The authorities in Fiji are telling people to stay off the roads in the west and northwest of the main island as heavy rain continues to lash the country.

There is flooding in the towns of Tavua, Rakiraki, Nadi, and Lautoka.

A heavy rain warning remains in force and the flood alert continues for low-lying areas near major rivers around the country.

The tropical disturbance causing the deluge is southeast of Kadavu with forecasters saying another low is approaching Fiji from the west.

In Nadi, the river has burst its banks and parts off Lautoka are flooded as well.

An advisory councillor from Rakiraki, Nila Rao, said her community was still recovering from heavy flooding in December.

Earlier, it had snowed heavily in February 2006 but it wasn't as much as this year's snowfall. This year's wildest washout is coinciding with 'chillai kalan', which is the harshest period of winter in Kashmir.

The beautiful Kashmir Valley turned into a picturesque after receiving a thickest whiteout in 25 years this February. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) release dated February 3 mentioned that the minimum temperatures were less than 5.0°C at many places over Jammu & Kashmir and at a few places over Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. January received three spells of heavy snowfall of over 16.2cm in January alone. A total of 23cm snowfall has been recorded so far in the Valley this year, IMD reported.

Earlier, it had snowed heavily in February 2006 but it wasn't as much as this year's snowfall. This year's wildest washout is coinciding with 'chillai kalan', which is the harshest period of winter in Kashmir. The 'chillai kalan' lasts from December 21 to January 30. The heavy snowfall in the Kashmir Valley triggered landslides at several places, bringing normal life to a standstill.

The Sea Biscuit Wildlife Shelter tagged and removed about 20 dead birds from Caswell Beach and Oak Island Monday afternoon.

Janet Kurz, a volunteer at the shelter, went to Caswell Beach to clean up the scene.

"I don't like seeing any dead birds but when you see nine at one time it kind of smacks you in the face that there is something that isn't right," said Kurz.

Kurz said she walked along the beach and found nine birds, a combination of pelicans and gannets. Kurz took pictures of each one and noticed a familiar trend.

"Seven had wing injuries, all identical in the same place same kind of injury," said Kurz. She recognized the injury because it's the same one several of the birds recovering at the shelter.

Clinic Director Mary Ellen Rogers has a theory to explain these trends.

This is the moment a rare 'snownado' touched down on a mountain in the Scottish Highlands, whirling snow and ice in a circle at least 100ft off the ground.

Skiers and walkers were dwarfed on Cairngorm Mountain near Aviemore by the stunning spiralling pillar of snow - also known as a 'willy willy' - which disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

It comes as Britain faces being plunged into a cold snap over the next 10 days as temperatures drop below -10C, with many parts of the country already hit by snow and flooding affecting the roads and railways.

James Madden, of Exacta Weather, said eastern and south-eastern parts will be the first to see wintry showers as temperatures drop.

He told The Express: 'There will be widespread frosts and ice problems.

'By the end of the week and into the weekend we could see snow popping up almost anywhere.'

A powerful 6.3-magnitude earthquake has hit off the southern coast of Pakistan, the US Geological Survey reported.

The quake, which was originally registered as magnitude 6.6, hit 23 kilometers southwest of the city of Pasni at a depth of 10 kilometers. The cities of Turbat and Gwadar are also within 90 kilometers from the epicenter of the quake.

Highway 17 is closed in both directions through Tuesday night, Highway 9 is blocked in several areas, and flooding is reported throughout Santa Cruz County, with thousands without power after roughly 6 inches of rain fell the last 24 hours. The latest in a series of storms triggered mudslides, uprooted trees and knocked out power lines from south county lowlands to high in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

The San Lorenzo River breached its banks and flooded Highway 9 near Paradise Park about noon. The California Highway Patrol blocked Highway 9 near the Tannery Arts Center.

At about 1 p.m., Soquel Creek in Capitola Village rose to just a few feet from its banks near the river mouth at Capitola Beach. Aptos Creek in Rio del Mar had not crested and had not breached its banks by 1:30 p.m. near the mouth at Seacliff State Beach.

A massive mudslide struck three vehicles on Highway 17 at roughly 10:15 a.m., flipping one truck over, closing the highway and trapping hundreds of drivers unable to proceed. The California Highway Patrol has shut down both lanes of Highway 17 near Jarvis Road, according to CHP Officer Trista Drake, who said no one was hurt when the slide hit the vehicles. The highway near the slide area would be closed in both directions through Tuesday night, she said. "The hill is unstable and the slide keeps spilling over into the other lanes," Drake said.

The San Lorenzo River is overflowing its banks in several spots between Santa Cruz and Felton where the river rose to major flood stage. In downtown Santa Cruz, the river reached moderate flood stage -- 23.3 feet -- just after noon, and it's still rising, KSBW meteorologist Art Jarrett said.

Santa Cruz County officials sounded a flood warning siren Tuesday morning, notifying Felton Grove residents of impending danger. Firefighters rescued residents who were trapped inside their homes by flood waters. Reporter Phil Gomez witnessed the river overflowing onto Highway 9 at Sycamore Grove, just north of Santa Cruz. Sycamore Grove looks like a lake.

"Highway 9 is underwater. I've never seen the San Lorenzo River go over Highway 9," Gomez said.

County spokesman Jason Hoppin said, "We have several rivers at or approaching flood stage (San Lorenzo, Soquel and Corralitos), with rain expected to continue this afternoon. We are activating the Emergency Operations Center."

An atmospheric river flowing off the Pacific Ocean pounded Santa Cruz County with rain throughout Monday night and into Tuesday morning. More heavy rain is forecast for this afternoon, and county officials are bracing for more rivers and creeks possibly overflowing in a few hours.

"It's going to get worse before it gets better," Hoppin said.

KSBW Meteorologist Lee Solomon reported flash flooding in Paradise Park, and the Tannery Arts Center in Santa Cruz.

Solomon said, "The Santa Cruz Mountains have received a deluge. Way too much rain in a very short period of time. A flash flood is occurring in the Paradise Park area. Move to higher ground immediately."

NOAA's San Lorenzo River gauge at Big Trees recorded water levels rising to 23 1/2 feet at noon. The river's major flood stage is 21.8 feet, and minor flood stage is 16.1 feet.

Over in Scotts Valley, Highway 17 is closed in all directions. A mudslide caused one driver's SUV to flip and crash on Highway 17's northbound lanes, near Vinehill Road. The California Highway Patrol is diverting all drivers off the highway, and there is no estimated time for reopening.

"The slide is unstable," the CHP said.

Tuesday's atmospheric river-powered storm has so far caused more severe problems than the first atmospheric river that blasted the Central Coast in January.

"The ground is already soaked, so all of this rain is running into the riverbeds," Hoppin said.

He added that while the Pajaro River takes a long time to rise, the San Lorenzo River, Soquel Creek, and Corralitos Creek rise rapidly during storms.

A house collapsed, major roads slowed to a crawl, lightning strikes closed the airport and even the Salvation Army needed emergency help as a series of intense thunderstorms drenched many parts of Sydney.

The Tuesday morning storm cells formed with little warning, dumping almost as much rain on the city in an hour as collected in all of January, overwhelming drains and roadways.

Another bout of rain and possible storms may hit Sydney on Wednesday, although the worst of the weather may be over by morning peak hour, Weatherzone said.

Tuesday's tempests had structural engineers racing to a unit complex in Ewart Street, Marrickville, after part of a 50-metre long pond at the back of the property collapsed, threatening to take the block with it.

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At least 23 U.S. states are under winter weather alerts, and a tornado watch has been issued for parts of the Southeast as most of the country braces for severe weather this week.

"We are in a very active weather pattern all across the country, from California to New York," ABC News senior meteorologist Max Golembo said.

An atmospheric river, which draws massive amounts of water vapor from the Pacific Ocean, has taken aim at California, where the National Weather Service has issued flash flood and flood watches through Friday.

As we all know, Iceland is a profoundly volcanic place with a variety of eruption styles - from spewing out a little or a lot of lava, to exploding so violently that Europe gets blanketed in ash.

Well, as reported by the Iceland Monitor, the nation's soothsaying geophysicist Páll Einarsson claims that four of the country's angry mountains are exhibiting pre-eruptive conditions. Apart from that, however, little information has been given.

The volcanoes in question are Katla, Hekla, Bárðarbunga, and Grímsvötn. With no data or references given in the post, we decided to do a little digging ourselves.

So what of Katla? Well, it's a rather sizable volcano that has indeed been showing signs of restlessness recently, with tremors hitting around the 4.6M mark. These quakes are possibly indications of magma ascending upwards through the crust and causing it to violently fracture, but as of yet, there's no definitive proof of this.