Snow cover conditions in the northern Hemisphere during the winter of 1981

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

During the winter of 1981 the mean snow covered area in the Northern Hemisphere was less than any other year in the 15‐year record (1966‐1981) except 1970. For North America, the mean snow cover area was the lowest on record, and for Eurasia the mean snow cover area was the second lowest since records began in 1966. It has been observed that the average winter snow cover in both North America and Eurasia for both 1980 and 1981 decreased from that of the previous year, the first time this has been observed in the 15‐year period of record. Assessment of any long term climatic trends must wait extension of the snow cover data base.