North Polar Warming Temperatures Above Freezing, Midwinter 2015/2016

Summary: Polar warming temperatures are above freezing, registering 20 degrees Celsius (36 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than expected for midwinter 2015/2016.

When the North Pole's temperature rose above freezing Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2015: Storm Frank over North Atlantic: Earth @EarthWindMap, via Facebook Dec. 30, 2015

North Polar warming temperatures are 20 degrees Celsius and 36 degrees Fahrenheit higher than expected for midwinter 2015 to 2016, according to announcements Dec. 29, 2015, by Canadian and U.S. weather authorities.

A deep low pressure area over Iceland brought record, unseasonably warm temperatures around the Christmas holiday to Canada, the North Atlantic and the North Polar regions. The atmospheric depression over Iceland churned waves to 9-meter (29.53-foot) heights and winds to hurricane-force, 75-knot (75 nautical-mile; 87-mile; 140-kilometer) speeds throughout north Atlantic Ocean waters.

The high-latitude cyclonic disturbance described a severe storm system that warmed the western North Atlantic but whipped heavy floods and strong winds into the British Isles.

Hot air escaped to the North Pole.

Rises in temperature follow introductions of hot air even in the North Pole, where midwinter temperatures tend to stay below zero degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit). They give December 2015 readings that are 20 degrees higher than expected on the Celsius scale and 36 degrees warmer than usual on the Fahrenheit scale.

Nathalie Hasell, Canadian government meteorologist, has access to scientific records of North Polar warming temperatures although compilation is incomplete and inconsistent in regard to previous centuries. She indicates for above-freezing temperatures: “It’s a very violent and extremely powerful depression, so it’s not surprising that hot temperatures have been pushed so far north.”

Climate change joins Storm Frank in accounting for 2015/2016’s North Polar warming temperatures.

James Morison, North Pole Environmental Observatory senior researcher 300 kilometers (186.41 miles) from the North Pole, knows of another surprise peak in North Polar warming temperatures. He lists midweek spikes beyond what Nathalie Hasell calls midwinter’s “bizarre” North Polar temperatures hovering between zero and 2 degrees Celsius (32 and 35.6 degrees Fahrenheit). He mentions North Polar temperatures between Dec. 28 and 30 jumping from minus 37 to minus 8 degrees Celsius (minus 34.6 to minus 17.6 degrees Fahrenheit). He notes that heavier snowfall, melting ice sheets and stronger winds attest to climate change’s average year-round temperature rises averaging 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit).

Climate change, El Niño and Storm Frank operate to impact North Polar temperatures.

Storm Frank’s atmospheric depression over Iceland promises to extend the disturbance strike zone from the North Atlantic and North Polar regions all the way to Siberia. It quits the North Atlantic in time to make room for another atmospheric and weather system to generate unheard-of rainfall events in December on Baffin Island. David Phillips of Canada’s Environmental Ministry responds to questions about icy, snow-covered Baffin Island experiencing midwinter rains: “It’s doubtless the El Niño effect, venturing further north.”

Meteorologists see El Niño’s (The Baby [Jesus]) tropical weather phenomena of every four to seven Christmases generating droughts, floods and storms throughout Central America and beyond.

Climate change, El Niño and Storm Frank trigger 2015/2016’s North Polar warming temperatures.

Dr. Spinrad, NOAA chief scientist, writes that the Arctic windows Earth's future: NOAA @NOAA, via Twitter Dec. 29, 2015

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

When the North Pole's temperature rose above freezing Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2015: Storm Frank over North Atlantic: Earth @EarthWindMap, via Facebook Dec. 30, 2015, @ https://www.facebook.com/EarthWindMap/photos/a.1425522031014856.1073741829.1421330998100626/1719220044978385/

Dr. Richard Spinrad, NOAA chief scientist, writes that the Arctic windows Earth's future: NOAA, @NOAA via Twitter Dec. 29, 2015, @ https://twitter.com/NOAA/status/681929828539449344

For further information:

Agence France-Presse. 31 December 2015. "Freak heatwave pushes temperatures at North Pole above freezing." RawStory.
Available @ http://www.rawstory.com/2015/12/freak-heatwave-pushes-temperatures-at-north-pole-above-freezing/

CNN Wire. 30 December 2015. "It's going to be above freezing at the North Pole -- in the middle of winter." WTKR.
Available @ http://wtkr.com/2015/12/30/its-going-to-be-above-freezing-at-the-north-pole-in-the-middle-of-winter/

Earth @EarthWindMap. 30 December 2015. "Cyclone Frank moving over Iceland and dominating the North Atlantic." Facebook.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/EarthWindMap/photos/a.1425522031014856.1073741829.1421330998100626/1719220044978385/

Gosden, Emily. 30 December 2015. "North Pole temperatures spike 'above freezing' as Storm Frank sends warm air north." The Telegraph > News > Weather.
Available @ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/weather/12075282/North-Pole-temperatures-spike-above-freezing-as-Storm-Frank-sends-warm-air-north.html

Leopold, Todd. 31 December 2015. "It was warm at the North Pole." Cable News Network > Extreme Weather.
Available @ http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/30/us/north-pole-high-temperature-feat/index.html

NOAA @NOAA. 29 December 2015. "What happens in the #Arctic doesn't stay in the Arctic." Twitter.
Available @ https://twitter.com/NOAA/status/681929828539449344

Spinrad, Richard, Dr. 29 December 2015. "The Warming Arctic: Remote But Not Isolated." Medium.
Available @ https://medium.com/@NOAA/the-warming-arctic-6e1045c34457#.qlw664x2x

wochit News. 30 December 2015. "Winter Storm Set to Bring Unseasonal Heat to North Pole." YouTube.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5ilD7pczHs