Hottest Arctic winter ever
This winter might become the mildest winter in Northern Norway ever registered. So far the average temperature in parts of the region has been up to eight degrees Celsius above the normal.
It is temperature measurements from the winter months December, January and February which is the fundament for the alarming high average. The measurements started in 1866 at some weather stations and this winter seems to break all records. Climate scientist Ketil Isaksen at The Norwegian Meteorological Institute in Oslo says to NRK Troms and Finnmark that this is a foretaste of the global warming.
Some of the weather stations at Finnmarksvidda have had an average at eight degrees Celsius above the normal average in the three winter months. At the station Karasjok-Markannjarga the average has been minus 7,9 degrees Celsius, while it normally is minus 16 degrees Celsius.
In Northern Norways largest city, Tromsø, the average temperature this winter has been -0,4 degrees Celsius. That is 3,6 degrees warmer than the normal average. If this temperature level in Tromsø maintains through the winter, it will be a tangency of the record winter in 1929/1930.
For Northern Norway as a whole the temperature in the winter months has been 5,1 degrees above the average with five more days to go. If this temperature maintains it will be the warmest winter ever, since the mesurements started in 1900/1901.
The warm temperatures are caused by heavy low-pressure activity, which has brought a lot of mild and humid air to the region. The climate scientist believes that the region now is experiencing the start of a climate change with warmer winters. Estimates show that in the coming years up to 2100 there might be a temperature rise of 3 degrees Celsius in coastal areas, and up to five degrees in inland regions.
