Week 10: Extreme weather of Iceland

Iceland sits near the border of both cold and warm ocean currents. The North Atlantic Drift passes to the south on it's course northeastwards while the cold East Greenland Current flows in the southern and southeastern area off the east coast of Iceland. These conditions influence weather and climate considerably, especially along the coasts. Iceland enjoys a much milder climate than its name and location adjacent to the Arctic circle would imply. A branch of the Gulf Stream flows along the southern and the western coast greatly moderating the climate.

Aerial view of dust storm on coast

The weather in Iceland is very changeable and is mostly influenced by the atmospheric depressions crossing the North Atlantic, the so-called "Iceland-lows". The passage of a depression some distance south of Iceland causes relatively cold and dry weather, especially in southern districts, while one passing north-eastward between Iceland and Greenland brings relatively mild and dry weather, especially in the north. 

Let's take a look at some of the extreme weather that Iceland experiences:

Drought: Droughts are defined by lower than expected rainfall or higher than expected evaporation during a period of time. Drought in Iceland is not really a concern they face often due to their high rainfall and large snowfall every year. In 2012 they did experience a lower than usual rainfall and drought concerns were brought up but the rivers never got low due to the late winter snowfall they got.  Iceland is also not affected by drought often because the cool air temperature reduces evaporation.

Wildfires:Iceland does experience wildfires but they are usually small and don't happen with the regularity that we here in the U.S. see every season. In Iceland, wildfire during the summer months is a relatively recent development. This fits well with increased biomassdue to global warming, denser summerhouse populations, and less grazing. Their numbers are much less though than other countries.  Data pulled over a 6 year period show only 10 wildfires over 1 hectoacre while California alone had at least 11 fires that large over the course of one year. (1)

Thunderstorms: Rare in Iceland. usually they experience less than 5 a year and usually they happen in late summer. (2)

Tornadoes: As stated in our textbook "with the exception of Bangladesh, violent tornadoes (EF4 or EF5) are rare or nonexistent outside of the United States and Canada.(Keller) Iceland does not have tornadoes, at least not the kind of tornadoes we are familiar with. Back in 2014 though they did have a toxic tornado, north of the Bardarbunga volcano, in the Holuhraun lava field that was captured with a special infrared camera. This phenomenon had not been seen before. Here is a link to the story: http://www.livescience.com/47742-volcano-tornado-iceland-eruption-holuhraun.html

Snow storm conditions. Southern Iceland.

The biggest hazard that Iceland faces when it comes to extreme weather though is their winter weather. 

Blizzards and ice storms: Even though the climate of Iceland is cold oceanic (Köppen classification) near the southern coastal area and tundra inland in the highlands their winters are considered mild for the most part. I think I have a different idea of "mild climate" though than some people. In the first 70 days of 2015, Iceland was pummeled by 53 storms – with winds in excess of 72km an hour. Powerful storms are common near Iceland and Greenland during the winter, aided by the wintertime jet stream and the contrast between the relatively mild Gulf Stream ocean current and chillier waters to the north.  This past December they experienced one of the worst storms in the past 25 years with winds up to 160 mph in some areas when a "severe polar low hit the island, bringing with it rain, snow and massive wind gusts". (3) This storm caused the closure of schools, roads, and businesses. Inhabitants were advised to stay inside after 12pm in Southern Iceland and 5pm in other areas of Iceland. Flights and public transportation was canceled. Thankfully no one was seriously injured and most of the damage was to property only. The Civil Protection Agency credits the heeding of their warnings for saving many people from injury.(3)

This video was taken in December 2014 during a snow storm in Iceland. Having lived my life either in Arizona or California this amount of wind and snow is unbelievable to me.  

Photo credit:
1.http://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/57000/57692/Iceland.A2002028.1310.500m.jpg

Works cited:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_California_wildfires
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Iceland 
3. https://weather.com/news/weather/news/iceland-storm-worst-weather-25-years

 Keller, Edward and Duane DeVecchio. Natural Hazards. New Jersey: Prentice, 2012. Print.


Thanks, as always, for reading:)

Jennifer