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Northern-Hemisphere snow cover patterns and formation conditions in winter 2007 and 2012

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Abstract

The Arctic sea ice minimum records appeared in the Septembers of 2007 and 2012, followed by high snow cover areas in the Northern Hemisphere winters. The snow cover distributions show different spatial patterns in these two years: increased snow cover in Central Asia and Central North America in 2007, while increased snow cover in East Asia and northwestern Europe in 2012. The high snow cover anomaly shifted to higher latitudes in winter of 2012 compared to 2007. It is noticed that the snow cover had positive anomaly in 2007 and 2012 with the following conditions: the negative geopotential height and the related cyclonic wind anomaly were favorable for upwelling, and, with the above conditions, the low troposphere and surface air temperature anomaly and water vapor anomaly were favorable for the formation and maintenance of snowfalls. The negative geopotential height, cyclonic wind and low air temperature conditions were satisfied in different locations in 2007 and 2012, resulting in different spatial snow cover patterns. The cross section of lower air temperature move to higher latitudes in winter of 2012 compared to 2007.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, P. R. China

    Hongyan Cui

  2. The First Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Qingdao, 266061, P. R. China

    Hongyan Cui, Fangli Qiao, Qi Shu & Long Yu

  3. College of Mathematics and Physics, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266061, P. R. China

    Hongyan Cui

  4. Laboratory for Regional Oceanography and Numerical Modeling, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266061, P. R. China

    Hongyan Cui, Fangli Qiao & Qi Shu

Authors
  1. Hongyan Cui
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  2. Fangli Qiao
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  3. Qi Shu
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  4. Long Yu
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Correspondence to Fangli Qiao.

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Cui, H., Qiao, F., Shu, Q. et al. Northern-Hemisphere snow cover patterns and formation conditions in winter 2007 and 2012. J. Ocean Univ. China 15, 407–413 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11802-016-2807-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11802-016-2807-1

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