Missing snow? Blame it on the Russians

Those of you who are wondering whether it's January or June, today's Star has the mystery solved. No, it's not the spectre of global warming materializing itself (although this is likely what it would be like if and when global warming starts to get serious). This time around the reason is this vortex of cold air that is stuck over Russia, pushing the mighty jet stream — 'the high-speed, high-altitude flow that separates major warm and cold air masses' — to the south in Europe, and well to the north over North America, letting in warm air from the south. So much of Europe is freezing, while Canada is unusually warm for this time of the year.

I'd rather snow than the ugly rain we've been having, but it's good to put off my yearly ritual of buying a new pair of gloves and losing them a few weeks later.