| 2023–24 Asian winter | |
|---|---|
| Seasonal boundaries | |
| Meteorological winter | December 1 – February 28 |
| Astronomical winter | December 21 – March 20 |
| First event started | December 12, 2023 |
| Seasonal statistics | |
| Total fatalities | 25 |
| Total damage | Unknown |
| Related articles | |
| 2023–24 North American winter | |
The 2023/2024 Asian winter refers to all winter events that affect the continent of Asia. The first day of meteorological winter begins on December 1 2023 and unofficially ends on February 28 2024 winter storms may still occur outside of these limits.
Citing the ongoing El Niño, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued a winter forecast on September 19, 2023, estimating an 80% likelihood for below normal snowfall for the country's western coastline, as well as a 90% chance for above normal temperatures from December to February. [1]
On December 12, a snowstorm in Beijing closed schools and highways, the second snowstorm in a week. [2] Beijing recorded their longest stretch of below freezing temperatures afterwards, before thawing on December 24. [3]
On December 22, a winter storm in the Sea of Japan dropped heavy snowfall in northern Japan, reaching 5 cm (2.0 in) in Nozawaonsen in Nagano Prefecture in northern Honshu. The snow caused power outages for about 2,000 people. [4]
On December 30, Seoul, South Korea experienced its heaviest snowfall for December in 40 years, recording 12.2 cm (4.8 in) of snowfall. This contributed to traffic accidents. [5]
After a powerful earthquake in Japan on New Years Day, snowfall in the country disrupted rescue teams and relief distribution. [6] On January 16, two planes damaged each other after skidding on a snowy tarmac at New Chitose Airport in Japan's northern island of Hokkaido. [7]
On January 18, Nepal's only ski resort, Kalinchowk, experienced its first snowfall, about six weeks later than normal. Toward the end of January, snowfall rates in the Himalayas were significantly below normal. [8]
On January 22, a cold wave moved across eastern Asia, which delayed or canceled at least 132 flights in South Korea, and caused damage in at least 57 buildings due to water damage. [9]
A winter storm in Japan results in 800 cars being trapped on the Meishin Expressway. [10]
On February 19, an avalanche in Afghanistan's Nuristan Province killed 25 people. [11]
On February 21, snowfall in across northeastern China, including Beijing, closed highways and schools. [12]
A blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow that has already fallen is being blown by wind. Blizzards can have an immense size and usually stretch to hundreds or thousands of kilometres.
A winter storm is an event in which wind coincides with varieties of precipitation that only occur at freezing temperatures, such as snow, mixed snow and rain, or freezing rain. In temperate continental and subarctic climates, these storms are not necessarily restricted to the winter season, but may occur in the late autumn and early spring as well. A snowstorm with strong winds and low visibility is called a blizzard.
The 2004 Christmas Eve United States winter storm was a rare weather event that took place in Louisiana and Texas in the United States on December 24, 2004, before the storm moved northeast to affect the coastal sections of the Mid-Atlantic states and New England in the succeeding few days. This was a different storm from the historic event that struck the Midwest and southern Canada around December 23 from another cyclone which preceded this storm. The event involved a thin band of snowfall with unusually cold temperatures for the middle Texas coast, and caused dozens of varied weather records to be shattered. It was the most significant snow for the Texas Gulf Coast, and deep South Texas, since February 1895.
The North American blizzard of 2006 was a nor'easter that began on the evening of February 11, 2006 and impacted much of eastern North America. It dumped heavy snow across the Mid-Atlantic and New England states, from Virginia to Maine through the early evening of February 12, and ended in Atlantic Canada on February 13. The major cities from Baltimore to Boston received at least a foot of snow, with a second-highest amount of 26.9 inches (68 cm) in New York City, the most since at least 1869, the start of record keeping, only broken by the January 2016 United States blizzard nearly 10 years later.
A cold wave is a weather phenomenon that is distinguished by a cooling of the air. Specifically, as used by the U.S. National Weather Service, a cold wave is a rapid fall in temperature within a 24-hour period requiring substantially increased protection to agriculture, industry, commerce, and social activities. The precise criteria for a cold wave are the rate at which the temperature falls, and the minimum to which it falls. This minimum temperature is dependent on the geographical region and time of year.
The East Asian snowstorms of 2009–2010 were heavy winter storms, including blizzards, ice storms, and other winter events, that affected East Asia from 8 May 2009 to 28 February 2010. The areas affected included Mongolia, China, Nepal, the Korean Peninsula, Japan, Kuril Islands, Sea of Okhotsk, Primorsky, and Sakhalin Island.
Global weather activity of 2009 profiles the major worldwide storms, including blizzards, tornadoes, ice storms, tropical cyclones and other meteorogical events, from January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2009. Wintery storms are events in which the dominant varieties of precipitation are forms that only occur at cold temperatures, such as snow or sleet, or a rainstorm where ground temperatures are cold enough to allow ice to form. It may be marked by strong wind, thunder and lightning, heavy precipitation, such as ice, or wind transporting some substance through the atmosphere. Summer storms including flooding, severe thunderstorms and extratropical cyclones are also included in this list to a certain extent.
Quetta, Pakistan features a continental semi-arid climate with a large variation between summer and winter temperatures. The highest temperature recorded in Quetta was 42 °C (108 °F) on 10 July 1998. The lowest temperature in Quetta is −18.3 °C (−0.9 °F) which was recorded on 8 January 1970.
The 2011 New Zealand snowstorms were a series of record breaking snow falls that affected both the North Island and South Island. The storms occurred over the span of a few weeks, beginning on 25 July 2011 in the North Island and subsequently spreading to the South. The storms subsided in late July and returned in August. It was the worst winter storm to hit New Zealand in seventy years. The heavy snowfalls caused widespread closures in many cities, including Christchurch, Wellington and Dunedin.
Snow in the southern part of Louisiana presents a rare and serious problem because of South Louisiana’s subtropical climate. For snow to push into the southern region of Louisiana, extreme weather conditions for the area must be present, usually a low-pressure system coupled with unusually low temperatures. Average snowfall in Louisiana is approximately 0.2 inches (5.1 mm) per year, a low figure rivaled only by the states of Florida and Hawaii. Due to the infrequency of these cold weather patterns, southern areas affected in this state are often unprepared to deal with slick streets and freezing temperatures.
The January 31 – February 2, 2015 North American blizzard was a major winter storm that plowed through the majority of the United States, dumping as much as 2 feet (24 in) of new snowfall across a path from Iowa to New England, as well as blizzard conditions in early February 2015. It came less than a week after another crippling blizzard which impacted the Northeast with 2–3 feet of snow. It was the first of many intense winter storms to occur in the nation during the month of February, partly in due to an ongoing cold wave that was beginning to take shape shortly after the storm subsided.
The 2012–13 North American winter started out somewhat early, as the remnants of Hurricane Sandy brought heavy snow to the mountains of West Virginia in late October. Later, a strong nor'easter affected the weary Northeastern United States, hampering storm recovery efforts and dropping several inches of snow. The rest of the winter featured several other notable events, such as a Christmas winter storm that affected most of the Eastern United States, and the most notable event occurring in early February, when a powerful blizzard struck the Northeast and brought record snow to some areas. During the winter, a weak El Nino was expected to influence weather conditions across the continent.
The 2009–10 North American winter saw several major blizzards affect the Northeastern United States. It refers to winter as it occurred across the North American continent from late 2009 to early 2010. While there is no well-agreed-upon date used to indicate the start of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, there are two definitions of winter which may be used. Based on the astronomical definition, winter begins at the winter solstice, which in 2009 occurred on December 21, and ends at the March equinox, which in 2010 occurred on March 20. Based on the meteorological definition, the first day of winter is December 1 and the last day February 28. Both definitions involve a period of approximately three months, with some variability.
The February 2015 Southeastern United States winter storm was a rare winter storm that dumped up to a foot of snow in the Southeast, an area that rarely receives such heavy snowfall. Forming out of a shortwave trough that developed over Texas near the Gulf of Mexico on February 24, the storm quickly made its way over the southern United States, coalescing into a surface low-pressure area as it did so. With arctic air unusually far south, this helped spawn heavy, wet snowfall across the northern portions of several southern states, including the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. States such as Alabama and Georgia declared a state of emergency in the northern portions of the state due to the possibility of up to 6 inches (15 cm) of snow, which was normally never seen.
The February 2019 North American winter storm was one of three powerful winter storms that affected the continent in early February. This storm, in particular, paralyzed travel in parts of the Midwest, Northeast as well as Eastern Canada.
The 2019–20 North American winter was unusually warm for many parts of the United States; in many areas, neutral ENSO conditions controlled the weather patterns, resulting in strong El Niño like conditions and the sixth-warmest winter on record, and many areas in the Northeastern United States saw one of the least snowy winters in years. In fact, Baltimore and Islip saw no snow in February for the first time. Some notable events still occurred, such as a powerful blizzard that impacted the Western United States in late November, a series of cold shots in January and February, a snowstorm within the Texas Panhandle and a late-season blizzard in the High Plains.
The 2020–21 North American winter was the most significant winter season to affect North America in several years, and the costliest on record, with a damage total of at least $33.35 billion. The season featured six storms ranking on the Regional Snowfall Index scale (RSI), with four storms ranking as at least a Category 3. Most of the winter's damage and fatalities occurred due to a historic and major cold wave in mid-February. Several other significant events occurred, including a crippling early-season ice storm in the Southern Plains, a powerful nor'easter in mid-December, another major nor'easter in early February, two major and widespread winter storms in mid-February, and a major blizzard in the Rocky Mountains in mid-March. The winter-related events were responsible for at least 358 fatalities, making it the deadliest season since 1992–93. A La Niña pattern influenced much of the winter in North America.
The 2022–23 North American winter was an unusually warm winter for the east and an unusually cold winter for the west in North America, as it occurred across the continent from late 2022 to early 2023. The winter season in North America began at the winter solstice, which occurred on December 21, 2022, and it ended at the March equinox, which occurred on March 20, 2023. The first day of meteorological winter began on December 1 and unofficially ended on February 28; winter storms may still occur outside of these limits.
The 2023–24 North American winter was the warmest winter on record across the contiguous United States, with below-average snowfall primarily in the Upper Midwest and parts of the Northeastern United States. However, some areas, especially in the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York saw considerably more snow than the previous winter. Notable winter events were also more prevalent across the eastern half of the country this winter, including a series of winter storms in mid-January that brought snow from the South to Northeast states, a period of very cold temperatures across much of the country in mid-to-late January, and a disruptive nor'easter that affected much of the Mid-Atlantic in mid-February. 2 storms have been rated so far on the Regional Snowfall Index (RSI), although none have attained a "Major" rating. A strong El Niño was expected to influence the winter weather patterns across the continent.
The 2024 South Korean snowstorm is a historic weather event that occurred on 26–28 November 2024, marking South Korea's most substantial November snowfall in 52 years and Seoul's heaviest snowfall since the beginning of record-keeping in 1907. The storm set several snowfall records across the nation, and caused widespread disruption to transportation and resulted in multiple casualties, including at least five fatalities.
