Just got back after an 11-day trip on one of the Norwegian Hurtigruten coastal
ships from Bergen round the top of Norway to Kirkenes and back. Furthest north
was 71 deg 01 min. It was a trip that exceeded all the superlatives. Absolutely
stunning.

Meteorologically, it was very interesting. We had a spell of 8 days with the
temp continuously below zero. The coldest was -11 at Kirkenes last Tuesday and
-10 at Trondheim on Saturday on our way back south. We had 2 gales. One of
these was a severe gale with the temp at -6. That put a new meaning on the word
'bitter'! Enormous amounts of snow, both lying and falling. If snow was a
tradable commodity Norway would be a very rich country indeed. Despite the snow
life there seems to go on with no problem. The roads are left with a covering
of hard packed snow, sometimes with stone chippings added to give a bit of
grip. Most cars seemed to have studded tyres. Also had some spells of fine
weather and saw the aurora borealis on 4 evenings. Nothing very spectacular but
my wife was particularly pleased as it was a first for her.

Because we enjoyed the weather so much we have brought it back to Tideswell
with us!

--
Norman Lynagh
Tideswell, Derbyshire
303m a.s.l.

On Mar 11, 12:34*pm, "Norman" wrote:
Just got back after an 11-day trip on one of the Norwegian Hurtigruten coastal
ships from Bergen round the top of Norway to Kirkenes and back. Furthest north
was 71 deg 01 min. It was a trip that exceeded all the superlatives. Absolutely
stunning.

Meteorologically, it was very interesting. We had a spell of 8 days with the
temp continuously below zero. The coldest was -11 at Kirkenes last Tuesday and
-10 at Trondheim on Saturday on our way back south. We had 2 gales. One of
these was a severe gale with the temp at -6. That put a new meaning on the word
'bitter'! Enormous amounts of snow, both lying and falling. If snow was a
tradable commodity Norway would be a very rich country indeed. Despite the snow
life there seems to go on with no problem. The roads are left with a covering
of hard packed snow, sometimes with stone chippings added to give a bit of
grip. Most cars seemed to have studded tyres. Also had some spells of fine
weather and saw the aurora borealis on 4 evenings. Nothing very spectacular but
my wife was particularly pleased as it was a first for her.

Because we enjoyed the weather so much we have brought it back to Tideswell
with us!

--
Norman Lynagh
Tideswell, Derbyshire
303m a.s.l.

Interesting Norman - I wish I could convince my wife that our next
holiday should be in the Arctic Circle...

Norman wrote:
If snow was a tradable commodity Norway would be a very rich country indeed.
----------------------------------
........ and Will a very poor man :-)
Did you go to Gerainger Fjord on the way to Trondheim? That was stunning
although I imagine they all are!
I'm off to Iceland for 4 days on Sunday so hoping for some clear nights
although I am sure it will be interesting.
Dave

Dave Cornwell wrote:

Norman wrote:
If snow was a tradable commodity Norway would be a very rich country indeed.
----------------------------------
....... and Will a very poor man :-)
Did you go to Gerainger Fjord on the way to Trondheim? That was stunning
although I imagine they all are! I'm off to Iceland for 4 days on Sunday so
hoping for some clear nights although I am sure it will be interesting. Dave

The ships only go into Gerainger in the summer. I assume that's because of ice
in the winter, though I don't know for sure. For the last mile or so into
Kirkenes we sailed through thin sea ice.

I'm sure Iceland will be marvellous. I've only ever been to Reykjavik, never
into the countryside. That was in the late 60's when the weather ship I was on
was at Station Alpha (62N 33W). We had to leave station to take a crew member
to hospital. Reykjavik was the nearest. We had a few hours run ashore. One
memory I have is of the eye-wateringly expensive booze!

--
Norman Lynagh
Tideswell, Derbyshire
303m a.s.l.

"Norman" wrote:
Dave Cornwell wrote:

Norman wrote:
If snow was a tradable commodity Norway would be a very rich country indeed.
----------------------------------
....... and Will a very poor man :-)
Did you go to Gerainger Fjord on the way to Trondheim? That was stunning
although I imagine they all are! I'm off to Iceland for 4 days on Sunday so
hoping for some clear nights although I am sure it will be interesting. Dave

The ships only go into Gerainger in the summer. I assume that's because of ice
in the winter, though I don't know for sure. For the last mile or so into
Kirkenes we sailed through thin sea ice.

I'm sure Iceland will be marvellous. I've only ever been to Reykjavik, never
into the countryside. That was in the late 60's when the weather ship I was on
was at Station Alpha (62N 33W). We had to leave station to take a crew member
to hospital. Reykjavik was the nearest. We had a few hours run ashore. One
memory I have is of the eye-wateringly expensive booze!

The Around Spitsbergen cruise is excellent on a converted ice breaker.
Costs an absolute fortune now compared to 10 years ago when I first went
there.
http://www.discover-the-world.co.uk/...d-spitsbergen/

If you want to see lots of Polar Bears though try going to Churchill in
Canada as I did in November 2008.

Norman wrote:
Dave Cornwell wrote:
We had a few hours run ashore. One memory I have is of the
eye-wateringly expensive booze!


-----------------------------------------------------
I gather that hasn't changed but I've found a good website that lists
all the prices of all the bars and it seems that £4.50 for a pint is the
best I can expect.
Dave

On 11/03/2013 15:30, Norman wrote:
Dave Cornwell wrote:

Norman wrote:
If snow was a tradable commodity Norway would be a very rich country indeed.
----------------------------------
....... and Will a very poor man :-)
Did you go to Gerainger Fjord on the way to Trondheim? That was stunning
although I imagine they all are! I'm off to Iceland for 4 days on Sunday so
hoping for some clear nights although I am sure it will be interesting. Dave
The ships only go into Gerainger in the summer. I assume that's because of ice
in the winter, though I don't know for sure. For the last mile or so into
Kirkenes we sailed through thin sea ice.

...


When I last visited Geiranger, the local guide told us there were two
reasons for this.

1) Avalanche danger! The fjord is very narrow and the slopes above
it rise to 4000' in places. A substantial avalanche off one of these
slopes would go right across the fjord, taking out any ships in its path.

2) Air pollution. Even in summer when the air tends to be more
mixed, it is common on quieter days to see decks of smoke from the
cruise ship engines lying at various levels above the fjord near
Geiranger itself. A prolonged anticyclonic spell in winter with cold
air trapped in the fjord could produce quite an air pollution episode.

The west coast remains ice free as it is in the direct path of the North
Atlantic Drift. The sea surface temperature on the west coast of the
Lofotens (which are north of the Arctic Circle) is currently about the
same as that off Skegness. This relatively warm water will make its way
into the fjords which I understand would only ice over in extreme
conditions.

Kirkenes is "round the top" of Norway, close to the Russian border and
is that much further for the NAD waters to travel to, so sea surface
temperatures are lower, especially in winter. Even so, it is normally
ice free, which is why the "Russian convoys" ran to Murmansk, just a
little further along the coast.

--
- Yokel -

Yokel posts via a spam-trap account which is not read.

Yokel wrote:

On 11/03/2013 15:30, Norman wrote:
Dave Cornwell wrote:

Norman wrote:
If snow was a tradable commodity Norway would be a very rich country
indeed. ----------------------------------
....... and Will a very poor man :-)
Did you go to Gerainger Fjord on the way to Trondheim? That was stunning
although I imagine they all are! I'm off to Iceland for 4 days on Sunday
so hoping for some clear nights although I am sure it will be
interesting. Dave
The ships only go into Gerainger in the summer. I assume that's because of
ice in the winter, though I don't know for sure. For the last mile or so
into Kirkenes we sailed through thin sea ice.

...


When I last visited Geiranger, the local guide told us there were two reasons
for this.

1) Avalanche danger! The fjord is very narrow and the slopes above it
rise to 4000' in places. A substantial avalanche off one of these slopes
would go right across the fjord, taking out any ships in its path.

2) Air pollution. Even in summer when the air tends to be more mixed, it
is common on quieter days to see decks of smoke from the cruise ship engines
lying at various levels above the fjord near Geiranger itself. A prolonged
anticyclonic spell in winter with cold air trapped in the fjord could produce
quite an air pollution episode.


Those sound like very good reasons for not calling there in winter. Much more
likely than my guess about ice.



--
Norman Lynagh
Tideswell, Derbyshire
303m a.s.l.