Earth Changes
As many as 68 flights to and from Srinagar were cancelled and the Srinagar-Jammu national highway was closed following heavy snowfall in Kashmir and the upper reaches of Jammu on Monday morning. The NH was shut due to shooting stones and mudslides at several places between Chanderkot and Banihal.
In Himachal, 496 roads were closed due to heavy snow, with the Manali-Keylong road completely blocked. Daily life was thrown out of gear in Shimla, Lahaul and Spiti and Kinnur districts where 180, 158 and 73 roads, respectively, were blocked, while 908 power transformers and water supply were also affected.
Flood Watches remain in effect for most of the islands into Monday evening as a strong area of low pressure soaks the state from east to west, dropping several inches of rain on some of the islands, or in a few cases, more than 2 feet of rain.
Rainfall totals widely vary depending on terrain and whether it faces the wind, but on Maui and Molokai, some storm totals have reached 17 to 25 inches on the windward side of the mountains. Kahului and Wailuku reported 3 to 6 inches over the past 72 hours.
"We're hearing reports of up to 7 feet of powder up near the top of the range," Hunter Wright, director of operations at Albany Lodge, told Cowboy State Daily on Monday.
"It's gotten so deep in places, people are even getting stuck out on the flats," he said, adding that 4-5 feet of powder has been reported across most of the Snowy Range's extensive snowmobiling network.
Another whale has washed up dead overnight, making Monday's tragic discovery the 10th loss of the large water mammals in the past two months.
Officials were out on Long Island after a male humpback whale was spotted on Lido Beach before 7 a.m. He was dead by the time he was found.
Crowds gathering to catch the whale throughout the day prompted Hempstead Town crews to erect temporary fencing around the whale. He was so large, a backhoe was needed to move it away from the shore.
The Kashmir Valley and higher reaches of Jammu were witnessing heavy snowfall, while the plains were having rain since last night. Train services in the valley have also been suspended.
Electricity supply in several areas was snapped due to snow and rain.
Bodies of the two girls buried under the avalanche on Sunday were recovered on Monday. The police said the bodies were recovered with the help of locals. The deceased girls have been identified as 11-year-old Kulsum and 23-year-old Bilques. They were buried under the avalanche in Tangole hamlet in Panikhar area of Kargil district of Ladakh.

Schools are closed, traffic is difficult and sometimes impossible, even for emergency services.
Cyclone Cheneso continues to hit the island with more than 15,000 people affected to date.
"I left my house because it was destroyed by the strong winds of the cyclone. The house tilted, so I ran away. My house was totally destroyed," said flood victim Bonne Fehy.
On 27 January 2023, the country's Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) conducted an aerial survey of affected communities in Bwengwa, Namwala, Monze in Southern Province, and Mumbwa district in Central Province. DDMU reported widespread damage to homes, farmland and livestock. Many communities are isolated leaving them without access to healthcare and education. Furthermore, sanitation facilities have been completely submerged, exposing the population to a high risk of waterborne diseases, DDMU said.
DDMU added that affected communities require an emergency intervention in particular delivery of both food and non-food relief items. The Government has assured that a multi-sectorial response will ensure recovery, rehabilitation and restoration.
"Heavy rains in several areas of Manado City have caused the Tondano River to overflow, and flooding cannot be avoided," said Abdul Muhari, spokesperson for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.
At least five sub-districts have been flooded, and 33 houses in six sub-districts have experienced landslides, as the authorities continue to assess the situation on the ground.
Comment: Update January 30
Floodlist reports:
Indonesia - 5 Killed in North Sulawesi Floods and Landslides
At least five people died after flash floods swept through areas of Manado City in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, on 27 January 2023.
Disaster authorities in the country reported heavy rain and the overflow of the Tondano watershed inundated around 400 homes. Flood waters were up to 3 metres deep in some areas. A total of 1,021 people were displaced in the districts of Tikala, Paal 2, Tuminting, Singkil and Wanang. One person died in the floods and a bridge was severely damaged.
Furthermore heavy rain in the area caused multiple landslides in the area, severely damaging over 50 houses and public buildings. Disaster authorities reported 4 people lost their lives as a result.
The Manado City Government has declared an emergency status.
The Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (Badan Meteorologi Klimatologi dan Geofisika Indonesia - BMKG) reported Sam Ratulangi International Airport, located 13 km northeast of Manado recorded 238 mm of rain in 24 hours to 27 January and 216.7 mm in the following 24 hour period.
Six people died after heavy rain triggered floods and landslides in Manado City on 16 January 2021.
Two people died and at least 155 households were affected by floods and landslides in the city in March 2022.

This photo of the beached whale at Lydgate Beach on the east side of Kaua‘i was posted publicly on Facebook at 7:33 a.m. Saturday by Dennis Esaki.
The beach is located off Kūhiō Highway, or Highway 56, north of Hanamāʻulu and Līhuʻe.
The whale was first reported Friday evening on the reef off the beach. High tide brought it ashore Saturday morning, according to a news release from the state Land Department.
Native Hawaiian practitioners have been conducting cultural protocols as heavy equipment is attempting to move the 56-foot, 60-ton carcass onto the beach. Spectators are being kept back and are asked not to cross the yellow tape during the continuing operation.
Scientists struggle to understand why Antarctica hasn't warmed for over 70 years despite rise in CO2
Under 'settled' science requirements, the significant debate over the inconvenient Antarctica data is of necessity being conducted well away from prying eyes in the mainstream media. Promoting the Net Zero political agenda, the Guardian recently topped up readers' alarm levels with the notion that "unimaginable amounts of water will flow into oceans", if temperatures in the region rise and ice buffers vanish. The BBC green activist-in-chief Justin Rowlatt flew over parts of the region and witnessed "an epic vision of shattered ice". He described Antarctica as the "frontline of climate change". In 2021, the South Pole had its coldest six-month winter since records began in 1957, a fact largely ignored in the mainstream. One-off bad weather promoter Reuters subsequently 'fact checked' commentary on the event in social media. It noted that a "six-month period is not long enough to validate a climate trend".
A recent paper from two climate scientists (Singh and Polvani) accepts that Antarctica has not warmed in the last seven decades, despite an increase in the atmospheric greenhouse gases. It is noted that the two polar regions present a "conundrum" for understanding present day climate change, as recent warming differs markedly between the Arctic and Antarctic. The graph below shows average Antarctica surface temperatures from 1984-2014, compared to a base period 1950-1980.
Comment: Update January 30
From the same news source: