Snowstorms in Rome and Tripoli: according to Meteorologist Jeff Masters is the worst cold in February 1991.
This map above shows the temperature anomalies for Western Europe and Russia from 25 January to 1 February, 2012, compared to the temperatures for the same dates from 2001 to the 2011. The anomalies are based on land surface temperatures observed by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) NASA.
Areas with above-average temperatures are shown in red and orange, and areas with below average temperatures appear in shades of blue. Oceans and lakes appear in gray.
The Blue dominates this picture, with most of the regions with temperatures well below the average.
Masters explains that the unusual cold is a product of jet stream. Jet streams are bands of strong winds that blow from west to east. These bands separate the colder air at high latitudes by warmer air at lower latitudes, directly and that usually blow from west to east. "But this winter, the jet has a very convoluted, with unusually large excursions ", Masters says.
NASA Press
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