Unprecedented 7.2 Feet Of Snow In Morocco Cuts Off 87 Villages; Power Outages In Georgia Due To Heavy Snow; + North America’s “Historic” Arctic Outbreak Arrives: “Blizzards, Brutal cold, and Record Snowfall”
Unprecedented 7.2 Feet Of Snow In Morocco Cuts Off 87 Villages
It’s been a cold start to the year in North Africa, particularly Morocco.
This week, southeast Morocco has been suffering a string of unprecedented snowstorms that have left 24,000 families in need of assistance and some 87 towns and villages cut off, most notably in the Ouarzazate, Taroudant and Zagora regions.
Food and blankets have been distributed to 9,000 families in Ouarzazate–where snow totals reached a staggering 2.2 meters (7.2 feet)–10,000 homes in Taroudant and 5,000 in Zagora.
Moroccan troops were also called in, and safely evacuated a woman in labor from one isolated village:
Volunteer doctors from Rabat and other localities are traveling to the most affected areas, including to Taroudant where some 259 villages have been seriously impacted by the outbreak of cold.
One of the worst affected areas in terms of snow has been Ouarzazate, where accumulations have reached an all-time record-breaking heights, bringing widespread road closures and the shutting of schools and businesses.
Additional ‘orange’ alerts for snow have been issued by Morocco’s General Directorate of Meteorology, with another foot expected across the likes of Haouz, Taroudant, Ouarzazate and Tinghir.
Crucially–and tellingly–what happens in Morocco doesn’t stay in Morocco.
As recently reported by Reuters, the UK is facing a shortage of vegetables after supermarket supplies were hit by “disrupted harvests” (i.e. hail and snow) in southern Europe and north Africa, prompting two major grocers to limit customer purchases.
Asda, Britain’s third largest grocer, said it has introduced a three pack limit for purchases of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, salad bags, broccoli, cauliflower and also raspberries, with rival chain Morrisons imposing a two items per customer limit from Wednesday.
“Like other supermarkets, we are experiencing sourcing challenges on some products that are grown in southern Spain and north Africa,” an Asda spokesperson said.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said the supply issues were industry wide, and point to difficult weather in southern Europe and northern Africa which had disrupted harvests across a range of crops.
Grocers said the situation was exacerbated by less winter production in greenhouses in Britain and the Netherlands due to high energy costs.
Compounding the issue, indoor vegetable production across the likes of Britain and the Netherlands has taken a serious hit this winter, with growers unable to afford to heat their greenhouses due to spiraling energy costs.
Britain imports 95% of its tomatoes and 90% of lettuces from December to March, according to BRC data, with the country particularly reliant on Spain, and increasingly on Morocco.
“The situation is beginning to be worrying, as some companies are starting to have problems in meeting their clients’ schedules,” the Association of Fruit and Vegetable Producers’ Organisations of Almeria, Coexphal, said in a statement.
James Bailey, executive director of UK supermarket Waitrose, said extreme weather was to blame: “It’s been snowing and hailing in Spain [and] North Africa — that is wiping out a large proportion of those crops,” he told LBC radio. “Give it about a fortnight and the other growing seasons in other parts of the world will have caught up and we should be able to get that supply back in.”
Consumer frustration, confusion and concern continue to grow:
Power Outages In Georgia Due To Heavy, Blowing Snow
Heavy snow and avalanches have led to traffic restrictions across Georgia’s northwest this week, where a myriad of villages have also been left without power.
The Jvari-Khaishi section of the key Zugdidi-Jvari-Mestia highway, which links the western city to the highlands, is currently closed to all traffic following a spate of avalanches.
Vehicles were also stranded the village of Nakra, with plows struggling to get through.
Georgia’s heavy, blowing snow has also led to widespread power outages, with at least 40 towns and villages currently without electricity in sub-zero lows.
North America’s “Historic” Arctic Outbreak Arrives: “Blizzards, Brutal cold, and Record Snowfall”
A truly monstrous winter storm, described by the National Weather Service as “historic”, is on the cusp of delivering ice, blizzard conditions, and travel disruptions to the U.S., stretching some 2,600 miles from coast to coast.
The majority of America, and just about all of Canada, are seeing temperatures crash well-below seasonal norms from Wednesday with well-over a foot of snow forecast for many: “Blizzards, brutal cold, and record snowfall,” is how Reuters reports it.
Parts of Minnesota, for example, are on for a whopping 25+ inches to close out the week, with Minneapolis on course to bust its February ‘single-storm’ snowfall benchmark which currently stands at 13.8 inches. In fact, totals are forecast to rank among the all-time top storms for any month in the city’s history, according to AccuWeather.
Interstates across Western MN were already beginning to fill with snow as of Tuesday afternoon:
Wyoming has closed 100 miles of Interstate 80 due to blizzard conditions, as the massive Arctic front careened south through Montana where a host of road closures have also been reported, particularly near Lewis and Clark National Forest.
The Northern Plains are currently dealing with a steep temperature drop.
In Rapid City, SD the NWS warned residents Tuesday morning that temperatures would plunge from a high of 50F to near 0F over the next 24 hours. The snow is also coming down hard.
Record-breaking lows and snows are also forecast for the West, according to the NWS’s Weather Prediction Center, with flash freezes predicted in the northern Rockies, feet more snow expected in the western Sierra, as well as South Lake Tahoe, blizzard warnings in effect in northern Montana and southern Wyoming.
Switching to the East, bone-chilling lows and freezing rain will reach the Northeast by Thursday, including across Buffalo where significant impacts are expected, warns AccuWeather.
While north of the border, Canada has been reeling under the effects of this Arctic front for days, culminating in Tuesday’s -50.8C (-59.4F) in Shepherd Bay, Nunavut (with a windchill of -65C/-85F posted).
Conditions are only forecast to worsen as this latest Arctic Outbreak takes hold:
Great article as always, thank you!
Seems egg shortages are a common thing nowadays too, so better get some hens before it´s too late. I´ll start the hen house building this summer for sure!
We should get a tax break or credit for hen houses and green houses. Knowingly or unknowingly the government is going to be responsible for mass starvation it appears.
They have been digging their own grave a long long time already imho.
Remember…hens take at least 4 months BEFORE ya get ONE egg.
Indeed, I´m making it suitable for year around usage. It´s an old truck house so just need to change some insulation and boards and build a yard for them to go pick on.
I live in Minnesota, and these spring snowstorms are so heartwarming, it almost makes me want to cry. I had just finished clearing the last of my vehicles, outbuildings, and walks and driveways of the previous accumulated three months of snow(~30″), creating giant mountains everywhere, and lo and behold, we are now getting hammered by almost the same amount in 72 hours. For the snow removal guys, this is like money falling from the sky. For most of us, it is Deja Vu all over again! Winter in the Northland has a beauty all it’s own. Happy Shoveling! Thanks to Electroverse for all of your worldwide weather reports.
It’s beginning to look a lot like “The Day After Tomorrow”
“WE ENTERED THE ‘MODERN’ GRAND SOLAR MINIMUM ON JUNE 8, 2020”
Caps on it!!!
https://electroverse.co/snow-clips-hawaii-canada-nears-50c-58f-we-entered-the-modern-grand-solar-minimum-on-june-8-2020/
Ok. Now I understand. These are the climate refugees from Africa, what crazy-Ursula was talking about. We have plenty of space here in the north.. welcome. It might get even colder and snowier in the near future though.
Too little action for them here up north, not much they can do in the cold and not enough people to mess with. Not much of them have wanted to stay here, and moved along to Sweden etc.
If we are at the beginning of the next major glaciation period, which happens after 10 to 12 thousand years of interglacial warmth, and we are about at the 11,500 year mark, then we will not have “plenty of space here in the north.” All Canadians and Europeans, including Russians, will have to move south. It won’t be pretty and, yes, there will be mass starvation. But, on the bright side, we could still be 1,000 years or more out from such a scenario.
The change from current inter glacial to the depths of the next glacial period is likely to take a couple of thousand years even if it has already started. Therefore there won’t be any mass migration leading to civil unrest/collapse. IMO it will be a trickle of people moving south that will be barely noticeable in any one persons lifetime.
Here is the Madistan, WI, USA area, for last few weeks a very wet period, today we are the icestorm region but the northern 2\3 of Sconnie state gonna get hammered with the white stuff, that is a big area to all get 15 to 22 inches of snow in one storm system, looks like more to come next week. Not a huge fan of ice, on roads, trees, power poles, etc. I like ice on rivers, lakes and streams. Thanks Cap for being a beacon of truth in a world of darkness. In the land of the blind, the one eyed jack is king!
Food shortages in the U.K. are likely to be an on/off feature of the rest of the year IMO. The upcoming SSW induced freeze looks like it could last for weeks, with below average temperatures through until at least the end of March and possibly well into April. This has happened before, in 2012 and 2013, a cold early spring remaining cold for a couple of months or more. This will seriously delay/disrupt spring planting along ongoing problems with the cost of fertilizer due to the Ukraine war. Also Brexit (a great thing IMO to get out of the large government/technocratic obsessed EU) wasn’t properly prepared for leading to shortages of seasonal migrant workers in the agricultural industry. I haven’t got enough space to grow much food, but I’m buying vegetables when available and drying them to build up a supply that should see me through short lived shortages.
I used to grow seed sprouts indoors back in the 70s living in the mountains:
https://www.trueleafmarket.com/collections/sprouting-kits-and-supplies
In the Sochi highlands, the height of snowdrifts exceeded 4 meters!
This week in the mountains of Sochi there were heavy snowfalls. The height of the snow cover in Krasnaya Polyana reached 80 centimeters, in the highlands (Rose Peak) it exceeded 4 (!) meters!
The danger of avalanches remains: in the mountains of the Krasnodar Territory and the Republic of Adygea above 1000 m, in the mountains of Sochi there is an avalanche danger already from a height of 500 m.
On the afternoon of February 21st, in the highway area
Rosa Khutor – Cordon Psluh, two adjacent avalanches were observed with a complete road blockage, also in the Alpika SCC Service area – an avalanche with access to the official ski slope.
https://www.gismeteo.ru/news/weather/v-vysokogore-sochi-vysota-sugrobov-prevysila-4-metra/
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Moscow weather: frosty and beautiful
These February days were the coldest period of the second half of winter. At night it is celebrated until -17… −20°C, in the afternoon −9… −11°C. The average daily temperature dropped to -13°C.
This climate is considered very cold (7-8 degrees below the climatic norm).
With a clear sky, moisture contained in the air freezes in the form of small crystals. This phenomenon is called “ice needles”. Very light and weightless, they seem to float in the air and shine beautifully in the sun. They are often observed in Siberia, but they are quite rare in Central Russia.
It is important to note that the low temperatures are accompanied by a moderate wind from the north quarter.
Due to this, the temperature seems 4-6 degrees lower than the real one. That is, with thermometer readings around -15, every -20°C is felt!
https://www.gismeteo.ru/news/weather/pogoda-v-moskve-moroznaya-i-krasivaya/
@jopeck…he must be hibernating and cuddling with his teddy bear.
Someone will make a fortune building floating farms along the equator!!!
It’s coming!
To any engineers reading this: Floating farms must be “Rogue-wave,” Waterspout, and Hurricane-proof. Solar panels must be solar-magnetic-flare-proofed.
Perhaps floating farms shouldn’t be “rigid”? Perhaps “variably-rigid”?
Wind-stable Geodesic domes might combine evaporative sea-water>fresh-water from dome with agriculture on the floor.
Just thinking out loud. (Or in print–same deal.)