So I guess the coming ice age is canceled. Who would've thought.
Incorrect. It won't be this year. I didn't say it would be. But it is coming!
If this year is not a black swan, the mid April SWE # is a 1,600KM^3 increase over early 2000s (2,200KM^3 vs. 3,800KM^3).
When considering sea ice volume in the same time has dropped from 27,000 to 22,800KM^3, it shows an extremely rapid shift in the balance of the annual crysophere: the % that was comprised of SWE rose from 7.5% fifteen years ago to 13.5% today.
It does not matter that the sea ice is dropping (or rather, this may be a direct cause of the shifting balance). But it is extremely alarming because if we see a continuation of what has occurred since 2000, ongoing wintertime ice mass loss will be accompanied by an ever-growing amount of springtime SWE.
If recent trends are an indicator, by the early 2030s, SWE will take up approximately 24% of the annual balance of the cryosphere. By 2035, there will be a year that reaches 6,000 KM ^3 of accumulated SWE while simultaneously seeing an April ice volume of 17,000-18,000 KM ^ 3. Both of these figures (gains and losses) may be conservative based on the recent acceleration in stagnant weather/etc since 2011-2012.
I think, at that point (nearing 2X record SWE of this year), we will begin to see severe winter impacts last far deeper into summer for prone regions, while general wintertime weather continues to worsen for the mid-latitudes.
Coincidentally, or not, NYC's average snow has increased at a rate that mirrors the hemispheric adjustments since the early 2000s. If this is matched moving forward, it is likely that the city's new median/average approaching 40"+ is only going to keep rising, possibly reaching into the 60s+ by the 2030s.