February
14th Feb
Jami in Maryland wrote:
Just thought I'd give you a weather report for Maryland, and few other states here in the good ole USA.
First, we here (Maryland) are having a major ICE STORM. Started out with about 2 inches of snow, and then turned into a wintery mix of sleet, snow and rain. Some areas already have at least an inch of ice
on the ground. The whole Northeastern area is pretty much shut down.
Numerous accidents due to the road conditions. It is a real treacherous mess right now, with no end in site for a few days yet.
Temperatures not to get above freezing which is not a good thing!
Chicago, Il. had its first Blizzard in 30 years. and OHIO, is getting slammed as well, NOt to mention POOR NEW YORK, who is getting Mother Natures wrath as well. and God, do not forget about NEW ORLEANS...
Was'nt bad enough that they got hit with Hurricane Katrina, Now they have had 2 Tornadoes which wiped out more homes again.
8th Feb
Dead Birds rain down on towns half aworld apart.
About a month ago thousands of crows, pidgeons among other birds fell out of the sky in Esperance W. Australia. Then a short time later dozens of sparrows pidgeons etc fell on Austin Texas. Vets in both countries have been unable to establish the cause of death, despite careful investigation. The department of Environment in Australia said athat recent storms had nothing to do with the phenomenon as birds were dying before that, and that they had never heard of a similar occurance before. One lady who always gets visits from lots of birds, said that there were days when they only see dead birds.
Yet in both places they say though they suspect toxic poisoning, they have no proof, and say there is no danger to humans.
This was sent in by Sylvia , our UK correspondent.
Another thing that Sylvia is concerned about is the number of cloned farm animals that are appearing lately, and whose products are turning up on the market without being properly tested for human consumption. In fact these products are not even being labelled, so it’ll get that people will not know WHAT they are getting
2nd Feb.
Russia probes smelly orange snow
Russia has flown a team of chemical experts to a Siberian region to find out why smelly, coloured snow has been falling over several towns.
Oily yellow and orange snowflakes fell over an area of more than 1,500sq km (570sq miles) in the Omsk region on Wednesday, Russian officials said.
Chemical tests were under way to determine the cause, they said.
Residents have been advised not to use the snow for household tasks or let animals graze on it.
"So far we cannot explain the snow, which is oily to the touch and has a pronounced rotten smell," said Omsk environmental prosecutor Anton German, quoted by the Russian news agency Itar-Tass on Thursday.
"We are waiting for the results of a thorough test on samples."
But Vladimir Gurzhey, an official with the civil defence ministry in Omsk, told the Russia TV channel that the snow had four times the normal levels of iron in it.
The TV also reported that coloured snow had fallen in the neighbouring regions of Tomsk and Tyumen.
Omsk, in western Siberia, is a centre of Russia's oil industry. About 27,000 people live in the areas affected by the snow, Russian officials said.
Deadly tornadoes batter Florida
Tornadoes and severe thunderstorms that swept across the US state of Florida have left at least 14 people dead, local officials say.
The storms ripped roofs off scores of houses and left thousands without power across a central swathe of the state.
Residents described severe storms and "almost continuous lightning".
The deaths occurred in Lake County, where some of the worst of the damage was reported. Rescuers spread out over the area to search for more victims.
The storms hit during the night, at about 0315 (0815 GMT), when most residents were sleeping.
Dead Birds rain down on towns half aworld apart.
About a month ago thousands of crows, pidgeons among other birds fell out of the sky in Esperance W. Australia. Then a short time later dozens of sparrows pidgeons etc fell on Austin Texas. Vets in both countries have been unable to establish the cause of death, despite careful investigation. The department of Environment in Australia said athat recent storms had nothing to do with the phenomenon as birds were dying before that, and that they had never heard of a similar occurance before. One lady who always gets visits from lots of birds, said that there were days when they only see dead birds.
Yet in both places they say though they suspect toxic poisoning, they have no proof, and say there is no danger to humans.
This was sent in by Sylvia , our UK correspondent.
25th january "Sunny" Florida!!
LAKE AND VOLUSIA COUNTY FLORIDA.........
FREEZE WARNINGS UNTIL 8am FRIDAY MORNING. WIND CHILL FACTOR POSSIBLY 29-30 DEGREES.
IF YOU PLAN TO GO WATER SKING OR BOATING BEST CHANGE IT TO ICE OCEAN SKIING!
24th January
Recent storms battered England, Germany and other parts of Europe causing fuel from a cargo ship to spill its content in the sea, overwhat is claimed to be one of Britains lovliest southern beaches
Earlier, Royal Navy rescuers who saved 26 men from a life-raft after they abandoned their ship have described the conditions they endured as horrific.
Crewmembers from the MSC Napoli were rescued by helicopters from RNAS Culdrose after the ship was holed in storms 50 miles (80km) off Cornwall.
Giant waves rose higher than the helicopters as wind and spray lashed the rescuers and the sailors.
One helicopter broke two lines trying to get a winch line to the raft.
New oil slick from beached Napoli
Many birds need to be cleaned of the oil stuck to their feathers
A new slick has been formed from oil leaked from the stricken MSC Napoli as concerns grow for local wildlife.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said the slick was several kilometres long and 30 metres wide and was formed from oil leaked from the ship on Tuesday.
Attempts were being made to contain the oil with booms and no more was leaking, a spokesman added.
Work is continuing to pump 3,500 tonnes of fuel oil from the ship, while some 600 birds are estimated to have died.
The MCA added on Wednesday afternoon that the new slick was moving southwards away from the stranded ship and at the moment was moving out to sea.
More details and complete story
news sent in by Sylvia, Britsh correspondent
In Western Canada, Couple of interesting things have been happening here on the west coast of Canada which Sharon (Vancouver Island)thought you would be interested in.
On the 6th January:
Our weather continues to create havoc -- more snow, ice, etc. and yesterday afternoon the roof on British Columbia's signature B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver collapsed forcing its evacuation! Read the story here
She went on to trell us:
I don't know if you have heard of Stanley Park but it is well known as Vancouver's Playground of 1,000 acres, sandy beaches, giant fir and cedar trees, lakes and stunning vistas from every side.
Mother Nature has been ruthless with us on our beautiful west coast of Canada .... an example of this is what she has done to Stanley Park!
Take a look and see!
More information on Stanley Park and the damagecan be viewed here
On the 10th Sharon wrote:
Good morning, just thought you might like to know that I woke up to snow again this morning and just heard that officials ordered closure of Stanley Park as latest windstorm hammers Greater Vancouver and the Causeway and Lions Gate Bridge were closed. Temperatures dipped to -16
Unheard of EVER! Can you believe this?
Meanwhile in Argentina:
In Cordoba, central Argentina,a river flooded its banks causing hundreds of evacuees, uprooted trees, uprooted, rooves and over storm damage.
In Mendoza in the west a hailstorm has totally destroyed grape vine plantations and other major crops. News showed rooves colasped by the weight of the ice that fell, and peppers with huge holes caused by the hail stones..... all the crops were flattened.
In the north of Argentina, provinces are suffering between 50 and 56ºC (120+ F.) Meanwhile here in Mar del Plata we are having a heat wave with temperatures between 28 and 35 ºC (90+F) and high humidity. Last night a flash heavy downpour lasted just 15 mins, and 30 mins later the roads were dry again .... though it did freshen up my garden good.
Also on the 10th Jeanette of eastern Australia let us know that: it is going to be 39 degrees here again to-day – we are having the worst bush fires on history and have New Zealand and Canadian Fire fighters here in Melbourne to assist with the fires – thank you to your wonderful country there Canada in sending them across to the land down under – the weather has been strange we have never had so much hot weather in one hit here in Melbourne – as you know it was not long ago and we had snow, hail and cold for Christmas Day – strange times
13th January: Western Canada again
Just thought you might like to know that yesterday BC'S tsunami warning system had been triggered by an earthquake off the coast of Japan. There was a watch to the north tip of Vancouver Island, and the north Coast of BC up to Alaska. Greater Vancouver and Victoria are not under watch and just so you know I live in the central eastern part of Vancouver Island.
Happy to report that this morning the Provincial Emergency Program says the tsunami watch for the northern tip of Vancouver Island up to Alaska has been cancelled.
Meanwhile, in Brazil:Valter tells us in his own words, that:
As you know I still am on vacation, but taking look in the issues messages.I saw this info mail and decided to make a short comment about the global
weather.
Here in Brazil also has been happening strange phenomenon to the summer. It means that in a tropical country shoud be a very hot weather in this
period, as always has done lately. The curious is that in São Paulo has rained much more than in the past, almost three time just at January now.
These variations has affect us too much, yestarday for instance occured a huge accident in the Brazilian build up to the subway segment in São Paulo.
The rain was too much and the ground drainage was not enough to absorb the big amount water - rained about 10 days without stop in all Southeast
region including SP. Really scary, it seems that 10 people died.
The government and many city hall are in red alarm, these things are not usual mainly in SP still less in Southeast region. Anyway I'd like just to
reinforce the Sharon's comments regarding to weather and how much has been hard and different it in the world wide nowadays
Argentina has been having more floods in the northwest Salta and Tucuman mainly, bridges rendered useless, by flood water or mud, thousands evacuated. In the village od Iruya, Two minibuses were washed away by the water surge leaving the arriving tourists strande dthere with no means of leaving the isolated village - rivers the writer has only ever seen as a trickle or dry stoney bed. A report had it that her bother-in law, was using horses to get the tourists out to a safer area! go figure!!
While Sharon has way more snow than usual over in normally balmy Vancouver Island, Pami in New York lets us know that: Snow...it's January 15th and we've yet to use a snow shovel or start the snow-blower. I've seen a few flurries but it's like they never hit the ground. It as been very warm out. I've heard that people have even seen a few bees out?? I don't care for snow so I am not complaining. It just seems odd...very odd as I grew up in NY and this is the first time for me with no snow by now. If you do get snow...don't send it to me!!
Pami from New York
We have also heard that many areas of eastern USA are having it easy weatherwise, and in central Candaa there was talk about getting the golf gear out instead of the snow blowers!!
On 16th January news was recieved from Cedar Vicki
received this from Cedar Vicki
.
Denver News
This text is from a county emergency manager out in the western part of Jefferson County after their Category "5" blizzard of this scale which has never fallen this early. Those folks know it can happen and how to deal with it.
WEATHER BULLETIN
Up here, in the Northern Plains, we just recovered from a Historic event; may I even say a "Weather Event" of "Biblical Proportions" --- with
a historic blizzard of up to 44" inches of snow and winds to 90 MPH that broke trees in half, knocked down utility poles, stranded hundreds of motorists in lethal snow banks, closed ALL roads, isolated scores of
communities and cut power to 10's of thousands.
FYI: The truck drivers pulled people out of snow banks and didn't ask for a penny.
Local restaurants made food and the police and fire departments delivered it to the snowbound families.
Families took in the stranded people - total strangers.
We fired up wood stoves, broke out coal oil lanterns or Coleman lanterns.
We put on extra layers of clothes because up here it is "Work or Die".
17th January, Australia.
We have been very interested in the weather reports. We can't imagine snow on Vancouver Island. And poor old Stanley Park!!!
We had 41C degrees (about 110F) yesterday and the lowest overnight temperature was 30C. Today was 30C and tomorrow 39C.
We also have large bushfires raging across the State. Homes are being lost. We have fire-fighters from Canada and USA here to help.
We lost power to 200,000 homes and 1200 sets of traffic lights in the city yesterday when the fires damaged the main powerlines from New South Wales
to Victoria.
People were trapped in lifts and there was no air-conditioning in the high-rise buildings.
That's all for now
Best Wishes from Diane and Elaine
In Spain, where it should be winter, they are enjoying a balmy 18ºC, thats in the high 60s F and it hardly rains worth mentioning
