, especially since yesterday.

This morning: 15 cm [5.9 inch] in the city, 13 cm [5.11 inch] in the southern suburbs and 30 cm [11.8 inch] at the north coast of our county (the latter has happened before, so it isn't that unusual in the end of march). The snow falls started already 3 days ago, albeit the big amounts snow never came - instead only 0.2 cm (!) snow was the result - but it was so extreme fine, like super fine powder enough to make the landscape look all white - which i thought was funny. Two days ago it then increased to 2 cm depth. And since yesterday it added up considerably. Due to the gusty winds, in some places the snow is deep (30 cm) which you can tell in the last photo further below.

Temperatures in the extreme north of Sweden, reached down to levels of -36.8°C [-34.2°F] in Nikkaluokta (Laponia) in the morning of 24 March 2023. Which is quite unusual for the end of March, albeit it has happened before. Nevertheless, there have been many very cold nights up in the north this month, often below -30°C.

Stockholm weather stats

Here the stats from Stockholm City this far in March 2023. The sunshine hours have been dropping below average lately. In the first 28 days of march 2023, we have reached a mere 102.5 hours of sunshine. If you compare that with the same last year we reached extreme 247 hours. (It was outstanding, exceptionally sunny march 2022, I may add)

Recently, we had a brief mild period, with temperatures up to 12°C / 53°F the other day - which was really a wonderful experience - and enough to melt away the last snow from the earlier plunge, which had resulted into a depth of 20 cm in the city, and 40 cm in the archipelago to the east.

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Photo Impressions
from the past 24 hours in Stockholm

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Middle Sweden • Record Precipitation, large snow depths
28 March 2023

Apparently more has happened in terms of snow depths over East Middle Sweden (Svealand / Uppland), so that Swedish SMHI wrote an article about it.

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In Swedish

Record precipitation and high snow depths
28 March 2023 • by SMHI, Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute

During the last 24 hours, the newly-emerging spring in eastern Svealand was severely attacked by King Bore [Winter King]. Abundant precipitation in the form of snow meant that the snow depth there increased considerably, reaching a maximum of 40 cm in Vattholma in Uppland. In eastern Svealand, as well as locally in other parts of southern Sweden, March 2023 will be locally record wet.

A new daily precipitation record for March was recorded at one station yesterday, 27 March:

Vällnora (Uppland, start year 1971): 22.8 mm. Previous record: 22.5 mm from 1983.

At Sandhamn (Uppland, start year 1965) on Värmdölandet in Uppland, 22.0 mm was indeed recorded yesterday. However, an even greater daily amount of 36.3 mm was recorded there on 9 March this year. The previous March record there was 18.4 mm from 2018. Thus, the two largest daily precipitation amounts for Sandhamn have now been measured in March 2023.

In Vattholma outside Uppsala, 21.3 mm fell. This is the largest daily amount observed in March there since 1959 when 21.7 mm was measured. The station was established in 1905 but digitised data is only available from 1947.


Large snow depths in some parts of Uppland

The largest measured snow depth in eastern Svealand on Tuesday morning 28 March was 40 cm in Vattholma followed by 35 cm in Vällnora and 33 cm in Söderby-Karlsäng northeast of Östhammar, Norrveda on Vätö and Uppsala. However, there were quite a few differences in the measured snow depths. The station Björklinge only 6 km west of Vattholma had "only" 15 cm snow depth, a difference of 25 cm. This is explained by the geographical distribution of the precipitation streams. While Vattholma received 21.3 mm, 'only' 6.5 mm in melted form was recorded in Björklinge.


Similar event in Uppsala in April 1952

There was no question of any snow depth records. However, given that we are now writing the 28th of March, it may be interesting to see what the largest April snow depths have looked like for at least Uppsala where the snow depth measurements have been continuous and for a long time. There we have to go back to 1 April 1985 to find a greater snow depth this late in the season. At that time, Uppsala had 35 cm of snow. Before that, it was in April 1970 when Uppsala's April record of 58 cm was measured. At the end of March 1969, 1966, 1956 and 1951 there were also snow depths greater than today's 33 cm. However, it should be noted that the snow depths for all these years were the result of a long winter.

This year Uppsala went from bare ground on 25 March to 33 cm on 28 March. As far as I can see from the digitised snow depth data, from 1947 onwards, the closest we come to this is 1-2 April 1952. Then Uppsala went from 1 cm snow depth to 29 cm the following day.


Very precipitation-rich month of March in the south

In southern Sweden, March 2023 will be the wettest month on record. Here are some stations in Uppland that provisionally broke their old March records.

Sandhamn (Uppland,, start year 1965): 88.2 mm. Previous record 68.7 mm from 1978.
Norrveda (Uppland, start year 1936): 109.3 mm. Previous record 94.0 mm from 1937.
Vällnora (Uppland, start year 1971): 87.0 mm. Previous record 68.2 mm from 2006.

As more stations may break their old March records, these will be reported in a separate blog post in the coming days. More precipitation is expected during the last days of the month in southern Sweden.

Translated with DeepL
 
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Extreme low temperatures
28 March 2023 • Stockholm county & surroundings

Quite a remarkable event

7 km from my place, the station of Stockholm-Tullinge reports a (preliminary) MIN of -16.5°C / 2.5°F. That is extremly low for the end of March. I have been looking into the history of Tullinge station, starting from year 1961, and found only twice temperatures that were lower (but a couple days earlier): 24 March 2013 with -17.3°C, and -18.5°C on 22 March 2013. 🥶

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Uppsala Airport reported -16.6°C / 2.1°F which too, is a preliminary value. Stockholm city on the other hand "only" reports -5°C / 23°F at 05:00 which is absolutely nothing to write home about, as it has happened in more recent times, for example:

Stockholm inner city, recent cold nights in the end of March

• -5.6°C on 27 March 1994
• -5.6°C on 28 March 1995
• -4.8°C on 28 March 2001
• -9.0°C on 23 March 2013
(that march 2013 had many very cold nights, lasting until 11 April)
• -5.7°C on 31 March 2013
• -6.0°C on 27 March 2018


Reason ?

I assume the reason for these exceptional low temperatures is the massive snow cover (up to 40 cm) over middle East Sweden, together with somewhat cold air coming to rest under the influence of (now) calm wind conditions.

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Stockholm, Sweden
1 April 2023

Well, it is still nasty cold at night (early mornings before sunrise), with temperatures which recently went down to -22°C (Norrtälje), albeit on this first April of 2023, "only" -13°C again in Norrtälje which lies around 80 km NE of Stockholm. But also near by places like Uppsala Airport reports -11°C, Stockholm City -3.7°C, Tullinge close to my place, -10.6°C... Those are temperatures unusual low for the beginning of April.


Slippery icy walkways :rolleyes:

And yes, we still have a snow cover in, and especially outside of Stockholm. At my place in the southern suburbs, between 4 to 8 cm depth, but north of the city still up to around 30 cm deep (north of Uppsala). Due to the daytime melting, and then re-freezing at night - many walkways are slippery and treacherous !

I was surprised to find that many side roads in the city center itself too, were still covered with a rather thick, slippery ice - as if the house owners gave a rat's a** to remove it. So, it ain't just a suburban phenomena... They only seem to clear up major roads. As soon you walk into a side road - it's like walking on eggs. But how on earth, do old people walk on such roads ?! (They probably don't...)


In the chart below

You see that larger portions of Scandinavia are now pretty cloud free, as the cyclone activity has moved to more southern latitudes (where it is much milder). Cold air has once again moved across our lands, pushing southwards, while temperatures anew plunged to very low levels.

During daytime however, the feeling is neat: sunny skies and temperatures +3°C. The promise of springtime is clearly "in the air" - it is inevitable. Lively birds sing that song from the rooftops, no matter what. (It's a little bit like giving "King Bore"/ King Winter the middle finger... )

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The sunshine hour comparison: March 2023 vs 2022

This time, the end of March 2023, sunshine was poor - briefly even dropping below 2 hours a day (from an Ø of 14 days). Last year around the same time, we had 8 hours (!) in average towards the end of the month. And some places over Southern Sweden, did not even get a single drop of rain during the whole month.

This year - it is the opposite; New local precipitation records have been broken in Southern Sweden, and cities like Stockholm and Uppsala recorded their wettest march month in over 110 years.

Stockholm and Uppsala's wettest March in over 110 years

In Stockholm, this year's March 2023 has been unusually wet. You have to go back to 1909 to find a wetter March. Then 98.5 mm fell at Observatory Hill in Stockholm. Apart from March 1909, only March 1896 (79.0 mm) and 1898 (75.5 mm) had more precipitation than this year's edition. So far this year, there has been 71.9 mm. It will probably be a disappointing fourth place for Stockholm as it does not look like any more precipitation will fall there in the coming days. Precipitation measurements in Stockholm began in 1786.

SMHI.se
 
In Macedonia where I live, winter comes back. Temperature is around 3-4°C during the day and a little below zero in the morning and at night. Mountains and hills are covered with fresh snow. This morning there was a little snow in the city also.

In the last few years, every spring we had more and more winter days like today. According to the forecasts, the cold weather will remain for at least one more week.
 
Ice has hit the provoke of Quebec hard, with mass power outages:


More than 460,000 Hydro-Quebec customers remain in the dark after a fierce ice storm knocked out power across much of the province on Wednesday.

Montreal remains one of the hardest-hit regions, with over 260,000 customers affected as of around 4 p.m. That number is roughly 52,000 in the neighbouring northern municipality of Laval.

During a Friday morning news conference, Hydro-Quebec officials said power has been restored to over 500,000 of its users. The goal is to get 800,000 customers back on the grid by the end of the day Friday.

  • SEE THE MAP: Real-time Hydro-Quebec outages by region

COMPLETE ICE STORM COVERAGE​


Around 1,400 Hydro workers were deployed Friday to speed up repair efforts, up from the roughly 1,000 workers sent out Thursday. Officials said 70 km/h winds could impact Friday's work and possibly cause additional outages.

"We're not expecting a huge number of new outages, maybe a minor amount," said Maxime Nadeau, director of energy system control at Hydro-Quebec, explaining that tree branches disturbed by the storm could detach because of winds.

Some customers will remain without electricity into Sunday and possibly even Monday, although Hydro Quebec did not specify the regions where this is expected.

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City workers clears fallen branches Thursday, April 6, 2023 after yesterday’s ice storm which left over a million customers without power in Montreal.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Over 1.1 million lost power at the height of the outage following Wednesday's ice storm, which coated swaths of Quebec in a layer of ice, toppling trees that crushed parked cars and damaged power lines.
 
Stockholm, Sweden
8 April 2023

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Springtime Feeling !

Oooh, finally a feeling of springtime today with temperatures around 11°C / 51.8°F here in Stockholm. It is sunny, and most of the snow now practically gone. Helsingborg (SE Sweden) reports a preliminary MAX of 16.3°C / 61.4°F today. My husband just came in through the door (While I am newly awakened), spins like a cat when i asked him about the weather outside - he replied - "It is absolutely fantastic outside!"

No wonder; because the first week of April 2023 has been way too cold (up to 5°C lower than normal in average), while another round of snow came down 3 days ago, dumping 7 cm, while the temperatures were nothing to write home about, barely reaching above freezing. Plus the lack of sunshine made the days feel gloomy and boring.


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Stockholm, Sweden
13 April 2023

Today it is dull, gray and rainy - and just about 3.8°C, which is pretty cold if you ask me (normal average max would be 10°C). However, last night, there was no frost and it felt awesome to work at the train depot without that constant freezing feeling when residing outside, having a smoke etc. Very lovely feeling.

The first flowers have started to show up, such as crocus, snow drops and others whose name i don't know. It's a delight ... as with any of the first springtime signs which are fun to spot. Earlier in southern parts of Sweden, temperatures went up to 17°C.
Even today it is warmer at the Southwest Coast with 12°C. Örebro, a town which lies inland 150 km (?) to the west of Stockholm, reached 13.2°C, highest in the country.


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So, you want to be a Troll?

If you are thinking of trolling on this forum, that is, just saying stuff to aggravate people, you should know a few things first that will help us get the most enjoyment out of banning you back to the stone age.

While trolling is certainly inappropriate behavior, and bannable, it's mostly that way to keep carpal-tunnel cases among moderators down. You see, holding our wrists in a static position for long periods of time is the leading cause of injury on this board, so trolling gives us the opportunity to exercise our mouse arms and provides for some fun, friendly competition. A favorite game among moderators is the ban race; prizes are handed out daily, so we thank you for trolling.

Lately of course, the trolls have been of such low quality that it's hardly any fun, so please, read on and follow these basic rules to make your banning all that more enjoyable.

1. There's no profane language, or overt sexual references allowed on this board. You might think: "Awesome, I am just a few distasteful comments away from a most excellent banning." You'd be wrong, it's just not sportsman-like. We'd like to ban you the way god intended and banning people just because they have a gutter mouth is hollow; you need to play your cards a little closer to your chest, make it sporting. Try to talk like an adult and use subtlety and ambiguous phrasing to get your troll in. If not, you'll be labeled a McTroll.

2. Try to avoid using the word "cult". I know you think it really peeves us off, but it's actually making it too easy to figure out what you are really after (not to mention, who sent you).

3. Try not to be too premature with your outing of yourself. We know it's hard to resist, but the more inane posts you make before flaming somebody the more we have to discuss and the more practice we get dissecting and psychoanalyzing you. Try to think of us as cats, and you, the troll, as our scratching post. If you just go popping off in the first post we hardly get a chance to clean our claws! It's just no fun for us, and no fun for you.

And finally, remember, the main reason to troll a board is fun, not anger. Don't take it personally; we don't. In fact if anything, the only problem we actually have with trolls is their apparent lack of skill and quality these days. If we didn't have trolls, we'd start to wonder if we are doing things right. You only have haters when you are doing something important enough to hate and/or envy. So every time you troll our board, we know we are doing something right. And we like being right.
Thanks for the info!
 
Stockholm, Sweden
22 April 2023

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21 April 2023 • my neighbours Mini-Daffodils in their garden


Major high pressure area
Springtime has made rapid progress even here in our region, with temperatures today culminating up to 20.7°C / 69.3°F in Stockholm (and a few other places). It almost feels unreal sense the warmth in the air, now at the very beginning of the season, it has this special sensation to it. And the flowers... oh my... The flowers are shooting up everywhere ! Literally, this happened only within a few days, as I see the face of many more types of flowers. And boy, ah... it is so beautiful. (it always is. So fascinating when nature awakens like that, isn't it ?) On my way home early in the morning, when I arrive at our neighbourhood, i often slow down or even stop, just to admire all the flowers our neighbours have planted.

The reason for this wonderful mild to warm weather lately - was a major high pressure area over Scandinavia, which grew strong to unusual high levels;: on 19 April 2023 in places like Storlien and Malung, 1043.4 hPa where reported ! Which is the highest April value since 17 April 2003. The highest April record of any comes from the city of Uppsala: 1047 hPa, measured on 15 April 1860


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Just the beginning
Well, like everything else goes in waves - this warm period is about to end. The GFS prognosis insists on a chilly and unsteady weather type for the next two weeks. Notice the large differences in temperatures between South and North Sweden tomorrow as more snow is predicted for middle Sweden ("Södra Norrland") in the next days, as low pressure areas are going to have a dance in the area. Stockholm may still be favored for another day with 16°C (according to Swedish SMHI, but not GFS below).


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Snow
Half of the country is still covered with snow (which is totally normal), while the depths have sunken considerably especially during the past 5-7 days.

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