On the other side of the world

While here in Ottawa and Montreal we are having a fairly mild Winter - indeed, news reports are saying that 2006 was the warmest Winter on record in North America - this is not universally true.

I wrote my friend in Hong Kong and asked if her Winter has been as nice and mild as ours. She replied, "nono..it is freezing here, so cold! i have to put on long coat and a lot of hot stuff to keep me warm!"

I know that fellow bloggers Renny (Norway) and Matt (Sweden. sniff, his blog is gone) are having a milder Winter.

I am curious, is this Winter or Summer season (depending on your part of the world) warmer or cooler than usual? Or is it pretty much normal. (Yes, this is an active solicitation question, please don't be shy. Don’t forget to include the part of the world you are from and what season you are in).

When I grew up in England in the late 60s, I don’t recall snow (my first recollection of snow was the snowstorm of the century that occurred in Montreal in March, 1971, shortly after we emigrated to Canada. It was fantastic! I have waited for such snow ever since). My parents tell me that Winters were very mild in England; it would snow in the morning and by noon it was all gone. People then went out and tended their roses and had tea in their gardens in the afternoon. I know this all changed in the late 70s (for a lot of Europe) when they started getting huge snowstorms and bitterly cold weather.

Comments

TorAa said…
You refered to Renny, and I can confirm the folowing: Since temratures have been registrated on regular basis in the 1870's in Oslo, Norway, we have had the mildest 4Q ever. Average mean temperature was +2C above the middle temperature calculated between 1961 and 1991.What have been so extraodinary is the fact it has been steadly milder than normal.
We've had a couple of snowfalls, but it has melted in a day or two. Last winter, when it was slightly cooler, it all falls down as snow, and we had as late as Easter more than 1 meter snow in the Hills in Oslo. Now it's nothing.
Going back to the late 80's and early 90's, bushes in downtown Oslo was green in February, so it's really nothing new under the Sun.
Barbara said…
People keep blaming the warm weather on El Nino, but I say it's got to be global warming. Whatever it is, it's probably not a good thing to deviate so far from the norm.
In the Netherlands, this has been a very warm winter (12 degrees today) but just as rainy and cloudy as ever. This is supposed to have been the warmest year in the last 300 years.
KayMac said…
In southern Michigan, we have had an unseasonable warm winter. Cold blasts have started to blow in last night and today, tho.
As you know, here in S. Ontario, we have had mild temps and no snow up to now...we just got hit to the north of us last night and ski places are now open but not all runs/trails. It's going to get cold and snowy next week. Maybe nature will balance it out and we'll have snow in May!
Mockingbird said…
Different people have different definitions on cold. Some people like me feel 20 degree celcius is cold. While others feel it's warm. One man's cold is another man's hot. I guess it depends on how much natural insulation you have on your body. I for one, have very little natural insulation on my body.
Anonymous said…
I guess for someone living in the tropics, I always wish there is winter. Snow, skiing, all wrapped up in layers of clothes.

I know New York had a rather mild winter (almost no snow), as well as Beijing and Nanjing. From what I heard, the winter in China was milder (above 0 degree celsius) as compared to in the past (ten degree celsius below zero).

Maybe with greenhouse effect and global warming, the climate seems to be getting warmer everywhere, which is not a good sign.
Anonymous said…
its warmer in here,Richard.we`re expecting some snow but it won`t happen,i guess coz of the warmer temperature.cold countries are luckier though,imagine the hot countries,getting hotter everyday?
eewwwww...
Coffee Fairy v1 said…
It's been unusually very rainy here in Singapore. They said it's the monsoon rains and then after it'll be very hot, uh-oh.
Richard said…
toraa: there was no intent to exclude you or anyone, but I felt renny was a better know blogger to use as an example. We are definitely having some very mild weather. Who knows, perhaps Greenland will once again be green (as it was 1000 years ago).

barbara: but what is the norm? The past 100 years? 1000 years? 10,000 years? Or 65 million years? We are warmer than 100 years ago, about the same as 1000 years ago, warmer than 10,000 years ago, and definitely colder (by about 12C) than 65 million years ago. I am pretty sure that planet is warming because other planets in the solar system (Mars and that former planet Pluto) are experiencing warming. As well, there are a number of fairly big changes in cloud patterns and storms on the various gas giants. So there is something happening within the whole solar system. One theory, brought out back in the 70s was that we are passing through a cosmic cloud. One of the side effects would be warming. How much of it is directly attributable to human activity is another matter - certainly we have some effect, but I am still skeptical it is as large as the alarmists would lead us to believe.

ingrid: a friend of mine who visited Holland this summer (she is of Dutch extraction), said that Holland is having a hard time keeping the land from the sea.

kaymac: well, since I wrote that post, we have had colder weather. Today we even had a whole whack of snow. It was a brutal drive into work. It took me 1h 20m to go 32Km.

MOI: I am not so sure I would be keen to see snow in May. As I get older, Springtime becomes more and more my favourite month. I love the colour and vibrancy.

mickell: 20C is definitely comfortable for doing things in a quiet, leisurely manner. 16-18C is better for all manner of physical activity.

juphelia: why would global warming not be a good thing? According to scientists, we are about on par with the global temperature 1000 years ago. We are still about 12C below the temperature shortly after the end of the Late Cretaceous (when mammals began to thrive). We are definitely above the temperature during the Ice Age. I am reminded of a quote from Marcus Aurelius: To be in the process of change is no more an evil than to be the product of change is a good. or (yeah, he had two similar), "For the thrown rock, there is no more good in rising, then there is evil in falling.".

ghee: snow in the Philippines? I suppose you mean Japan? Right? I don’t like hot weather. I suffer terribly in the heat.

coffee fairy: but is that rain warmer or colder than usual? I don't like rain, it makes everything damp (or humid).
vina said…
we may be a tropical country (philippines), but there have been changes in the temperature over the years. it is not as cold/windy as it has been or sould be, and summer just keeps getting hotter and hotter.
Coffee Fairy v1 said…
definitely colder! the temperature here is down. Today, it didn't rain but the temperature is still cooler than usual. I like the rain but not when there's so much.

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