snow_wizard Posted March 20, 2017 Report Share Posted March 20, 2017 The sun is dead! No spots for two weeks now and the flux numbers are rock steady at full blown solar minimum levels. If we really have 3 years until solar min this will be the deepest minimum in ages. Of perhaps even greater interest is the AP index is currently running in the 1 to 2 range. Many solar cycles never achieve that. By all measures this is big league quiet. A quick recap of what this might mean for us... Very deep solar minimums are thought to cause a much slower atmosphere in the winter months which equates to much more blocking. It is also thought the GOA and north Atlantic are favored locations for anomalous blocking during extreme minimums which means much colder winters for North America and Europe. Another aspect that is exciting for us is deep solar minimums and grand minimums have a tendency to equate to fewer El Ninos. 1 Quote Death To Warm Anomalies! Winter 2023-24 stats Total Snowfall = 1.0" Day with 1" or more snow depth = 1 Total Hail = 0.0 Total Ice = 0.2 Coldest Low = 13 Lows 32 or below = 45 Highs 32 or below = 3 Lows 20 or below = 3 Highs 40 or below = 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geos Posted March 20, 2017 Report Share Posted March 20, 2017 It's definitely going to be interesting in the coming years to see what complications might arise from this solar minimum we're going into. For those wondering where we are now vs. the past 22 years. Quote Mercer Island, 350 ft 2021-2022: 11.6", 02/21 2020-2021: 15.6" 2019-2020: ~10" 2018-2019 winter snowfall total: 29.5" 2017-2018: 9.0", 2016-2017: 14.0" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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