Earlier this year as the late autumn ran mild and the winter started well on the mild side for Central Europe, meteorologists were projecting a “Majorca Winter”, after the tropical-like Spanish Island which is noted for its sunny and warm year-round weather. A sort of “barbeque winter” was all the talk.
But recently winter has tightened its grip over the continent, with snow and cold taking hold. Today Swiss meteorologist Jörg Kachelmann released his latest Youtube video calling that forecast nonsense.
Once again snow and winter refuse being relegated to a “thing of the past”.
The flamboyant Kachelmann, who is notoriously critical of seasonal forecasts, tells viewers the source of the current winter weather is a stubborn low centered over North central Europe that is pumping cold, unsettled air from the North Sea down over the mainland. Kachelmann sees the pattern sticking around for minimum 7 to 10 days, possibly longer.
Once you get away from the North Sea it really is winter everywhere and it’s going to stay that way for the next several days, with below normal temperatures; a longer winter phase – and so it was clear from the start with this nonsense of a Majorca winter with only very brief periods of cold and snow and so on; it was all stupidity – there’s going to be more snow…”
The NCEP forecast until mid February sees more of the same:
Winter extending to Spain. Image cropped here.
The above longer term forecast may change, of course. However the weather models runs have been pretty coming up with the same result for that last couple of days, and so don’t start dreaming of spring weather just yet.
Now is as a good a time as any to book a ski holiday in the mountains.