An epic winter blast has brought temperatures in parts of Canada below temperatures on an uninhabited planet.
The Mars Curiosity Rover reported a high temperature on Mars Tuesday of -20 degrees. The city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada did not reach a high of -20 degrees until after 3 p.m. on Tuesday.
The temperature in the city was so cold throughout most of the day that exposed skin can freeze in less than five minutes.
Meteorologists in the province said that wind chills in the northern parts of the province made it feel around -50 degrees throughout the day Tuesday.
Surprisingly, the Mars-matching temperature was not the record for coldest day in Canadian history. The historical mark for December 30th is -36 degrees.
Heavy storms continued throughout Israel on Friday, causing traffic disruptions and power outages across the country, floods in southern regions, a brief closure of Ben-Gurion International Airport, and a measure of excitement among the nation’s many snow-lovers.
Thousands of people in and around Jerusalem were left without power. A hastily assembled array of relief services, beefed up by Israeli army troops, came to the aid of hundreds of motorists who were trapped in their vehicles, some for up to 10 hours.
Speaking on the radio, Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat described the snowstorm as a “tsunami,” for which the municipality was unprepared. The city set up several improvised snow-havens, granting shelter to hundreds of the snowed-in masses, many of whom had come to the capital to celebrate what is usually a much less torrid event.
Roads to and from Jerusalem were closed Thursday night and school there was cancelled for Friday as the heaviest December storm since 1953 fell on the capital city.
Source: Haaretz – Massive snowstorm shuts down Jerusalem
The biggest December snow and rain storm in the modern history of Israel and the Palestinian territories hit on Wednesday night. Now a storm three times worse is bearing down on the epicenter.
For the many of the kids of Jerusalem, the storm has been much fun. Building snow men. Having snow ball fights. Sledding. Walking through and playing in the cold white stuff they rarely experience. Continue reading →
Tens of thousands of homes around Israel were left without electricity Friday as severe winter storms continued to batter the country.
More than 25 thousand families in Jerusalem and surrounding areas were cut off from power, Israel Radio reported. Continue reading →
India has evacuated over 200,000 people from the western coastline as a massive cyclone roars through the Bay of Bengal.
Cyclone Phailin is predicted to make landfall Saturday morning in Orissa state.
The storm has been classified as category 5 by the London-based Tropical Storm Risk center and the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center has predicted winds from the superstorm could reach 195 mph when it hits land. Storm surges will be at least 10 feet and likely much higher.
“The storm has high damage potential considering windspeed,” the director of the India Meteorological Department told the BBC. More concerning to the meteorologists watching the storm is the wide area the storm is covering in the ocean.
A super-cyclone similar to Phailin killed 10,000 people in Orissa state in 1999.
Hundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens fled the coastlines as authorities issued a red alert due to Typhoon Fitow.
The storm, with maximum sustained winds of 93 m.p.h., made landfall around 1:15 a.m. local time Monday. Forecasters predict as much as 8 inches of rain falling in the early morning hours across three provinces along the southwest coast.
At least two port workers are reported missing in Zhejiang province with many homes already destroyed. Power is reportedly out across hundreds of miles.
Over 750,000 residents of the three provinces were forced to evacuate by Chinese police and military.
Guangdong province, which neighbors the province where the storm’s eye made landfall, had 25 people die when Typhoon Usagi struck just weeks ago.
The National Weather Service is reporting an estimated EF-4 tornado struck the town of Wayne, Nebraska late Saturday afternoon causing significant damage.
Mayor Ken Chamberlain said there were multiple injuries but thankfully no one appears to have been killed by the surprise storm.
The storm reportedly produced multiple tornadoes that struck mainly in the industrial section of the city. Chamberlain told CNN that about a dozen houses were destroyed by the big tornado. Cars were flipped throughout the area and many motorists found themselves trapped but the only major emergency appeared to be a broken gas line.
“Hazmat is on the scene working with the gas leak,” state emergency management spokeswoman Jodie Fawl said.
Providence Medical Center in Wayne said that at least 15 people have been brought in with storm-related injuries.
In Rapid City, South Dakota, a freak winter storm has taken out power to over 30,000 residents. Rapid City police issued a “no travel” advisory for the city. They also said that slush on the roads is “causing vehicles to hydroplane.”
Wyoming Highway Patrol spokesman said a winter storm has shut down almost all of Interstate 25 through the state. A section of Interstate 80 was also closed unless vehicles have chains on the tires.
In a week where the highest temperature of the year was recorded at Heathrow Airport in London, the U.K. Is facing a serious heat crisis.
London’s Waterloo train station was facing delays after a rail buckled due to the heat. The station’s platforms one through four are closed pending repairs to the warped rail. Network Rail had issued restrictions to trains last week because of the high temperatures trackside. Continue reading →
Heavy rain deluged Toronto, Canada Monday dumping an average month’s worth of rain on the city in one day. At the Pearson International Airport, the rainfall topped the previous one-day record from 1954’s Hurricane Hazel.
Officials say that over 3.5 inches of rain fell Monday. The rain caused flooding throughout the city including major roads and subway stations causing major traffic problems. Hundreds of commuter train passengers were stranded and had to be rescued by police boats. Continue reading →
High temperature records continue to fall in California’s Death Valley as a massive heat wave continues to make the western part of the U.S.
The National Park Service confirmed a high temperature of 129.9 on Sunday, a new record for the hottest day anywhere in the U.S. in June. Continue reading →