THE NEXT ICE AGE - NOW!

Blizzards shut down more than 1,000 village roads in Turkey
25 Dec 08 - Cold weather and heavy snowfall brought daily life to a standstill
in rural parts of Turkey, forcing closures of  more than 1,000 village roads in
the country’s eastern regions.
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=162347&bolum=101
Thanks to Marc Morano for this link
 

Record snowfall across Canada - 21 Dec 08 - This follows record snowfall last
year - but both of those facts are buried at the end of the article. Is this an attempt to
deceive the public? (Be sure to read the comments by climatologist Dr. Timothy
Ball at the end of the article.)
See Record snowfall across Canada
 

Severe cold wave to hit UK - 23 Dec 08 – According to Joe Bastardi of
Accuweather.com, the United Kingdom is looking at much colder weather
at the end of December that will carry well into January. “The most impressive
 two- to four-week cold period of any recent winter for the continent on the
whole is on the way,” says Bastardi. “Patience, grasshopper, patience.”
See entire article:
http://www.accuweather.com/ukie/bastardi-europe-blog.asp?partner=accuweather
Thanks to BenjaminNapier and John V. Kampen in Granada, Spain, for this link

Orange Alert as Cold Weather Sweeps South Across China - 22 Dec 08 - Weather
fronts from Siberia and Mongolia swept south across China over the weekend, sending
temperatures plummeting and bringing heavy snow across parts of the country, prompting
the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) to issue orange warnings, advising residents
to prepare for a sharp drop in temperature, heavy snow and gale-force northerly winds.

See entire article by Steph Ball
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/22122008news.shtml 
Thanks to John Brown in Ardrossan, Scotland, for this link

Record-breaking lows in B.C. – More snow on the way - 21 Dec 08 - “Virtually the entire province was under some kind of winter weather warning last night -- whether it was snow, wind chill or blizzard.

“Vancouver recorded the coldest day in nearly 40 years on Friday when the mercury plunged to -15.2 C. "It was the coldest day since Jan. 29, 1969," said Environment Canada forecaster Greg Pearce. "It has been almost 40 years since it has been that cold."

Vancouver came within 2.6 degrees of breaking the all-time daily low of -17.8 C set on Jan. 14, 1950 and tied on Dec. 29, 1968.

Temperatures in Kelowna plunged to -30.6 C on Friday, shattering the old record of -25.7 C set in 1990, while Kamloops set a new mark of -26.4 C, just edging the old record of -25.6 C set in 1951. Meanwhile, Victoria’s low of -7.3 C on Friday fell just short of eclipsing the old record of -8 C.

See entire article by Stuart Hunter:
http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=1101465
Thanks to Ivan Idea for this link 

Beijing's coldest December day in 57 years - 22 Dec 08 - Winter truly arrived in Beijing yesterday with the highest temperature of the day down to minus 8.8 ℃. Media reports say it was "the coldest day in December in the last 57 years." http://www.danwei.org/front_page_of_the_day/beijing_winter.php
Thanks to Alan Caruba for this link

Snowstorms cause chaos across Europe's ski resorts - 18 Dec 08 - Ski resorts
across Europe - which have seen the best start to a winter ski season in Europe since
1974 - were forced to close temporarily this week after snowstorms brought chaos to
the region.

Almost a metre of snow fell overnight on Sunday sparking avalanche warnings in
many European resorts.

In Val d’Isere, France, skiers were trapped in the resort on Monday amid fears of
an avalanche on the road to Bourg-Saint-Maurice after 80cm (2½ feet) fell.  

In Alagna, Italy, the resort was forced to close with more than a metre of fresh snow,
while in Zermatt, Switzerland, only four ski lifts were open after 80cm of snowfall. Saas
Fee was cut off for three days due to a high avalanche risk, but the road re-opened
today allowing cars and supplies into the resort.  

More heavy snow is expected over the next few days.  

See entire article:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/3814770/Snowstorms-cause-chaos-across-Europes-ski-resorts.html
Thanks to Daryl Irwin for this link

Northeast Siberia braces for extreme cold of -60C - 15 Dec 08 - Temperatures in the northeast Siberian republic of Yakutia could fall to minus 60C (minus 76F) in the next few days, the local meteorological service said Monday.

Weather in the town of Verkhoyansk dropped overnight to minus 53C (minus 63.4F), while in Oymyakon it reached minus 57C (minus 70.6F). It’s expected to drop even more.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20081215/118857527.html

Heavy rains pound Italy - More rain on Thursday than usual for the entire month of December - 12 Dec 08 - Rome declared a state of emergency as the swollen Tiber river threatened to flood Friday and the death toll from the heavy rains battering much of Italy rose to four.

The Civil Protection Department said the Tiber had risen about 16 feet (5 meters) in the past two days and warned it might burst its banks.

On Thursday, more rain fell in Rome than the usual average for the entire month of December, city officials said.

On Mount Etna, eight boy scouts were rescued Friday after being trapped by a snowstorm at a refuge on the mountain's north slope at an altitude of 1,700 meters (5,577 feet).
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081212/ap_on_re_eu/eu_italy_bad_weather;_ylt=Avq.Crdc9pGSDidH SjOvUQYPLBIF
Thanks to Luis F. Chang for this link

Record snowfall in southern Austria - 6½ feet of snow in 48 hours
12 Dec 08 - In the Carinthia province, the heaviest snowfall in the last 80 years
was recorded, as up to 2 metres (6½ feet) of snow fell over the last 48 hours.  

Emergency services were having a difficult time getting through to villages to
repair damaged electricity lines, Austrian media reported.

Train lines running to the Italian towns of Udine and San Candido were
blocked by trees  http://www.enews20.com/news_Record_snowfall_cuts_off_electricity_railways_in_southern_Austria_14969.html
Thanks to Clay Olson for this link

UK Chill: 'Suddenly we seem to be facing a Siberian freeze' - 4 Dec 08 - Arctic
winds, snow and frosts have come in such a blast this winter that the bookmakers report
record numbers of bets on a white Christmas so early in December.
See Suddenly we seem to be facing a Siberian freeze
.
.

Coldest in Scotland in 25 years - 1 Dec 08 - Temperatures in Scotland plummeted
over the weekend. The temperature dropped to -11C (12F) at Tulloch Bridge, east
of Fort William on Saturday night. On Sunday, the temperature in Glasgow remained
below -2C (28F) all day, making it the coldest November day here since 1985.

Forecasters at the Met Office say that the wintry weather is set to stick around for the rest of the week, with sleet, snow and ice likely at times.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/01122008news.shtml
Thanks to John Brown in Ardrossan, Scotland, for this link.

               Here’s the email that John sent with this link:
              “I reside on the coast and usually we are slightly milder than in land however,
               on Saturday night we were at -4c whilst Glasgow was -2c. I haven't seen a
               frost this early or this hard on the coast for about 25 years.” 

Australia gets unseasonably good snow - 24 Nov 08 - The Australian ski fields have recorded one of their best snow falls of the year, just a week before the Australian summer. 

The unseasonal spring snowfall caught the Australian Alpine regions by surprise. Residents thinking about a game of golf were reaching for their skis and snowboards instead!

It was also back to clearing the roads months after the official snow season had ended.
The weekend's cold snap has provided the best snowfall of Australia's ski season, which is now drawing to a close.

Australia’s East coast battered by unseasonal storms, flooding and snow - 23 Nov 08
A severe weather warning and blizzard conditions in alpine areas persisted in NSW today. At least 10cm of snow fell around the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, and a small number of roads were closed.

SES Central West Region Controller, Craig Ronan, said the weather conditions were particularly unseasonable.

Snow fell in Victorian Alpine areas and forced road closures. Falls Creek resort spokesman Ian Talbot told AAP more than 20cm of snow had ``blanketed the resort'' Sunday morning.

"It was very cold overnight, it got down to minus six degrees celsius and residents said it looked like the middle of winter,'' he said.

"It's very rare to get enough for road closures at this time of year.'' http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,24693920-948,00.html

for Victoria..
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24691628-5006785,00.html
 
and for SE Queensland..
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24689230-26103,00.html
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24688201-5006786,00.html
Thanks to Steven Bacic and Ivan Idea for these links

Cold weather continues south across Europe - 25 Nov 08 - Cold Arctic air continues to head south across Europe bringing freezing temperatures and snow.

Snow showers struck Scotland on Friday. Then over the weekend, Sweden, Finland and Russia were hit by the cold northerly winds. A blanket of snow forced runway closures at Helsinki and Stockholm airports, while thousands of residents were left without power.

Spreading south across France and the Netherlands, the winter weather arrived in northern Spain on Monday. Six provinces across northern Spain were put on alert for snow and freezing temperatures. Cantabria and Asturias remain on orange alert today, with up to 15cm (6 inches) of snow forecast.
In southern Spain, the Sierra Nevada ski resort has opened early for the first time in 20 years. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/25112008news.shtml

Snow depths in Switzerland up to five times normal
25 Nov 08 - E-mail from reader showing snow depths in
Switzerland ranging from 150% to 500% of normal.
See Snow depths in Switzerland up to five times normal

.

UK brought to standstill as five inches of snow falls in an hour 24 Nov 08 - Severe weather warnings were issued for much of the east and south east of England, the East Midlands and Yorkshire, with the freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall prompting fears of traffic chaos. See UK brought to standstill as five inches of snow falls in an hour

Record cold in Peru - 22 Nov 08 – E-mail from a reader in Peru
"In late May, June and July (Winter here!) the temperature
drops down to record levels before sunrise.
See Record cold in Peru

 

Monster Storm Over Eastern Europe - 22 Nov 08 – “A wintry storm sweeping eastward
along with a cold blast over Europe will wrap into a monster as it spins over the western edge
of Russia on Sunday. Saturday's impacts included widespread snowfall over Germany, a blizzard
along the northeastern Alps, gales over the Mediterranean Sea and a flash freeze with sudden
heavy snow in the Balkan Peninsula.”  

Continuing into Sunday, the storm will spread “windswept rain and snow widely over eastern
Europe from the Baltic Sea and Poland east into western Russia and northern Ukraine.” http://premiuma.accuweather.com/adcbin/premium/news-regional.asp?region=worldnews
Thanks to Kenneth Lund for this link

Brisbane receives almost 8 inches of rain in a matter of hours
21 Nov 08 - Little more than a week after enduring what was said to be Queensland’s
worst storms in over 25 years, the state has been pummelled once again.

The first storm of the day dumped almost 200mm (8 inches) of rain across Queensland’s
capital Brisbane and surrounding areas. Much of this fell in a matter of hours triggering flash
floods. Troops were deployed once again to help thousands of residents. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/21112008news.shtml
Thanks to John Brown in Ardrossan, Scotland, for this link

Blinding snow Greenland, blizzard strikes Baffin Island, Canada
18 Nov 08 - A wild, wintry storm struck southern and western Greenland with severe winds as well as rain and snow on Monday and Tuesday. In southern Greenland, the same storm dropped wet snow as well as heavy rain, some with rare lightning.

The same storm that blasted west Greenland gripped easternmost Baffin Island, Canada, in a blizzard on Monday. Story by AccuWeather.com Senior Forecaster Jim Andrews

http://premiuma.accuweather.com/adcbin/premium/news-regional.asp?region=worldnews&mont h=11&year
=2008&date=2008-11-18_1551
Thanks to Kenneth Lund for this link

Blizzards and freezing gales forecast for UK this weekend - 18 Nov 08 – Blizzards are
forecast for Scotland and most of the eastern coast of  England, where temperatures could drop
as low as -5C.

Sky News weather presenter Lisa Burke said: "For the next couple of days it will remain mild, then there will be this Arctic blast at the weekend.

The Met Office is forecasting that the chilly snap will be followed by a winter colder than last year's.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Winter-Weather-To-Hit-UK-This-Weekend-Freezing-Ga les-And-Snow-Forecast-For-Parts-Of-UK/Article/200811315153847?lpos=UK_News_First_Home_Arti cle_Teaser_Region_1&lid=ARTICLE_15153847_Winter_Weather_To_Hit_UK_This_Weekend%3A_Free zing_Gales_And_Snow_Forecast_For_Parts_Of_UK
Thanks to John V. Kampen in Granada for this link

“In Andalucia, Spain, this week already night temperatures -1 to -5 Celcius,” says John. “Very peculiar and very cold indeed! Elder citizens can't even remember this January weather in November!”

Queensland Hit by Worse Storms in 25 Years - 18 Nov 08 - A series of violent storms
tore across Australia’s eastern coast over the weekend, producing golf ball sized hail stones,
strong winds and heavy rain. Between 50-70mm of rainfall (2-3 inches) of hit southern
Queensland on Sunday, leading to widespread flash floods. The storms have been some
of the most damaging the region has seen in over 25 years.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/17112008news.shtml
Thank s John Brown in Ardrossan, Scotland, for this link

Half a month’s rain in one day in South Africa - 13 Nov 08 - Days of heavy rain across
parts of South Africa have caused widespread flooding, destroying schools and roads and
leaving more than 5 people dead.

The South African Weather Service forecasts that the Eden districts of the Western Cape will
receive more than 50mm (1.97 inches) of rain in the next 24 hours. Average monthly rainfall
for this region is 122mm, meaning that nearly half a months rain fall would fall in just one day.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/12112008news.shtml

 

Chilliest November night on record in Tasmania - 5  Nov 08 - Towns throughout eastern
and central Tasmania experienced one of their coldest November nights on record - 10 degrees
below average in some places, particularly the highlands.

Bushy Park, in central TAS, chilled to minus one overnight, nine below average and the coldest November night in 70 years of records. It was also the coldest night in two months.
http://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/chilliest-november-night-on-record-for-parts-of-tas/10199
Thanks to Bonnie First for this link

Worst November snowfall in 30 years hits New Zealand
“More akin to the depths of winter.”
4 Nov 08 – With New Zealand well into the throes of spring, an unseasonable blanket of snow
and hail fell across parts of New Southland, Fiordland and Central Otago, both in the mountains
and at lower levels too.

As much as 20cm (8 inches) of snow fell across parts of northern Southland. Locals described
it as the worst November snowfall they had seen in 30 years.

The New Zealand Met Service expects another 10 to 15cm (4 to 6 inches) of snow today.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/05112008news.shtml
Thanks to John Brown in Ardrossan, Scotland for this link

 

Britain set to plunge into Arctic weather conditions this month - 3 Nov 08 – “Temperatures are expected to plummet as autumn quickly turns to winter after freak snow and hail storms hit the South of England last week.

“The mercury could drop to -5C in some areas as Britain is buffeted by November winds of up
to 90 miles per hour.

“Experts warn that two “once in 20 years” mega-storms could strike.

“WeatherAction says fierce conditions at sea will cause gales and tsunami-like waves to funnel
down the east coast of Britain. The group’s Piers Corbyn said: “I am 95 per cent confident there
will be severe storms in the North Atlantic/British Isles region in the periods around November
12-14 and November 25-28.

“A freak hail storm hit Devon and Cornwall on Thursday, causing 6ft-high drifts of hailstones and widespread flooding as the ice melted.”

See entire article by Sara Dixon
http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/69174/Stand-by-for-a-90mph-battering
Thanks to Emma Corry for this link

Hailstorm swamps town in 6ft drifts – cars buried up to their roofs
31 Oct 08 - Cars were buried up to their roofs in hailstones. One fire
appliance became stuck in a 6ft drift and a farmer was reported to have
 lost 500 sheep in a field that was buried under several feet of hail and sleet.
See Hailstorm swamps town in 6ft drifts – cars buried up to their roofs
.
.

Surrey enjoys first October snowfall in 121 years - 29 Oct 08 - Up to an inch of snow blanketed parts of Surrey, UK, after Arctic winds turned Tuesday night's rain into a mini-blizzard.

Particularly snowy were Chaldon, Woldingham, Banstead, Tadworth, Burgh Heath and
Kingswood. Buses in Caterham inched their way along icy streets while on the railways,
trains from London to Surrey were delayed by frozen points and equipment.

Mirror weatherman Ian Currie, who has studied the climate for more than 40 years, said it
was the first October snowfall in Surrey since 1887.
http://www.thisissurreytoday.co.uk/news/Surrey-enjoys-October-snowfall-121-years/article-435799-detail/article.html
Thanks to Marc Morano for this link

Skiing in Scotland already! - 31 Oct 08 – Winterhighland - Runs filling in with further snow
this evening. Grouse, Eagle and Snowy Owl runs complete with machine packed new snow
with a covering of fresh. Some thinner sections typical of early season riding, but the depth is improving and surface conditions should be excellent for those first turns of the season on
Friday. Likely to still be quite snowy first thing Friday, so bring the full winter gear.
http://www.winterhighland.info/snowreports/index.php?resort=lt
Thanks to Gavin Sibbald for this link

Record snow storm in Switzerland - The most snow
for any October since records began in 1931 - 30 Oct 08 - A heavy, wet snow snapped
trees, which fell across tracks and roads. The most affected regions included Zurich, Schaffhausen
in the north and the areas around the Gotthard pass in central Switzerland.

Farmers in the Bernese Oberland also awoke to snow-related problems. Damaged fences allowed their cows to wander freely.

According to MeteoNews, the Swiss lowlands received the most snow for any October since records began in 1931. Zurich received 20cm, beating a record of 14cm set in 1939.

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news/travel/Record_snow_storm_triggers_delays.html?siteSe
ct=414&sid=9908046&cKey=1225359314000&ty=nd
Thanks to Martin Hoer and Tim Rian for this link

First October snow in London in 74 years - 29 Oct 08 - One man was killed and thousands
were left without power today after inches of snow fell across the country overnight.

Some areas of north London saw two inches of snow fall in two hours when temperatures hit
zero  - the first time the capital has seen snow in October since 1934.

"The Arctic has been experiencing very cold temperatures this year, so it was an unusually
cold front."

               Had you heard about that? That the Arctic was experiencing "very cold
               temperatures this year?"

Other areas of the South-East, including Hertfordshire, just 20 miles out of London, were
covered in a thick blanket of snow. The last time it snowed in the region in October was
1974. In some areas, the conditions were so bad that league football matches had to be
called off or abandoned after kick-off. 

Forecasters had earlier said there was a chance that London could see "a couple of flakes"
but some areas saw a couple of inches fall in two hours.

The Met Office's John Hammond said: 'October started like summer and is ending like winter.' http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1081135/One-dead-thousands-power-October-snow-London-74-YEARS-Arctic-blast-sweeps-UK.html

See also
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23579420-details/Arctic+blast+brings+London+earliest+snow+for+70+years/article.do
Thanks to James Ibbotson, Dan Hammer and Edward Nowak for these links

Heavy snow in Tibet – Rare for this time of year - 29 Oct 08 – “Heavy snowstorms have
hit eastern Tibet over the last few days, worsening the situation for survivors of the earthquake
earlier this month. Temperatures plummeted as snow started falling on Sunday.

“At least two people are reported to have died and many more are missing. Snowfalls have
blocked roads, caused avalanches and led to widespread power cuts.

“Heavy snowstorms are rare for this part of Tibet in October, and temperatures are unseasonably cold. In Lhasa, the regional capital, the average maximum temperature in October is 17C (63F),
but yesterday the high was just 8C (46F).”
See entire article by Alex Deakin
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/29102008news.shtml
Thanks to John Brown in Ardrossan, Scotland for this link

Blizzards forecast as temperature set to drop lower than Siberia
... no wonder the swans are staying there - 28 Oct 08 - Britain is about to be hit by a
chilly blast that will leave some temperatures colder than Siberia.

The freezing weather will bring blizzards of sleet and snow to northern areas of Britain and
in some parts of Scotland the temperature will drop to -8c tonight.

The chilly forecast follows the revelation that there has been no sign of hundreds of
Bewick's swans that were due to return to an English nature reserve.

Each year the swans land at Slimbridge having completed the 1,864-round-trip from Russia.

Met Office forecaster Barry Grommet said: 'There could be quite a lot of snow over
the northern hills across Scotland predominantly, but we must not rule out places like
Snowdonia and the moors of north-east England.

See entire article by Caroline Grant
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1081135/Here-comes-winter-Blizzards-forecast-temperature-set-drop-lower-Siberia--wonder-swans-staying-there.html
Thanks to Emma Corry for this link

Cold weather and temperatures typical of December in UK and US
- Heavy snow expected - 28 Oct 08
 Both the UK and parts of the USA have been hit by cold weather and temperatures typical of December, with many places in the UK seeing an afternoon high of only 6C (43F), a temperature common to the December and January months.

The Met Office issued many warnings today for heavy snow across parts of northern Scotland- Orkney, Shetland, Grampian and parts of the highlands.

Parts of North America have also been hit by wintry weather, with Fargo, North Dakota,
breaking its previous record for snowfall at this time of year. Around 1.4 inches (36mm) of
snow fell in just 12 hours on Sunday.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/28102008news.shtml

Snow forecast in Ireland - “More suited for the first week of December,
not the last week of October”
Oct 26 – Email from a reader in Ireland

“An early blast of winter is set to hit Ireland early next week. This is quite unusual as Ireland on average gets her first air frost around October 23rd. The following forecast is from the national weather service (http://www.met.ie/) issued at 5am UTC on Sunday 26th October. This forecast would be more suited for the first week of December, not the last week of October.

FORECAST:  Monday will be cold and blustery, with a mixture of sunshine and showers. …
Some of the showers will fall as hail or sleet, with a risk of snow on high ground in northern areas. Highest temperatures will range from 6 to 9 degrees…
MONDAY NIGHT: Very cold with a sharp ground frost. There will be good clear spells, but
a scattering of wintry showers also, these mainly affecting coastal counties of the southwest, west
and north.
TUESDAY: Very cold, in a fresh and gusty northerly wind. … risk of snow on the very highest ground.… A sharp frost will set in after dark.
                                                                                  from Danno in South Laois, Ireland

Heavy rain and floods hit Northwest England - 26 Oct 08 - Heavy and persistent rain as
well as gale force winds battered much of the Western UK. The heaviest rain fell across a large
part of Cumbria. Shap Fell recorded 73.8mm (3 inches) of rain from around lunchtime Saturday
to the early hours of Sunday. As vast amounts of rain flowed over the saturated ground, rivers
across the Lake District rose to dangerous levels – notably the River Cocker, which burst its
banks overnight.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/26102008news.shtml
 

Brisbane has coldest October morning since 1976 - 23 Oct 08 - Cold winds blowing up from the snow-capped Blue Mountains have given Brisbane its coldest October morning in 32 years.

The mercury fell to 10.6 degrees in the City, more than five degrees below average for this time of year. The previous low for October was 7.3 degrees in 1976. Brisbane recorded 6.3 degrees in October in 1899 at a now-disused weather station.

Amberley had an even colder start waking up to 6C and Stanthorpe shivered on just two degrees.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,20797,24539562-952,00.html?from=communities
Thanks to Bonnie First for this link
 

Record cold snap brings snow to Australia - 22 Oct 08 - Record cold temperatures have
brought snow to the Blue Mountains and southern tablelands in NSW and wet and windy
weather to the state's coast. 

Temperatures dipped to three degrees celsius near Blackheath, west of Sydney, early this
morning and pockets of snow fell in Leura and west of Katoomba at Oberon. Snow was also
reported in the southern tablelands at Cooma and in Bombala, near the Victorian border.  

Bureau of Merology (BoM) forecaster Jane Golding said average temperatures in the Blue
Mountains for October ranged from seven to 18 degrees.

In Sydney today, the temperature is forecast to be 15 degrees, an October temperature which has only been seen twice in the past 14 years, Ms Golding said. Average maximum temperatures for Sydney in October are around 22 degrees. http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24534632-953,00.html
Thanks to Bonnie First for this link 

Early snowfall across Ontario  - 22 Oct 08 - "Torontonians should do their best not to curse out old man winter because he's here early. It's been one of those years. Spring was slow to leave, summer was late in arriving and now a taste of winter is here while it's still officially autumn.

"If you can believe it, six centimetres of snow fell on the ground in Orillia. Meantime, snowfall was being reported across southern Ontario, flurries came down in parts of Toronto and York region and there were white-out conditions further north into the Barrie area and cottage." country.http://www.680news.com/news/headlines/more.jsp?content=20081021_180748_24464
Thanks to Marc Morano for this info

One month’s rain in four days in Costa Rica - 18 Oct 08 - Incessant heavy rain over the
last four days in Costa Rica have led many rivers to burst their banks, causing landslides,
widespread destruction and death.

Costa Rica’s Meteorological Institute (IMN) said that the amount of rainfall was equivalent
to October’s entire monthly rainfall. According to the organisation, the intensity of the rainfall
in the capital of San Jose has not been experienced since 1944.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/18102008news.shtml

Saskatchewan digs out from heavy snowstorm - 13 Oct 08 - Residents of Regina are
digging out from a heavy snowstorm that has hit a big chunk of southeastern Saskatchewan.
About 17 cm of wet, slushy snow fell Sunday and early Monday in an area stretching from
Yorkton through Regina to Moose Jaw and south to U.S. border. http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2008/10/13/7071931-cp.html
Thanks to S & B Fread for this info

Rain, Gales and Snow batter New Zealand - 8 Oct 08 – “At least one person is confirmed
dead and many stranded after heavy rain and wind caused widespread damage to New Zealand’s
North Island yesterday.

“The torrential rain and winds were triggered by a very active cold front that passed northeast
over the country. Winds of up to 80mph (130km/h) were recorded in Wellington and 100mph
(160km/h) in the surrounding hills.

Meanwhile on the South Island, up to 20cm of snow fell over The Remarkables ski area.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/08102008news.shtml
 

Ireland suffers coldest September in 14 years - 1 Oct 08 - In its monthly summary Met
Eireann said the temperature never rose above 20 degrees anywhere - the first such occurrence
in more than 30 years. Average monthly air temperatures were around half a degree below
normal at some southern weather stations and it was the coolest September since 1994 almost
 everywhere.

Meanwhile, Dublin Airport’s downpour of 43.5mm on the 5th was its highest level for
September since the station opened in 1941.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/1001/breaking59.htm
Thanks to Bonnie First for this link

Greenland temps more akin to December, not early October - 4 Oct 08 - In
Greenland's Kangerlussuaq the temp is going down to minus 18C this week, daytime
temp only minus 8C - brrrrrr. "Those temps are more inline with December time, not e
arly October," says Hans, who visited Kangerlussuaq just a couple of months ago.
http://www.wunderground.com/global/stations/04231.html 
Thanks to Hans Schreuder for this link

Lots of snow in Austria - 4 Oct 08 - Up to 75cm (30") of snow in western and southern Austria, with up to 20cm (8") in Switzerland.
"Must be global warming, don't you reckon??!!" says Hans

For those who speak Dutch: http://www.telegraaf.nl/buitenland/2107113/__Winter_slaat_toe_in_Oostenrijk__.html?p=3,1
Thanks to Hans Schreuder for this link

Queenstown snow dump comes as a surprise
27 Sep 08 - Unseasonably snowy weather has been causing chaos in the
deep south. High winds and a sudden snowstorm disrupted Queenstown,
New Zealand, Saturday, closing the Lindis Pass, the airport, the gondola
and even the skifields.
See Queenstown snow dump comes as a surprise
 

South Africa faces 'winter wonderland' after snow and coldest September in recorded history - 21 Sep 08 - Parts of KwaZulu-Natal were transformed into a "winter wonderland" after snow blanketed several areas of the province. Temperatures plummeted into the low teens, with residents of Kokstad and Giants Castle waking up to 0C.

Durban experienced its coldest September night in recorded history on Friday night. Snow was reported in Kokstad, Matatiele, Underberg, Mooi River, Bulwer, Himeville and Nottingham Road.
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=14&art_id=vn20080921084615870C810928
Thanks to Marc Morano for this link

Perth, Australia suffers its coldest September morning on record
22 Sep 08 - The overnight temperature fell to a chilly 1C just before 6am. 
The previous coldest September morning was 1.5C,  recorded in 2005.
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,24382879-2761,00.html
Thanks to Bonnie First for this link

Temperatures plummet in Hungary - 16 Sep 08 - A cold weather record set in 1925 went by the books on Monday, as temperatures in Hungary plummeted to their lowest level in 83 years.
http://www.caboodle.hu/nc/news/news_archive/single_page/article/11/cold_wave_br/?cHash=8c66cff209

Coldest in 14 years in southeastern Australia - 9 Sep 08 - Last night one of the coldest spots was Cooma, where it dipped to minus nine degrees at the airport, 11 below average and its lowest September temperature in 14 years. Canberra chilled to minus 3.7 degrees, seven below average and a six year low for September.
http://www.eldersweather.com.au/breakingweather.jsp
Thanks to Bonnie First for this info

Britain on course for wettest September on record
If this precipitation continues into the winter months....................?
9 Sep 08 – Britain is  on course for its wettest September on record – after just nine rain-soaked days. Some parts of Wales and the North of England could have had their wettest Septembers by the end of today.

Morpeth, near Newcastle upon Tyne, suffered a month’s rain in 12 hours on Saturday and the river Wansbeck burst its banks. The forecast is for yet more storms. 

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/60545/It-s-the-wettest-September-already
Thanks to Don Brown for this link, who asks,
“If this precipitation continues into the winter months...................................?”

Coldest September day in 33 years in Sydney - 6 Sep 08 – Sydney, Australia, struggled to just 13 degrees today, making it the coldest September day since 1975. Some suburbs did not even reach 13, including Terry Hills, which remained below 12 degrees all day.

The cold comes only 2 weeks after the city recorded its coldest maximum in 12 years, when it reached just 12 degrees on August 22. 
http://www.eldersweather.com.au/breakingweather.jsp
Thanks to Bonnie First for this link

Has Autumn come early to Britain? - 31 Aug 08 - On the rolling moors of Scotland and Yorkshire, dramatic blooms of heather have come out far earlier than normal while wild berries,  normally the harbingers of autumn, have appeared nearly two weeks ahead of schedule.

Fungi has also enjoyed a bumper year and has been spotted sprouting on lawns and meadows in huge numbers for this time of the season.

The early berry season has worried some wildlife experts who fear that the crops, which provide vital food for animals and birds in the lead up to the cold winter months, may disappear too early.

In England the maximum temperature this August has been more than a degree cooler than the average reading of 19.6C.

See entire article by Richard Gray
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2650647/Has-Autumn-come-early-to-Britain.html

Heavy Rains damages grain crops in China - 30 Aug 08 - Rainfall in Zhongxiang, Hubei Province, totaled more than 10 inches between Thursday and Friday; the city of Jiangling recorded more than six inches. Sangzhi, Hunan Province, picked up 6.52 inches of rain on Friday alone. The heavy rain will cause further damage to the already beleaguered grain crop. According to China's State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, 4.65 million hectares of cropland have been spoiled by floods.
Story by AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Rob Miller
http://premiuma.accuweather.com/adcbin/premium/news-regional.asp?region=worldnews
Thanks to Kenneth Lund for this link

Coldest August in 64 years - 31 Aug 08 - Sydney, Australia has shivered through its coldest August in 64 years. The harbour city had an average maximum temperature during the month of
7C, slightly below the long-term normal of 18.
See Coldest August in 64 years
 

Record cold in Australia - 18 Aug 08 – Temperatures in July and August have been colder than
average, setting records across NSW.
See Record cold in Australia
 

Melbourne shivers on cold August night - 22 Aug 08  - A record-breaking cold snap has brought cold temperatures and snow to Victoria just days before spring is set to begin. Temperatures yesterday fell as much as six degrees below average, with the temperature in Melbourne staying in single figures for the first time in 13 months.

At only 9.9 degrees, it was Melbourne's coldest August day in four years and second coldest in 30 years. Melbourne Airport reached only eight degrees, their coldest day in over 10 years and coldest in August for 38 years.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/melbourne-shivers-on-cold-august-night-20080822-3zy0.html
Thanks to Nate for this link

Tornado hits Poland - 15 Aug 08 - Reader Han Voogtsgeerd says that an F3 tornado
has hit Poland. “This has never happened before,” says Han.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7565187.stm
Thanks to Han Voogtsgeerd for this link

India floods - thousands missing - 30 Aug 08 - The death toll from this year's monsoon season across India has climbed past 800. Some 1.2 million people have been marooned and about 2 million more affected in Bihar, where the Kosi river has burst its banks and submerged all roads leading to the region.  

Aid agencies claim the Indian government is playing down the scale of the disaster and not taking into account thousands of people who they say are missing after the Bihar floods.

 India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, has described the situation as a national calamity.

 Authorities have rescued nearly 140,000 people and put most of them in state-run relief camps, said Prataya Amrit, secretary of the state's disaster management department.

Officials in Bihar have warned that the real danger is still ahead. When the swollen Kosi river burst its banks in Nepal just north of the Indian border, it changed course, flowing through a fresh channel 75 miles to the east that has no protective embankments. The river traditionally swells to a flood peak in October.

All this, after the UN called last year's floods the worst in living memory.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/30/india.naturaldisasters?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront
Thanks to Jimmy Walter for this link
 

Snow in the summer in Austria
23 Augustus 08 - This article, entitled “Sneeuw in de zomer in Oostenrijk,”
came from a Dutch news site.
See Snow in the summer in Austria
 

Toronto's rainiest summer in 70 years
11 Aug 08 - “Around 3 p.m. Saturday, the record for June 1-Aug. 31
rainfall – 335.9 mm set in 1986 – was broken. But it didn't stop there.
See Toronto's rainiest summer in 70 years
.
.

Britain: Wettest August in 100 years - 20 Aug 08 - Britain could be heading for it wettest August in a century as forecasters predicted more heavy rain tomorrow.

Across Britain, 95.5mm of rain has fallen so far this month, as of last Sunday. It may seem a long way off the wettest ever – 166.3mm in August 1917 – but there has been a considerable amount of rain since then. With forecasters warning of more to come, we could be heading for one of our worst summers on record.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/aug/20/weather1?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront
Thanks to Jimmy Walter for this link

One month’s rain in 24 hours in Northern Ireland
17 Aug 08 - As much as 50mm (2 inches) of rain fell quite widely across Northern Ireland. In Portglenone though, 73.2mm of rain fell (2.88 inches). The average monthly rainfall for August across Northern Ireland is around 75mm (3 inches).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/17082008news.shtml

New Zealand on track to smash snow records for this century - 4 Aug 08 - The recent snow on the east side of New Zealand’s South Island has a lot of ski areas on track (or in the case of Mt Lyford, shattering) for breaking the snow depth records for this century.
http://forums.ski.com.au/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=483512&page=1#P ost483512
Thanks to Doug Mc for this link

Snow in Sydney merely “soft hail”- 27 Jul 08 - "It looked like snow, and it felt like snow, but  today's winter whiteness was (supposedly) just soft hail.

"Just after 3.30pm (AEST) this afternoon the area around Lindfield, Roseville and Killara became blanketed in white as a thunderstorm brought a winter wonderland to parts of northern Sydney.

"But despite some hope that metropolitan Sydney had experienced its first recorded snowfall since 1836, the Bureau of Meteorology said northern Sydney had just been blanketed in hail.

"It was soft hail," senior forecaster Peter Zmijewski said. "Snow has a different appearance - snow falls in flakes."

"Mr Zmijewski said Sydney experienced a white winter afternoon because it was cold enough to stop the hail melting as it fell and cold enough to preserve it when hit the ground."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/it-looked-like-snow-it-felt-like-snow/2008/07/27/1217097051268.html

Coldest morning in Adelaide since 1983 - 28 July 08 - Planes were grounded at Adelaide Airport waiting for ice to melt off the wings. The airlines do not keep de-icing equipment in Adelaide because of the extreme rarity of such events.
See Coldest morning in Adelaide since 1983
 

Snow and ice lash Tasmania - and there's more to come - 22 Jul 08 – The Antarctic blast stranded motorists and caused traffic accidents and long delays. In a sudden end to the state's mild winter, the average temperature in Hobart struggled to maintain 5C.

Snow fell to low levels across the state yesterday, reaching the 200 metre mark mainly about western, central, southern and lower eastern areas.

Derwent Bridge Hotel employee Allan Letheby last night said they had a full house with some motorist forced to shelter for the night.

"We're snowed in bunnies," he said.

He said driving was hazardous and roads in the area were covered with 18 to 20cm of snow.
http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,24050706-3462,00.html
Thanks to Dean T. Haskell for this link

New Zealand Snow - 11 Jul 08 - Some areas had blizzard conditions Saturday. The heavy snow forced road closings in several areas, including those around Christchurch. The majority of ski resorts in New Zealand have opened for the season, but may be temporarily closed because of this recent storm causing road closings.
http://www.accuweather.com/mt-news-blogs.asp?partner=accuweather&blog=Travel&pgurl=/mtweb/content/Travel/archives/2008/07/new_zealand_snow_central_america_rain.asp
Thanks to Tom Meyer for this link

Major Australian Snowstorm - 11 Jul 08 - For those who predicted a better than average ski season in Australia, it looks like they a getting it.
Check out these ski webcams at: http://ski.com.au/snowcams/index.html
Thanks to Mark Kennedy for this info
 

Floods in South Africa - 9 Jul 08 - Thousands of buildings in Cape Town have been flooded, and mudslides have been blocking roads. Rivers have burst their banks, inundating roads, plantations and houses. From Citrusdal to Klawer, vast areas of citrus plantations were flooded, along with a number of farms along the Olifants River, which burst its banks at the weekend. 

Some areas have received in excess of 150mm (6 inches) of rain.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/09072008news.shtml
 

2½ month’s worth of rain in 3 days - 7 Jul 08 - Heavy to excessive rain has fallen over wide areas of Mexico since the first of the month. Tampico received a whopping 15 inches of rain in three days as of early Sunday. Normally, all of July brings about 6 inches of rain.  

As of Monday, rainfall since Friday was about 10 inches at Soto la Marina and Matlapa, also in eastern Mexico. In the southwest, rainfall over Manzanillo was at least 7 inches.  http://premiuma.accuweather.com/adcbin/premium/news-regional.asp?region=worldnews 
Thanks to Kenneth Lund for this link

Wettest month on record in Hong Kong - 2 Jul 08 - The Hong Kong Observatory has declared June 2008 its wettest month on record. Total rainfall recorded at the Hong Kong Observatory was 1,346.1mm (53 inches) breaking the previous record of 1,241.1mm (49 inches) set in May 1889.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/02072008news.shtml
Thanks to John Brown in Ardrossan, Scotland for this info
 

Freak thunderstorm hits Oslo - 6 Jul 08 - An unusually intense thunderstorm broke out across Norway’s capital, Oslo, during Saturday afternoon, causing widespread havoc.

Torrential downpours gave rise to flash flooding which paralysed traffic in and out of the capital. Frequent lightning interfered with telephone and TV signals, and caused power outages to thousands of homes in Oslo and Baerum.  

Strong and gusty winds reached 60mph (97km/h), uprooting trees and downing power lines. All train transportation was suspended through Oslo Central station due to power failure, after a large tree fell onto the line.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/06072008news.shtml
 

Heavy rain and snow lash New Zealand - 29 Jun 08 - Severe weather warnings have been issued from Northland  to Christchurch. Central plateau snow in the north has affected roads, with numerous ice warnings issued. Turoa resort on Mount Ruapehu has its biggest snow base in more than 25 years for the time of year, a week before it’s due to open. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/29062008news.shtml

Freak storms in South Africa - 19 Jun 08 - Parts of South Africa have been battered by freak storms that led to flooding and mudslides across the country on Wednesday.

One of the worst affected areas is KwaZulu-Natal, where at least four people lost their lives after flash floods inundated homes and swept cars away. Scottburgh in KwaZulu-Natal received the highest rainfall amount with 128mm (5 inches) in 24 hours.

In Durban, thousands of motorists were caught in grid-locked traffic as deluges caused mudslides which blocked roads. In some areas of the city there was more than a foot of floodwaters. Heavy rain continued in places along the KwaZulu-Natal coast during this morning, with over 74mm (3 inches) in a 4 hour period at Durban’s airport.

Forecasters warn of further downpours to come over the next few days. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/19062008news.shtml

China braces for more heavy rain -18 Jun 08 - After some of the worst flooding in decades, forecasters in China are warning of more heavy rain with further floods to come.

Torrential rains have battered eastern and southern China during the past few weeks, forcing over 1.5 million people out of their homes. Many areas across the south have experienced record amounts of rainfall. ThePearl River Delta has seen its worst flooding in over 50 years. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/18062008news.shtml

16.6 inches of rain in one day in China - 15 Jun 08 -Heavy rains in southern and eastern China have left at least 55 people dead and wrecked over 10,000 homes. Landslides cover roads throughout Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Anhui, Gaungdong and Guangxi. More than 1.27 million people have been evacuated, with large swathes of farm land submerged and economic losses already amounting to over $145 million (£73.6 million).

Prosperous Guangdong province has seen the worst flooding in the Pearl River delta in up to 50 years, reported the Xinhua news agency.

In parts of Guangdong, up to 415mm (16.6 inches) of rain fell in just 24 hours from Friday to Saturday. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/15062008news.shtml
Thanks to John Brown in Ardrossan, Scotland for this link

16 inches of rain in nine days in Mumbai - 12 Jun 08 - According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Santacruz in Mumbai recorded 421.8mm (16.6 inches) of rain in the last nine days. This is already more than the rainfall for the entire month of June in 2004. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/12062008news.shtml
 

Another foot of snow forecast for Montana and Idaho - 11 Jun 08 - While eastern states of the US have been reeling under a heat wave the last few days, an unusual “winter” storm has brought June snow across the northwest.

Residents of Eastern Oregon woke Monday morning to a scene more akin to winter, with snow blanketing gardens and with white out conditions on the roads. Heavy snow fell in the Cascades forcing trucks crossing the mountain passes to use tyre chains. It was the first time in 30 years that snowploughs had been used in June to clear Steven’s Pass.

The unusual cold and snowy weather is being attributed to this year’s La Nina, which brought parts of the US their snowiest winter on record. Today the storm has moved on to Montana and Idaho. As much as a foot of snow (12 inches) is forecast.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/11062008news.shtml

One month’s rain in two days in China - 6 Jun 08 - The biggest rainfall tallies were observed in southeastern China's province of Guangdong, where Yangjiang received 15.7 inches of rain in 36 hours. June is the second wettest month in Yangjiang; even so, the average rainfall for the entire month, 14.4 inches, was exceeded within less than two days. More than 11 inches of rain poured down on Beihai, while Taiwan's island of Lan Yu was doused by 9.5 inches of rain in less than 24 hours. http://premiuma.accuweather.com/adcbin/premium/news-regional.asp?region=
worldnews&mont h=06&year=2008&date=2008-06-06_1531
Thanks to Kenneth Lund for this info

Snow blankets Timaru - 7 Jun 08 - The temperature has fallen to one degree and snow has been falling in Timaru. Weather analyst Philip Duncan says it has been snowing heavily in the South Canterbury city for the past few hours and in some places has already exceeded a depth of 13 centimetres. Snow has also fallen within 20 kilometres of Christchurch. Mr Duncan expects snow to fall to nearly sea level in Kaikoura this afternoon.
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=138642
Thanks to Craid Adkins for this link

Strong earthquake rocks Iceland  - 29 May 08 -  A strong earthquake measuring 6.1 has hit southern Iceland, 50km (30 miles) from the capital, Reykjavik, closing the road between Reykjavik and Selfoss.

"It was quite a lot of shaking... It was quite a big one," Ivar Ingimarsson, a footballer who plays for Britain's Reading club but who is now in Reykjavik, told the BBC.

Authorities have advised residents in the area to leave their homes because of the possibility of aftershocks.

Iceland, which has a population of about 300,000, is a geologically unstable volcanic island in the north Atlantic.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7426369.stm
Thanks to Tom Meyer and Icewoman for this link

71,000 homes collapse in Chinese aftershock
And we’re supposed to believe that only two people died?
25 May 08  - A powerful aftershock destroyed tens of thousands of homes in central China on Sunday, killing two people and straining recovery efforts from the country's worst earthquake in three decades. More than 480 others were injured.

The fresh devastation came after a magnitude 6.0 aftershock — among the most powerful recorded since the initial May 12 quake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The China National Seismic Network said the aftershock was the strongest of dozens in the nearly two weeks after the disaster.

Before the aftershock, the Cabinet said the confirmed death toll from the disaster had risen to 62,664, with another 23,775 people missing. Premier Wen Jiabao has warned the number of dead could surpass 80,000. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24812230/

 

Record-breaking cold morning in Tasmania - 22 May 08 - Long-term records were broken in Tasmania this morning due to the extreme cold and widespread frost across the state.

Bushy Park broke a 46 year-old May record by recording a minimum temperature of minus six degrees, beating the previous record by more than a degree. Fingal on the East Coast broke a 22 year-old record with a minimum of minus eight degrees, 11 below average.

Other locations to break records which have lasted 10 years or longer Cressy, Ouse and Tunnack. Cressy and Ouse both plummeted to minus six degrees and Tunnack minus five. Hobart dipped to 0.7 of a degree, their coldest May morning in 42 years.
http://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/record-breaking-cold-morning-in-tasmania/9154

Coldest day in Melbourne, Australia since 1977 - 19 May 08 - A cold front moved across Victoria over the weekend bringing heavy rain, snow and falling temperatures. Victoria’s wettest place, Weeaproinah (in the Otways), totted up the most rainfall over the weekend, 57mm (2.24 inches).

Snow fell at all three major ski resorts and with less than three weeks to go to the start of the winter season. As much as 30cm (11.8 inches) fell at Falls Creek. On Saturday, Melbourne failed to reach double figures with a high of 9.5C (49F), giving it its coldest May day since 1977.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/19052008news.shtml

 

Spring snowfall knocks out power to Alberta homes - 9 May 08 - An overnight dump of heavy wet snow knocked out power to more than 600 homes west of Calgary and made road conditions treacherous on Friday. 

Travel was not recommended on Highway 40, Highway 1A, and the Cochrane area of Highway 1 east of Highway 22, which was blocked with snow. 

Environment Canada had a snowfall warning in effect for the Calgary region Thursday, with forecasters predicting snowfall up to 25 centimetres. http://news.sympatico.msn.cbc.ca/Snow+fun+Calgary+braces+for+wintry+blast/Canada/ContentPo sting.aspx?isfa=1&newsitemid=cgy-snow&feedname=CBC-CANADA-V3&show=False&nu mber=0&showbyline=True&subtitle=&detect=&abc=abc&date=True 
Thanks to Alan Stover for this link

Chilean volcano stirs to life after thousands of years - 3 May 08 - The Chaiten volcano spewed light ash on a nearly deserted village Saturday, two days after its first eruption in thousands of years.  The volcano, 750 miles (1,200 km) south of Santiago, belched fat smoke plumes that at times rose as high as 12 miles (20 km) into the air. 

Winds carried the ash to other towns in the region and across the Andes mountains to Argentina, where two airlines suspended flights due to poor visibility.
http://www.newsmax.com/international/chile_volcano_eruption/2008/05/03/93183.html

Cyclone toll could hit 10,000 in Myanmar - 5 May 08 - The death toll from the cyclone that ripped through Myanmar could reach 10,000, a top government minister said Monday.

Tropical Cyclone Nargis hit the Southeast Asian country, also known as Burma, early Saturday with winds of up to 120 mph, blowing roofs off hospitals and schools and cutting electricity in Myanmar's largest city, Yangon.

As many as 2,879 people were unaccounted for in a single town in the low-lying Irrawaddy River delta area where the storm wreaked the most havoc. The situation in the countryside remained unclear because of poor communications and roads left impassable by the storm.

"What is clear at this point is that there are several hundred thousands of people in dire need of shelter and clean drinking water," said Richard Horsey, a spokesman in Bangkok, Thailand for United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Older citizens said they had never seen Yangon, a city of some 6.5 million, so devastated in their lifetimes. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24459578?GT1=43001

Record cold in Australia - 29 Apr 08 – “We received 25 centimetres of snow on the ski resorts down south five weeks ahead of season opening and here in sunny Queensland, very cold. June and July should be fun,” says Mike Cantwell in Brisbane. 

Last night, temperatures plummeted below freezing on the Darling Downs. Mitchell got down to -1, its coldest recorded April night, and Brisbane possibly recorded its coldest April night with a minimum of just 10 degrees early this morning.

Perth has received more than three times its normal April rainfall.
http://www.eldersweather.com.au/breakingweather.jsp

Blizzard takes Edmonton by storm - 22 April 08 - Spring turned into a cruel joke in Alberta, where a late-season blizzard dumped heavy snow on much of the province on Sunday and created near-whiteout conditions on highways in the province's northeast.

The Edmonton region has been struck with its worst April snowstorm in almost 20 years. One of the hardest-hit areas in Alberta was near Wainwright, about 200 kilometres east of Edmonton, which received about 36 cm of snow, Environment Canada said yesterday.

 Lloydminster,  about 250 km east of Edmonton, received 30 cm. Pam Larocque of the Husky Lloydminster Travel Centre said travellers were stunned by the ferocity of the storm, with drifts building along roads and wind gusting to 60 km an hour.

 "It's a total aberration," said city transportation spokesman Randy Kilburn. "I have basically lived here my whole life and I can't remember it being this heavy this late."

 The road clearing is costing the city about $100,000 a day, he said. Environment Canada meteorologist David Wray said another 10 to 15 cm could fall on Edmonton before snow tapers off this morning.
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/story.html?id=461919
Thanks to Kenneth Lund for this link 

Australia: Early snow lifts hopes of best ski season for years - 28 Apr 08 - A cold snap across Victoria's alpine region dumped a heavy layer of snow over the weekend in an encouraging sign that the coming ski season could begin early.  

Weather experts predict bigger than expected snowfalls in Victoria this season, and resort operators hope the colder-than-normal weather could result in the best conditions on the slopes in several years.

About 15cm of snow fell on Falls Creek and Mount Hotham yesterday and forecasters expect more over the next 24 hours.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23607836-11949,00.html
Thanks to Hans Schreuder for this link

Heavy Snow Blankets Alps - 23 Apr 08 - Far from the tropics, heavy snow blanked the Alps of Europe during the first half of this week. At Zugspitze, Germany, at least 22 inches of snow fell from Monday to Wednesday.
http://premiuma.accuweather.com/adcbin/premium/news-regional.asp?region=worldnews
Thanks to Kenneth Lund for this link

Latest April snowfall ever in Vancouver, BC - 19 Apr 08 - Nanaimo and the rest of Vancouver Island is still digging out from a huge storm that dumped over a foot of snow in the area. Roads were impassible early this morning, and some sixteen thousand people in Nanaimo and Ladysmith were left without power. http://www.cknw.com/Channels/Reg/NewsLocal/Story.aspx?ID=1004915
Thanks to Alan Stover for this link

The storm had already dumped 15 cms by 10 a.m. The sun peeked through for a few hours just after noon, and then the snow returned in full force by late afternoon. All of it caught residents and forecasters off-guard.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2008/04/10/spring-snow.html
Thanks to Andrew Grosset for this link

Sunshine Village in Banff, Alta., reported more than 50 cm of snow on Friday. Last week, a surprise storm dumped 23 cm of snow on Calgary.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/cbc/080419/canada/calgary_sat_snow
Thanks to Lisa Soulliere for this link

In B.C., unseasonably cold weather has fruit growers in the Okanagan Valley worried about the fate of their spring crops. 
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080419/national/spring_weather
Thanks to Lisa Soulliere for this link

And the best part, over 7 meters of snow since the beginning of the season that guarantee exceptional snow conditions across 100% of our terrain!

http://www.mont-sainte-anne.com/1/Aproposdenous/Nouvelles/tabid/263/language/en-US/news/557/Default.aspx
http://www.mont-sainte-anne.com/1/
webcam:
http://www.mont-sainte-anne.com/1/Multimedia/webcam/tabid/310/Default.aspx
Thanks to Kenneth Lund for this link

This winter was a bit of a throwback to the winters of the past - with near-record snowfalls in the east. Phillips said Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa could still set records. They have until July to do so under the record-keeping rules.

The Montreal and Ottawa records were set in the winter of 1970-71. Montreal has received 357 cm of snow and needs to reach 383 to break the record, while Ottawa has had 419 cm - the second snowiest winter on the books - and needs to hit 444.6 cm for bragging rights.

Toronto - already in its fifth snowiest winter - has had 187 cm and needs 20 more to break the 1938-39 record.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/spring_arrives

Scotland and northeast and eastern England were likely to be hit with snow tomorrow night. The snow could spread to the south-east by the weekend.Advisory notes have been issued, warning of snowfall of up to 10cm in some places in the north.

Temperatures were expected to hover between 4C and 8C during the day and drop as low as ––3C at night.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/19/easter.weather?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront
Thanks to Jimmy Walter for this link

And if Canadians think they deserve a break from this brutal winter, Environment Canada's senior climatologist is cautioning those weary of winter not to put their parkas in mothballs any time soon.

"It really is the winter from hell," said Dave Phillips. Even the official arrival of spring on March 20 doesn't guarantee relief, Phillips added, citing Environment Canada projections.

"We're showing colder-than-normal conditions for the spring period," he said. "I'm probably not going to put away my snow shovel until the long weekend in May."
http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/03/06/4922826-sun.html
Thanks to Albert Carriere for this link

A light dusting of snow blanketed the NSW ski resorts overnight as temperatures dropped to a low of minus 3.8 degrees Celcius at Perisher and minus 3 degrees at Thredbo.

Intermittent light snow flurries continued to fall into the morning on Mount Perisher.

Weather forecasters are already predicting a bumper snow season for 2008, according to resort management. Temperatures are expected to remain low with persistent precipitation throughout winter.

"We have barely had a summer this year," said Gary Grant, Perisher Blue's general manager of marketing. "It's felt as though it's remained cold since the end of the 2007 season, apart from a few warm days, there air has always had a nip in it." http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/0,26058,23295798-5014090,00.html
Thanks to Hans Schreuder for this link

Spain meanwhile issued a "red" warning, with waves reaching a height of nine meters (29.5 feet) in the northwestern Coruna regions due to strong winds.

Britain has already been badly hit by the storms, which have caused massive travel disruption and left thousands of homes without power.
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Western_Europe_warned_fresh_storms_on_the_way_999.html
Thanks to Thomas Morstad for this link

Recent Canadian winters have been mild but this one looks set to break all-time records for snow. One storm last weekend dumped 23 inches on Ottawa and 19 inches on Quebec City, which has already received 210 inches this year. The drifts outside some houses are 12 feet and higher.

Environment Canada says there is no sign winter is about to end. Snow fell again on Quebec City and Ottawa on Wednesday.

One massive snow mound in Montreal is around 80-feet high (eight stories!) and officials told reporters that unless steps were taken to dismantle the pile, much of it would still be there when next winter started. 
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20080312/twl-uk-snowrage-bd5ae06.html
Thanks to Steven Woodcock and Jimmy Walter for this link

David Rodgers, a senior meteorologist for Environment Canada, said Sunday more snow is coming this way tomorrow and Wednesday, with only a few centimeters expected.

The sheer amount of snow and sleet - 32.5 cm - that fell on Brockville over the weekend is taking its tolls on residents ready to retire their shovels. The northern parts of Leeds and Grenville received 40 to 50 cm.

According to Russ Fraser, public works supervisor, that brings this winter's total to 286 cm, 200 of that since the start of the year.

Climatologists had predicted this would be the worst winter Canada has endured in 15 years. The level of snow is approaching record levels. Ottawa is approaching a record-breaking year with 410.7 centimeters compared to the previous record of 444.6 centimeters in the winter of 1970-71.

See entire story by Kim Lunman
http://www.recorder.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=936914
Thanks to Ian Kellman for this link

Freezing rain Wednesday made roads slick in parts of Nova Scotia despite the efforts of salt trucks. Elsewhere in the Maritimes, snow fell in parts of New Brunswick, with dozens of cancellations at Toronto's Pearson Airport.

"It's not really the worst (storm) of the season," Phillips admitted, "But it really is the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak. There's a kind of weather rage, (with) a collective crying of 'uncle!'," he said.

"We're showing colder-than-normal conditions for the spring period," he explained, "It doesn't mean every day is going to be like that, but it means the flavour of the personality of the next three months should represent cooler conditions."

"I'm probably not going to put away my snow shovel until the long weekend in May," he said.

His words came as forecasts for central Ontario once again called for, what else, more snow for the coming weekend.

See entire article by Roger Ward, The Canadian Press
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080305/national/wea_hellish_winter_2
Thanks to Lisa Soulliere for this link

"This event was the biggest one this year," said Dave Rodgers, senior meteorologist with Environment Canada. The forecast for this week showed more snow, but nowhere near the 80 cm the city was hit with throughout last week.

Even emergency vehicles were getting stuck trying to get to 911 calls. Ambulance crews were getting as close as they could to homes by parking on main streets that had been plowed. Paramedics then had to go on foot to the scene.
http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/03/10/4957566-sun.html
Thanks to Albert Carriere in Ottawa for this link

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

Since October last year, consecutive low temperature have gripped the province. The temperature plunged to minus 36.3 degrees centigrade, the record lowest in January in the province, said the provincial meteorological bureau.

In Yushu, Guoluo and Huangnan Tibet Autonomous Prefectures, most of the grassland was covered by snow, usually 16 to 32 cm thick, which brought great losses to local animal husbandry.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-03/02/content_7698015.htm
Thanks to Hans Schreuder and Jeff Reed for this link

If global warming gets any worse we'll all freeze to death.
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/global_warming_or_cooling/2008/02/19/73798.html?s=al&am p;promo_code=457E-1
Thanks to Hans Schreuder for this link

The ministry was concerned about the structural safety of schools in snow-stricken areas, said Jiang Peimin, director with the MOE. Storms "made 3.5 million square meters of school buildings unsafe for further use without repair," he said.

By February 23, more than 485,000 houses around the country had collapsed due to the heavy snow, which claimed 129 lives and caused 151.65 billion yuan in losses.
http://news.rednet.cn/c/2008/02/26/1447310.htm
Thanks to Kenneth Lund for this link

Snow started to blanket the eastern province of Shandong on Sunday. Some freeways were closed and thousands of vehicles were stranded.

In the Ili River Valley in the far western Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, blizzards raged from Thursday to Saturday. About 12,000 cattle were killed, causing losses of 18 million yuan (2.52 million U.S. dollars).

"The continuous heavy snow and wintry weather last week have sharply increased fatalities among ewes and lambs, as it is the breeding season," said Ma Cheng, director of the husbandry bureau of Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-02/26/content_7669324.htm
Thanks to Kenneth Lund for this link

The Beirut-Damascus mountain highway linking Lebanon with Syria and the rest of the Arab world was blocked by snow, starting at about a 20-minute drive uphill from the Lebanese capital.

It was the second severe snowstorm to hit the region in three weeks, marking a particularly harsh winter in the usually temperate Mediterranean region. The snowstorm also hit Israel and the Palestinian territories, covering Jerusalem's holy shrines in white.
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/winter/2008-02-19-snow-lebanon_N.htm
Thanks to Charles Patrick for this info

Or see Jerusalem turns white as more snow hits region - 19 Feb 08 - It was the second rare cold front in less than a month, officials said.Snow also fell in the West Bank towns of Hebron and Bethlehem on the West Bank, in northern Israel, and in some elevated areas of the Negev desert in the south of the country. The Gaza Strip, meanwhile, was hit by heavy rain.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/
2008/February/middleeast_February224.xml&section=middleeast&col=
Thanks to Kate Salvati for this link

More than 160 villages were cut off by the snow, including 54 in the prefecture of Chania and 26 in Herakleion, both on the island of Crete, the General Secretariat for Civil Protection said by fax. Towns and villages in the wider Athens area and on the islands of Tinos, Naxos and Andros were also experiencing power supply problems, the agency said.

``The snowfall is unprecedented -- as much as two meters (6'7'') deep in the mountains,'' said Haralambos Koukianakis, civil protection officer at the Chania prefecture, Crete. Public buses stood at a standstill on Monday in the wider Athens area, while ships remained in ports, and public services remained closed.

Although the airport reopened at 3:00 a.m., snow plows were working continuously to keep runways open,.

Temperatures in Athens dropped to -6C before dawn, while temperatures in Kozani, Grevena, Kastoria and Florina plunged to -12C.

Heavy snow fell also fell over much of Turkey on Monday. Snow was 5 feet high in the province of Van in eastern Turkey, and thousands of village roads were blocked off in the region. In Istanbul, snow was 9 inches deep, while the Mediterranean resort of Antalya had its first snow in 15 years.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,331010,00.html
Thanks to Eric Skrzypczak for this link

Since late January, the interrupted roads have amounted to 14,000 km, including 265 km expressways and more than 5,000 km trunk roads.

The disaster left about 178,000 people and 20,000 motor vehicles stranded, and caused an economic loss of 154 million yuan (about 20.5 million U.S. dollars).

Snowy weather returned on Thursday. Qujing, the second largest city in Yunnan, closed six highways and cancelled 42 coach routes. Transport in other cities, including Zhaotong and Diqing, has also been affected by snows.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-02/17/content_7617704.htm
See also http://premiuma.accuweather.com/adcbin/premium/news-regional.asp?region=worldnews
Thanks  to Jeff Reed, Kenneth Lund for these links

"Man!," says reader Jeff Reed. "China is getting their butts kicked this year. I've heard reports that 14000 new cars join the roads every week in this country. Apparently they don't have sanding trucks yet....or snow plows."

By the end of Monday, the city had already been blanketed by 56 centimetres, and, given Environment Canada's snowfall warning of 15 to 20 cm for yesterday, the record of 66.6 cm set in 1950 seemed certain to fall.

As of 9:30 p.m., Environment Canada had recorded as much as 15 centimetres of snow downtown from the latest storm.

With 17 days left before March and another two snow systems set to hit the region by this weekend, the old record should be far surpassed..

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080213.wsnow13/BNStory/
National/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20080213.wsnow13
Thanks to Dr. Ben for this link

Further south in Doda district, five women and a man from another family were killed when a snowslide flattened their house. Others killed included a woman, her teenaged son and daughter in northern Gurez district.

Kashmir has been blanketed by snow for the past six days, cutting off the region's main highway to the outside world. Hundreds of trucks carrying essential commodities for Kashmir valley were stranded but officials said there were enough stocks for the moment.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080209/wl_sthasia_afp/indiakashmirweather_080209181557
Thanks to Jimmy Walter for this link

More than half the country's provinces have been affected. In the worst-hit regions, nearly 90 percent of forests have been destroyed, according to the paper, levying a toll of 16.2 billion yuan (2.2 billion dollars) on China's forestry sector.

More misery could be in store, as the State Forest Administration has warned trees killed by winter frost could boost the amount of inflammable materials, raising the risk of forest fires.

The government has urged areas unaffected by the snow storms to expand seedling supply to secure spring reforestation efforts, according to the report.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080210/sc_afp/chinaweatherforests
Thanks to Jimmy Walter for this link

With more snow in the forecast, the city could surpass the second highest winter snowfall record of 176cm (69 inches) set in 1951-52. However, the all time record of 207.4cm (82 inches) set in 1937-38 looks likely to remain intact.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/10022008news.shtml

Tonga lies in the central Pacific Ocean, a third of the way between New Zealand and Hawaii.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/09022008news.shtml

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
Thanks to Anton Jaks for this link

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
Thanks to Anton Jaks for this link

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.

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

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%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Thanks to Robert Branch for this link
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7217429.stm
Thanks to Johnny Zornes for this link

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
Thanks to Craig Adkins and Rhys Jagger for this link

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=AtUdgzlRoSEIGVPq5tmUPW2s0NUE
Thanks to Dean T. Haskell for this link

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
Thanks to Allie for this link

In January, the average daily high temperature is near 26 degrees below zero, while the normal low is about 40 degrees below.

Thus far, January 2008 has been harsh, even by local standards. The average temperature through the 23rd was 40.8 degrees below zero - 8.0 degrees below normal. If you take away the `spike` to 1 degree below zero on January 12th and 13th, average temperature would have been more than 10 degrees below normal. As of the 24th, there were six-straight days having lows in the 50s below zero.

And January is not the coldest month--February is. Even the first half of March is normally a bit colder than January as a whole.

See entire article at accuweather
Thanks to Kenneth Lund for this link

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

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
Thanks to Kenneth Lund for this link

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
Thanks to Kenneth Lund for this link

'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

"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
Thanks to Michael Jenkins and Steven Woodcock for this link

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/news/18012008news.shtml
Thanks to John Brown in Ardrossan, Scotland, for this link

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

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

"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
Thanks to Matt Nicholson for this link

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.

Morning and afternoon prayers are being combined in many mosques because of the morning cold and some schools will reopen later than scheduled.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20080111/96210251.html
              "Too bad we have to get our news from Russia," says Mike Bryant.
               You're right, Mike. This probably won't be mentioned by the US media.

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

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/
Thanks to matt Nicholson, Jeff Reed, and Dr. John V. Kampen in Granada for this link. And thanks to so many others ... it's amazing how many people sent these links to me. Thank you all.

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

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
Thanks to Kenneth Lund for this link

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
Thanks to Brian J. King for this link

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

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/

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
Thanks to Hans Schreuder for this link

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/01/02/heavy_snow_blankets_bulgaria/4481/
Thanks to Hans Schreuder for this link

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