Welcome to another edition of the weekly WSLS weather newsletter! The chill of fall and winter is starting to become more and more prevalent in our area as the days get shorter. Despite the cooler temperatures, we must not forget how warm summer was in our area as well as across the globe.
Potentially the warmest spot on Earth (compared to average) this summer was the Arctic Circle. A Siberian heat wave began this year’s Arctic sea ice season early and, with Arctic temperatures 14 to 18 degrees above-average, the ice kept melting.
The sea ice reached its minimum extent on September 15 at 1.44 million square miles.
This mark is the second-lowest on record, behind 2012 when the sea ice shrunk to 1.31 million square miles. This year’s mark is nearly a million square miles less than the 1981-2010 average, per the National Snow & Ice Data Center (NSIDC).
The sea ice loss is leading to a reinforcing feedback loop. When the ice melts and exposes the open ocean, the darker ocean surface can absorb more heat, which in turn leads to more ice loss. Arctic regions warm twice as fast as the rest of the planet.
The sea ice will build back up during the colder winter months (maxing out at nearly six million square miles in March), but the summer trends are certainly troubling.
Switching gears to your local forecast, we’ll have a brief return to summer this week as highs peak in the low to mid 80s on Wednesday. This will be followed by another cool down and potentially some remnant rain from Tropical Storm Delta. Your Local Weather Authority’s Chris Michaels is breaking it down in our daily forecast article.
You can always get specific forecast details for your zone, whether it’s the Roanoke Valley, Lynchburg, Southside or elsewhere around Southwest and Central Virginia, anytime at WSLS.com/weather. Know your zone!
In case you missed it, we’re posting great weather content on WSLS.com. Here are a few links from the past week to check out:
If you prefer your weather information delivered by social media, you can follow Your Local Weather Authority on Facebook and Twitter.
-- Justin McKee
The Link LonkOctober 05, 2020 at 11:46PM
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Beyond The Forecast: Near-record low Arctic sea ice minimum this year - WSLS 10
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