Summer Weather Review
A round-up of global cold and snow records, in spite of the apparent 'hottest summer on record'
DISCLAIMER: An imbalance in weather reporting has, in my opinion, reinforced the false impression that we are accelerating towards a cow-fart and coal-induced climate catastrophe. So, as with all of my seasonal weather reviews, I intentionally focus on weather events from around the world that register at the bottom end of the temperature scale.
I have included more 30 teeth-chattering examples of record-breaking cold weather and snow reports from around the world between June and August, 2023.
Perhaps see if you can pick out your home nation or favorite holiday getaway from the reports.. does it match with your experience?
..and don’t forget you can also follow me on Twitter and on LinkedIn for more bite-sized cold-weather stories from around the World and other Atlas Report updates.
June
Greenland; multiple ice gain records were set throughout the month, including a mid-month, *astonishing 5 gigaton gain* at a time of year when it would usually be loosing mass…
Finland; a temperature of -7.7ºC was recorded at Saana, in the Scandinavian Mountains, which comfortably beat Finland’s previous coldest-ever June low — the -7ºC from 1962.
India; Shimla, the capital of the northern state of Himachal Pradesh, broke a 20-year record when the minimum temperature dropped below 10ºC.
Belarus; on the morning of June 5, thermometers dipped to 1.7ºC in Bobruisk making it the country’s *lowest-ever June reading* for the country which had stood since 1977.
Canada; the Burns Lake and Puntzi Mountain recorded lows of -5ºC and -4.9ºC, respectively, records previously held for the time of year since 1999 and 2018.
Estonia; a new *national record low June temperature* was set as Narva posted a -1.5ºC, comfortably beating the previous coldest-ever June reading of -0.9ºC set in 1982.
USA; the Mount Washington Observatory announced that the mountain’s June snowfall totals reached 8.4 inches — *a new snowfall record* in books dating back to 1932.
Greenland; multiple ice gain records were set throughout the month, including a mid-month, *astonishing 5 gigaton gain* at a time of year when it would usually be loosing mass and beating the previous mid-June record gain of around a 2 gigatons.
Australia; Sydney dropped to just 1.8ºC on Monday which made for the city’s *coldest June morning on record* at this particular 12-year old monitoring site.
Australia; in Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Western Australia, the city’s late-June daily high of 8.9ºC was confirmed as its *coldest June day in record history*.
Reunion; the island, east of Madascar dropped to a freezing -1.1ºC at Plaine de Chicot, located in the Reunion Island Mountains, setting a new record for the *lowest ever June temperature*.
July
The Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan received a full 5 inches of snow, the first July snow in almost 20 years..
Canada; Moose Jaw logged a low of 2.9ºC, a new record low for the date beating the previous benchmark set back in 1918.
Pakistan; The Gilgit-Baltistan region received a full 5 inches of snow, the first July snow in almost 20 years.
South Africa; snow fell on Johannesburg for the first time in more than a decade – since August 2012 - in early July.
Mozambique; the maximum temperature of just 12ºC early in July has officially gone down as the nation’s second-lowest temperature of the past 50 years.
Russia; On Cape Chelyuskin, the temperature dropped to -3.8ºC breaking the previous July record set in 1944 by a considerable 2ºC. Other long-standing monthly low records were broken in Khatanga and Verkhneimbatsk.
Argentina; numerous historical monthly low temperature records were set, including the readings of -22.5ºC at Perito Moreno Aero and the -11.2ºC at San Antonio Oeste.
USA; The Southern Sierra Mountains, including the Mammoth resort, exceeded 500% of normal snowfall levels, the Central Sierra exceeded 800%, and the North a whopping 1,000%.
Antarctica; The Italian-French research station of Concordia posted a reading of -83.2ºC towards the end of July which was the fifth coldest daily value ever recorded there.
Scandinavia; Denmark closed July with an average temperature of 15.9ºC which is a full 1ºC below the multidecadal average and was also the country’s wettest July on record. Nearby Sweden and Finland also posted average monthly temperatures below the multi-decadal norm.
Fiji; at the end of July Suva’s Nausori Airport posted a daily high of just 21ºC which was the region’s lowest maximum temperature ever recorded.
August
Tonga measured its second-lowest temperature ever with a 9.3ºC reading, close to the absolute all-time low of 8.7ºC set in 1994.
Netherlands; set its coldest August 6 ever recorded with a daily-high of just 14.4ºC in Maastricht at the start of the month beating the previous record set back in 1987.
French Polynesia; tied its coldest ever August temperature on the southernmost island with a reading of just 8.9ºC, a low not seen since 1963. This is also the joint second-coldest temperature ever recorded.
Tonga; towards the beginning of the month Tonga measured its second-lowest temperature ever with a 9.3ºC reading, close to the absolute all-time low of 8.7ºC set in 1994.
Italy; multiple low monthly temperature records were set including in Sardinia, Capo Frasca, Iloria, Gavoi and Villanova in the middle of August.
Myanmar; monthly low records were set at Theinzayet with it’s 20ºC temperature and at Kawkareik with it’s 16.5ºC .
USA; in the middle of August Denver International Airport dipped to 9.4ºC tying the record for the date set in 1976.
Antarctica; multiple all-time minimum temperatures were set including the -61.1ºC at the the Ross Ice Shelf, the -59.9ºC at Ross Island Vicinity. Elsewhere -53.2ºC was measured at Erin in West Antarctica, which tied the all-time cold record.
Antarctica; Vostok dropped to a remarkable -81ºC, a reading not seen since 1994. The preliminary monthly average for August 2023 at Vostok Station was -71.2ºC, making it the coldest August since 2002 and also the coldest month since July 2016.
Denmark; there was an average of 16.1ºC across the country which is a significant 0.8ºC below the August norm.
Belgium; August registered an average temperature of 18.1ºC, which is 0.3ºC below the multidecadal average, a similar situation repeated across Europe including the Netherlands and Sweden.
‘The hottest summer on record’
’Summer 2023 was the hottest on record’ surpassing previous records ‘by a large margin’ according to Reuters, themselves referencing data from the European Union Climate Change Service.
August represented ‘the third straight month in a row to set such a [heat] record’ the article continued.
But did it feel that way to you? What was your experience… did it seem like the hottest summer of even recent years, let alone the hottest ‘on record’?
If that really is the case, then surely the unrelenting record cold and snow events bucking the broader trend should become even more newsworthy?
And yet, I am pretty sure, you won’t have seen them reported until now…
Be careful out there… and wrap up warm!
-T
Wow!! That is some serious boiling.
Amazing work as always! We placed your other article ( that we asked permission to use) in last month's edition of Westward Independent ( wwind.ca). I would love to use some parts of this as local media keeps touting "the warmest" yet my phone and computer have repeatedly warned of lower-than-normal temperatures in June and August.
Keep up the amazing work !
A