posted February 11, 2008 12:18 AM            

quote:

---

The report, based on the work of some 2,500 scientists in more than 130 countries, concluded that humans have caused all or most of the current planetary warming. Human-caused global warming is often called anthropogenic climate change.

• Industrialization, deforestation, and pollution have greatly increased atmospheric concentrations of water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, all greenhouse gases that help trap heat near Earth's surface. (See an interactive feature on how global warming works.)

• Humans are pouring carbon dioxide into the atmosphere much faster than plants and oceans can absorb it.

• These gases persist in the atmosphere for years, meaning that even if such emissions were eliminated today, it would not immediately stop global warming.

• Some experts point out that natural cycles in Earth's orbit can alter the planet's exposure to sunlight, which may explain the current trend. Earth has indeed experienced warming and cooling cycles roughly every hundred thousand years due to these orbital shifts, but such changes have occurred over the span of several centuries. Today's changes have taken place over the past hundred years or less.

• Other recent research has suggested that the effects of variations in the sun's output are "negligible" as a factor in warming, but other, more complicated solar mechanisms could possibly play a role.

What's Going to Happen?

A follow-up report by the IPCC released in April 2007 warned that global warming could lead to large-scale food and water shortages and have catastrophic effects on wildlife.

• Sea level could rise between 7 and 23 inches (18 to 59 centimeters) by century's end, the IPCC's February 2007 report projects. Rises of just 4 inches (10 centimeters) could flood many South Seas islands and swamp large parts of Southeast Asia.

• Some hundred million people live within 3 feet (1 meter) of mean sea level, and much of the world's population is concentrated in vulnerable coastal cities. In the U.S., Louisiana and Florida are especially at risk.

• Glaciers around the world could melt, causing sea levels to rise while creating water shortages in regions dependent on runoff for fresh water.

• Strong hurricanes, droughts, heat waves, wildfires, and other natural disasters may become commonplace in many parts of the world. The growth of deserts may also cause food shortages in many places.

• More than a million species face extinction from disappearing habitat, changing ecosystems, and acidifying oceans.

• The ocean's circulation system, known as the ocean conveyor belt, could be permanently altered, causing a mini-ice age in Western Europe and other rapid changes.

• At some point in the future, warming could become uncontrollable by creating a so-called positive feedback effect. Rising temperatures could release additional greenhouse gases by unlocking methane in permafrost and undersea deposits, freeing carbon trapped in sea ice, and causing increased evaporation of water.

---

posted February 11, 2008 12:22 AM            

What do you mean by "very likely"?

Golbal Warming : How does it work?

posted February 11, 2008 12:26 AM            

Same with this issue of global warming.
You are also the children you give birth to.

Think about your children. Think about you.

posted February 11, 2008 12:29 AM              

You can learn more about that here in this thread: Global Cooling

posted February 11, 2008 12:35 AM            

*Buy a hybrid car when I'm ready to buy my new car. My first car was corolla 36mpg.My second a BMW. I wanted the thrill of sports car so bought one. Its a german car and it sucks at 22 mpg. It may be good in other areas. But hell with it if its not helping the planet.

* Set the thermostats to 2-3 or more degrees lower in winter and higher in the summers if you are not in the home or away on vacation.

*Avoid plastics . Hmm have to stop buying dozens of plastic water bottles very soon. Have to switch to buy those bigger containers where they come and restock at homes. If I was in new york, I won't mind drinking tap water though.

*Make as much use of public transportation as possible. They say American guy must have 3 feet distance. Its time to bury your personal comfort and think about the planet LOL

*I don't buy stocks. But If I am going to trade, I rather buy green stocks. People in recycling industry etc. There was this story about research company using fast food left over oils as energy source for trucks.

* And thank god that I don't eat cheeseburger.

The planet is at an important crossroad. Bush just won't draw our attention to this issue in his union speech, unless he too had facts at his hands.

posted February 11, 2008 01:02 AM            

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/07/18/wsun18.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/07/18/ixnewstop.html

posted February 11, 2008 01:20 AM            

People there say they receive 1.5ft snow per year as opposed to 8 ft / year.

posted February 11, 2008 01:48 AM              

Examples:

Record snowfall in Kashmir -

Lowest temps in Mumbai, India in more than 50 years
7 Feb 08 - Jammu and Kashmir has been experiencing heavy snowfall for the past three days, cutting off road and air links of the Kashmir valley from rest of the country.

According to news reports, hundreds of vehicles carrying essential commodities and passengers are stranded along the 300-km-long Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, causing shortage of essential commodities.

In Mumbai, temperatures have hovered around 9 -10 degrees Celsius over the past two days forcing the people to wear woollens and huddle around bonfires.

According to the Met office, the .4 degree Celsius recorded on Wednesday was the lowest in the past 58 years. http://www.newkerala.com/one.php?action=fullnews&id=20039

China's biggest desert Taklamakan experiences record snow
44,600 livestock die - 2,100 greenhouses collapse
1 Feb 08 - The Taklamakan, China's biggest desert, has experienced its biggest snowfall and lowest temperature after 11 consecutive days of snow, local meteorologists said on Friday.

The snow started in the afternoon of Jan. 17 and lasted until Jan. 27, with the depth exceeding four centimeters, according to the Tazhong Observatory based in the middle of the desert.

Continuous snow also caused the temperature to drop drastically to minus 32 degrees Celsius, a record low since meteorological observation began in the desert in 1996, said Wu Xinping, an expert with the observatory.

Wu said snow was rare in the desert that covered 337,600 square kilometers, and never before had the whole desert been covered.

In Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, about 300,000 people around the Taklamakan Desert had been affected and 44,600 livestock had died.

In Kashgar, the worst hit Xinjiang area, more than 2,100 greenhouses collapsed under the weight of snow and ice. Many others were damaged, leading to price increases for vegetables. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-02/01/content_7544946.htm

Tajikistan 'facing catastrophe' - Coldest winter in five decades - 6 Feb 08 - Tajikistan is in the grip of emergency food shortages, the UN's World Food Program warns.

The deteriorating food situation is part of the energy crisis which hit the mountainous nation in the middle of its coldest winter in five decades.

The cost of food has tripled in recent months, partially because of rising world prices. Some humanitarian agencies claim Central Asia's poorest nation is heading towards catastrophe.

It's well below zero in Tajikistan, but most people have no electricity, no heating and now, increasingly, many don't have enough food either.

One family in the village of Sagdyan, outside the capital Dushanbe, said their four children were surviving on milk and rice. Their next door neighbours could not afford even that.

"We are seeing more and more people who are eating just one meal a day," said Zlatan Milisic, the country director for the World Food Programme in Tajikistan. "And we only expect the food situation to deteriorate.""

The worst is still to come - Tajikistan is currently using up its last energy resources, and may face a total blackout.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7231528.stm

Dozens killed in Iran blizzards - 9 Jan 08 - At least 28 people are reported to have died in Iran's heaviest snowfall in recent years. Eight people froze to death as severe blizzards left 40,000 people
stranded in their cars, authorities said.
How come our newspapers aren’t reporting these things?
See Dozens killed in Iran blizzards

Delhi reels under cold spell - 1 Feb 08 - India is reeling under a cold spell which has seen temperatures plummet to near freezing over the past few days. More than 150 people have died as a result of the cold weather, which has been particularly severe across the northern states of Uttah Pradesh and Kashmir.

Earlier in the week, the Indian capital of Delhi recorded a midday low of 2.3C (36F), making it the coldest January 28th in five years. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/01022008news.shtml

Food warnings amid China freeze - winter crops wrecked - 31 Jan 08 - As China struggles with its worst snowfall in decades , officials warn of future food shortages, saying that winter crops are wrecked.

Communist Party official Chen Xiwen warned of a serious impact on crop production in the south of the country. "The impact on fresh vegetables and on fruit in some places has been catastrophic," he said. "If it heads northward, then the impact on the whole year's grain production will be noticeable."

In some areas, people are already experiencing shortages of food as the weather delays deliveries of key commodities.

More than a dozen provinces have also been hit by blackouts due to missed coal deliveries for power stations and rising demand amid the cold.

The snowstorms, which began on 10 January, have affected nearly 80 million people across 14 provinces in the center and south of the country.

By the end of Tuesday, at least 38 people had been killed in snow-related accidents such as house collapses and falls, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said, and more have died in traffic accidents.

The government is trying to convince people the situation is under control - praising officials and naming three men who died as "revolutionary martyrs". But forecasters are warning of more snow and urging people not to travel.

As I've been saying for years, I fear that we'll be fighting in the
streets for food long before we're covered with ice.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7219092.stm
"China today but will it be us tomorrow?", asks reader
John Brown of Ardrossan, Scotland.

Rare snowstorm hits Middle East - 29 Jan 08 - Men in long Arab robes pelted each other with snowballs in the Jordanian capital, Amman, and the West Bank city of Ramallah, seat of the Palestinian government, came to a standstill. For some, it was the first time they had ever seen snow!

The Israeli weather service said up to 8 inches of snow fell in Jerusalem. Forecasters said temperatures were expected to drop, and the snow would continue through Thursday morning.

Heavy snow also was reported in the Golan Heights and the northern Israeli town of Safed, and throughout the West Bank.

In Amman, where a foot of snow fell, children used inflatable tubes as sleds.

Snow covered most mountain villages and blocked roads in Lebanon. The storm disrupted power supplies in most Lebanese towns and villages, exacerbating existing power cuts. Parts of the Beirut-Damascus highway were closed.

Temperatures in Syria dipped below freezing and snow blanketed the hills overlooking the capital, Damascus. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080130/ap_on_re_mi_ea/mideast_snowstorm_1
Thanks to Jimmy Walter for this link

Jerusalem blanketed with heavy snow - 29 Jan 08 - Heavy snowfall blanketed Jerusalem and surrounding areas Tuesday night. The inclement weather swept across not only Jerusalem, as the Golan Heights saw an accumulation of dozens of centimeters of snow.

Higher elevations throughout the country are likely to be covered with snow over the next two days, according to Israel Meteorological Service forecaster Uri Batz. Jerusalem can expect about 10 cm. of snow by Wednesday night and another 10 by late Thursday.

Batz said the Carmel Hills, near Haifa, would probably get a light layer of snow, something that hasn't happened since 2000. Even Eilat residents will likely be able to enjoy the sight of snow on the tops of the Edom Mountains across the Jordanian border.

The forecaster said that with strong winds, the temperature in the capital could plummet to as low as -9º C, freezing any water on the roads and sidewalks.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1201523782656&pagename=JPost%2FJPArti cle%2FShowFull
Thanks to Robert Branch for this link http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7217429.stm

More than 100,000 homes collapse in China - 29 Jan 08 – A prolonged cold snap has produced immense snowfalls affecting more than 4 million hectares (around 10 million acres) of farmland. The weight of snow in eastern and central China has led to the collapse of over 100,000 homes, with nearly half a million homes damaged. Railway services have ground to a halt and major delays have plagued airports in the nation’s peak travel period.

More snow is likely across more eastern parts of China over the coming days with temperatures set to rise only very slightly. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/29012008news.shtml

Now it’s half million stranded at train station - 28 Jan 08 - "Blizzards have snapped power lines and destroyed houses and farmland, prompting fears of food and energy shortages. Twenty-four people have died and some 827,000 people have been evacuated in 14 different provinces, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said Monday." http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/01/28/china.weather/index.html
Thanks to Dr. Ben for this link "Darn that global warming!," says Dr. Ben

Chinese snow storms strand tens of millions of people
200,000 stranded at one train station - expected to rise to 600,000
28 Jan 08 - Driving sleet, freezing temperatures and a blanket of snow across southern China - the worst weather in 50 years - have paralysed trains and aircraft, stranding tens of millions of people trying to get home for the biggest holiday in the Chinese calendar.

The China Meteorological Administration issued a red alert warning of more snowstorms and blizzards in central and eastern China, particularly around Shanghai.

Among the worst-hit cities is southern Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province that borders Hong Kong. The province is one of China's most important manufacturing regions, with thousands of factories making everything from T-shirts to electronics staffed by millions of migrant workers from poorer inland provinces.

The freakish weather has already affected 67 million people and economic losses so far have been placed at 18.2 billion yuan (££1.3 billion). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article3264827.ece

China winter snowiest in decades –– people running out of food - 28 Jan 08 - Brutal winter weather across China on Monday, choking energy flows and claiming a rising human and economic toll that pummeled local stock prices ahead of Chinese New Year

At least 24 people have died in two weeks of accidents due to snow, sleet and freezing cold across central, eastern and southern China, regions used to milder winters, Xinhua news agency said.

Officials in Hunan, Jiangsu and other provinces calling the snow and cold the worst in decades.

The main Shanghai stock index plunged 7.19 percent, its fourth biggest drop this decade, as investors added the weather woes to gloom about inflation and the global economy.

By the end of Monday, a backlog of 600,000 stranded at the main rail station in Guangzhou - in the relatively warm commercial far south - was expected. Television showed green-uniformed anti-riot troops ready to keep order around the station.

The China Meteorological Administration said the cold snap showed no signs of lifting.

Cargo ships docked at Shanghai's Baoshan Port were also delayed by snow that has hampered operations.

Already the country is guessing the economic cost, especially from coal shipment delays that have intensified power shortfalls.

Residents in central and southwest China are also complaining of shortages of fresh foods and rocketing prices for rice, vegetables and eggs.

The government has not announced deaths due to freezing in homes. But homes south of the Yangtze River generally do not receive central heating and are not built for such icy weather. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080128/wl_nm/china_weather_dc;_ylt=AtUdgzlRoSEIGVPq5t mUPW2s0NUE

Heavy Snow Strands 150,000 Travelers in China - 27 Jan 08 - Power cuts blamed on ice and unusually heavy snow stranded about 150,000 vacationers in the key southern Chinese rail hub city of Guangzhou, state media reported.

The rail backups were compounded by a slowdown in bus travel after thick sheets of ice forced the closure of several highways. Snow delayed numerous flights out of Shanghai.

Most of the delays were blamed on power cuts that stalled 136 electric passenger trains on the tracks in Hunan province between Beijing and Guangzhou, Xinhua said.

Hunan and many parts of central China have been hit in recent days by freakishly cold weather, icy rain and snow that has accumulated on power lines, causing some of the them to snap.

Some areas have received their heaviest snowfalls in over a decade. More bad weather is forecast for the coming days. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,325878,00.html

I have 1000's more to share if you like...

posted February 11, 2008 01:58 AM            

But look at the weird part , mumbai went colder than delhi (I cud never imagine it).

Its an established fact that now the earth is 1-1.4 degree warmer than before.

2 more degrees and venice, egypt, bangladesh will be submerged. Parts of Florida, NY is submerged.

If there is no Himalaya - millions of people of indian subcontinent will have to look else where for fresh water supplies.

Its very alarming.

An ounce of prevention is better than cure.

posted February 11, 2008 02:02 AM            

Yes. The Bush administration has supported only voluntary reduction programs, but these have failed to stop the growth of emissions. Even leaders of major corporations, including companies such as DuPont, Alcoa and General Electric, agree that it's time for the federal government to create strong laws to cut global warming pollution. Public and political support for solutions has never been stronger. Congress is now considering fresh proposals to cap emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping pollutants from America's largest sources -- power plants, industrial facilities and transportation fuels.

Stricter efficiency requirements for electric appliances will also help reduce pollution. One example is the 30 percent tighter standard now in place for home central air conditioners and heat pumps, a Clinton-era achievement that will prevent the emission of 51 million metric tons of carbon -- the equivalent of taking 34 million cars off the road for one year. The new rule survived a Bush administration effort to weaken it when, in January 2004, a federal court sided with an NRDC-led coalition and reversed the administration's rollback.

posted February 11, 2008 02:07 AM            

Even a small led light consumes power from the power plant that runs on coal. coal releases plenty of co2 back to the atmosphere.

posted February 11, 2008 02:09 AM            

And all circuit boys/girls - think of our planet the next time you decide to hang out in the night

And I better turn off my computer and try to go to bed earlier ...

here i go ...good nite .

posted February 11, 2008 02:17 AM              

3,635 houses collapse in China - Heaviest snowfall since 1957 - 22 Jan 08 - In eastern Anhui, a total of 3,635 houses collapsed under the weight of snow, according to the provincial disaster relief office. A market in Shucheng county also collapsed. Traffic, power and telecommunications were cut off in more than 50 towns of the province.

The unusually heavy snowfall claimed at least 17 lives across China, caused widespread traffic and power disruption.

The Guizhou Power Grid Company cut off electricity to seven high energy-consuming industries and imposed limits on other industries to ensure electricity for households, government buildings and hospitals, said Chao Jian, deputy general manager of the company.

In northwest China's Shaanxi province, heavy snow has affected most parts of the province. In Weinan and Yan'an, two cities near the provincial capital Xi'an, 147 houses collapsed under the weight of snow.

The snow also damaged 1,110 hectare of crops and killed more than 5,100 poultries and livestock. The total direct economic loss was reported to be 68 million yuan (about 9.4 million USD).

The snowfall topped the records since 1957, said Du Jiwen on Tuesday, deputy director of Shaanxi Provincial Meteorology Bureau. He said the snow will continue to 30th of this month.

Hubei experienced its longest low temperature period since 1969. It witnessed 10 continuous days with temperatures below 0.5 degrees centigrade during 11 days of snowfall from Jan. 11.

The provincial meteorological bureau is forecasting further heavy snows or snowstorms from Jan. 25 to 28, with average temperatures below freezing. The low temperature will be the longest time since 1954 in the provincial capital Wuhan city if it continues to the end of the month.

In southwest Guizhou province, 13 districts and towns are still living without electricity after snow cut coal supplies by road to a power plant.

By Wednesday afternoon, 3,400 travelers were still stranded on roads in Guizhou. www.chinaview.cn
Thanks to Charles Patrick for this link

Bitter Cold Clutches Central Asia from northern Arabia, Iran
and eastern Turkey northeast to Kazakhstan
22 Jan 08 - In Turysh, Kazakhstan, the average temperature for four weeks ended January 21, was a full 20 degrees below normal. Coldest days were more than 30 degrees below normal.

In northern Kazakhstan, Atbasar was colder than usual by 13 degrees with the coldest night diving to 45 degrees below zero -- about 40 degrees below normal.

In Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, average temperatures were 10 to 18 degrees below normal during this same four-week stretch.

In Iran, the first three weeks of January was nearly 12 degrees below normal, though some areas in this vast land were substantially colder with respect to normal.

Story by AccuWeather.com Senior Forecaster Jim Andrews http://premiuma.accuweather.com/adcbin/premium/news-regional.asp?region=worldnews
&month=01&year=2008&date=2008-01-22_1919

More snow in Near East - 23 Jan 08 - Snow and cold rain spread out of North Africa into the Near East early this week. The storm dropped snow in a swath beginning with the heights of Lebanon and Israel/Palestine, then reaching eastward over Syria, Jordan, western Iraq and even a little of northern Saudi Arabia. In

Jordan, snow whitened Amman, the capital city, along with Irbid, before spreading eastward over the high desert into western Iraq. Water equivalent in the snow was enough for amounts of 4 to 8 inches.

Farther north, snow also fell upon Damascus, Syria. Even a bit farther north, snow blanketing An Nabk amounted to 8 inches deep as of Wednesday morning. Both Damascus and An Nabk are in the `rain shadow` east of the Lebanon Mountains; however, this storm brought easterly winds that negated the rain-shadow effect. In Iraq, enough snow to cover the ground fell from Tirbil, on the Jordan line, eastward to at least Ar Rutbah.

Story by AccuWeather.com Senior Forecaster Jim Andrews http://premiuma.accuweather.com/adcbin/premium/news-regional.asp?region=worldnews

Cold spell kills hundreds in Afghanistan - 21 Jan 08 - Afghanistan's National Disaster Management Authority reports that more than 320 people have died so far this month in a cold spell in the country's western region. Tens of thousands of livestock have also died. Snowfall has been the heaviest in 15 years. http://www.radionetherlands.nl/news/international/5608438/Cold-spell-kills-h undreds-in-Afghanistan
Thanks to Charles Patrick for this link

"Vicious Cold" in Canada - 21 Jan 08 - Winnipeggers should settle in for another week of vicious cold, according to Environment Canada.

'We're seeing some brutally cold temperatures, about 10 degrees lower than normal,' said David Phillips, Environment Canada's senior climatologist, adding the cold snap will last through next week.

A blast of arctic air has settled over southern Manitoba, making temperatures in Winnipeg comparable to those in Yellowknife, said Phillips.

'It will be as cold in Winnipeg as it is at the top of the world,' he said. 'You can go thousands of kilometres to the north and not find any colder temperatures.'

The cold yesterday was so severe it prompted Festival du Voyageur organizers to shut down events on the Assiniboine Credit Union river trail for the entire weekend.

The frigid weather also prompted Stony Mountain Ski Area north of Winnipeg to close down last night. http://winnipegsun.com/News/Winnipeg/2008/01/19/4781601-sun.html
Thanks to Charles Patrick for this link

Record cold in subtropical Georgia - 18 Jan 08 - In addition to the bitter cold across Siberia, even subtropical Georgia (former Soviet republic) in south central Asia is experiencing record cold:

"Bloomberg reports that worst hit will be the Siberian region of Evenkiya, while neighboring Georgia, whose climate is subtropical, already plunged to as low as minus 35C. Lake Paliastomi in the western Georgia froze for the first time in 50 years, reports Rustavi-2 television."

(The Yahoo article yesterday left out the part about the cold in Georgia.
"Perhaps the editors thought that mentioning the record cold in usually
balmy, subtropical Georgia would not be helpful in promoting the Global
Warming agenda," says reader Michael Jenkins.)
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7009739004

Here�s a Russian site with Siberian temperatures - down to minus 60EC - brrrrrr http://wmc.meteoinfo.ru/forecasts5000/russia/republic-saha-yakutia/ojmjakon

Heavy snow blankets much of China - 18 Jan 08 - Heavy snow has brought chaos across the southern provinces of Hubei, Hunan and Jiangxi. Hubei is experiencing its heaviest snowfall in 6 years. Frozen pipes have cut off water to many residents so that fire engines were used to carry in fresh supplies.

Some 120,000 cars are said to have been stranded in Hunan for days. Almost half a million passengers had to wait until Thursday to be rescued. In Jiangxi, thousands of cars became stranded when a bridge across China��s Yangtze River was closed.

Snow also blanketed Beijing. The National Meteorological Centre of China forecasts that the winter blast will continue over the next few days, with more snow expected in many areas.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/18012008news.shtml

Two inches of rain in 40 minutes in Eastern Australia - 17 Jan 08 - In Townsville, Queensland, some 50 mm (2 inches) of rain fell in less than 40 minutes.

Earlier this week a monsoon low off central Queensland dumped more than 350 mm (almost 14 inches) of rain in 24 hours in some areas. Relief crews had to be flown in because the main highway and other roads were cut off.

Heavy rain is still falling across much of central western Queensland, with sandbagging underway and residents in some areas being evacuated. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/17012008news.shtml

A year�s rainfall in the desert in one day - 15 Jan 08 - A series of big winter storms along with far-reaching cold has spread from Arabia to Pakistan in the south, and from Turkey to Kazakhstan in the north, dumping soaking desert rain near the Mideast Gulf and the head of the Arabia. In southeastern Iran, rainfall on Monday and Tuesday was 4.4 inches at Iranshahr, with the rain still falling ... nearly the normal rainfall for a whole year.

Farther east, Nokkundi, Pakistan, received 1.3 inches of rain, about 80% of the normal yearly rainfall. Soaking rain also pelted the northeastern United Arab Emirates and nearby northern Oman. Rainfall since the first of the week was 2.5 inches at Dubai, UAE--more than half the average yearly rainfall. And Khasab, Oman's 2.6 inches of rain made for a substantial fraction of the usual winter rainfall. http://premiuma.accuweather.com/adcbin/premium/news-regional.asp?region=worldnews

Freezing weather kills over 100 in Afghanistan - 14 Jan 08 - Over 100 people have died due to freezing weather in various provinces of Afghanistan in the past few days, the country's Ariana TV channel reported on Monday.

Continual heavy snowfall has cut off thousands of people living in isolated communities in the mountainous country, making deliveries of medicine and essential goods almost impossible.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has ordered for troops to be sent to Ghorian, the hardest-hit province, where over 50 people have died in avalanches and freezing temperatures. Convoys of trucks carrying 20 metric tons of food and medicine, along with road-cleaning vehicles, a disaster recovery team, and doctors have also been sent to the area.

Meteorologists predict further snowfall in the provinces of Heart, Badghis, Ghor, Kabul and Ghazni. http://en.rian.ru/world/20080114/96558553.html
Thanks to Anton Jaks for this link

Severe cold kills 15,000 animals - 13 Jan 08 - Afghanistan, Iran
and a number of other central Asian countries hit by severe cold.
See Severe cold kills 15,000 animals.

Temperatures way below normal in Mexico - Great email from a reader in Mexico
12 Jan 08 - See Temperatures way below normal in Mexico
.
Snow in the Middle of the South America Summer - 10 Jan 08 - "The weather went crazy. This is the most read sentence in the press of Buenos Aires at this moment. This morning it snowed in several locations of southern Argentina as the famous resort of Bariloche in the Andes Mountains. It even snowed in downtown Bariloche, a rare event for January. Local press described the snow blanketed the Cordillera of Chubut, an unusual event for January. Snow was also reported in San Martins de Los Andes. Tourists in the region, used to see snow in the colder months of the years, could not believe the white thing was falling in the middle of January.

"Icecap Note: This is even more unusual than a July snow in Denver, a mile high (5,278 feet) city at about the same latitude. Bariloche is at just 2,772 feet elevation." http://icecap.us/index.php/go/joes-blog

Saudi Arabia covered with snow - coldest winter in 20 years - 11 Jan 08 - Northern parts of Saudi Arabia are covered with snow with schools, mosques and administrative bodies paralyzed, local media reported Friday.

The oil-rich kingdom is being hit with subzero temperatures and snow storms with freezing winds of up to 50 km/h (30mp/h). Water pipes have frozen, and livestock has died from the cold.

posted February 11, 2008 02:19 AM              

Snow in Baghdad for first time in memory - 11 Jan 08 - Snow fell on Baghdad for the first time in memory, and delighted residents declared it an omen of peace.

The streets of the capital were largely empty as big, thick, wet flakes fell on Friday morning, a weekend day in Iraq. The temperature hovered around freezing and the snow mostly melted into grey puddles when it hit the ground.
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL1146182220080111 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22608593/

"I think the IPCC, Al Gore as well as the worlds media should bring their heads out of the sand ... Why? Because its snowing above it," says John Brown in Scotland. :laughing:

Snow Paralyzes Teheran - 9 Jan 08 - The worst snowfalls in decades have paralyzed the Iranian capital Tehran for the fourth day in a row, according to a local media report. At least eight people froze to death and another 20 were killed in weather-related road accidents.

The high demand for gas, combined with a sudden halt in Turkmenistan's gas exports to Iran, has created a temporary shortage of gas. Iran has therefore suspended its own export of gas to Turkey, which relies heavily on Iranian gas.

In Shahre Kord in Western Iran, temperatures fell to minus 24C (- 11F). Tehran registered -7C (19 F), the state television reported.

The Iranian government announced that the "drop in temperatures and gas pressure" would force all state offices and schools to remain closed until Thursday, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.

Iin southwestern Iran, the dunes of the Kavir-e Lut desert were dusted with snow for the first time in living memory, IRNA added. http://www.themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=20162
Thanks to Anton Jaks for this link

Iranian desert hit by snow - 7 Jan 08 - A big winter storm made its way eastward from Turkey and the Black Sea. Tehran, the Iranian capital, received 6 to as much as 20 inches of snow.

Hamedan, southwest of Tehran, had 14 inches of snow. Even the desert hinterland of southern Iran was whitened by the storm. In the far north,3 feet of snow fell on Bandar-e-Anzali, usually a mild and damp spot in wintertime.

Farther north, the Azerbaijan city of Baku was swept up in heavy `sea-effect` snows. Meantime, the leading edge of snow spread through Afghanistan to the rugged northeast of Pakistan. It also overspread southern Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan bound for Tajikistan and Kirgizstan.

Story by AccuWeather.com Senior Forecaster Jim Andrews http://premiuma.accuweather.com/adcbin/premium/news-regional.asp?region=worldnews

Heavy snowfall wreaks havoc across Northern Ireland - 7 Jan 08 - Chaos and treacherous road conditions hit travelers across Northern Ireland today after a foot of snow or more fell in many areas, with more expected during the day. On top of the snow, a thunderstorm cut electricity supplies to thousands of homes for several hours. http://u.tv/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=86819&pt=n
Thanks to Charles Patrick for this link

Worst snow storm in Iran in more than a decade - 8 Jan 08 - Almost 22 inches (550mm) of snow blanketed parts of northern and central Iran over the weekend, blocking a number of major roads and killing more than 20 people. A number of towns are still without gas due to a surge in demand. More snow is forecast for the next few days http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/08012008news.shtml

Deaths Reported in Mexico Cold Snap - 4 Jan 08 - A cold snap has brought freezing temperatures, unusual snows and heavy rains to Mexico and Central America, including Honduras and El Salvador.

Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said Thursday that the bodies of four people had been found on city streets since Wednesday, including one who died from pneumonia. Officials were investigating whether the other three deaths were also caused by the weather.

Temperatures dropped to 23 degrees in central Puebla state, where residents woke to snow-covered mountains. In the capital, residents accustomed to 80-degree afternoons bundled up in temperatures as low as 32. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hCHxKhIKuJHi3AXN1RdS_kjnbj7AD8TUN6HO2

Amazing Bulgarian Snowfall - 3 Jan 08 - A severe winter storm over the eastern Balkan Peninsula left much of Bulgaria and southern Romania buried beneath heavy snow lying 41 inches deep in the north Bulgarian town of Svishtov. Half of the storm`s output came within 12 hours Wednesday night to early Thursday.

Elsewhere, snowfall from the storm was above 2 feet (26 inches) at Pleven. About 2 feet of snow mantled Lovech, another northern site. And Ruse, a town not far to the east of Svishtov, picked up more than 20 inches of fresh, wind-blown snow. http://premiuma.accuweather.com/adcbin/premium/news-regional.asp?region=worldnews
Thanks to Kenneth Lund for this link

Heavy snow blankets Romania and Bulgaria - 3 Jan 08 - Heavy snow blanketed Romania and Bulgaria on Thursday, cutting power to hundreds of towns and villages, blocking roads and forcing Bucharest's two airports and some Black Sea ports to close.

The customs post at Giurgiu on the Danube river border with Bulgaria was closed and the Foreign Ministry said 1,300 Romanian tourists were stranded in the neighboring country because of the weather.

In Bulgaria, two days of heavy snow and high winds cut electricity supplies to more than 300 towns and villages, the country's Disaster and Emergency Ministry said.

In Bucharest, the mayor appealed to residents to help to clear a layer of up to 50 cm (20 inches) of snow and use public transport rather than private cars. http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSL0352087920080103
Thanks to Charles Patrick for this link

Cold snap continues across Northern India - Death toll almost 50
3 Jan 07 - Northern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have been worst hit with the cold
having intensified over the last two days.

Temperatures in New Delhi on Wednesday dropped to 1.9C (36F), lowest of the season. On Tuesday night the temperature in Srinagar city plummeted to -7.4C (19F), five degrees below average and breaking a 20 year record.

In Jammu and Kashmir, police were warning people not to walk across the icy Dal Lake, which has slowly iced over to a depth of 10-15cm in places (4-6 inches). The world-famous lake has frozen several times in the past, but the most notable years were 1964 and 1986. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/03012008news.shtml

Heavy snow paralyzes parts of eastern Europe - Dozens of Bulgarian villages cut off
3 Jan 08 - A bitterly cold winter storm pummeled parts of Europe on Thursday, stranding thousands at airports, mountain roads, and remote villages.

Bulgarian authorities called in the army to help clear roads and reach stranded motorists. The northern Danube municipality of Ruse declared a state of emergency after heavy snow blocked many roads.

In Romania, Bucharest's two main airports were closed due to heavy snowfall, which also blocked many roads in the south.

In Ankara, Turkey, snow caused traffic jams and accidents, while temperatures in northern Greece fell to 1 below zero and snow blanketed the roads.

Ice and snow also disrupted traffic in Western Europe. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22491652/

Cold Weather Kills 38 in Northern India - 2 Jan 08 - An unusually fierce cold snap has killed nine people in northern India over the past two days, bringing the death toll from weeks of unusually chilly weather to 38, officials and a news report said Wednesday.

The nighttime temperature dipped to 34 degrees in the tourist city of Agra where the Taj Mahal is located, said a statement from the Meteorology Department of Uttar Pradesh state.

Most of 36 weather-related deaths reported in Uttar Pradesh since the cold snap began in December involved beggars or impoverished migrant workers who often sleep in the open, with only plastic sheets or jute cloth sacks for cover, said K.P. Kulshreshtha, a director of the department.

Homeless people huddled around fires in the chilly wind in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh. ''Without this bonfire we will die,'' said Sukhai Ram, a homeless laborer.

Winters are normally short and mild in South Asia. http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-7191579,00.html

Heavy snow blankets Bulgaria - Hundreds of trucks stranded - 2 Jan 08- Heavy snowfall swept most of Bulgaria blocking traffic on major roads across the country and leaving some 200 villages without electricity. Andrei Ivanov, a civil defense official in Sofia said snow was 16 inches deep and snowdrifts reached 6.6 feet high in northern and southern Bulgaria.

Ivanov said the worst road situation was in the mountainous region in central Bulgaria with the major Shipka passage closed to traffic. Hundreds of trucks were stranded on icy and snow-coated roads not far from the Black Sea coast. Sections of highways linking Sofia, in western Bulgaria, with the Black Sea port towns of Varna and Burgas have been closed.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/01/02/heavy_snow_blankets_bulgaria/4481/

More heavy snow for USA and Canada - 1 Jan 08 - The National Weather Service expects yet another storm to bring snow to northern New York and New England, dumping as much as 23 to 25cm (9 or 10 inches) in some higher parts of New York State.

The storms in the northeast are expected to affect parts of eastern Canada too. Heavy snow has been falling today with total accumulations expected to be in the range of 20cm (8 inches) by this evening.

See entire article by Elizabeth Saary http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/01012008news.shtml

Record December snowfall in Ottawa, Canada - 30 Dec 07 - Massive snow dumps on Ottawa this month have buried a long-standing December snowfall record. Ottawa has received 115 cm of snow this month, smashing the previous high of 111.3 cm set in 1970.

"We did set a record, but it's not entirely unprecedented," said Bryan Tugwood, a severe weather meteorologist with Environment Canada.

Uh huh. Are we in denial here? I had the impression that "setting a record"
implied that something unprecedented did indeed occur.

See entire article: http://ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2007/12/30/4745545-sun.html

posted February 11, 2008 02:24 AM              

Severe Ice Storm Lashes Mongolia - 27 Dec 07 - A winter storm with gales, blowing dust and blinding snow ripped through Mongolia and nearby northwest China. The storm erupted in full strength Thursday afternoon over the heart of the Gobi Desert. At Tsogtovo, temperatures dove to 0F. Early in the day, it was 10 degrees below zero as winds over Altai roared to 60 mph and above. Thursday night, a great cloud of dust, blended in some areas with snow, flew eastward over Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, China.
Story by AccuWeather.com Senior Forecaster Jim Andrews http://premiuma.accuweather.com/adcbin/premium/news-regional.asp?region=worldnews&mont h=
12&year=2007&date=2007-12-27_1902

Avalanche buries dozens of cars on Tajik road - 22 Dec 07 - A snow-triggered avalanche on a road linking the Tajik capital Dushanbe with the country's second city Khudzhand has killed at least 15 people, police say. Takik is a mountainous republic in Central Asia. Dozens of cars are still buried under snow as another avalanche crashed on to lorries on the road, rescuers said.

Police say that one of the drivers managed to make a phone call from his mobile but after that all communication was lost. "There are still people under snow, we cannot say how many at the moment. The rescue operation continues," spokeswoman Munira Nazariyeva said.

There have been heavy snow storms all across this part of Central Asia.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7157118.stm

Half of Spain blanketed with snow - 19 Dec 07 - Large parts of Spain woke up to a blanket of snow on Tuesday morning, especially across eastern parts of the country. Jijona and Taragona were just two cities which woke to vivid wintry scenes yesterday morning.

The snow blocked dozens of roads and several mountain passes, and temporarily closed the motorway linking Madrid and Barcelona near Zaragoza.

As much as 20cm (8inches) of snow was forecast for the highest ground in the centre of the Peninsula, with 3 to 6cm (around 1 to 2 inches) across the Sierra Nevada.

The cold weather triggered a huge surge in the demand for electricity, beating the previous record set on January 27th 2005. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/19122007news.shtml

Big snow storms hit US and Canada - 17 Dec 07 - Around 40cm (16in) of snow fell around Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. Freezing rain, snow storms and high winds also affected several states in New England and the Great Lakes region.

"It's a big one, a dangerous one," Environment Canada climatologist Dave Phillips told CTV, adding that more heavy snow was expected.

Parts of New York State received around 30cm (12 in) of snow, while 25cm (10 in) fell across Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Forecasters said that parts of northern New England might receive 45cm (18 in) in total. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7146947.stm
Thanks to Kenneth Lund for this link

Flooding across southern Thailand spills into Malaysia - 18 Dec 07 - Heavy rains have brought severe flooding across Narathiwat in Thailand�s south, the most severe to hit the region in a decade.

The water level across three main rivers in the province surged, not least the Kolok River which also marks the boundary between Thailand and Malaysia. The river exceeded the danger level of 9 metres (29 feet), rising to 10.51 metres (34.5 feet). The provinces infrastructure was severely damaged with hundreds of roads flooded and bridges washed away. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/18122007news.shtml

Snow avalanche kills 16 in Tajikistan, more trapped - 22 Dec 07 - An avalanche killed at least 16 people in the mountains of Tajikistan on Saturday while more people remained trapped under snow, an Interior Ministry official said. The avalanche occurred after several days of heavy snowfall and hit a road that connects the Central Asian state's capital Dushanbe with another city, Khudjand.

Pictures shown on Russia's Vesti-24 news channel showed heavy tractors clearing snow from a narrow mountain road and trucks trapped at the site, 70 km (45 miles) north of Dushanbe.

'Our report from the site says 16 bodies have been dug out,' colonel Khaidar Makhmadiyev from the Interior Ministry said. http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL2214065220071222

Snowfall sets new record - 15 Dec 07 - Old record, set in 1970, crushed by nearly 12 cm - The City of Windsor, Ontario declared a snow emergency Sunday as the first major storm of the season dumped record snowfall for the date -- about 25 cm.

Using figures dating back to 1940, the previous snowfall record for Dec. 16 in Windsor was 12.7 cm in 1970. The all-time one-day snowfall record for Windsor is 36.8 cm, set Feb. 25, 1965.

"I think chances are we're in for a white Christmas," said Environment Canada meteorologist Mark Alliksaar.

See entire article by Roberta Pennington, The Windsor Star http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/story.html?id=2f5e96e2-99a1-4096-a7e8-23657da2 3b85

Bitterly Cold in Canada - 15 Dec 07 - The Canadian Prairies have had a very cold start to first half of December. The city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, has had low temperatures below zero degrees F every day this month, reaching -29F on Friday morning. For the month, Winnipeg's temperatures have averaged 12.5 degrees below normal. In Regina, around 400 miles to the west, temperatures have averaged 10 degrees below normal for the month.

Elsewhere around the world, Nossi-Be, near the northern tip of Madagascar Island, received 5.24 inches of rain in only 24 hours. Portions of Turkey and southeastern Europe have been very wet. Mulga, in southwestern Turkey, has received 9.92 inches of rain so far this month, twice the amount normally expected for the month to date. Bursa, has received more then 4 times the normal amount for halfway through the month. Farther north in Bucharest, Romania, precipitation has been more then 3 times normal.

Story by AccuWeather.com Senior Forecaster Jim Andrews

Hail the Size of Tennis Balls in New South Wales - 9 Dec 07 - A severe thunderstorm swept across Sydney, the Illawarra and Central Coast, lashing the area with huge hailstones. Giant hailstones, 7 cms (2.7 inches) in diameter, were reported in Blacktown in Sydney. Another severe thunderstorm cut a swathe through parts of Sydney on Friday, dumping more than 20 mm (just less than an inch) of rain in 10 minutes. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/09122007news.shtml

Flash floods on Australia�s east coast - 4 Dec 07 - A line of storms lashed the
east coast of Australia on Monday, running from the New South Wales / Queensland
border to the southern tip of Tasmania. A second line of storms brought floods to
Melbourne. Dry roads turned into rivers, as 50mm (2inches) of rain fell in a very
short time, along with hail the size of marbles. Homebush in western Sydney bore
the brunt of the storms, with 21mm (almost an inch) of rain in less than half an hour. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/04122007news.shtml

Blast from the past? Coldest winter in 15 years, Environment Canada says
30 Nov 07 � "Environment Canada predicts that until February, climates across most
of the country will be the coldest in 15 years, with the exception of a small pocket in
southern Ontario.

Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips said the past trend of uncharacteristically warm, short winters will be wiped out by a chilly reminder of what a real Canadian winter feels like. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/11/30/winter-forecast.html

Coast to coast snow in Canada - 3 Dec 07 - Violent snow and rain storms pummelled much of eastern and western Canada over the weekend. St John�s (Newfoundland) was plunged into darkness on Sunday evening after two days of harsh weather cut power across the region.

Elsewhere 10 to 20 cms (4 to 8 inches) of snow combined with brisk northeast winds are expected in Montral and more snow is forecast for Toronto. At Halifax Stanfield International Airport, flights to Toronto were cancelled or delayed on Sunday.
See entire article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/03122007news.shtml

Wintry weather in the USA - 1 Dec 07 - A low pressure system is currently pumping rain
and snow into areas of Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. The storm will track eastwards over the next few days bringing a mix of rain, snow and ice from Nebraska to the lower Great Lakes. The heaviest snow is expected from southern Minnesota to New England. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/01122007news.shtml

Snow in Spain - 25 Nov 07 - The image most people conjure up when you mention
the south of Spain or the Costa del Sol is one of lying by the pool with the warm summer
sun beating down.

But if you had gone further inland this weekend, you would have found several inches of
snow in the Granada region on Saturday morning, while the residents in the city of Murcia
awoke to a thick blanket of snow measuring up to half a metre or more(more than 1� feet)!!!

Malaga reported a low of 1C (33.8F) on Saturday night while the northern town of
Fuenterrabia shivered in temperatures as low as -9C (15.8F), very close to the record
low of -10C (14F). The average minimum temperature for this area is around 6 to 7C.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/29012007news.shtml

Heaviest snowfall in Zurich since 1955!!! - Record snow across Europe
27 Nov 07 - European resorts are enjoying record November snowfalls. Switzerland
and Austria have had the best of the early snow, with even low-lying resorts now able
to use their chairlifts.

France is expecting significant snowfalls this weekend, as are parts of Germany; some
Italian resorts are already open and Sweden and Norway are also hoping to join the party.
Zurich has had its heaviest snow fall since 1955 and in Verbier the town is reporting 40cm
(16 inches) of snow, whilst up on the slopes there are reports of 60cm (approx 24 inches). http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/27112007news.shtml

Strong Earthquakes Hit Indonesia - 25 Nov 07 - A 6.1-magnitude quake early today
was centered 110 miles from Bengkulu, a coastal town on Sumatra island, the U.S.
Geological Survey said.

Thirteen hours later, Sumbawa island to the west was hit by a quake with a preliminary
strength of 6.7.

"It was very strong ... even utility poles were shaking," said Dina Ramadani, a resident in
Bengkulu, adding that people started screaming after one pole toppled over and crashed
into a street.

Two months ago, an 8.4-magnitude quake off Bengkulu killed 23 people and destroyed
thousands of buildings. The region has since been hit by hundreds of aftershocks. http://www6.comcast.net/news/articles/world/asia/2007/11/23/Indonesia.Quake/

Wintry weather in time for Thanksgiving - 23 Nov 07 - In Texas,
the Big Spring area saw up to 20cm (8inches) of snow, while Dallas
enjoyed(?) the first white Thanksgiving in more than a decade!!!

Indiana and Colorado also saw snow as did Utah, where 23cm (9inches)
of snow in the mountains prompted some ski resorts to open early for the
Thanksgiving weekend.

In Canada, the first winter storm of the season brought travel chaos across
parts of southern Ontario and western Quebec. Although winter is still a
month away, the storm gave Canadians an early reminder of the cold months
which lie ahead.

posted February 11, 2008 02:25 AM              

"Records show that falling or lying snow is much less likely in November
compared with December, January, and February. "Typically for eastern
areas of Powys, on average lying snow can be expected on around four
days in January but on less than one day in November. http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/wales-news/2007/11/20/snow-hits-wales-in-
too-early-cold-snap-91466-20133162/

Bangladesh death tally passes 3,100 - Toll may hit 10,000
19 Nov 07 - The official death toll from Tropical Cyclone Sidr � the
worst cyclone to strike Bangladesh in a decade - rose to more than
3,100 on Monday, according to the Disaster Management Ministry.
However, the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society warned the toll
could hit 10,000 once rescuers reach outlying islands.

International aid organizations promised initial packages of $25 million
during a meeting with Bangladesh agencies Monday. But relief items
such as tents, rice and water have been slow to reach many. Government
officials defended the relief efforts and expressed confidence that
authorities are up to the task.

"We have enough food and water," said Shahidul Islam, the top official
in Bagerhat, a battered district near the town of Barguna. "We are going
to overcome the problem." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21862417/

Unexpected Snow in the U.K.
19 Nov 07 - Snow fell across most of central England
with Derbyshire's Peak District the worst affected.
See Unexpected Snow in the UK

Earliest severe winter weather in decades across Europe
5,000 cars stranded by heavy snow - 18 Nov 07
See Earliest severe winter weather in decades

More than 1700 killed in Bangladesh storm
Tens of thousands of homes destroyed
17 Nov 07 - A cyclone that slammed into Bangladesh's coast with winds up
to 155 mph has killed at least1700, with hundreds more unaccounted for, including
1,000 fishermen, officials and news reports said Friday. The fishermen were
aboard some 150 fishing boats out at sea when the storm moved in. Storm
surges nearly 4 feet high inundated low-lying areas and some offshore islands. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12784349/

Storm brings snow to parts of Canada and New York - 17 Nov 07 - A
storm slammed into New England and parts of Canada on Friday giving many
residents a taste of winter. Forecasters expect heavy snow to continue falling
across eastern Quebec, with as much as 15-30 cm (6-12 inches) forecast
along a narrow band of land. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/17112007news.shtml

Lowest November temps in Buenos Aires in 90 years
16 Nov 07 - Residents of Argentina and Brazil wonder if this winter will ever end.
See Lowest temperatures in Buenos Aires in 90 years

Record snowfall paralyzes much of Austria - 12 Nov 07 - Record snowfall of up
to one-and-a-half meters paralyzed much of central and western Austria over the weekend.
Even Vienna and Burgenland received several centimetres of snow on Sunday morning,
although most of it melted during the day. Ski resorts Lech and Zurs in Vorarlberg were
isolated for several hours, with highways leading to the towns closed because of heavy
snowfall. The last time that happened in November was in 1974. The danger of avalanches
remains high above 1,800 meters.

The Austrian weather bureau has said that such heavy snowfall in November occurs only
once every 30-to-50 years. At the same time, a wind storm caused by a low-pressure
system wreaked havoc in parts of Upper and Lower Austria Sunday. The outlook is for
more snow throughout the week at higher elevations.
http://www.austria-today.at/cgi-bin/at_art.pl?id=59530
Thanks to Jimmy Walter for this link

Record early onset of winter in Austria!
Five feet of snow in two days
12 Nov 07 - Langem am Arlberg had 112cm (44inches) of snow over 48hrs with
wind gusts over 100mph (160km/h). The Tirol area of Austria received 40cm
(15.75 inches) of new snow while Salzburg had up to 70cm (28inches). Some
places reported as much as 150cm (59inches).

The onset of severe weather prompted the closure of many roads, including access
to the elite ski resorts of Lech and Zurs in Arlberg. The previous time that Lech was
cut off so early in the winter was 1974.

Meteorologists described the weather as being the kind of conditions only
experienced in the Alps every 30 to 50 years. The winter weather is expected to
last for the rest of the week.
See entire article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/12112007news.shtml

More than three feet of snow expected - 7 Nov 07 - Predicted snowfall in
Europe on the Ski Club of GB website - note predictions of around a metre in
parts of Austria (Tirol) and Switzerland (east). This is quite unusual for the second
week Predicted snowfall in Europe of November (La Nina?). This is consistent
with the weather charts at www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world for the next five days.

Iif it happens, the dire predictions of imminent death of the skiing industry in
Austria may be postponed for at least 12 months. High pressure centered over
UK/France, allowing fronts to come in to the Eastern Alps on frigid northerly winds
........note the widespread frosts across western Russia predicted also........

Expected snowfall ranges from 95 cm at Austria�s Obergurgl ski area to 105 cm at
Klosters in Switzerland to 20 cm at France�s Avoriaz 40 cm at Canada�s Whistler ski area

See ski area predictions at: http://www.skiclub.co.uk/skiclub/weather/default.asp
Thanks to Rhys Jaggar in Leeds UK for this info

Historic floods in southern Mexico - 100 percent of crops lost
2 Nov 07 - The worst floods ever recorded in Mexico's state of Tabasco have
left 80 percent of the southern state the size of Belgium underwater, officials said.
"Of the 2.1 million Tabasquenos, more than half are suffering from this serious
problem that has not been experienced in the history of Tabasco," Granier told
reporters late Thursday.

Tabasco "is devastated," said state Governor Andres Granier. "One-hundred
percent of crops are lost." Granier warned that the flooding could get even worse..

Many Tabasquenos "have lost their homes, their belongings, their crops, and the
means to maintain their children," said President Felipe Calderon. "Others remain
in their homes but with no access to food, water or medicine." http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071102/wl_afp/mexicoflood_071102113425

Pictures of the Tabasco floods http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7072725.stm

posted February 11, 2008 02:27 AM              

*

http://www.eltiempo.com/multimedia/galerias/granizada/GALERIAFOTOS-WEB-PLANTILLA_
GALERIAFOTOS-3801531.html?pub=granizada_lectores#
Thanks to Dave Arcand for the link to these photos. Dave says: "My wife is
Colombian, she can't remember this ever happing there."

In Bogotá, more than 30 cars became stuck when a meter and a half (59 inches)
of water and ice accumulated at the bottom of an intersection.

Colombians have only just recovered from heavy rain which lashed across the
country at the beginning of October. The rain killed more than 90 people and left
more than 800,000 homeless.

See entire article:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/04112007news.shtml
Thanks also to Aram Paquin and Hans Schreuder for this link

And here's a video link from John Brown, Ardrossan, Scotland
http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7070000/newsid_7077400/7077456.stm?
bw=bb&mp=wm &asb=1&news=1

* H

* Severe flooding in southern Mexico leaves half a million homeless
Vast areas of banana plantations now under water
1 Nov 07 - Heavy rain during the last five days has left nearly half a million
homeless in Mexico’s southeastern state of Tabasco. Several rivers burst their
banks Wednesday inundating homes and washing away crops and roads.
Much of Tabasco is low-lying land and is Mexico’s main banana and oil
producing state. Vast areas of banana plantations are now under water.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/01112007news.shtml

* Record lows in the Virgin Islands - 29 Oct 07 - One of my readers found this
yesterday on a weather board talking about Tropical Storm Noel.

"The sun is out in STT finally.....though over the weekend, we set two new low temperature r
ecords of 66 degrees on Saturday and Sunday....it was funny watching the Weather Channel
yesterday as the temperature was warmer at 10:00pm than at 3:00pm in the afternoon....
I don't know our rainfall amounts, I'm just glad to see the sun....our thoughts are with
everyone in the DR and Haiti....stay safe"
http://www.storm2k.org/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=98799&start=140 (under BatzVI)
Thanks to Kenneth Lund for this info

* Floods cut off Indian road link to Myanmar - 19 Oct 07 - The sole road link
between India and Myanmar has been cut off by floods which have left two people
dead and displaced 25,000, officials said Friday.

"National Highway 39 remained submerged for the second straight day Friday,
disrupting normal traffic," Manipur flood control minister N. Biren Singh said by
telephone from the state capital Imphal. A five-kilometre (three-mile) stretch of
the highway was under water, he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071019/sc_afp/indianortheastmyanmarfloods_071019174541;
Thanks to Jimmy Walter for this link

* Nine inches of rain overnight in southern Bangladesh - 16 Oct 07 - A powerful
storm has swept through southern Bangladesh, lashing parts of the country with heavy
rain and strong winds. A number of southern districts were inundated by the rain, with
nearly 225mm (9 inches) falling overnight in Chittagong Port City.

In the Bay of Bengal more than 100 fishermen are still reported missing.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/17102007news.shtml

* Four inches of rain in one hour - 13 Oct 07 - Violent thunderstorms wreak
havoc across eastern Spain - At least two people have been killed by violent
storms in eastern Spain over the last two days.

The city of Valencia, which received 100mm (4 inches) of rain in just an hour,
was worst hit, with roads, homes and businesses flooded. Some areas reported
more than 200mm (8inches) of rain in a short space of time.

In the town of El Vergel, some 200 helicopter rescues took place to rescue
residents from their roof tops.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/13102007news.shtml

* Vietnam suffers worst flooding in 45 years - 9 Oct 07 - The worst affected areas
were northern and central provinces where in one district over a third of the population,
some 55,000 people were evacuated. More than 60 people died as a result of the floods,
which destroyed over 100,000 homes..

With more than 100,000 homes still inundated by the floodwaters, and many people
unable to be reached by the aid workers; the clean up operation remains far from over.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/09102007news.shtml

* Scottish Mountain Snow Arrives One Month Early - 24 Sep 07 - Britain's highest
mountain (Ben Nevis ~ 4400 Feet, Nr Fort William) received its first snow fall one month
early. "This I think is quite surprising," says reader Andrew Servo, "because the mountain
lies on the West Coast of Scotland where the gulf stream is well renowned for bringing mild
rainy conditions to the West Coast and thus snow is usually short lived in this area. Snow
conditions usually persist longer, and come earlier, to the central highlands of Scotland
(Grampian mountains). I think there are some reports of snowfall there already."

http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/news/feed/tm_method=full%26objectID=19797463%26siteID=64736-na me_page.html
Thanks to Andrew Servo for this link

* Worst floods in Uganda in 35 years - 26 Sep 07 - The heaviest rain that the
country has seen in 35 years over the last few weeks has affected a large part of
the central belt of Africa, with northern and eastern parts of Uganda amongst the
worst affected areas. The ensuing floods reached a critical level last week forcing
the Ugandan president to declare a state of emergency across the country, the
first time in his two-decade rule that he has had to declare a state of emergency.

Unusual heavy rains have been affecting parts of Africa since early August, with
well over a million flood victims now suffering across a large swathe from Ghana
in the west to Ethiopia in the east.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/26092007news.shtml

* Significant snowfall in the Alps - 28 Sep 07 - There's already been two significant
snowfalls in the Alps in September, says reader Rhys Jaggar, and the BBC charts are
predicting significantly more in Eastern Switzerland/Western Austria/Germany this week.
Certainly down as low as 1700m and possibly lower in places.

* African deluge brings misery to 1.5m people - Heaviest rains in memory
20 Sep 07 - Mile upon mile of low-lying pasture land submerged, tens of
thousands of acres of staple crops like cassava, millet and groundnuts waterlogged.
There are impassable roads, overflowing rivers, stranded cattle and devastated
bridges. Villages are cut off and mud houses and roads have been swept away.

But this is a fraction of the devastation caused by some of the heaviest rains in
memory to have hit a great swath of Africa from the Sahel to the horn.

"We believe at least 650,000 homes have been destroyed, 1.5 million people
affected and nearly 200 people so far drowned," said Elisabeth Brys, at the UN
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) in Geneva. "This is
harvest time for many countries and there are already food shortages."

The rains, linked to unusually cold ocean temperatures, have caught governments
off guard. Many areas are cut off and thousands of subsistence farmers have lost
their crops. "There's no food here, " said Stephen Ojola, governor of Soroti district.
"People are hungry. This is harvest time for peanuts, millet and cassava, but it has
all rotted in the ground. Some areas are unreachable. We cannot get food in."

Meteorologists this week said the floods were likely to worsen in Uganda over the
next two to three months.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/naturaldisasters/story/0,,2172943,00.html
Thanks to Hans for this link

* Seventeen inches of rain in two days in India - 25 Sep 07 - Hardest hit was the
east Indian state of West Bengal. Rain amounting to more than 17 inches within little
more than two days inundated Kolkata (Calcutta), easily topping September's normal
monthly rainfall of 11 to 12 inches. Recent rainfall was more than 13 inches at Baleshwar
in neighboring Orissa state. A neighboring state, Jharkhand, saw more than 8 inches of rain.
Story by AccuWeather.com Senior Forecaster Jim Andrews
http://premiuma.accuweather.com/adcbin/premium/news-regional.asp?region=
worldnews&mont h=09&year=2007&date=2007-09-25_1416
Thanks to Kenneth Lund for this info.

* Unseasonably early snow in Scotland - 28 Sep 07 - Scotland's ski resorts believe
they could be in for a bumper year after the first snow flakes began to fall on their slopes.
The unseasonable flurries in the Cairngorms could be an indication that a big freeze is
on its way this winter.

Colin Kirkwood, of CairnGorm Mountain, said "It [the snow] is unseasonably early
this year. It is usually October before we get to see any kind of covering."

A Met Office spokesman said: "We expect it to be noticeably colder than last year."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7018182.stm
Thanks to John Brown in Ardrossan Scotland for this info

* Early Hints of Winter - 26 Sep 07 - Across the Arctic, hints of winter are to be found.
Canada`s Arctic Archipelago hosted early cold and snow. At Eureka, Ellesmere Island,
the low temperature early Tuesday was 1 degrees above zero, with 2 inches of snow already
on the ground. Isachsen, Ellef Ringnes Island, observed temperature as low as 6 degrees
early in the week, with a light mantle of snow. Resolute, Cornwallis Island, registered
10 degrees early Wednesday while entering a fifth-straight day of light snow cover. And
snow early Wednesday whitened Coral Harbor, Southhampton Island, at the northern end
of Hudson`s Bay. Meanwhile, northern Greenland shared in the early fall chill with Kroyers
Holme, in the far northeast, dipping to at least 2 degree above zero Wednesday. Across the
North Pole, Russia`s Siberia cold spot, Oymyakon, set a low of 11 degrees atop its first
inch of snow since spring.
Story by AccuWeather.com Senior Forecaster Jim Andrews
http://premiuma.accuweather.com/adcbin/premium/news-regional.asp?region=worldnews
Thanks to Kenneth Lund for this link

* 7½ inches of rain in India in one day - 23 Sep 07 - More than 60 have been
killed over the past two days in India by monsoon rains, which triggered floods and landslides.

One of the hardest hit areas was the state of Orissa, with just over 190mm (7.5inches)
of rain in Chandbali in 24 hours. Thousands of hectares of farmland have been destroyed
across India, with more than 40 villages in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh alone
inundated by rising flood waters.

The United Nations deems the floods, ‘‘the worst in living memory.’’ More rain is expected
over the next few days.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/23092007news.shtml

* Hail as big as tennis balls in Andalucía - 22 Sep 07 - Autumn truly arrived
across Andalucía, Spain, this week.

Violent downpours brought travel chaos across the region, triggering flash floods.
In some cases hailstones as big as tennis balls are reported to have fallen. The
Marbella area was said to have been the worst affected by the hailstorms,
shattering hundreds of car windscreens and leaving 18 people injured.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/22092007news.shtml

* Worst floods in living memory in Africa - Hundreds of thousands affected
14 Sep 07 - Several of Africa's poorest countries are in dire need of assistance
due to severe floods that have killed more than 200 people and affected a million
in recent weeks, officials warned Friday.

The latest victims were reported in Rwanda, where officials from the northern
region said floods killed 15 people and destroyed more than 500 homes since Wednesday.

In Sudan, the worst floods in living memory have left 64 people dead and displaced
and affected several hundred thousand, mainly in the troubled south, according to
the United Nations.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070914/wl_africa_afp/africaweatherfloods_070914203923
Thanks to Jimmy Walter for this link

* Nearly 3 million displaced by floods in India - 11 Sep 07 - Overnight, the army
helped move 800,000 more people in the Assam region as continued heavy rain
caused the Brahmaputra river to break its banks, inundating thousands of villages.
The floodwaters swept away bridges, stretches of roads and rail track in the region,
hampering rescue missions. More rain is forecast over the next few days. Around
2,530 people have lost their lives since the Indian monsoon began in June.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/11092007news.shtml
Thanks to Jimmy Walter for this link

* New floods hit Bangladesh - 9 Sep 07 - More than 100,000 Bangladeshis
have been displaced or marooned, some for the second time in as many months,
after heavy rains brought fresh floods to the country, officials said Sunday.

Thousands of villages in the north of the delta nation were inundated at the
weekend, many of them after being hit by the devastating floods of late July
and early August, officials said. At least 10.5 million people have been
displaced or marooned by the floods.

The agriculture ministry estimated that 290 million dollars' worth of crops
had been damaged in the initial flooding.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070909/sc_afp/bangladeshweatherfloods_070909101807
Thanks to Jimmy Walter for this link

* Winter Arrives Early - More than 4 feet of snow in the Alps - 7 Sep 07
This week's weather was decidedly winterlike in the high Alps of central Europe,
with very heavy snow on some areas.

The greatest snowfall hit southernmost Germany. At Zugspitze, at least 55 inches
(more than four feet) of snow (140 cm) fell from late Monday to Friday morning,

Portions of Austria also got buried by heavy snow. Sonnblick Mountain, at 10,200 feet
(3110 m) above sea level, received 28 inches of snow from late Monday to early Friday.
http://www.accuweather.com/regional-news-story.asp?partner=accuweather&traveler
=0®ion=worldnews&date=2007-09-07_15:20
Thanks to Mark Kennedy for this link

* Fresh floods hit Bangladesh and parts of northern India - 9 Sep 07
A month after heavier-than-usual monsoon rains brought record flooding to
the country, waters have still not subsided in many areas and thousands remain
homeless. With further heavy rain forecast this week, Bangladeshis were told
to brace themselves for potentially devastating new floods. More than 30, 000
people were evacuated from more vulnerable areas. The floods so far have
led to the deaths of more than eight hundred people.
See entire article by Steph Ball
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/09092007news.shtml

* Worst floods in Eastern Europe in a century - 8 Sep 07 - Authorities issued severe
flood warnings across northern and western Austria on Friday after the Danube and other
smaller rivers burst their banks. The Kleine Ybbs river reached its highest level in a century.

posted February 11, 2008 02:28 AM              

The story was similar farther north into the Gujarat region, where Veraval received
42.68 inches of rain, a massive 750 percent of normal August rainfall. The city received
more than 250 percent of normal rains from May through August. Karachi, Pakistan,
saw more than a foot and a half of rainfall in the past four months.
By AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Bob Tarr http://premiuma.accuweather.com/adcbin/premium/news-regional.asp?region=worldnews
Thanks to Kenneth Lund for this link

British summer wettest on record - 30 Aug 07 - Britain had its wettest summer
since rainfall records began, according to provisional figures released by the Meteorological
Office on Friday.

According to the figures up and until August 28, Britain as a whole had 358.5 mm
(14.1 inches) of rain since the beginning of the summer, narrowly beating out the
previous record of 358.4 mm, set in 1956. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070830/sc_afp/britainweatherfloods_070830231456
Thanks to Jimmy Walter and Peter Pesola for this link

Cold and miserable in Peru - 30 Aug 07 - "There is a belief, among a large
numbers of Peruvians I know, that earthquakes are caused by a change in the
weather. It has been so cold and miserable here in Peru this winter (which runs
from June to August) that I have taken to wearing my bobble hat in the house
and it is so cloudy that it is easy to forget Lima has a mountain backdrop." http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?xml=/global/2007/08/30/experu.xml
Thanks to Kenneth Lund for this link

Henriette dumps four inches of rain on Acapulco - 2 Sep 07
Recently formed in the Pacific Ocean, Tropical storm Henriette yesterday
dumped around 100mm (4 inches) of rain on Acapulco, on Mexico�s western
coast, flooding homes and triggering a small landslide that killed 4 people. The
storm also created waves of up to 1.5m (5 feet) in the surrounding waters,
forcing many ports to close. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/02092007news.shtml

Tropical storm Felix develops in the Caribbean - 1 Sep 07 - A tropical
depression in the mid Atlantic has now developed into tropical storm Felix.

Felix, the sixth named storm of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season, has a
maximum sustained wind speed of around 40mph (64 km/h). The storm is
located nearly 30 miles (48km) northwest of Grenada and is moving
westwards at approximately 18mph (29 km/h).

The US National Hurricane Center has warned that Felix could strengthen into
a hurricane over the next few days, whipping up winds of over 74 mph (119 km/h) http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/01092007news.shtml

Queensland flood! Three times monthly rainfall.. in one day! - 24 Aug 07
More than 300mm of rain and high winds have lashed Australia's Sunshine Coast
and Wide Bay regions since yesterday. And with 713mm in 24 hours, Rainbow
Beach, near Gympie, set a new rainfall record.

Weather bureau climate records meteorologist Claire Webb said the "amazing"
rainfall was more than three times the previous total of 216mm for the whole month
of August set in 1998.

Tewantin, near Noosa, received 310mm of rain - more than four times the previous
record daily total of 72.2mm set on August 19, 1989. Wivenhoe received 27mm,
North Pine dam saw 36mm, and more than 100mm fell in the Stanley River, which
flows into Somerset dam. http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22301613-5005961,00.html
Thanks to Stephanie Relfe for this link

Record Flooding in China - 24 Aug 07 - Around 600,000 people have been
forced to evacuate China's Hunan province as the remnants of tropical storm
Sepat affect parts of the country.

Major tributaries of the Xiangjiang River in Hunan have reached record high
levels after five days of torrential rain. One of the worst hit counties in Hunan
was Yongxing, which received 196mm (7.7 inches) since the typhoon remnants
struck the province on Tuesday. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/24082007news.shtml

26 Aug 07 - There is growing anger that seasonal forecasts by the Met
Office at the start of the year failed to predict the appalling conditions and
instead boasted of warmer than average temperatures.

Experts have been stunned by the extreme weather and number of floods
around the world this year - some of the most turbulent weather this century.
The devastation has, however, provided scientists with an unprecedented
insight into how the world's weather is altered by the La Nina effect and
should assist them in predicting future disasters. Meteorologists believe
that a sudden switch from a warm El Nino to a cold La Nina in February
is behind the monsoons that ravaged Asia and brought droughts to
southern Europe and torrential rain to the UK. It may also have helped
fuel powerful hurricanes in the Caribbean.

La Nina, little sister of the El Nino phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean, is
capable of affecting the UK's weather in ways that are only now being understood.

Officials at the government-funded weather service admitted that they got
this year's predictions wrong.

"The Met Office in April were forecasting a warm summer that could be
very warm and would not be particularly wet," said Piers Corbyn, from
forecast consultants Weatheraction. "In fact, the opposite has happened."
*They can't predict the weather two
months in advance, and they think they know what will happen a hundred years from now? Claiming "Global Warming" as a catch all phrase is a COP OUT and not a reality
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/26/nweather126.xml

Floods could return, warn experts - 21 Aug 07 - Further flooding is expected
to return to Britain after a summer which left thousands of homes across the
country under water, experts have warned. The Environment Agency has issued
"enhanced flood warnings" across England and Wales.

Terry Marsh, from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology at Wallingford in Oxfordshire,
said the risk of flooding could persist into 2008.

He added: "Soils have been the wettest since records began in 1961. The rainfall that
flooded Tewkesbury was exceptional - you would expect to see that sort of thing maybe
once every thousand years." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6957455.stm
Thanks to John Brown in Ardrossan, Scotland for this link

Record rain in France - 24 Aug 07 - Rainfall in northwestern France reached
record levels, with cities like Le Havre registering 21 days of rain in July, beating
the previous record of 16 in 1980.

In the northern city of Caen in Normandy, the weather service registered 592 hours
of sunshine from May 1st to August 21, well below the average of 809 hours.

Temperatures on the Atlantic coast have been on average two or three degrees
Celsius below seasonal averages, said Jean-Marc Le Gallic from Meteo France. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070824/sc_afp/franceweather_070824182019
Thanks to Jimmy Wat for this link

North Korea says 437,000 affected by floods - 24 Aug 07 - Floods in North
Korea in recent weeks have affected 437,000 people and damaged more than
one-fifth of the country's rice crop, the UN's food relief agency said Friday.

"According to figures from the North Korean agriculture ministry, 223,381 hectares
of rice, corn, and soja (soybean) have been damaged, or more than 20 percent of rice
crops, and 15 percent of corn fields," said World Food Programme spokeswoman
Christiane Berthiaume.

The floods left 300,000 homeless and 11 percent of the grain harvest -- equivalent
to 450,000 tons -- lost.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070824/wl_asia_afp/nkoreaweatherfloods_070824204051
Thanks to Jimmy Wat for this link

Historic Rainfall in Australia - 28.1 inches of rain in one day
24 Aug 07 - A freakishly strong storm inundated southeastern parts of
Australia's state of Queensland with staggering, record-breaking amounts
of rain this week. The cloudbursts unloaded 1-3 feet of rain north of
Brisbane on the Sunshine Coast and areas immediately inland.

Rainbow Beach got 33.8 inches of rain from 9 a.m. Wednesday morning
to 3 p.m. Friday afternoon; 28.1 inches fell from 9 a.m. Thursday to 9 a.m.
Friday (just one day).

During the same 24-hour period, Coops Corner was flooded by 27.8 inches
of rain, while Mount Bilewilam received 27.1 inches. Other rainy standouts
included Tewantin with 20.9 inches of rain and Toolara with 15.6 inches of
rain; both tallied from Wednesday morning to Friday night. The last
comparable cyclone occurred in the 1880s.

Story by AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Donn Washburn http://premiuma.accuweather.com/adcbin/premium/news-regional.asp?region=worldnews
Thanks to Kenneth Lund for this link

Just think. If that 28.1 inches of rain had fallen as snow, they'd
have been smothered under 281 inches � 23.4 feet! - 7.1 meters!
- of snow in one day. That would have buried almost every
warehouse and two-story house in town, and every truck on
the freeway.

"The worst disaster that's hit southeast Minnesota in a lifetime"
20 Aug 07 - Rescue workers resumed their search Monday morning for a man
reported missing after heavy flooding that killed at least thirteen people and caused
mass evacuations in southeastern Minnesota. Steady rain continued overnight as
National Guard soldiers guarded the small towns that cleared out after the
devastating flooding early Sunday.

"This is the worst disaster that's hit southeast Minnesota in a lifetime," state
Sen. Sharon Erickson Ropes said.

The governor declared a state of emergency in six counties -- Winona,
Wabasha, Fillmore, Houston, Steele and Olmsted.

The same storm hammered southwestern Wisconsin. National Weather
Service Meteorologist Tod Rieck in La Crosse, Wis., said a storm system
that parked over southeastern Minnesota and southwestern Wisconsin
dumped 6 to 8 inches of rain on Saturday, with some areas receiving as
much as a foot.

He said the Kickapoo river in Wisconsin was at a record crest on Sunday,
and the Root River in Minnesota was at or near a record crest.

The weather service warned of more heavy rain across the southern third of
the state on Monday, including thunderstorms in the southwest corner of the state. http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_231080417.html

At least 337 die in strong Peru quake - 16 Aug 07 - The death toll rose to at
least 337 Thursday, a day after the magnitude-7.9 temblor rocked Peru's coast,
toppled buildings and shattered roads, officials said. Large areas of Chincha were
leveled. Dozens of homes, most of them built with adobe bricks, collapsed.

"The dead are scattered by the dozens on the streets," Mayor Juan Mendoza told
Lima radio station CPN. "We don't have lights, water, communications. Most houses
have fallen, churches, stores, hotels, everything is destroyed," he said, sobbing.

Another church collapsed Wednesday evening in the city of Ica, 165 miles south
of Lima, killing 17, according to cable news station Canal N.

The quake shook Lima furiously for more than two minutes. "This is the strongest
earthquake I've ever felt," said Maria Pilar Mena, 47, a sandwich vendor in Lima.
"When the quake struck, I thought it would never end."

Thursday's earthquake, like most earthquakes in the area, occurred when one plate
dove under the other quickly, according to Amy Vaughan, a USGS geophysicist at
the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo.

posted February 11, 2008 02:29 AM              

* 800 buildings and 540 bridges swept away in North Korea - 14 Aug 07
Heavy rain during the past week instigated deadly and destructive flooding in
many parts of North Korea. Hundreds of people were killed or missing, according
to Reuters, and at least 800 buildings and more than 540 bridges were swept away.
Vast quantities of farmland were also damaged. Some of the heaviest rainfall tallies
were registered in the southwest. Haeju was soaked by 10.08 inches of rain from
Sunday morning to Tuesday evening. Sariwan got 8.73 inches of rain and Pyongyang,
the capital, was doused by 8.03 inches.
http://premiuma.accuweather.com/adcbin/premium/news-regional.asp?region=worldnews
Thanks to Ken Lund for this link

* Heaviest rain in Switzerland in 100 years - 13 Aug 07 - Two days
of torrential rain have left large parts of north-west Switzerland under water,
causing an estimated 20 million pounds worth of damage to buildings and
infrastructure. Zurich reported its largest daily rainfall in 100 years. With
mass evacuations across the country, residents are being told to empty
their cellars and move their vehicles to higher ground.

Many tourist attractions have closed across Italy as a result of the storm,
while part of the Rhine in southern Germany has been closed following a
sharp rise in water levels.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/10082007news.shtml
Thanks to John Brown in Ardrossan, Scotland for this link

* Snow in Santiago - 12 Aug 07 - Chile's capital Santiago received snow
for the first time in eight years on Wednesday, Bloomberg reports on August 9th.

Parts of the city lost power and schools were closed, while local meteorologists
predict that the cold weather is likely to continue.

The city's eastern suburbs are expected to see temperatures fall to five degrees
below zero Celsius, the news provider reports.

Snowfall also led to closure of the Liberatadores Mountain Pass, connecting
Chile with Argentina, reports Reuters.
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/impacts/200708/18241720.html
Thanks to Robert Niewiadowski for this link

* First snowfall in Chilean wine region in half a century - 8 Aug 07
Snow coated the fields of Chile's normally temperate central valley wine
and farm region for the first time in half a century on Wednesday, causing
officials to declare an emergency to avoid traffic accidents

The Maule region, located about 250 kilometers (155 miles) south of the
capital Santiago, where snow fell for four hours, was the most affected.

Television images showed snow covering fields that typically get nothing
more than a constant drizzle of rain during the winter season.

Meteorologists said the snowfall could extend later in the day to Santiago.

In addition to snow, Chile is facing its coldest winter in 30 years.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070808/sc_nm/chile_snow_dc_1
Thanks to Ruth O'Donnell for this link

* 2007: Year Without a Summer in UK - "My research indicates the last time this
great a swing occurred was at the start of The Little Ice Age," says reader Charles
Patrick (about the following article.) "Now we'll see how cold it gets in Greenland,
Iceland, the UK and Nordic states this winter."

Autumn comes early to England - and somehow it's caused by global warming
7 Aug 07 - Holly berries are appearing in the hedgerows, conkers and apples are falling
from the trees and mushrooms are springing up in the fields. Blackberries are ripe in
Devon and the nation’s orchards are preparing for an early harvest.

All the signs are that the briefest of brief English summers is coming to an end and
autumn is already upon us - bypassing summer altogether.

Adrian Barlow, of English Apples and Pears, said early apple varieties were already
being harvested. "Autumn has definitely come earlier this year," he said. "We expect
varieties like Discovery to be in the shops as soon as next week.

The early onset of autumn can be explained in part by record high temperatures in
spring, when average temperatures of 48F (9C) – the highest since records began in
1914 – led to plants and trees like the Hawthorn flowering early.

The soaring spring temperatures were followed by the wettest summer in more than
200 years. The recent downpours and relatively cool weather tricked some plants
into thinking winter was on its way.

(Do you suppose the "relatively cool weather" might have
something to do with it?)

A spokesman for the Met Office’s Hadley Centre for Climate Change said it was
too early to say whether this year’s conditions were evidence of global warming and
they could be dismissed as an irregularity.

"We have just had the wettest summer since 1766 so it is unsurprising that this has
affected crops," he said.

See entire article by Patrick Phelvin
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/08/01/eautumn101.xml
Thanks to both Tim Rian and Martin Hoer for this link

* "Unprecedented rainfall" strands 25 million in India, Bangladesh - 5 Aug 07
Monsoon rain-driven floods swept across northeastern India, Bangladesh and Nepal,
leaving millions stranded.

Estimates of those left homeless varied, with Agence-France Presse reporting 25 million
people across the region were forced to flee and more than 1,400 dead.

"The rainfall is unprecedented and the extent of the damage is high,"' Manoj Srivastava,
disaster management chief for Bihar, India's second-most populous state and one of the
hardest hit, said today in a telephone interview.

It is "the worst flooding in living memory," Unicef said. "The sheer size and scale of the
flooding and the massive numbers of people affected pose an unprecedented challenge
to the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian assistance."

In Uttar Pradesh, some districts got more rainfall in a week than they usually receive
in a year.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aRONk4h5.DPs&refer=home
Thanks to skier Ken for this link

* Fish die of record cold in Queensland dams - 27 Jul 07 -
Low temperatures and falling dam levels have killed about 5,000 fish
in dams in south-east Queensland, Australia.

SEQWater, which administers the Wivenhoe, North Pine and
Somerset dams, said water temperatures had dropped to a record
low of 13.5 degrees celsius over the past two weeks.

"What we have seen over the past couple of weeks is a significant
drop in water temperature brought on by the colder nights which appear
to have effectively given fish a fatal shock," he said. "We have also
noticed that the fish we are retrieving are down in body weight."

The dead fish have been removed and buried at six different
locations around the dams.

Earlier this week, major fish kills were reported in Lake Moondarra
at Mt Isa in northwest Queensland, as a result of low water temperatures.

http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=403681
Thanks to Phil Wilkinson in Sydney for this link

* Rainfall the worst in 200 years - 27 Jul 07 - The torrential downpours
that left swathes of England and Wales under water last week were officially
the worst in more than 200 years.

Rainfall was more than double the seasonal average, with the months May
to July witnessing 382.4mm (15.06 inches) of rain, topping the previous record
of 349.1mm in 1789, officials said. Deluges in 32 counties, covering thousands
of square miles stretching from Devon to Yorkshire, broke records dating back
to 1914 by more than 25mm, the meteorologists added. Some 20mm more rain
are possible across parts of the south-west.

In the past three months, Gloucestershire and neighbouring areas experienced
more than 320% more rainfall than the average for the previous three decades.

Met Office officials gave government and emergency services two days
warning that intense rainfall was likely.

Peter Stott, a senior climate scientist at the Met Office said downpours of such
magnitude are set to become more frequent, as climate change drives up the
temperature of the atmosphere.

"These one in 200 year events are very likely to become more common. When
it rains, it can rain much harder, because the atmosphere can hold more water
in a warmer world," he said.

What bunk! It’s because we’re headed into an ice age, Dr. Stott!

See entire article by Ian Sample
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/jul/27/1
Thanks to W.T. Sellers for this link

* Cold snap kills 70 children in Peru - 25 Jul 07 - The children, all under five
years old, reportedly died of pneumonia and other respiratory illnesses over the
past three months. They lived in rural areas at high altitude in the Andean regions
of Peru, where temperatures in some cases plummeted to -20C (-4F). Many
adults have also died during the harsh winter, and thousands are suffering from
pneumonia and other respiratory infections.

Even low-lying jungle regions face unusually cold weather, with temperatures
dropping to 10C (50F).

Forecasters in Peru predict the cold spell will continue until September.

This is the second article this month (scroll down to July 12) that
talks in emotional terms instead of meteorological terms about
how the cold affects "the children," and how it could lead to a
humanitarian disaster in Peru. I somehow feel a con job coming
on. I wonder how many billions of dollars this one will cost us.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6916717.stm
Thanksto Alan Caruba, Tom the Viking, and John from Scotland for this link

* Floods threaten power substation - 24 Jul 07 - Emergency crews worked
through the night in one of the areas worst hit by flooding to protect a power
substation amid fears 250,000 people would lose power and water if Gloucester's
Walham station was lost.

Flooding in central and western England has left at least 350,000 homes without
running water and 50,000 without power.

The Association of British Insurers has said the total bill for the June and July floods
could reach at least ££2bn.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6912650.stm
Thanks to Andrew In Scotland

* Deluge leaves French wine harvest at risk of ruin from mildew attack
24 Jul 07 - Sixty days and nights of almost incessant rain threaten to ruin large
parts of the French wine harvest this year, especially in Bordeaux.

Some small vineyards have already lost their entire crop to a form of mildew, a
fungal parasite which thrives in damp and warm conditions.

Other forms of mildew, including the dreaded potato blight, are threatening to
destroy other crops in France, ranging from tomatoes to cherries.

Bordeaux, where the rain has hardly paused since early May, is the worst afflicted
region. Problems have also been reported in Champagne, Beaujolais, the Loire
and the Rhôône valley.

See entire article by John Lichfield in Paris
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2753380.ece
Thanks to Wanda for this link

* Record low temps in Australia - 19 Jul 07 - Southeast Queenslanders
awoke to a record-breaking cold morning.

The Bureau of Meteorology said temperatures fell to a record low at Brisbane
Airport shortly after sunrise, with a temperature of -0.1C.

The previous record for the airport was 0.6 degrees, recorded in 1971 and 1994.

Elsewhere in the region, Ipswich, south-west of Brisbane, recorded a low of -4.8
degrees, just 0.1 degree short of the lowest temperature recorded there, in 1995.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Record-low-temps-in-southeast-Qld/2007/07/19/1184559907627.html
Thanks to Phil Wilkinson for this link

* Seven inches of rain in three hours in China - 19 Jul 07 - Severe storms have
lashed central and eastern parts of China this week killing scores of people and
disrupting transport across a wide area. Torrential rains have given rise to mud
flows and landslides which left around 32 people dead, while several people
were killed by lightning strikes.

Around 18 cm (7.09 inches) of rain fell in three hours in Jinan, the capital of the
eastern Shandong province flash flooding roads and cutting off electricity and water
supplies. Thousands of acres of crops have been destroyed as a result of the flooding.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/19072007news.shtml

* Worst floods in Sudan in living memory - 20 Jul 07 - While the UK prepares
for yet more flooding the Sudan is experiencing what some are describing as the
worst floods in living memory.

More than 50 people have been killed and 20 injured, while over 18,000 houses
have been destroyed across the country in the past few weeks.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/20072007news.shtml

* Record-breaking cold in Peru - 12 Jul 07 - For the past 6 weeks Peru has been
in the grip of record-breaking cold with temperatures ranging between -22º and -15º C.

The Government of Peru has declared a National Emergency in 14 of the 24
Peruvian provinces and has begun moving large supplies of warm clothing, blankets
and materials to the affected areas.

In January this year, an unexpected cold spell hit the high Andean community of
Peru and destroyed around 60% of the crops. The severe weather was then followed
by the onset of Winter in June and now this second spell of extreme cold has wiped
out the remainder of the crops. The worst hit areas are in the provinces of Puno,
Apurimac, Ancash, Cajamarca and Cusco.

With ten weeks of Winter left, forecasters predict temperatures will drop further.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/506707/118425375486.htm
Thanks to Charles Patrick for this link

* Coldest in Australia in 21 years - 18 Jul 07 - New South Wales woke to
another chilly day on Wednesday. Helped by fresh to strong winds, temperatures
in Sydney are forecast to reach just 13C, making it the coldest day of the year so far.

However, Wednesday morning wasn't as cold as Tuesday, when city temperatures
dropped to a 21-year low.

Further inland there was snow as well as ice.

The Great Western Highway closed on Wednesday morning on a 50km stretch
between Wallerawang, near Lithgow, and Raglan, near Bathurst, because of icy conditions.

The Mid-Western Highway between Bathurst and Blayney was closed because of snow
and ice, and in the Oberon area, half a dozen roads closed for the same reason, including
the route from Oberon to the Kanangra Walls National Park.

No relief from the cold weather can be expected in the next few days, with Sydney
temperatures forecast to rise no higher than 14 degrees until Sunday.
http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=401003

* Record rains destroy 15,000 homes in Sudan - 12 Jul 07 - Four days of heavy rain
and strong winds across parts of Sudan have led to floods that have destroyed around
15,000 homes and left 30 people dead. More than 4500 homes in the country’s capital,
Khartoum have been devastated by the rising flood waters, as seasonal rains reach a
record level.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/12072007news.shtml

posted February 11, 2008 02:31 AM              

"Record low daily maximum temperatures were widespread through the tropics.
The areas that were spared included the Cape York Peninsula, the Pilbara and the
Queensland coast north of Townsville. In total, more than 31 per cent of the land
area of Australia recorded lowest maximum temperatures for June.

"Maximum temperatures below 10ºC were widespread on 20 June to an extent
never previously seen in tropical Austrailia."

Here’s how cold it was:

Since records began there have only been 12 instances where reporting stations in
tropical Australia failed to reach 10ºC and never two on any single day.

On June 20th, 2007 Fourteen different stations failed to reach 10ºC!! That statistic
was more than doubled in only one day!!!

Northernmost instance of a maximum under 10ºº also occurred at Tennant Creek
(19ºS) - 8ºC (46ºF)

To put this in perspective the southern Yucatan Peninsula is its northern hemisphere
latitudinal equivalent.

Here a few more records that were broken. Keep in mind that these are all-time records.

Boulia - New record: 9.0ºC - Old record: 11.1ºC
Tambo - New record: 7.3ºC - Old record: 11.3ºC
Barcaldine - New record: 7.8ºC - Old record: 13.8ºC
(Broke all-time coldest day by 9ºF!!)
http://www.bom.gov.au/announcements/media_releases/ho/20070629.shtml
Read the whole report http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/statements/scs13.pdf
Thanks to Kate Salvati for this synopsis and link

# Thousands flee Indonesian volcano as top alert declared - 10 Jul 07 - Some 8,500
people have fled the slopes of an Indonesian volcano after it spewed ash, smoke and debris.
The volcanology office said volcanic activity at Mount Gamkonora, about 2,700 km
(1,600 miles) northeast of Jakarta, prompted it to raise its warning level to "alert" which
means an eruption is imminent.

Spot fires were visible and the crater spewed burning material up to 15 metres (yards)
from the crater, the office said. People nearby heard two thunderous booms and the
column of smoke rising from the crater reached up to 2,500 metres, the office said on its website.

Gamkonora has erupted 12 times since records have been kept.

The volcano typically spews heat clouds, or pyroclastic flows, along with lava streams
toward villages in the west and northwest of Halmahera island, rather than exploding,
the volcanology website said. http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070710101611.olbq64ft&show_article=1
Thanks to Larry Cook for this link

# Historic snow in Buenos Aires - First snowfall since 1918!!!!
And record winter in South America.
Bariloche breaks cold record with MINUS 22ºC smashing previous record of -15ºC!!!

"Despite all my years, this is the first time I've ever seen in snow in Buenos Aires," said Juana
Benitez, an 82-year-old who joined children celebrating in the streets.

The snow followed a bitter cold snap in late May that saw subfreezing temperatures, the
coldest in 40 years in Buenos Aires. That cold wave contributed to an energy crisis and
23 deaths from exposure.

9 Jul 07- Rare snow spread away from the Andes and into the Pampas as a cold wave
gripped much of Argentina. On Sunday, snow whitened the western city of Mendoza, the
biggest storm in decades. Snow also streaked eastward to the Pampas, the fertile plains
stretching over the nation's middle. Along the western edge of the Pampas, 8 inches
blanketed Rio Cuarto as of mid morning. The Andes saw was unusual snow northward
to the Bolivian city of La Paz. In the satellite city of El Alto, site of the La Paz airport,
snow lay 8 inches deep. Story by AccuWeather.come Senior Forecaster Jim Andrews.
http://premiuma.accuweather.com/adcbin/premium/news-regional.asp?region=worldnews
Thanks to skier Ken for this link

Here’s another link: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/ARGENTINA_HISTORIC_SNOW?SITE=CODER&SECTION=
INTERNATIONAL&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-07-09-19-21-00

posted February 11, 2008 02:32 AM              

* Floods force thousands from homes - 26 Jun 07 - Hundreds of families in
Lincolnshire, South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Shropshire have been moved
to safety.

About 900 people are using emergency shelters in Sheffield, and about 700
have left villages near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, amid fears the nearby Ulley
dam could collapse.

q Police have closed the M1 northbound between junctions 32 to 34, and southbound
between junctions 34 and 32, because of the risk the Ulley dam poses

· Rail companies including Virgin Trains, Midland Mainline and Arriva Trains Wales
have announced cancellations and amendments to their services

q About 20 houses have been evacuated in Ludlow, Shropshire, after the main
bridge into the town collapsed, bursting a gas main. A 40-foot section of a main
road leading into Ludlow was washed away by the River Corve

· A block of 120 flats in Lincoln was evacuated by dinghy because the River
Witham has begun seeping through its banks at Stamp End in the city

q People have also been evacuated from Worksop in Nottinghamshire, Lincoln,
Louth and Wainfleet in Lincolnshire and Chesterfield in Derbyshire

The Environment Agency labelled current weather conditions "phenomenal".
The agency's flood expert, Phil Rothwell, said: "We've had a sixth of the
annual rainfall in 12 hours.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6239828.stm
Thanks to Frederick.Morgan for this link

* Two Year’s Worth of Rain in One Week - 28 Jun 07 - The deserts of Baluchistan (between
Pakistan and Iran) include some of the driest in Asia. Yet this week, Baluchistan was visited
by a rare tropical storm, or cyclone, which rolled inland from the Makran Coast to the Makran
Ranges of southwestern Pakistan. The rains even penetrated inland desert basins that rarely
see any rain.

At Nok Kundi, rainfall was about 3 inches, nearly twice what normally falls in a whole year.
And at Dalbandin, rainfall was about 3.6 inches, or comparable to the whole year`s rainfall.
Sibi, of easternmost Baluchistan and site of 125-degree heat this spring, collected more than
5 inches of rain this week. Thus, rainfall at Sibi was, within a few days, nearly equal to that
of a whole year.

Story by AccuWeather.com Senior Forecaster Jim Andrews
http://premiuma.accuweather.com/adcbin/premium/news-regional.asp?region=worldnews
Thanks to skier Ken for this link

* Worst floods in almost 40 years hit Victoria, Australia - 30 Jun 07 - Stormy weather
has brought widespread flooding across drought-parched southeast Australia. The storm is
the fourth to hit the eastern coast of Australia this month and has caused the worst flooding
in Victoria in almost 40 years.

Indeed, the Bureau of Meteorology has reported June 2007 to be the wettest on record
across the Australian "tropics".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/30062007news.shtml

* Record cold in Australia - 25 Jun 07 - Griffith residents were forced to stoke up
the fires as the city recorded its chilliest June day on record.

The mercury plummeted to -4 degrees Friday morning, improving only slightly to a
low of -3 on Saturday and hovering just below -2 yesterday morning.

The previous coldest June day since records began in 1958 was -3.4 degrees on
June 27, 1983.Friday’s low temperature was a massive 8 degrees below the average
June minimum for Griffith of 4.5 degrees.
http://www.riverinamediagroup.com.au/Home/news.asp?publication=The%20Area%20
News&articletype=Local&ArticleID=18663
Thanks to Peter Pesola for this link

* Four inches of snow in Johannesburg, First Since 1981 - 27 June 07 - Johannesburg
recorded its first confirmed snowfall in almost 26 years as temperatures dropped below freezing
in South Africa's largest city, grounding flights at its main airport.

The heaviest falls were over the southern suburb of The Hill, where four inches of snow fell.

Snow last blanketed Johannesburg for a single day on Sept. 11, 1981.

Light snow was also recorded in Pretoria, the capital, which last had snow on June 11, 1968.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=awNaI9yDGOnc
Thanks to Foy Holland for this link

* Record cold in Australia - 21 Jun 07 - Bone-chilling winds of up to 75km/h blasted through
southeast Queensland, bringing down trees, power lines and even a brick wall.

Brisbane recorded its lowest June temperature on record with a maximum of 13.1C , but the
wind-chill factor dragged this down to only 5.6C.

The previous June record was 13.9C in 1958 and the coldest overall was 10.6C in August
1954. The cold snap pushed southeast Queensland electricity usage to its highest this winter.

Toowoomba was worse off, recording a wind chill temperature of -9.3C overnight, with parts
of the Darling Downs reporting a blast of early morning sleet and snow.

All of the Downs and Granite Belt reported extremely cold conditions: 1C in Warwick and
1.2C in Applethorpe.

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,21940683-952,00.html
Thanks to Mike Cantwell for this link

* Snow in Australia - 21 Jun 07 - Snow fell across large areas of the Blue Mountains
west of Sydney, and more rain fell in the city itself, which is already recording its wettest
June on record. Heavy snow also fell around Oberon and Bathurst in central-western NSW.

Winter also arrived in South Island, New Zealand. Snow is causing major disruption in
central Otago, with the airport closed and a number of car crashes blamed on icy roads.
The snow is expected to worsen on Thursday night
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/21062007news.shtml

* One inch of rain every 15 minutes - 19 Jun 07 - Torrential rain in northern Texas over
the past two days has left 5 people dead and destroyed hundreds of homes. The towns
of Sherman and Gainesville, near the Oklahoma border, were amongst the worst hit by
the storm. Sherman experienced its worst flooding in 25 years.

In Gainesville, officials at the US National Weather Service said that the rain was coming
down at a rate of 25mm (about one inch) every 15 minutes.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/19062007news.shtml

* Snow Plows clear Hail in Germany- 17 Jun 07 - In Bavaria State, high winds ripped
roofs off 10 houses and toppled trees, blocking a local railway line. Emergency Services
in Munich, called for snow ploughs to clear hail, which was so heavy that Autobahn 8,
one of the main freeways near Munich, was closed because it was too slippery.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/17062007news.shtml
Thanks to John Brown in Ardrossan, Scotland for this link

* Snow falling in central Sweden - 14 Jun 07 - It might be only one week to Midsummer,
but nobody seems to have told mother nature. Up to five centimeters of snow has fallen in
the mountainous Härjedalen area of northern Dalarna. A meteorologist from weather service
SMHI told Svenska Dagbladet that snow was unusual at this time of year, usually falling
roughly once every ten years.
http://www.thelocal.se/7602/20070614/
Thanks to both Steven Woodcock and Robert Branch for this link

* Flooding in England - 16 Jun 07 - One of the wettest places in the country was
Edgbaston, Birmingham, where 86mm (3.4 inches) of rain fell in 24 hours, while
71mm (2.8 inches) fell on Bingley, West Yorkshire.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/16062007news.shtml

* Six thousands trucks stranded by snow-blocked Andes tunnel - 13 Jun 07
Heavy snow and wind have forced closure of a key mountain highway and tunnel
connecting Argentina with Chile leaving an estimated 6.000 fully loaded trucks stranded.

Argentine transit officials predicted the Cristo Redentor tunnel , 1,300 kilometers from
Buenos Aires, would remain impassable for another 72 hours because of snowstorms
and winds, reported the Argentine news
agency Telam.

The Andes crossing which links Mendoza with Santiago de Chile is crucial for Mercosur
land transport.
http://www.mercopress.com/vernoticia.do?id=10722&formato=HTML
Thanks to Wanda for this link
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-argentina-chile-snow,0,5909116.story
?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines
Thanks to Jeffry Reed for this link

* Storms and floods in Australia - 11 Jun 07 - Up to 300mm (12 inches) of rain has
fallen in parts of the Hunter region since Thursday, and 200mm (8 inches) in the Central
Coast and Sydney. Some 105,000 homes remain without power in Hunter Valley,
Sydney, Newcastle and the Central Coast area.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/11062007news.shtml

* More Incredible Rainfall for Taiwan - 9 Jun 07 – Taiwan’s capital city of Taipei
averages around 11.4 inches of rain for the entire month of June. Rainfall was getting
close to this average on Thursday, but more than 8.2 inches of rain fell Friday, and
nearly 2 inches has already fallen Saturday, bringing the monthly rainfall total to more
than 20 inches. Taichung received more than 11 inches of rain since Thursday.
http://premiuma.accuweather.com/adcbin/premium/news-regional.asp?region=worldnews
Thanks to skier Ken for this link

* Unprecedented snowfall in Brazil - 5 Jun 07 - In the town of Monte Hermoso in Buenos
Aires Province, authorities described the snowfall as unprecedented in recent history.

Snow also fell in the city of Cordoba, the first snow in the month of May since 1971.

In southern Brazil, frost was widespread. In the capital of the state of Rio Grande do Sul,
Porto Alegre, the high temperature of 10C was the lowest ever observed in May since records
began in 1910.
http://newsbusters.org/node/13234

* Severe storms hit New South Wales - 9 Jun 07 - Severe storms have been battering
Australia’s east coast over the last few days, in particular New South Wales, smashing
boats, flooding roads and cutting power to hundreds of thousands. Five people have so
far been confirmed dead with several still missing.

A massive coal freighter ran aground further north near Newcastle. There are fears that
the freighter could break up and cause an environmental disaster.

The Bureau of Meteorology (Australia’s national weather service) said that the storms
dumped an incredible 300mm (12 inches) of rain in places.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/09062007news.shtml

* One of the coldest winter starts ever observed in South America - 5 Jun 07
May 2007 will go down in history as one of the coldest starts to winter ever in South America.
A brutal cold wave brought record low temperatures, widespread frost, snow and major energy
disruption. The death toll for the 10-day cold wave was the highest for any single weather event
in Argentina in recent history.

Millions of residents fired up space heaters, straining Buenos Aires’ electrical grid for three
nights and forcing authorities to slash power supply nationwide and briefly cut domestic natural
gas provisions and exports to Chile. Many factories went idle when distributors shut off or
reduced gas supplies to give priority to homes. Government regulators also ordered an 800-
megawatt electricity cut nationwide for four hours, which led to sporadic blackouts in the
capital Buenos Aires. The shortages also had a ripple effect in neighboring Chile, where
authorities scrambled to provide energy after Argentina slashed natural gas exports.

Temperatures hit the freezing point or dipped below for three successive nights in the
Argentinean capital. Such cold is rare for the southern-hemisphere autumn in Buenos Aires,
which normally sees temperatures in the 40s and 50s F or higher this time of year. According
to the Servicio Meteorologico Nacional (Argentina Weather Service), the low temperature of
0.3ºC in Downtown Buenos Aires was the lowest for the month of May since 1962. The city
also suffered the lowest windchill value in May for the last 36 years. On May 28th, the
temperature at midday in Buenos Aires was only 3.7ºC, unprecedented in recent history

See entire article by Eugenio Hackbart, Chief Meteorologist for MetSul Weather Center
in Sao Leopoldo, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil
http://icecap.us/index.php/go/joes-blog/the_great_south_american_may_cold_spell/

* 11.8 inches of rain in three hours in China - 4 Jun 07 – Some 300mm (11.8 inches)
of rain was recorded in Xiangtan City in just over three hours leading to the collapse of over
800 houses. Jiangxi in eastern China was hit by mudslides as a result of the heavy rain,
destroying more than 2000 homes.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/04062007news.shtml

* Europe shivers as Russia sizzles - 30 May 07 - Just one day short of June,
snow, floods and high winds have spread misery across huge swathes of Europe,
while Russia is in the grip of a heat wave.

In Germany, where May normally brings temperatures of 16-19c (61-66f), snow
and flash flooding have brought chaos.

Bavaria has seen unseasonal snowfalls in alpine villages and flooding after receiving
a week's worth of precipitation in 24 hours.

In France, temperatures dropped to 6c (43f) in the mountainous central Cantal region,
where it snowed in some areas, and torrential rain caused floods across wide areas of
central, northern and eastern France.

In Switzerland, the Gotthard Pass, at Motto Bartola above Airolo, had to be closed
after heavy snowfalls.

A spokesman for the German Weather Service said: "It has gone mad across Europe.

See entire article by Olinka Koster:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=458803&inpage_id=1811
Thanks to Charles Patrick for this link

* UK Coldest since 1772 - 29 May 07 – "We had already suffered the great washout
over the weekend. And yesterday - to complete the misery - came the big chill. "Arctic
winds swept across the country at speeds of up to 50mph in one of the coldest Whitsun
Bank Holidays since records began in 1772.

"Sleet lashed the Chilterns while hail battered cricket fans at Headingley. Beaches were
deserted as rain continued to pour down across the country. The AA said thousands cut
their long weekends short to battle appalling road conditions."
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23398458-details/Bank%20holiday%20washout%20
was%20one%20of%20coldest%20on%20record/article.do
Thanks to Charles Patrick for this link

Dead Frozen Solid That Night
Here’s a great note that goes with the above article:

Robert: You do realize the year 1772 was at the last peak of the Little Ice Age and heralded
the extreme winters of the American Revolution. Especially Valley Forge and the Southern
Campaign under Nathanial Green of 1780-1781.

Of side note, my Grandfather 6 times removed, fought at the Battle of the Cowpens in South
Carolina as a company commander of a Virginia Line Infantry regiment that December of 1780.
The records say it was so cold the dead were frozen solid by that night.

CP

* Freak snow, freezing temperatures and tropical storms across Europe - 29 May 07
In Spitzing in Germany, ten centimeters of snow brought out the snow plows for the first time this year.

It was the same story in towns close to the Alps in Austria, Switzerland and even northern Italy where
temperatures in May routinely climb into the 80s.

In one Swiss valley, 3,000 were trapped in hotels and guest houses because trains could not reach
them in the snow. Further north in cities like Berlin, tropical storms have brought four days of chaos,
dumping hailstones as big as golf balls, uprooting trees and causing widespread flooding.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article
_id=458562&in_page_id=1811
Thanks to Dan Groseck for this link

* Cold Wave Forces Gas Rationing in Argentina - 29 May 07 - Argentina rationed
electricity to companies and severed natural gas supplies to Chile as a cold wave prompted
record demand for electricity.

The temperature in many parts of Argentina fell below freezing yesterday, pushing electricity
demand to a record 18,300 megawatts, according to the country's energy regulator.

About 100 schools in Buenos Aires province are closed today for lack of sufficient heating.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&refer=latin_america&sid=av0tvGQPKLKU
Thanks to Benjamin Napier for this link

* Freak Snow Storm Hits Nepal - 29 May 07 - Dozens of people were feared killed in
remote parts of north-western Nepal after the areas were hit by a freak snow storm and
blizzard, officials said Tuesday.

The casualties were reported in the remote north-western mountainous district of Dolpa,
about 450 km northwest of the Nepalese capital, on Monday.

The snow storm is said to have hit a mountainous area where hundreds of people had
gathered to collect an herb locally known as Yarshagumba, which is thought to increase
sex drive. Other reports in the Nepalese capital said up to 1 500 people were stranded
in heavy snows.

posted February 11, 2008 02:33 AM              

Wintry Chill in Southern South America - 29 May 07 - A cold outbreak invaded
southern South America at the start of this week bringing with it local snow as well as a
widespread frost and hard freeze. Snow dusted western Argentina in areas such as
Mendoza. There was even a bit of snow northward along the Andean foothills to near
the Bolivia-Argentina border. Rare snow also fell over the southern Pampas at Tres
Arroyos. Monday`s high at Buenos Aires was only 42 degrees, 20 degrees below normal.

Low temperatures included 17 degrees early Tuesday at Santa Rosa, but even harsher
cold gripped northern Patagonia: Maquinchaco, Argentina, registered early morning lows
of 1 and 3 degrees, respectively, Monday and Tuesday. Even southern Brazil shivered
with Bom Jesus reading 24 degrees Tuesday morning.

Story by AccuWx.com Senior Forecaster Jim Andrews http://premiuma.accuweather.com/adcbin/premium/news-regional.asp?region=worldnews
Thanks to skier Ken for this link

# Extreme weather hits Europe and Russia - 30 May 07 - Record breaking heat continues
across western and central parts of Russia this month, with temperatures at times around
12 degrees above normal.

In contrast, many parts of Europe have been affected by very unsettled and cool weather.
Heavy storms, landslides, flash floods and lightning have killed at least 23 people across the
continent over the past few days

Heavy rain hit Germany over the last couple of days, bringing 106mm (just over 4 inches),
since Monday. This is well over the monthly average of 85mm (3.4 inches). http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/30052007news.shtml

# Second coldest May day on record in the UK - 29 May 07 - Temperatures were unseasonably
cold across many parts of the UK. Highs ranged between 7 and 10C (45 � 50F). Normal temperatures
would be nearer 17-18C (63�64F) at this time of year.

A high of 7.9C was recorded at Heathrow Airport making it the second coldest May day on record.
Many outdoor events were canceled including one of the country�s biggest carnivals in Luton, which
was expected to attract around 100,000 people.

The cold extended into Scotland where sleet and snow fell across the mountains bringing a good few
centimeters to parts of the Cairngorms.

St Catherine�s Point on the Isle of Wight received 80mm, (just over 3 inches) of rain over the weekend. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/29052007news.shtml

# Spring snowfall sets Calgary record - 25 May 07 - Blustery winds and a record 7 cm
of snow for this day in history took down trees and electrical and telephone lines, causing
power outages and damaging cars and buildings around Calgary.

The wintry blast topped the previous snowfall mark of 5.1 cm for May 24, set in 1911,
with communities on the city's northwestern edge among the hardest hit.

See entire article by Todd Saelhof in the Calgary Sun http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2007/05/25/4207137-sun.html
Thanks to Benjamin Napier for this link
(See more about this storm below.)

# More snow for the U.K. - 28 May - Areas as far apart as northern Scotland and
East Anglia could turn white today. Temperatures are due to fall to 10EC (50EF),
with the Met Office issuing severe weather warnings for East Anglia and the Highlands.

The Met Office�s Robin Downton said: "The air is so cold as Britain is receiving
winds from the Arctic."

Beaches in Bournemouth, Dorset, packed this time last year, were deserted as the
town got 50mm of rain � its average for the whole of May � in just a few hours.

See http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007230784,00.html
Thanks to Benjamin Napier for this link.

# Winter weather blankets southern Alberta - 24 May 07 - Mother Nature made a rare
wicked May appearance today in southern Alberta. Heavy, wet snow amounting to 10 cm
and blustery winds took down trees and power lines, causing power outages for more than
7,000 homes and damaging cars and buildings around Calgary.

Gordon Kennedy said the scene in Carstairs, about 50 km north of Calgary, was worse than
what was being reported in the city. "It looks like a hurricane went through," said Kennedy.
"Big trees that have been here forever are down, and they came down on cars, houses and
buildings." In Red Deer, power outages plagued the city and schools canceled classes.

See entire article by Todd Saelhof in the Calgary Sun http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2007/05/24/4205533.html
Thanks to Charles Patrick for this link

# Winter weather kills at least 21 in South Africa - 27 May 07 - At least 21 people have
died this week in a cold snap in South Africa, marked by snow, hail and widespread flooding.
The Drakensburg Mountains in northern KwaZulu Natal midlands are still blanketed by snow,
and some parts of the country have seen the heaviest snowfall in more than 20 years.

The icy weather across South Africa has set 54 new weather records so far, with Barkly
recording the lowest maximum temperature of 1.7C on Thursday, while many regions have
seen up to 70mm of rain in one day. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/27052007news.shtml

# First snow in Grahamstown, South Africa in 33 years - Grahamstown residents
eagerly awaited the first snow to be seen on the city�s surrounding hills in 33 years, while
hundreds of township dwellers sought shelter from the cold.

Grahamstown Area Distress Relief Association social worker Nosiphiwo Mani visited
hard-hit township residents to hand out blankets.

In Eluxolweni squatter area on the high ground behind Makana��s Kop women and
children huddled to keep warm under inadequate covering. http://www.theherald.co.za/herald/news/n13_23052007.htm

# More rain in Spain today than has fallen all year - 25 May 07 - Mainline train
services out of Madrid remained closed for a second day on Thursday, after storms
sparked widespread flooding across central Spain.

Across Castilla-La Mancha the floods destroyed more than 250, 000 acres of crops
(100, 000 hectares) at a cost of over 100 million pounds. In the town of Alcazar de
San Juan, more rain fell in a few hours than had fallen all year. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/25052007news.shtml

# Record rainfall in Guam - 25 May 07 - "We had a 24 hour rainfall in Guam of 2.26 inches
yesterday," says Guam resident Paul R. Stanko. "What makes this even more remarkable, and
the reason it is a record, is that this is still dry season here!"
(Thanks for this info, Paul)

# Massive snowstorm in China - 23 May 07 - Vehicles stranded in snow on a highway in
Hami, Northwest of Xinjiang, China. As a cold front rolled in from Siberia, the rain and snow
hit Hami on Tuesday, and the temperature dropped by 15 degrees Celsius. A provincial
road was closed for nearly five hours. http://english.people.com.cn/200705/23/eng20070523_377080.html

# Icy Weather Sets 54 New Records in South Africa - 23 May 07 - The South African
Weather Service said 34 new records were set on Monday and another 20 yesterday..

Plettenberg Bay recorded a record low minimum temperature, 5.6EC, yesterday. Tsitsikamma
saw a record low maximum on Monday, 12.1EC, and a record low minimum yesterday, 6.3EC.
Plettenberg Bay and Tsitsikamma both recorded their highest daily rainfall, at 68mm and 71.2mm
respectively, on Monday.

The lowest minimum temperature was -6EC in Welkom, while the lowest maximum was a mere
1.7EC in Barkly East, both on Monday night.

Other areas recording record low temperatures included: Carolina (-5.5EC), Vanwyksvlei (-4.3EC),
Ventersdorp (-3.9EC), Witbank (-3.7EC), Gariep Dam (-3.7EC), Pofadder (-3.5EC), Upington (-3.1EC),
Marken (-2.9EC), Taung (-2.5EC), Oudestad (-1.7EC) and Nieuwoudtville (-0.1C).

Kuruman, Kathu and Gariep Dam all recorded record low maximum temperatures on Monday and
record low minimums yesterday.

Kuruman went from a high of 9.2EC to a low of -5.1EC, Kathu from 10.1EC to -5.1EC, and Gariep
from 6.9EC to -3.7EC.

There was snow on all high-lying areas of the Eastern Cape, and on some of the low-lying areas, said
Weather SA's regional manager for the province, Hugh van Niekerk.

Lootsberg pass on the N9 between Graaff-Reinet and Middelburg and Penhoek pass on the N6
between Queenstown and Aliwal North were closed due to heavy snowfalls.

Van Niekerk said there had been snow in "just about the whole of the Eastern Cape" except the
coastal region - on the Bamboesberge, at Joubertina, on the Tsitsikamma and Kouga mountains, at
Hogsback, on the Outeniqua and Winterberg mountains, in the Barkly East and Molteno area, at
Graaff-Reinet and Middelburg.
http://www.capetimes.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3844594
Thanks to Benjamin Napier for this link

# Snow arrives 19 days early in Australia - 22 May 07 - Despite being 19 days away
from the start of the official Australian winter ski season, parts of the south-east have already
seen snow. The Victorian ski resorts of Mount Buller and Mount Hotham experienced steady
snow flurries on Monday morning; predicted to be the precursor to heavier snowfall. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/22052007news.shtml

# Snow in South Africa - 20 May 07 - The South African weather service has forecast
snow for the mountains of the western and Northern Cape..

The cold snap is expected to spread to Limpopo in the far north of the country, and into
southern Mozambique. Many farmers have been advised to keep their animals indoors. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/20052007news.shtml

# Worst Flooding in Uruguay in 50 years - 11 May 07 - Uruguay has declared a national
disaster after experiencing the worst flooding in 50 years. The floods have affected more than
110,000 people, destroying crops and infrastructure amounting to millions of dollars in damage.

The central city of Duranzo has been hardest hit, forcing evacuation of 20% of the population
as the Yi River rose to 14 meters (45 feet!) above normal. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/11052007news.shtml

# B.C. Snowpack at Record or Near-record Levels - 7 May 07 -
And the snow is still accumulating!
With snowpacks in British Columbia�s northern and central Interior at record or near-
record levels, including areas which feed major rivers such as the Peace and the Fraser,
provincial emergency officials are praying for bad weather.

A cool, wet April has continued the snow season, and snow is still accumulating in most
of the mountainous areas of the province. Minor flooding has started in the Northern Interior
and provincial ministries and utilities are braced for the worst.

Farmers and ranchers have been given information on flood management, including advice
on how to deal with livestock if waters begin to rise.

Local governments and emergency officials are holding meetings and setting up training
sessions around the province.

Interesting how the media doesn�t like to acknowledge record snowfall.
(This article was entitled "Flood Danger on the Rise.")

See entire article in the Vancouver Sun http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id
=1cd2ee9b-5ff2-4e51-b0f5-2f2e0cc7fcc3

# Thirteen inches of rain in Burma in one day - 7 May 07 � At least five people have died in
Myanmar�s largest city of Yangon yesterday after two days of torrential rain.

Much of the capital was submerged under water on Saturday after receiving the heaviest rainfall
in forty years. One northern suburb recorded 330mm (13 inches) of rain in just 24 hours. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/07052007news.shtml

# Three weeks worth of rain in Sydney in hours - 23 Apr 07 - Nearly 100mm (3.9 inches)
of rain fell during the storm, which lasted only a few hours. This was almost three quarters of
the total rainfall which is usually expected throughout the month of April.

The New South Wales Fire Brigade were inundated with calls as the storms moved inland
from the east coast during Sunday evening. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/23042007news.shtml

# "Extremely" Heavy Snowfall in Moscow - 8 Apr 07 - Extremely heavy snowfall and
unusually low temperatures affected Russia yesterday, as Muscovites celebrated the Easter period.

Meteorologists say that this is the heaviest Easter snowfall in Moscow for many years. One
tourist said it was normally warm at this time of year ��but now it is very cold on the eve of Easter.�� http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/08042007news.shtml

# Hail causes major damage to Italian crops
Heavy snow in the Alps - 23 Mar 07 - Stormy weather has been lashing Italy this week
bringing snow, rain, hail and strong winds. One particular severe hail storm caused an estimated
50 million euros of damage to crops in the area near Salerno.

The storm dropped hail stones the size of nuts. Around 700 farms suffered severe damage to their
vegetable and fruit crops as a half-a-meter-blanket of hail was left behind by the storm � in ten minutes.

Elsewhere in Italy, storms gave some heavy snowfalls across the Alps.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/23032007news.shtml
Thanks to John Brown of Scotland for this link

# Three month�s rain in 36 hours - 29 Mar 07 - Cyclone Becky has brought severe flooding
problems across New Zealand�s scenic Bay of Islands region with the equivalent of three months
rain - up to 450mm (17.72 inches - in 36 hours. The Historic Places Trust staff were battling to
save two of New Zealand�s oldest buildings, the Kerikeri Mission Station which was built in
1822, plus the neighboring Stone Store. Flooding was experienced as far south as New
Zealand�s largest city, Auckland. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/29032007news.shtml

# Snow in Africa - 22 Mar 07 �� A northerly wind from a storm over the Mediterranean Sea
poured northern chill ashore in Algeria. Soaking rain and small hail (4 inches of rain at Jijel) changed
to snow along the eastern Atlas Mountains of northwest Africa. Snow lay 6 inches deep at Jelfa,
where the 35-mph wind made it feel as cold as 10 degrees. The snow stood at least two inches
deep in Constantine. http://headlines.accuweather.com/regional-news-story.asp?partner=accuweather&traveler=[/ URL] 0®ion=worldnews

# Snow cuts off several villages in Spain - 21 Mar 07 - It�s the first day of spring, but much
of Europe still struggles with wintry weather.

Most of the UK has had snow and strong winds over the past few days; In Scotland heavy
snow has caused several road accidents.

And earlier this week 12 people were trapped in their cars in Las Canada del Teide, Tenerife,
after heavy snow hit the area. On the Spanish mainland over 20cm of snow fell on the Basque
region, cutting off road links to several villages.

In parts of Switzerland up to 37cm of snow fell in a matter of hours Tuesday afternoon, while
parts of neighboring Austria received nearly half a meter of snow, cutting power to around 40,000. [URL=http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/21032007news.shtml]http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/21032007news.shtml
Thanks to John Brown of Androssan, Scotland for this link

# Up to Three Feet of Snow Expected in Austria - K�rnten Austria � 19 Mar 07 -
Fresh snow between 30 and 50cm is possible, in the mountains up to 70cm (27.5 inches)

Steiermark , Austria - Fresh snow between 20 and 45 cm is possible. In the valleys rain in
the beginning. In the mountains up to 90cm (35 inches).

From the European Extreme Weather website: http://www.meteoalarm.eu

# Winter rears its head - 16 Mar 07 - Stormy weather hit New Zealand earlier this week,
bringing heavy rain and strong winds and some snow to the South Island. At Nelson Lakes, l
ocals were amazed to see snow on the ground at St Arnaud village. Similarly it will come as
a shock to the UK this weekend as winter rears its head. The Met Office issued a snow
warning. Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales are expected to see the worst of the weather.

On Thursday, Israel experienced a sudden return of winter when snow began falling in
Jerusalem and the western Negev and blanketed Gush Etzion, the Golan Heights and Hevron.
Up to 25cms ( 10inches ) were reported in the Mount Hermon area.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/16032007news.shtml

# Snow blankets much of Jordan - 15 Mar 07 - Snow blanketed much of Jordan on
Thursday, briefly whiting out road signs in Jerusalem. In the Jordanian capital and northern
and western provinces, officials closed schools as snow flurried around buildings and traffic
jams persisted after the usual morning rush-hour.

Police spokesman Major Bashir Daajeh told state television that 93 road accidents
occurred up to midday, causing minor injuries.

Thursday's snow was the first in March in Jerusalem since 1998 when a surprise storm
also dumped snow in the West Bank.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070315124524.8sqf4je3&show_article=1
Thanks to Craig Adkins for this link

# Unprecedented snowfall across northern India - 14 Mar 07 - The Kashmir Valley has
been particularly hard hit, with heavy rain and snow since Sunday. Flights were cancelled to
the valley as more than a metre of snow fell in the higher reaches.

In the capital, Srinagar, an unprecedented two feet of snow was recorded Tuesday morning.
Downed power lines left the Kashmir Valley cut off from the rest of the country. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/14032007news.shtml

# Heavy snow in northern China - one week after the heaviest snowstorm in almost 60 years
11 Mar 07 - A current of cold air from Siberia has brought snow to northeast China�s Heilongjiang
province and many parts of neighbouring Liaoning and Jilin provinces. Heavy snow hit the Heilongjiang
provincial capital of Harbin on Friday, forcing the closure of Harbin Taiping International Airport.

The Harbin-Daqing Highway, with a visibility of less than 10 meters, was closed because of heavy snow.
More heavy snow was forecast over the weekend.

Last weekend a low pressure system moved across northern China bringing the area�s heaviest snow
storm in almost 60 years, according to the Shenyang Meteorological Station. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/11032007news.shtml

# Strongest snowstorm in China in half century - 6 Mar 07 - The strongest March snowstorm to hit
northeast China's Liaoning Province in 56 years has left at least one person dead and seven injured
after the roof of an agricultural trade building collapsed under the weight of the snow, local sources said.

Three arched ceilings of the Minglian Agricultural Trade Building in Huanggu District, in the provincial
capital of Shenyang, collapsed at noon yesterday, burying about 20 stall owners and customers, said a witness.

Snow piled up two meters high in some areas, the Shenyang Meteorological Observatory reported.

posted February 11, 2008 02:34 AM              

With Australia just coming to the end of its summer, residents compared the blanket of ice
to the snow-bound cities currently in the US.

Although summer storms are not unusual in this part of Australia, the Australian bureau of
Meteorology said that Canberra had already set a new record for the most thunderstorms
in a single month - 15 in February. In one storm, 70mm of rain was reported in one hour.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/01032007news.shtml

* "Almost unprecedented" snow in Norway
Snow spreads across Southern Scandinavia and Denmark - 25 Feb 07 - "It all started
on Wednesday when a snow storm began to blanket parts of southern Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

"Across Norway, almost unprecedented amounts of snow and blizzard-like conditions led to the closure
of the main road between Kristiansand and Grimstad as vehicles became stranded by five feet high drifts."

As further snow fell on Saturday across Southern Scandinavia and Denmark, temperatures plummeted,
airlines canceled flights, large shopping centers closed, and the sheer weight of the snow downed power
lines and trees.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/25022007news.shtml

* Snow strands motorists in Norway
22 Feb 07 - Heavy snows, high winds and bitterly cold temperatures halted all traffic
on the E-18 highway between Kristiansand and Grimstad. Hundreds of cars and trucks
lost control or were unable to drive because of snowdrifts or lack of visibility or both.

Sudden snowstorms and a plunge in temperatures sparked chaos all over southern
Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

Some drivers were stuck in their vehicles overnight, and ran out of gas while sitting still
and keeping their heaters running. Rescue crews were trying to get gasoline and food in
to the drivers. Convoys were being arranged in both directions to get groups of cars out.

Cars stranded in snowdrifts as high as a meter-and-a-half (nearly five feet) blocked the
highway, making it impossible to clear the roads of snow until the cars could be dug out
and moved.

It was still snowing Thursday morning.

http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1655505.ece
Thanks to Craig Adkins for this link

* Kathmandu: First snow in 63 years - 17 Feb 07 - Snow fell on Nepal's capital, Kathmandu,
for the first time in 63 years Wednesday. Though the Himalayan country is home to Mount Everest,
Kathmandu, has not had snow since January 1944.
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/02/14/nepal.snow.reut/index.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070214/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_nepal_snowfall
Thanks to both Sean Rickman and Tom Weatherby for these links.

* New York State gets 'incredible' amounts of snow - 10 Feb 07 - Incredible amounts of snow
have fallen this week on the east coast of Lake Ontario. Some areas have been buried under 8 feet
(244cm), nearly 2 and a half metres of snow, up to the second floor of some houses.

The Weather Service has forecast that snow could fall at a rate of around 3 to 4 inches an hour
and by Monday there could be another 2-4 feet (61-122cm), leaving some western areas of Oswego
County with more than 11 feet (360cm) of snow.

More heavy snowfall is predicted for Wednesday.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/10022007news.shtml

* Temperatures far below normal across Indochina - 6 Feb 07 - Across Cambodia, residents
have been engaging in a rare activity: turning off their air conditioners and stilling their fans. Some of
Phnom Penh's moto drivers have even been seen zipping around the streets at night in puffy parkas.
Some people were even wearing socks.

It has been cold here –– the coldest in 27 years of recorded history, according to Seth Vannareth,
the director of meteorology at the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology.

The cold snap began on Jan. 30, with low temperatures ranging from 7C to 15C (mid-40s to
mid-50s F.) in the northeast and mountainous areas, far below norms of 17C to 20C.

The same high-pressure front moving down from Siberia has cooled off greater Indochina, including
Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and parts of Thailand.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0206/p04s01-woap.html
Thanks to Craig Adkins for this link

* Coldest February 4th in Winnipeg in 68 years - 6 Feb 07 - With records dating
back to 1939, the previous coldest February 4th occurred in 1979, when the thermometer
reached minus 36.2 Celsius. The coldest February 4th on record for Winnipeg was set in
1876, when the temperatures reached minus 42.2 Celsius. Several Manitoba communities
set local records Sunday.

Temperatures in Chicago over the weekend plummeted close to record breaking low
maximums for early February.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/06022007news.shtml

* Heavy Snow in Spain - 29 Jan 07 - The image most people will conjure up when
you mention the south of Spain or the Costa del Sol is one of lying by the pool with
the warm summer sun beating down. How different things have been over the last
few days!

The Granada region received several inches of snow Friday night, while residents of
the city of Murcia awoke Saturday morning to a thick blanket of snow - more than
half a meter.

A low of 1C was reported at Malaga Saturday night while the northern town of
Fuenterrabia shivered in temperatures as low as (-9C), very close to the record low
of (-10C). The average minimum temperature for this area is around 6 to 7C.

The stormy weather also affected the Canary Islands, with the island of El Herrio
worst hit by heavy rain. The president of the island called it the worst natural disaster
in its history.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/29012007news.shtml

* 28 Jan 07 - Here's an e-mail that I received today from Lisbon, Portugal.

Hi Robert,

Just thought you would like to know that today it snowed AGAIN in Lisbon,
almost exactly one year after last year's snow.

And before that there were 52 years with no snow!

It’s now noon and the temperature is 3,5ºC, about 10ºC less than the January
maximum average……

Regards
Filipe Lucas

* Snow and ice bring chaos to Spain and Germany
28 Jan 07 - On Friday morning the mercury fell to a shivering (-6C) [21F] at Granada,
Andalucía, Spain, a place many people associate with baking summer holidays. Even in
Malaga on the Costa Del Sol, temperatures dipped to a chilly 1C (34F) on Saturday night.

Snow brought traffic to a standstill near Almeria and Puerto Lumbreras, and more than
30,000 lost power in Andalucia after heavy snow and strong winds brought down power
cables. The city of Murcia was blanketed in more than half a meter of snow, while the
Granada area was also hit by heavy snow.

In Munich, temperatures fell to (-14C) 7F.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/28012007news.shtml

* Two month’s rain in 36 hours in Mozambique
22 Jan 07 - A severe cloudburst dumped 17.6 inches of rain in 36 hours on the
city of Quelimane, nearly in the middle of the long Mozambique coastline …
nearly twice the average rainfall for the entire month of January.
http://premiuma.accuweather.com/adcbin/premium/news-regional.asp?region=worldnews
&mont h=01&year=2007&date=2007-01-22_1954
Thanks to skier Ken for this link.

* Winter finally arrives in Europe
24 Jan 07 - Cold weather and blizzards have begun to descend on many areas
of Europe, more noticeably the Alpine ski resorts. The Galacia area of northwest
Spain was slammed on Monday with several inches of snow and bringing chaos to travel.

Parts of southern Austria experienced heavy snowfall last night –– up to a meter -
leaving nearly 300 lorries stuck on the roads overnight.

Heavy snow also fell in neighbouring Czech Republic, where snow closed the main
highway between Prague and the eastern city of Brno. More heavy snow is forecast
for the city today.

Blizzards also buffeted the Alps. The resort of Grand Saint Bernard in Switzerland
reported nearly half a meter of snow in just 12 hours.

The UK has also been feeling an icy blast in the last few days with snowfall well
above average in the resorts. The Cairngorms report 50cm on their upper slopes
and 15cm on the lower.

Heavy snow is forecast for southeast England later today and tonight, with Kent,
Sussex and Surrey likely to be worst hit.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/24012007news.shtml

* Europe surveys deadly billion-dollar storm
47 dead, more than two million lose power
21 Jan 07 - Wind gusts up to 112 mph knocked out electricity to more than
one million homes in the Czech Republic. One million households in Germany
and tens of thousands of homes in Poland and Austria also lost power.

Insured losses are estimated at $1.3 billion in Germany, at $207 million in the
Netherlands, and hundreds of millions in Britain.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16687660/

* Worst Atlantic storm system in 17 years hits the UK
19 Jan 07 - The storm brought wind gusts in excess of 80mph to the western
point of the Isle of Wight and to Aberdaron on the Lleyn Peninsula in Wales.
The winds quickly strengthened across the rest of England and Wales through
the morning, with wind gusts up to 99mph.

Although Scotland managed to escape the worst of the wind, it did see heavy
snowfall. Almost half a meter (45 cm) of snow fell on the upper slopes of the
Cairngorms in the east, while the Nevis Range in the west has 42cm on its upper
slopes. Snow also settled in the Central belt of Scotland and across northern England.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/19012007news.shtml

* Storm batters the UK
18 Jan 07 - A deep area of low pressure swept in from the Atlantic
early Thursday bringing chaos across the country. Many train operators
reduced their services, with GNER running a reduced service between
London and Edinburgh. Ferry crossings from Dover were cancelled
after wind speeds reached 60mph along the Kent coast.

Snow, wind and icy roads made the morning commute hazardous on
the M62, which crosses the Pennines in Yorkshire. Several inches of
snow also closed the A9 in the Highlands last night between Dalwhinnie
and Blair Atholl. More snow fell in the Highlands area this morning.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/18012007news.shtml

* Snow hits central China affecting 878,000 people
More than 1,000 houses collapse under the weight
Xinhua – 16 Jan 06 - Heavy snow since Monday has crippled parts of central China's
Hubei Province, disrupting the lives of 878,000 people and causing 1,002 houses to collapse,
according to the provincial civil affairs department.

The depth of the snow, which seriously affected 10 cities and counties in southeast Hubei,
including Wuhan, the provincial capital, was five to ten centimeters. In some mountainous
regions, the depth reached 30 cm (11.8 inches). (I’m guessing that the houses weren’t
very sturdy.)

Another 2,424 houses were reportedly damaged in the snow and many roads cut off,
communication networks were down and power supplies disrupted.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-01/16/content_5614762.htm
Thanks to Martin Hoer for this link

* Coldest December on record in parts of New Zealand
13 Jan 06 - Many places around the country, from Kaitaia to Kaikoura and
Arthurs Pass, had their coldest Decembers on record as mean temperatures
reached up to 3C below normal. The average temperature in Auckland was
16C, 2.1C lower than usual, and at12.7C Wellington endured the coldest
December in more than 70 years.

Christchurch was 2 times wetter than normal. Parts of Canterbury and Otago
also had above-average rainfall and Middlemarch had its wettest December
on record.

Pukekohe (4.4C), Christchurch airport (0.1C) and Manapouri, West Arm (-0.6)
all had record low temperatures. New Plymouth, Wanganui and Blenheim had their
coldest December in at least 60 years.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/search/story.cfm?storyid=000B339E-906B-159B-84EA83027AF1010F
Thanks to Pat (Bluedog) in New Zealand for this link

* Punjab temperatures drop to a record low
7 Jan 07 - Punjab froze Saturday as temperatures dropped below zero. Adampur suffered the most,
with temperatures plummeting to minus 3.8C, six degrees below normal. Ludhiana registered a low
of minus 1.4C, a record at seven degrees below normal, Amritsar dropped to1.3C, five below normal,
Patiala plunged to 0.2C, seven below normal, and Chandigarh dropped to 0C, seven below normal.

Many places in Haryana also saw biting cold. Ambala registered a low of 1.4 C, six below normal.
Karnal dropped to 2C, five below normal, and Narnaul dropped to 3C.

The MET Department in Chandigarh was at a loss to explain what was causing the mercury to drop
over the past few days. (I have some thoughts.)
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200701070313.htm

* Heavy snow in northern Japan - 8 Jan 07 - The Abashiri prefecture reports around 50cm of snow
(half a meter), while the more mountainous areas report up to 155cm (one-and-a-half meters plus).
Snow also left many towns and villages in Hokkaido buried under several inches of snow. Winds
during the storm reached nearly 110mph tearing off roofs and bringing down power lines, leaving
many thousands without power.

More than 170 flights in and out of Chubu airport in Aichi, near Nagoya, were cancelled due to the
high winds along with many of the high speed ‘bullet’ trains, as snow buried the tracks.
Many areas are still under strong wind and heavy snow warnings.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/08012007news.shtml

* Winter chill kills 80 in northern India
7 Jan 07 -Cold weather across northern and eastern India has killed at least
80 people in the past week, forcing authorities to close schools and colleges
and deliver firewood to the homeless.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/07012007news.shtml

* Coldest Christmas day on record in Australia
26 Dec 06 - Melburnians had their coldest-ever Christmas Day and were pelted
with hail and chilled by arctic winds. Likewise, in parts of Tasmania, and Thredbo,
in the NSW snow territory, snowmen were the order of the day. In Victoria, the
coldest Christmas Day in 150 years brought "significant" amounts of snow to
Victoria's southern regions, including a 30mm drop at Mount Baw Baw.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20974107-2,00.html
Thanks to Robert Worrall for this link

* A foot of snow in Turkey - 27 Dec 06
A storm dipping southward from eastern Europe brought heavy rain and
snow to southwestern Asia on Tuesday. Snow fell along the ridge of high g
round running southward from Lebanon through Israel/Palestine to about
Jerusalem, and along the ridge over western Jordan including the city of
Amman. Some snow also fell over the Syrian Desert eastward into Iraq.
Turkey received at least a foot of snow near the eastern Black Sea, but
also in the southeast in areas near Diyarbakir. Heavy snow also fell over
northwestern Iran. Raking the city of Baku at 35-45 mph, windswept snow
also fell heavily over the Absheron Peninsula. Tel Aviv, Israel, was drenched
with 3.7 inches of rain.
http://premiuma.accuweather.com/adcbin/premium/news-regional.asp?region=worldnews

* Icy roads and snow in Israel block roads and close schools
27 Dec 06 - Extreme weather conditions continued to sweep across Israel,
causing havoc throughout the country. Following snowstorms in the Golan Heights,
the Galilee and Hebron, on Wednesday morning snow fell in the Negev desert
and later reached the central hills and Jerusalem.

In southern Israel, the snow blocked Route 40 between Sde Boker and the Nifta
prison, Route 31 was blocked between Mishmar Hanegev and Lehavim and Route
204 was blocked between Yeroham and Sde Boker.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1164881985636&pagename
=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Thanks to Martin Hoer for this info.

* White Christmas down under …… in the middle of summer
25 Dec 06 - Snow fell as low as 800 to 900 meters (2500 to 3000 feet) above sea
level on Victoria’s Mount Buller and Tasmania’s Mount Wellington on Christmas day.
(Remember, it’s the middle of summer in Australia. This would be a little like
seeing snow in Denver in June.)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/25122006news.shtml
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=173968
Thanks to John Brown in Scotland and Mike Cantwell in Australia for these links.

* Roof collapses under weight of hail
22 Dec 06 - A major effort will be needed to repair about 1,000 homes
and other property damaged in a freak hailstorm that lashed the northern
city of Armidale, Australia, local authorities say.

The storm left a trail of destruction in its wake, with homes unroofed,
windows smashed, cars damaged, trees stripped of foliage and glass
from broken windows strewn about the streets.

Armidale Lord Mayor Peter Ducat said the sheer weight of the hail had
damaged 1,000 homes and collapsed the roof of a large agricultural
exhibition centre.

Any house with a flat roof, or a box gutter, was flooded, drenching
carpets and Christmas presents, Mr Ducat said.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=94993
Thanks to Mike Cantwell in Australia for this link.

* Heavy fog grounds hundreds of London flights - Thousands stranded
21 Dec 06 -Thick fog grounded hundreds of flights at airports serving Britain’’s capital
on Thursday, stranding thousands of travelers at one of the peak travel periods of the year.

At least 350 flights at Heathrow were grounded. "Christmas has been canceled," said
David Page, 43, a health worker from northern England after his flight to the Canary
Islands was scrapped. "I’ll be spending a quiet Christmas in Derbyshire rather than
on a beach in Gran Canaria."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16311615/

* Worst Floods in 100 years hit south Malaysia
20 Dec 06 –– Kuala Lumpur - Southern Malaysia has been hit by the heaviest rains
in 100 years this week and resultant flooding has forced about 30,000 people to flee
their homes, news reports said on Wednesday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061220/sc_nm/malaysia_floods_dc_1
Thanks to James Walter for this link

* A Year of Records in Scotland - 16 Dec 06 -
Scotland hasn’t had a dry day in more than 40 days. It was the wettest November
on record. Now it’s halfway through December and western Scotland has already
received more than its average rainfall for the entire month.

March brought blizzards, stranding a sleeper train to Aberdeen for several hours
in 7ft snowdrifts near Laurencekirk.The cold weather carried on into April with
Scottish ski resorts enjoying one of their best seasons ever, and spring flowers
made their latest appearance for 40 years.

May saw one of the coldest nights on record, with thermometers plummeting to |
- 3.9C at Lochaber on the 23rd. Altnaharra, in Sutherland, reached 23.6C (74.5F)
on the10th, but four days later plunged to - 5C.

Perversely, July and August brought record-breaking heat leading to the warmest
autumn on record.

Such weather extremes are a hallmark of an entry into an ice age.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_headline=the-weather-outside-is-frightful
---&method=full&objectid=18271976&siteid=66633-name_page.html
Thanks to Larry Cook for this link
* Heavy rain causes flooding across Scotland
14 Dec 06 - One of the worst hit areas was the village of Milnathort, Kinross-shire,
where the river Queich burst its banks and water rose up to two feet in some houses.

Several other rivers burst their banks in Perthshire and East Fife. Some areas received
up to four inches (around 100mm) of rain in a very short space of time.

Tulloch Bridge received 85.6mm (3.3 inches) of rain in just 40 hours.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/14122006news.shtml

* Blizzard in Ontario, Canada - 9 Dec 06 - London, Middlesex and Oxford have been
hit by a snowstorm, but I’m not talking about England. Instead I am talking of London,
Middlesex and Oxford counties in Ontario, Canada.

London, Ontario was worst hit, receiving some 40cm of snow Thursday night. An a
dditional 15cm was expected on Friday.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/09122006news.shtml

* Record cold in western Canada - 3 Dec 06
How cold and snowy was it? Well, some ski resorts had to close,
and Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, Alberta, didn't open for two days.

Heavy wet snow lashed normally wet and mild Vancouver, British Columbia,
for several days, with temperatures around freezing. Daytime readings in
Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta, plunged to minus-40 at midweek with
the wind chill.
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/nation/16153573.htm
Thanks to Charles Patrick for this link.

* Wettest November on record in Scotland - 2 Dec 06
- A Met Office spokesman admitted that November was
one of the wettest for parts of the country since records began.

"I've been waiting for confirmation that Glasgow has had its
wettest November on record." He added. "The frequency of
these storms is getting to be a little unusual. We've had a very
wild spell of weather here and I'm afraid it will continue to be so."

On Thursday, relentless downpours hit Glasgow, Argyll, part
of Sutherland and the Hebrides with up to four inches of rain.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_headline=wet-and-wild-&method=full&objectid
=18196114&siteid=66633-name_page.html
Thanks to Charles Patrick for this link

* Huge Blizzards in China - 27 Nov 06
Some of China's northern cities have experienced "the biggest blizzards
for 20 years", the official state news agency, Xinhua, reports.

Striking the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, parts of the area received
700 mm (27.5 inches) of snow.

Houses were damaged and traffic disrupted, with the army and government
officials sent out to rescue people.
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/cgi-bin/newsid?article=17993372&epoch=1164643200
Thanks to Robert Worrall for this link.

* One-day snowfall record in Canada - 02 Dec 06
A new one-day snowfall record in Canada has caused problems
in British Columbia, the Peace Arch News reports.

Around 450 mm (18 inches) of snow fell in some parts on
November 27, despite claims that winters were getter milder
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/impacts/200612/17998436.html
Thanks to Robert Worrall for this link.

* Worst floods in decades in Africa - 29 Nov 06 - The worst floods in
decades have battered the Horn of Africa region in recent weeks, killing
hundreds, uprooting thousands more and triggering a humanitarian disaster.
Somalia and parts of neighboring Ethiopia and Kenya have been
particularly hard hit.

"In some areas people are sitting on dykes, completely surrounded by
water and have no access to drinking water and food," said the International
Committee of the Red Cross.

Weather experts expect the rains to continue into January.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15952236/

* Temps in Calgary Hit 100-Year-Low
28 Nov 06 - The arctic deep freeze trapping Calgary is on track
to break a 110-year-old weather record today, but the bitter cold
is expected to ease in the coming days. With a forecast low of -31C
today, Calgary could break the -27C record set on this day in 1896.

Environment Canada says such low temperatures unusual for this
time of year (The coldest in more than 100 years . . . and all they
can say that it is "unusual"?)
http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2006/11/28/2530545-sun.html
Thanks to Lance Stinson and Kevin Broekhoven for this link.

*

Record snowfall at Canada’s Whistler Blackcomb Mountain
24 Nov 06 - Blackcomb Mountain opened yesterday in the midst of record
November snowfall. Whistler Blackcomb is having one of its best openings in
memory with back-to-back storm cycles blanketing the mountains in snow.
Since November 1, Whistler Blackcomb Mountains have received over
300 cm (10 FEET) of snow, beating the past record set in November 1994.
(From the Whistler Blackcomb website.)
Thanks to Rhys Jaggar for this info

* Storm-weary Vancouver braces for major snowfall
25 Nov 06 - After a week of water woes caused by heavy rain, Vancouver is
bracing for another weather nightmare. Up to 30 cm of snow is forecast for the
Lower Mainland through Monday, Environment Canada said Saturday.

The city's social service agencies were searching for more beds for the homeless in
anticipation of a pre-Christmas cold snap. "We anticipate we're going to be full to
overflowing," said Capt. John Murray of the Salvation Army.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/11/25/vancouver-weather.html
Thanks to Charles Patrick for this info

* Snow, hail and freezing conditions across Tasmania -15 Nov 06
Up to 20cm of snow was reported at Miena in Tasmania's Great Lake region this
morning and snow had settled down to the 350m level at Tea Tree, north of Hobart.

Hobart is on track for one of its coldest November days, with temperatures loitering
just below 10 deg C for only the fourth time since records started. The others were
in 1967 (9.8), 1913 (8.3) and 1835 (8.4).

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20761781-1702,00.html
Thanks to AC Frost for this link

* Coldest November night in Sydney, Australia in more than a century
16 Nov 06 –– With the temperature dropping to 8.3C (46F), Sydney recorded
its lowest November temperature in more than a century, well below the
average low of 16C (61F).

Meanwhile, snow was reported along the border of Queensland and New
South Wales. The Bureau of Meteorology said this is the first snowfall so late
in the season since 1941.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/16112006news.shtml

* Snow storms and record cold in Australia –– and summer starts in two weeks
14 Nov 06 - Forecasters think Canberra could see record-breaking week of low temperatures,
with snow in the surrounding high ground. And the official start of summer is only two weeks away.
In Hobart, Tasmania, residents woke on Monday to see Mount Wellington capped in snow, and it
is forecast for all areas above 600 meters (1970 feet) in the state of Victoria on Wednesday. Snow
his late in the season is not unheard of, but it is still fairly unusual.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/14112006news.shtml

* Extreme rainfall incidents two to four times normal in parts of UK
5 Sep 06 - Dr. Hayley Fowler and colleagues found the probability of an extreme
rainfall event during the 1990s, compared to the previous 30 year period, increased
by four times in Scotland and by two times in Northern England.

Dr. Fowler, a senior research associate with Newcastle University's School of Civil
Engineering and Geosciences, said: "The changes we observed over the 40-year period
we studied are consistent with the trend we would expect from global warming."
(I’m more inclined to think this trend is consistent with our entry into an ice age.)

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060904143234.htm
Thanks to Jimmy Walter for this link.

* Most rainfall on record in British Columbia
6 Nov 06 - The Pineapple Express barreled through southern British
Columbia Monday, bringing more rainfall than has ever been recorded.

"We've been measuring very high rates of rainfall, in fact, probably some
of the highest rainfall we've ever measured at a number of sites throughout
the south coast," said Allan Chapman, head of the Environment Ministry's
river forecast center.

Some areas have received 200 to 350 mm (13.78 inches) of rain since
Thursday afternoon, said Chapman. The deluge caused at least one river
to spill its banks and about a dozenhomes along the Chilliwack River were
evacuated.