Snow cover
Open Climate4you homepage
Recent northern hemisphere snow cover
2009 2010
Northern hemisphere snow cover (white) and sea ice (yellow) 28 July 2009 and 2010. Map source: National Ice Center (NIC). Please use this link if you want to see the original figures or want to check for more recent updates than shown above.
Click here to jump back to the list of contents
2009 2010
Europe-Asia snow cover (white) and sea ice (yellow) 28 July 2009 and 2010. Map source: National Ice Center (NIC). Please use this link if you want to see the original figures or want to check for more recent updates than shown above.
Click here to jump back to the list of contents
Recent Alaska-Canada snow cover
2009 2010
Alaska-Canada snow cover (white) and sea ice (yellow) 28 July 2009 and 2010. Map source: National Ice Center (NIC). Please use this link if you want to see the original figures or want to check for more recent updates than shown above.
Click here to jump back to the list of contents
2009 2010
USA-Canada snow cover (white) and sea ice (yellow) 28 July 2009 and 2010. Map source: National Ice Center (NIC). Please use this link if you want to see the original figures or want to check for more recent updates than shown above.
Click here to jump back to the list of contents
Recent seasonal snow water equivalent (cm) 28 July 2010 (NOAA 18). Only the terrestrial seasonal snow cover is considered in this analysis, not snow on sea ice or on the ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctic. The values indicate how much water (cm) would be produced by melting all snow present at a certain site. Map source: NOOA. Please use this link if you want to see the original diagram or want to check for a more recent update than shown above.
Click here to jump back to the list of contents
Northern hemisphere seasonal snow cover since 1966
Northern hemisphere seasonal snow cover since 1966 according to Rutgers University Global Snow Laboratory. Additional data, diagrams and analyses from Rutgers University Global Snow Laboratory are available here. Please note that the axes for areal extent are not identical, but show small differences. Please use this link to check for more recent updates than shown above. Last update 9 June 2009 (spring season updated).
During the satellite-era of snow cover observations (starting December 1966) the winter season snow cover in the northern hemisphere have been somewhat variable, but without a clear trend. The spring snow cover show a falling trend, as does the summer snow cover, although the negative trend here is more clear. The fall snow cover extent is highly variable around a slightly negative trend. In the interpretation of the above diagrams it should be noted that the numerical range covered by the y-axis differs somewhat between the individual diagrams.
Click here to jump back to the list of contents
Regional northern hemisphere snow cover since 1973
Northern hemisphere monthly snow cover since January 1973. Data source: National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP NOAA). Last month shown: January 2010. Last diagram update: 27 February 2010.
-
Click here to download the NCEP NOAA snow cover data for the northern hemisphere.
Eurasian monthly snow cover since January 1973. Data source: National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP NOAA). Last month shown: January 2010. Last diagram update: 27 February 2010.
-
Click here to download the NCEP NOAA snow cover data for Eurasia.
North American monthly snow cover since January 1973. Data source: National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP NOAA). Last month shown: January 2010. Last diagram update: 27 February 2010.
-
Click here to download the NCEP NOAA snow cover data for North America.
Average annual monthly snow cover since January 1973 for the entire northern hemisphere, Eurasia, and North America. Data source: National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP NOAA). Last month shown: December 2009. Last diagram update: 5 February 2010.
-
Click here to download the NCEP NOAA snow cover data for the entire northern hemisphere, Eurasia, and North America.
Click here to jump back to the list of contents
Snow cover variations in southern Norway since 1896
Daily snow cover thickness and -duration since 1896 at Bjørnholt (60.05N, 10.69E, 360 m asl.) near Oslo, southern Norway. There are no data between July 1937 and August 1954. Click here to download the original data (you have to register, but the service is free). Last day shown: 28 May 2010. Last diagram update: 30 May 2010.
The above data are interesting, as they illustrate snow cover conditions in southern Norway during the last period of the so-called Little Ice Age, which in Norway and adjoining regions ended early in the 20th century. Data are lacking 1937-1954, but between 1954 and 1965, the average winter snow cover thickness was relatively small, when compared to early part of the record. A somewhat thicker snow cover is characterising the period 1966-1988, more or less contemporaneous with a period characterised by relatively low winter temperatures. Since 1989, the average winter snow cover thickness at Bjørnholt has again been lower than previously, but comparable to the average thickness recorded for the years leading up to 1965.
Daily snow cover thickness and -duration (blue) since 1979 at Bjørnholt (60.05oN, 10.69oE, 360 m asl.) near Oslo, southern Norway. In the upper part of the diagram the daily average air temperature (green) at Blindern (Oslo) is shown. Click here to download the original snow and temperature data (you have to register, but the service is free). Last day shown: 28 May 2010. Last diagram update: 30 May 2010.
The above diagram covers the time period since 1979 adopted for several global temperature graphs used on this webpage. The change from a relatively thick snow cover at Bjørnholt before 1989 is seen to be step-like, and not the result of a gradual development over time. Accordingly, great care should be exercised when attempting to illustrate the snow cover development by statistical methods. A simple approach using linear trends across such a step-like change may well be both meaningless and misleading. The years 1989-1993 following the 1988 record high snow cover thickness at Bjørnholt are characterised by a much shallower winter snow cover. The air temperature graph shows that these winters were relatively warm. From 1994, a somewhat thicker snow cover again becomes normal, but with significant inter-annual variations. It is difficult to see any clear trend as to snow cover thickness at Bjørnholt since 1989, provided one ignores the period 1989-1993 where the average snow cover thickness was very low, with the exception of the winter 1990-91.
Daily snow cover thickness and -duration (blue) since 2000 at Bjørnholt (60.05oN, 10.69oE, 360 m asl.) near Oslo, southern Norway. In the upper part of the diagram the daily average air temperature (green) at Blindern (Oslo) is shown. Click here to download the original snow and temperature data (you have to register, but the service is free). Last day shown: 28 May 2010. Last diagram update: 30 May 2010.
Click here to jump back to the list of contents