Extreme Temperatures
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Igloo

Frozen Alaska bucking global warming trend

Alaskan Weather
© Spc. Balinda O'Neal, Alaska National Guard Public AffairsAlaska National Guardsmen clear a building roof in Cordova, near Anchorage, on Jan. 9, 2012.
As the rest of the world contends with unusually warm temperatures and scorching drought, Alaska has been bucking the trend since 2000 by reporting some of the coldest winters on record.

Like most of the planet, the state has been heating up steadily over the past century and is frequently cited as one of the fastest-warming areas on the planet, according to the Alaska Dispatch, an online newspaper. The Alaska Climate Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks notes the state was warming at roughly twice the pace as the rest of the planet, particularly from the 1970s into the 1990s, reports the Dispatch.

But since 2000, nearly all the National Weather Service monitoring stations sprinkled across the vast state have reported colder-than-average temperatures. The station at King Salmon on the Alaska Peninsula, for example, experienced an average 4.5 degree Fahrenheit (2.9 degrees Celsius) drop in temperature over the course of the first decade of this century.

Snowflake

So much for 'global warming': Snow coming to southwestern Texas

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The City of El Paso, Texas, where the snow line has reached in recent years, despite the global warmists' predictions that snow would soon be a thing of the past for places far to the north.
An upper-air disturbance slated to move into the southwestern United States has the potential of bringing wintry weather to portions of extreme southern New Mexico and the Big Bend Country of Texas beginning on Thursday.

While the best chance for snow will be across the Trans-Pecos, a general coating to perhaps an inch of snow will likely fall before it is all said and done.

The upper-air disturbance will begin to enter the Southwest on Wednesday night and slowly ride along the United States and Mexico boarder. This disturbance will likely stick around through Friday before lifting northeastward into the southern Plains.

As the system tracks into the Southwest, it will draw Pacific moisture from the south and Gulf of Mexico moisture from the east.

Snowflake

As the U.S. digs out, even more snow on the way


While communities from the Midwest to the Northeast and even the southern U.S. are digging out after a massive storm blanketed much of the country, the Northeast is now bracing for more snow over the weekend.

Two storm systems will combine into one and bring light snow to the major cities in the Northeast. Most areas in the northeast will see 1-3 inches of snow with isolated amounts of 4 inches in the higher elevations Saturday morning from Philadelphia to New York and into New England.

This week's winter blast is accounting for at least 15 deaths -- most of them on the nation's roads.

"This is really bad out here. I see accidents everywhere. There are police everywhere. It's no joke," an Ohio woman told Good Morning America.

Ice Cube

Icy conditions lead to tour bush crash in Oregon, 5 killed

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© Oregon State Police via KOIN-TVThe scene of a tour bus crash in eastern Oregon on Dec. 30, 2012.
La Grande - Authorities say five people died and about 20 more were injured in a tour bus crash on an icy stretch of interstate in Oregon.

Police say the bus lost control around 10:30 a.m. on the snow- and ice-covered lanes of Interstate 84 in eastern Oregon. The bus crashed through a guardrail and went down an embankment a few hundred feet.

Rescue workers are using ropes to help retrieve people from the crash scene. State police say the charter bus was carrying about 40 people, but they did not say where the vehicle was traveling to or from.

The bus crash was the second fatal accident in Oregon on Sunday morning due to icy conditions. A 69-year-old man died in a single-vehicle rollover accident. CBS affiliate KOIN-TV in Portland reports both the 26-year-old driver, who is expected to survive, and the deceased passenger were wearing safety restraints.

Source: The Associated Press

Ice Cube

Think the UK weather is bad? Try Inner Mongolia

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A freezing blizzard hits the Xilin Gol region of Inner Mongolia, leaving drivers stranded in sub-zero temperatures with visibility as low as ten metres.

A freezing blizzard pummeled the Xilin Gol area of China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Saturday morning, severely affecting road traffic.

On the No. 308 provincial highway, vehicles found themselves stuck in deep snow as severe blizzards lowered visibility from 200 metres to less than ten metres in just ten minutes.

The blizzard started on Friday night and brought almost one metre of snow to the highway by the morning.


Snowflake Cold

Record-breaking snowfall hits Rochester, New York

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Many of us who had to get out today had to do some digging first. Some say it was only a matter of time before Rochester was heavily hit with snow this winter.

"We saw it last night but I wasn't expecting it to be quite this bad this morning when I got out here," said Sara Granger of Rochester.

All this snow created a lot of work for Granger and Cruz, who spent nearly an hour just digging out.

"It took me almost a half hour just to dig from my door to here and now we just started on the car," said Cruz.

Neighbors on Comfort Street off South Avenue came together to help Jackie Fannin, who found herself stuck on the way to work.

Snowflake

Record-breaking snowfall in Montreal: 47 centimetres of snow in one day

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© CTV NewsMontreal's massive snow clearing operation will start on Friday morning. Claudine Nicol took this photo of parked cars entombed in snow in Villeray on Thursday.
The City of Montreal said snow removal is going to take longer than expected following Thursday's record snowfall.

Michel Frenette, a spokesman for the city, said snow removal will take about nine days to accomplish.

The nine days also includes a break period for workers.

"We will stop operations on the evening of the 31st and come back 36 hours later on the morning of Jan. 2," said Frenette.

He said it is taking longer because snow blowers have to go over the same area multiple times to remove all of the snow.

Three thousand people are working to clear the snow.

Igloo

Atlantic Canadians brace for 2nd winter wallop

As much as 40 centimetres of snow expected from 'significant nor'easter'.
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© CBC NewsAtlantic Canada is bracing for more harsh winter weather set to hit Saturday night.
With another blast of winter weather headed for Atlantic Canada, people are being urged to prepare for a lot of snow throughout the Maritimes and up to 140 km/h wind gusts in Newfoundland.

The storm is expected to start Saturday night in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and P.E.I.

Nova Scotia may see 40 centimetres of snow by Sunday night in the province's north and the Annapolis Valley.

Meteorologist Andy Firth said the nor'easter would bring snow, blowing snow and rain to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, as well as southern and eastern New Brunswick.

"This is a significant nor'easter storm," Firth said from Dartmouth, N.S., on Saturday. "We have warnings out for snowfall, blowing snow and storm surges."

Firth said parts of New Brunswick and P.E.I. would see around 15 to 30 centimetres of snow.

Flurries were expected to begin over the western Maritimes on Saturday evening, with heavy snow beginning around midnight and continuing until around noon Sunday.

Snowflake Cold

Heavy snow in South Korea breaks December record

Korean Blizzard
© NEWSISSoldiers are mobilized yesterday morning to remove snow from roads in front of tollgates near the Baekyang Tunnel in Sasang District, Busan. As snow was not cleared in time, dangerous roads caused traffic jams during rush hour. Heavy snowfall is rarely seen in the southern port city.
Yesterday's rush hour was a nightmare for a 47-year-old civil servant surnamed Roh who commutes from Gimhae to Changwon, South Gyeongsang, every day.

He left home at 6:15 a.m. and reached the Changwon Tunnel that connects the two cities in 10 minutes, but soon had to turn his car around as the tunnel was closed due to snow.

Roh then passed through Jangyu and Dongmasan IC (interchange) and finally arrived at his office in Changwon at 9:40 a.m.

It usually takes only 25 minutes if he takes the tunnel route, but it took 3 hours and 25 minutes.

On his way to the office, many vehicles were waiting for assistance after being damaged in car accidents due to the slippery roads.

"It doesn't snow much in Gimhae," Roh told the JoongAng Ilbo. "Not many drivers have tire chains. It was terrible to drive because many roads are icy due to the early morning snow."

Snowflake Cold

Coldest winter in decades for Russia with snow as much as 5 meters (16½ ft) deep - Plows cannot reach roads to clear them

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© ReutersA homeless woman has a charity meal distributed by volunteers in Russia's southern city of Stavropol on Dec. 25, 2012.
As temperatures plummet to -50 Celsius in some parts of Russia, thousands have been evacuated from their homes in the country's Far East and Siberia. More than 120 people have died from the severe cold -- at least seven in the last 24 hours.

Meteorologists say the country is experiencing one of its coldest winters in decades.

In the Far East region of Magadan, 300 kilometers of roads remain blocked by heavy snow. Plows and machines can not reach those roads to clear them. In some places, snow is as much as five meters deep.

Irina Bryarkina lives in the Tyva region of Siberia where temperatures have been -40 C for several days. It is so cold that many heating pipes have frozen and thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes.

Comment:
"One change to occur in 21st Century is sudden glacial rebound, over Eurasia first, then North America. Ice ages develop much, much, much faster than thought."
We're seeing it right now.