In the centre of the Pyrenees, my local ski resort will not open for skiing holidays, for the first time ever (the resort is just a bit older than I am, and I am nearing 45 years old). Not opening for Christmas is not unusual, snow is often lacking then, but for February, that's a first... There is no snow, most of the time it doesn't even freeze at night. It is also pretty dry. Down in the valley, we didn't have a single strong frost night since the beginning of the autumn and winter, just some 0/-1/-2/-3°C.
It comes after an incredibly hot and dry summer. My place is supposed to be very green and wet: this year it rained only twice in 3 months! And those were not even summer rains, those two rainy days looked like small November rainfalls. When I was a kid we had short summer storms several times a week (in the end of afternoon / early evening), especially in August (less so in July, but still there were a few). The system has completely changed over the last 2 decades.
And then the autumn was dry too, except for 1 month. And now the winter is warm and dry.
And that comes after a similar year the year before, which was just a little bit softer.
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That's not just anecdotal: the long term measurements show huge changes, and acceleration. Short term measurements too: monthly records get beaten all the time those last 5 years.
Wetter and colder places have been impacted more by the warming, apparently.
It comes after an incredibly hot and dry summer. My place is supposed to be very green and wet: this year it rained only twice in 3 months! And those were not even summer rains, those two rainy days looked like small November rainfalls. When I was a kid we had short summer storms several times a week (in the end of afternoon / early evening), especially in August (less so in July, but still there were a few). The system has completely changed over the last 2 decades.
And then the autumn was dry too, except for 1 month. And now the winter is warm and dry.
And that comes after a similar year the year before, which was just a little bit softer.
--------
That's not just anecdotal: the long term measurements show huge changes, and acceleration. Short term measurements too: monthly records get beaten all the time those last 5 years.
Wetter and colder places have been impacted more by the warming, apparently.