Wild Weather

[Soldier4Christ]

Tehran, Iran - All international and domestic flights cancelled


Tehran as well as many other Iranian cities lay at more than 1,000 meters above the sea level, and the inhabitants are thus used to inclement winters. Yet a snowfall as the one which since yesterday has hit the country, seems to have few precedents in the recent history. Because of the quantity of snow fallen in few hours, the Iranian government saw itself forced to order the shut down of schools and public bureaus at least until Tuesday, and the traffic, on the ground as in the air, has collapsed. For what concerns the flights, in particular, yesterday and this morning they were all cancelled, the domestic ones operated from the Tehran-Mehrabad airport, as well as the international links at the "Imam Khomeini Airport" south of the capital, which has been operating only since November.

From the latter serious discomforts for international passengers are reported. Already the links between the city and the airport, assured only by taxi, are very precarious considering the conditions of the roads, with the lack of means making prices swell. Furthermore, it seems that the airport authorities are not giving proper information to passengers as to the possible resuming of flights for today, forcing them to shattering waits at the airport. Among the blocked in Tehran also a German football team of the Second Bundesliga.

[Soldier4Christ]

Kirkwood, CA: 132" (11 Feet!)**
Heavenly Valley, NV: 96"
Mammath Mountain, CA: 84"
Tahoe, CA: 90"
Blackcap Basin, CA: 83.5"
Incline Village, NV: 48"
Silverton Mountain, CO: 47"
Diamond Peak, NV: 43"

**The 11-foot report was transmitted from Kirkwood Ski Resort through the NWS in this Local Storm Report. They claim that 10 feet fell in a 48-hour period, the 11-foot report was a storm-total.



Squaw Valley:
SEASON CUMULATIVE TOTALS: 181"
NEW: 48"

[Shammu]

haggians meadow, az. 47 inches, thats in 8 hours.

[nChrist]

WOW!

All of this global warming sure is COLD!

[Shammu]

WOW!

All of this global warming sure is COLD!

[Soldier4Christ]

WOW!

All of this global warming sure is COLD!

[Shammu]

Several die, 70,000 displaced in Mozambique floods

Mon Jan 14, 8:31 AM ET

MAPUTO (AFP) - Several people have died while 70,000 others were displaced by floods in central Mozambique and the situation is expected to worsen till mid-February, the National Institute of Natural Disaster Management (INGC) said Monday.

"The floods have for now claimed several lives, according to an official toll," INGC's deputy director Joao Ribeiro told AFP.

On Sunday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) gave a death toll of 50, a figure which Ribeiro said was overestimated.

Mozambique had as far back as November envisaged a heavy downpour during this raining season and had warned its population, a step which has helped to reduce the number of victims.

More than 70,000 people have been resettled, particularly in schools and other public buildings.

Overall, the southern African country which declared a red alert last January 3, is gearing up to evacuate more than 200,000 people.

In Geneva,the Red Cross and Red Crescent warned Monday that much of southern Africa faces potentially disastrous flooding, while the situation in Mozambique was particularly worrying.

Heavy rains that started last month in parts of Zimbabwe had provoked flooding there, said a statement from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

That was now spreading to Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland and Zambia, while the large Indian Ocean island of Madagascar, off the Mozambican coast, was also affected.

"The weather forecast for the next seven days is not good with more rain expected, which could last until April," said Peter Rees, head of the IFRC's operations support department.

"If this happens, southern Africa will certainly face major flooding with potentially catastrophic consequences," he added.

Rees called for immediate action to head off the crisis.

The IFRC statement pointed out that Mozambique was still recovering from flooding and then a cyclone in February 2007.

Since late November when the raining season started, the heavy downpour has led to a sharp rise in the levels of rivers Zambezi, Pongue, Buzi and Save.

"Currently the River Zambezi is almost two metres (six feet) high above the warning level," Ribeiro said.

"The forecasts we have indicate that the rains would intensify in the coming weeks, to attain a peak in the second half of February."

Thirty people died, while 80,000 others were rendered homeless as a result of flooding last year.

In 2001 and 2002, torrential rains swept through the former Portuguese colony still undergoing reconstruction after a long period of civil war (1976-1992). More than 700 people were lost to flooding.

More than 3,000 people have been rendered homeless in Zambia, while three people died in Zimbabwe.

The local Red Cross had already sent emergency supplies to to affected regions and in Geneva and the IFRC on Friday released one million Swiss francs (980,000 dollars, 660,000 euros).

The federation will shortly be launching an appeal for funding to help fund operations in the region.

Several die, 70,000 displaced in Mozambique floods

[Shammu]

Mid-East suffers rare cold snap
17 January 2008
By Crispin Thorold
BBC News, Amman

There have been a number of deaths and considerable damage to crops in the Middle East as temperatures in the region have fallen to exceptional lows.

Local reports say that 10 people died in Saudi Arabia after snowfalls.

In Syria, temperatures have dropped to minus 16 degrees Celsius. There has been widespread damage to crops in Syria, Jordan and Israel.

There has also been snow in the Iraqi capital Baghdad for the first time in living memory.

The Middle East is a region used to extremes of temperature - but not ones like these.

Kuwaiti meteorologists are eagerly watching thermometers to see if the previous low recorded in the open desert, minus four degrees Celsius in 1964, could be broken in the coming days.

Some in the Jordanian government are worried that food prices may increase, giving inflation another unwelcome bump.

But reports from Israel suggest the weather may not be bad news for everyone.

Some farmers are suffering, but there has been a jump in the sale of heaters and warm clothes, with retailers saying the demand for some goods has tripled.

This cold snap has been caused by a weather system that began in Siberia.

But meteorologists in the region cannot agree whether it is the result of climate change; the director of Baghdad's Meteorology Department reportedly said it could be, his counterpart in Amman disagrees.

Mid-East suffers rare cold snap
~~~~~~~~~

Clearly a case of Al Gore global warming.

[nChrist]

       ROFL!

Maybe we should get together and send Al Gore some long johns, an overcoat, ear-muffs, and mittens.

[Soldier4Christ]

It's all climate change caused by global warming.




Gore praying to Gaia.

[Shammu]

Russia warns of emergency as Siberian temperatures dip to -67F.

Jupiter Kalambakal - AHN News Writer

Moscow, Russia (AHN) - Russians are bracing for temperatures of as low as minus 55 degrees Celsius (minus 67 degrees Fahrenheit) in Siberia as Russia's emergencies ministry warns on Wednesday of its impending dangers in the coming weeks.

Government agencies were placed on high alert, reports AFP. The ministry ordered local administration officials to prepare for the extreme chill expected to last until Jan. 21.

The ministry warned that the unusually cold weather could kill, cause frost-bite, conk heaters and cut electricity to homes, disrupt transport, increase the rate of car accidents and even destroy buildings across Siberia.

The freezing temperatures have already caused overloading of electricity grids and power interruptions in the regions of Irkutsk and Tomsk because of overused heaters in homes. Two people have already died and more than 30 others hospitalized with forst-bite in Irkutsk, reports AFP citing state media.

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

Average temperatures in large Siberian cities in January usually range between minus 15 degrees Celsius and minus 39 degrees Celsius, according to data from weatherbase.com. Schools have been closed down in at least four regions because of the cold.

Russia warns of emergency as Siberian temperatures dip to -67F.

[Soldier4Christ]

Deep freeze hits Northern States

Temperatures dropped to breathtaking levels, well below zero, in extreme northern sections of Maine early Monday.



Thermometers registered 34 degrees Fahrenheit below zero at Van Buren, 27 below at Presque Isle and 26 below at Allagash, the National Weather Service reported.

In the northern Rockies, Butte, Mont., registered 32 below at 8 a.m. - with a wind chill of minus 47, the weather service said.

Another of the nation's usual cold spots, International Falls, Minn., managed only 16.1 below zero, but even after the sun came up its temperature of 14 below combined with 6 mph wind for a wind chill of 29 below zero, according to a weather service Web site.

As the cold air blew across Lake Ontario, it picked up enough moisture to produce 3 feet of lake-effect snow Sunday in New York's Oswego County. The roof of a public works garage holding snow removal equipment collapsed early Monday in Fulton, N.Y., under the weight of 37 inches of snow, and the town declared a state of emergency. The region at the east of Lake Ontario often gets heavy lake-effect snow.

"We're digging out," said state police Sgt. Edwin Croucher in Fulton. He reported multiple accidents caused by the storm but no serious injuries.

[HisDaughter]

Even Washington state got below freezing last night.  I wouldn't mind a little bit of that global warming right now.  I have to wait 45 min. every night for my bus!

[Soldier4Christ]

I have to wait 45 min. every night for my bus!

 

I hope that you have plenty of warm clothes to bundle up in during that wait.

We are getting snow here ...  lot's and lot's of snow.

[Soldier4Christ]

Southern California Snow Strands Hundreds
Heavy Snow Halts Traffic In Mountains North Of Los Angeles

Authorities are trying to help hundreds of California motorists stranded in the snow.

A powerful storm has forced a major north-south interstate to close in the mountains north of Los Angeles. Traffic is stopped in both directions on Interstate 5.

A highway patrol inspector said officers and transit workers are escorting drivers down the incline by following them at very slow speeds. A local pub manager said there are abandoned cars everywhere.

Up to 10 inches of snow fell in the area. The National Weather Service predicts two to four more inches will come down today.

But in other parts of the state, heavy rain is the problem.

A fire official in Long Beach said four apartments have been damaged after rain seeped through a plastic cover on the roof of an apartment building that was undergoing repair.

A lot of people are taking the time to enjoy the winter weather, as about 9 inches of snow have already fallen in the Frazier Park area, Bakersfield television station KERO reported.

Some people usually don't look to get a Wednesday off work. Don't tell that to the families who had a good excuse to take the day off and play around in the snow.

Some even worked in the snow. Julie Sandeen's goal was to take some of the fresh powder south to Santa Clarita for a youth event at their church.

"Definitely don’t get this in Santa Clarita," Sandeen said.