Europe has kicked off the brand new yr with an intense winter heatwave. The nice and cozy temperatures and lack of snowfall within the Alps and the Pyrenees has left a number of ski resorts with little or no snow. The distinction in snow cowl is seen in these Copernicus Sentinel-2 photos captured in January 2022 in comparison with January 2023 which reveals the Flims, Laax and Falera ski resorts in Switzerland.
In line with the World Meteorological Organization, a high-pressure zone over the Mediterranean area and an Atlantic low-pressure system induced a robust southwest flux that introduced heat air from northwest Africa to the center latitudes. The air was additional warmed when passing the North Atlantic owing to higher-than-normal sea floor temperatures.
All this brought on record-breaking warmth on New Yr’s Eve and New Yr’s Day with temperatures above 20°C noticed in lots of European nations. The unexpectedly heat climate comes after excruciatingly scorching climate in 2022 which noticed the most well liked summer time on file for Europe, in accordance with the newest Copernicus Climate Change Report printed a number of days in the past.
Within the 2023 satellite tv for pc picture, snow is extra prone to be discovered on the peaks above 2000 m, whereas the ski slopes below this altitude have needed to depend on synthetic snow this season. Synthetic ski slopes will be seen as skinny, white strips within the backside of the 2023 picture.
Copernicus Sentinel-2 is a two-satellite mission. Every satellite tv for pc carries a high-resolution digicam that photos Earth’s floor in 13 spectral bands. Collectively they cowl all Earth’s land surfaces, giant islands, inland and coastal waters each 5 days on the equator.
