Major Snow Squall Impact Many Parts of Central to Northern Estonia! (credit: Meteo Europe)2/27/2017 
DISCUSSION: As a strong low pressure system moved through several areas across central and northern Estonia at the end of last week, many people experienced whiteout conditions across the region. As seen in the video above (courtesy of Kairo Kiitsak before being re-shared by the Meteo Europe team), the heavy falling and blowing snowfall creating near-zero visibility conditions as snow squalls propagated through the region. As one experiences such conditions, it is always imperative to avoid traveling through said regions so as to avoid being impacted by such dangerous winter storm conditions. More specifically, it is important to respect the inherent dangers of traveling through winter storms on the roads or even on foot due to the natural dangers presented by motorists attempting to travel through low-visibility and frigid conditions. Therefore, if and when you are caught in a winter storm with such hazardous conditions, you should always remain on the side of caution to avoid putting yourself in harm's way.
To learn more about other high-impact weather events occurring across Europe, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz
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Strong North Atlantic Low Bears Down On Western to Central Europe! (credit: SMHI via Meteo Europe)2/22/2017  DISCUSSION: As a strong low pressure continues to travel across the North Atlantic Ocean and just to the west of western Europe, many forecasters and residents are bracing for significant impacts from this powerful incoming extra-tropical cyclone. IN the image above, you can denote the well-wrapped circulation associated with this particular storm system based on the clear evidence of what is a very tightly-wrapped center of circulation based on the cyclonic (i.e., a counter-clockwise turning of the cloud cover associated with the low pressure system as you away from the center of the low pressure system's circulation center) "whirlpool-like" cloud structure on display just to the west of Norway and Sweden. Note how large the circulation of this low pressure system and how much ground it cover; though this is not uncommon for North Atlantic cyclones to grow to this size and larger.
It is worth noting that many parts of the British Isles have already been feeling many substantial impacts in the form of heavy rain (towards the lower elevations), heavy snowfall (towards the higher elevations), and strong winds due to the strong and persistent onshore flow coming directly off the Atlantic Ocean. Thus, as this large low pressure system continues to head towards mainland western and northwestern Europe, the severity of the overall impacts from this latest storm system will increase and then begin to gradually abate as it weakens over land. To learn more about other high-impact weather events occurring across Europe, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz Blizzard Conditions Felt Across Several Parts of Norway! (credit: Inger J Johansen via Meteo Europe)2/21/2017 
DISCUSSION: As a strong low pressure system moved through some portions of northwestern Europe over the last couple of days, there were prolific impacts from this latest winter blast. As shown in the video above (which was captured by Inger J Johansen via Instagram), the combination of heavy falling and blowing snowfall coupled with the very strong winds created absolutely treacherous travel conditions. You will also note how the regional visibility evidently went down to at least a quarter mile visibility if not closer to zero miles at times. Thus, as always, be sure to respect the power of Mother Nature in situations where you find yourself stuck in the middle of a powerful winter storm. In this particular situation, there is no doubt that both regional and international airports (e.g., Oslo International Airport) were severely impacted by this latest blizzard as of just a few days ago since the maximum impacts from this winter storm were experienced back on Saturday afternoon.
To learn more about other high-impact weather events occurring across Europe, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz   DISCUSSION: As a strong low pressure system continued to push across several countries across northwestern Europe, there were very strong winds reported in association with its gradual progression across that region. More specifically, there was a maximum wind gust of 180 km/h (50 m/s) reported at the Laukukero weather station which is located in Lapland, Finland. These strong winds occurred as a direct result of the progression of the strong onshore flow which emanated from the North Sea as well as the Norwegian Sea. In addition, near the time at which the strongest winds occurred, the attendant cold front tied to the aforementioned low pressure system was moving through the region as well. Thus, the combination of these factors led to a strong wind event which also persisted for some time as well at this and other reporting stations from that region.
Through studying the lower image (courtesy of the University of Wyoming), you can see how northwestern sections of Europe were also positioned approximately halfway between a reasonably strong low pressure system and then a nearby high pressure system. Thus, the pressure gradient (i.e., the horizontal change in atmospheric pressure values over some given straight-line distance) fostered the windier conditions which ensued across the region over the past 12 to 24 hours. It is important to also note that the map shown in the lower image is a representation of the pressure field observed at the 850 mb level of the atmosphere (which is located approximately 1 mile or so above the surface of the Earth). Therefore, the pressure gradient and the corresponding winds will typically and in this case were a bit stronger aloft than at the surface. Though, evidently some of these stronger winds did manage to "mix" down to the surface as observed by the reporting station located at Lapland, Finland. Thus, all in all, one could say that it was "good kite flying" weather over in parts of northwestern Europe much earlier in the day on Tuesday. To learn more about other high-impact weather events across Europe, click here! ©2017 Weather Forecaster Claudia Pukropski  DISCUSSION: As a winter storm recently completed its time across several parts of western to northwestern Europe, there was some residual moisture in the air. With this residual moisture in the air coupled with very cold temperatures in place, this led to the perfect precursors to a classic frost event across central to northern Estonia and surrounding countries as well. As seen in the image attached above, nearly surfaces experiencing ice accretion (which is simply put the accumulation of ice on all exposed surfaces due to the presence of sufficient moisture in the air as well as sufficiently cold air). This can be identified in the image above by seeing the bright white coating on all of the plants and trees both inside and beyond the scope of this particular picture which was captured in Simuna, Estonia (a city which is located in northern Estonia to be exact). It is also worth noting that although the frosting event seen here is quite scenic in nature, frost and/or rime ice is a general travel hazard based on the fact that it presents hazards on roads, runways, railways, and more.
To learn more about other high-impact weather events from across Europe, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz  DISCUSSION: As a large winter storm continued progressing across much of western and central Europe, there were major impacts felt across many parts of Europe. More specifically, across central/south-central Europe, there was quite an extensive hard rime icing event which unfolded as several circumstances came into play at the same time. There factors included very cold (i.e., well-below freezing) temperatures being in place along with the presence of substantial atmospheric water vapor content which created ideal conditions for the formation of rime ice. Rime ice forms as a result of the water droplets located in fog (or freezing fog) freezing onto the outer surfaces of various objects. In this particular case, the water droplets froze onto the outer surfaces of various trees located throughout this forest located in Kääriku, Estonia. Though rime ice can look quite scenic in situations such as this, it can also be incredibly dangerous as a result of it causing travel delays both on the ground (e.g., cars, trains, etc.) and in the air (e.g., commercial/private aviation, helicopters, etc.).
To learn more about other high-impact weather events occurring across Europe, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz  DISCUSSION: Rapid snowmelt and heavy rainfall led to ice buildup along the Vaser River in Maramures, Romania on Saturday February 4, 2017. A weak low pressure area moving across the region provided just enough rainfall to cause the horrific flooding. Along with the rainfall came sudden warmer temperatures which aided in the rapid snowmelt. Ice, that had formed along the river during this most recent arctic outbreak, caused a massive buildup of water behind it which led to the water over flowing its bank and flooding surrounding towns and neighborhoods. Known as an ice jam or ice dam, these events typically occur when a prolonged period of freezing temperatures is followed by a rapid thaw. The warmer temperatures and rainfall push the ice downstream where it collides and gathers together to form a blockage. The water behind begins to buildup and overflow, once the ice dam breaks, flooding can occur downstream as well. This event often occurs in late winter and early spring when the temperatures quickly begin to rise across the Northern Hemisphere. Several reports of damaged homes and automobiles were reported along the Vaser River. This is an ongoing situation across the region and with more rainfall expected on Monday this will only exacerbate the problem. To learn more about other high-impact weather events from across Europe, be sure to click here! ~ Meteorologist Jake Keiser   Severe Storms Impact Sections of Eastern Spain! (credit: Gabriel Timbaler via Meteo Europe)2/2/2017 
DISCUSSION: With much of western Europe positioned along and to the east of the approaching cold front associated with an intense extra-tropical low pressure system spinning over the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, there was a complex situation in place. This interesting weather situation is best described by the fact that much of western Europe was positioned within the warm sector of the aforementioned low pressure system which promoted increased ascension of air parcels in these regions. With this substantial increase in the buoyancy of air parcels across this region, convective storms had a much easier time breaking through and opposing factors at play. Therefore, as you can seen as an example in the image above (captured over in Sástago, Spain by Gabriel Timbaler), there was undoubtedly a healthy combination of vertical wind shear as well as atmospheric instability in place.
This favorable convective combination helped to promote deep, rotating convective storms such as the supercell thunderstorm observed near the city of Sástago, Spain! It goes without saying that this was a dangerous storm for those areas which were at some point positioned beneath the storm itself. You can also see how there also appeared to be a shelf cloud beneath the more central part of the storm which can be found in the bottom left-hand corner of the picture above. This indicated that there was most definitely a strong rotational presence within the storm since this is a feature which is often associated with tornado-producing supercell thunderstorms all over the world. To learn more about other high-impact weather events occurring across Europe, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz Slippery Travels Across Many Parts of Germany! (credit: Chasingteam Oberbayern via Meteo Europe)2/2/2017 
DISCUSSION: As a nasty winter storm cranked across portions of northwestern tot northern Europe, there were a variety of impacts across several countries. In particular, there was an especially dangerous situation in place this past Tuesday afternoon and evening across several parts of Germany. There were additional widespread impacts felt by many people across many different parts of Bavaria, Oberpfalz, and Niederbayern. These nasty winter storm conditions included freezing rain and rain which helped to quickly generate a thick layer of ice on the streets and sidewalks. Thus, it goes without saying that this icing event also caused travel hassles both on the roads and on runways at regional airports in the respective countries. These country- and region-wide travel impacts quickly led to global travel impacts by way of the classic commercial aviation "flight ripple effect." Even in the days now after this nasty widespread winter storm, take it slow out there across those impacted areas as you head out for work and/or school over the next couple of days.
To learn more about other high-impact weather events occurring across Europe, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz |
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