"AliCat" wrote in message
...

Surface temperature would be below zero across the
whole surface of the earth within a few days. The
oceans hold an enormous amount of heat and what we
would probably recognise as weather systems would
continue until they froze to a great enough depth
to insulate what heat remains trapped below to
such an extent that there was little to
differentiate between frozen water and land (in
the order of 10's of metres, which would take
several months). Thereafter there would be little
meridonal flow (N-S/S-N). After a year or two or
three surface temperature would be 100K, or less
with little or no wind at the surface. Life as we
know it would have ceased, but some deep ocean
beasties may survive. I doubt access to
nuclear/fossil fuels would help us much. Some
bacteria may survive in deep freeze for millennia,
most gasses would have liquefied/solidified at
this kind of timescale, with temperature not far
off cosmic microwave background radiation values.


I would imagine vast anticyclones of unimaginable intensity would quickly
form over all land masses, even the tropical ones. The Sahara can
become quite cold at night even now.
The temperature contrast from the still warm oceans to that over the land
would be enormous. I think that the weather in continental fringes such
as the UK would be 'interesting' to say the least!
Ferocious blizzards would result, the snow probably piling up many metres
high. But of course unlike now when the mild air often wins the cold air will
push relentlessly on into the Atlantic.......

Col
--
Bolton, Lancashire.
160m asl.
http://www.reddwarfer.btinternet.co.uk