Extreme Temperatures
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Snowflake Cold

Severe winter weather warnings stop trains throughout Austria


The Local At
Wed, 04 Jan 2017 17:42 UTC
Snow Austria
© Ximeg/Wikimedia
A violent winter storm pattern will thrash through all of Austria this Wednesday. Recent forecasts have put the entire country under red alert and are predicting very difficult winter conditions that have gone so far as to impact the national train service.

According to Heute, the region of Upper Austria is currently under heavy snowfall and the outskirts of Vienna have already been hit by incredible wind speeds, peaking at 131km/hr. Within the city itself, gusts of up to 100km/hr were measured, which has lead to the closure of many major public parks, including the Augarten, Burggarten, Volksgarten, the grounds of the Belvedere Palace and Glorietteberg.

Even the city's central ice rink located in front of town hall known as the 'Wiener Eistraum' was forced to shut down due to potential dangerous conditions. City police have also reported trees toppling over onto the street, one even crushing a parked car in the district of Ottakring.
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Ice Cube

Somali immigrant abandoned during blizzard, found dead in Bulgaria


Annahar News
Mon, 02 Jan 2017 12:32 UTC
Snow plows
© AFP
Bulgarian police reported finding the body of a Somali immigrant in Mount Stranja (southeast) near the Turkish border.

The young woman was in a group of about 30 illegal immigrants caught by border police Sunday near the town of Ravadinovo, about 40 km from the border. Police learned during interrogation that the group abandoned the woman amid a blizzard.

The body was found Monday, noting that temperatures at night fell to more than ten degrees below zero. Two Somalis teenagers, a boy and girl, 16 and 14-years old also suffered from frostbite.

The group included 25 Afghans and three Pakistanis and three Somalis.

Bulgaria is witnessing the incident at the external borders of the European Union in the crowded immigrant reception centers, particularly as a result of the closure of Serbia's borders, cutting the road to central and western Europe.
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Igloo

Up to 32 inches of snow in 1.5 days for Longmont, Colorado

Robert
Ice Age Now
Tue, 03 Jan 2017 12:02 UTC
Infrared map of the Western US
© NOAA

Comment: According to the NOAA, Longmont, Colorado has had an average annual snowfall of 41.0 inches in the past 30 years. An ice age cometh?


Up to 32 inches (75 cm) of snow Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday night for Longmont, Colorado (near Estes Park).

Today

Snow showers before 3pm, then snow after 3pm. Temperature falling to around 10 by 5pm. Wind chill values as low as -10. Windy, with a west wind 23 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.

Tonight

Snow likely. Cloudy, with a temperature rising to around 14 by 4am. Wind chill values as low as -11. Windy, with a west wind 23 to 26 mph, with gusts as high as 43 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.

Wednesday

Snow. Areas of blowing snow. High near 18. Wind chill values as low as -7. Breezy, with a west wind 18 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 34 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 5 to 9 inches possible.

Wednesday Night Snow. Areas of blowing snow. Low around 3. Wind chill values as low as -15. Breezy, with a west wind 15 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 9 to 13 inches possible.
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Sun

Severe weather: Sydney heatwave marks hottest year on record

Peter Hannam
The Sydney Morning Herald
Fri, 30 Dec 2016 18:31 UTC
Maroubra Beach
© Kate GeraghtyExercising early at Maroubra Beach on Wednesday.
A scorching end to 2016 will ensure Sydney registers its hottest year in more than a century-and-a-half of records.

The mercury is expected to climb to 37 degrees in the city on Thursday and 42 in Penrith, and fall just a couple of degrees shy of that on Friday, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

All of coastal NSW will endure a heatwave on Thursday, with almost all of it either ranked as severe or extreme. (See bureau chart below). Authorities have also activated the state's heatwave action plan to ensure the public takes care to limit the effects of the heat, such as by staying hydrated and limiting outdoor activity.

The surge of late-December heat means Sydney would notch the city's hottest year in records going back to 1858 "without a doubt", Joel Pippard, a meteorologist with Weatherzone, said. "To not do that, temperatures would have be below zero."

According to Weatherzone, Sydney's maximum temperatures, including Wednesday's top of almost 29 degrees, lifted the average so far this year to 23.76 degrees. That's two degrees above the long run norm, and about a quarter degree higher than the previous hottest year in 2013.

Minimum temperatures will eclipse the previous high set in 2010 by almost half a degree, and are running at an average of just over 15.5 degrees for 2016 with just a couple of days to go, Mr Pippard said.
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Cloud Precipitation

Science, politics, morality and climate change - Professor John Christy


YouTube
Thu, 29 Dec 2016 17:54 UTC
Geoff Derrick writes: The John Christie talk is one of the best I have seen for a long time, keeping things simple but very very effective in the message. It should be compulsory viewing while still in holiday mode to take 1 hour off and watch the main event. It is just simply excellent, logical observation at work here.
John Christy
© The Huntsville TimesJohn Christy, the director of the Earth System Science Center at the UAH, has also been criticized for his views on global warming.
Professor John Christy, Alabama state climatologist speaks on science, politics and morality as they relate to climate change "action".
Recorded December, 2015.

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Snowflake Cold

Arctic air pervades U.S. from coast to coast during 1st week of 2017

Alex Sosnowski
AccuWeather
Mon, 02 Jan 2017 10:05 UTC
Arctic air map
A wave of arctic air will spread from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic coast of the United States during the first week of 2017.

The cold air will continue to invade the northwestern U.S. early this week. The cold air was accompanied by accumulating snow to near sea level in Washington on New Year's Day.

Over the Southwest, including Southern California and southern Arizona, the chilliest days will be the first part of the week as temperatures will moderate late in the week. Cold air will hang on much of the week in the Northwest.

"The main thrust of the cold air will extend from the northern Rockies to the northern Plains and the Upper Midwest," according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Evan Duffey. In this swath, a snowstorm will precede the arrival of the arctic air.

By the middle of the week, actual temperatures will bottom as low as 20 degrees Fahrenheit below-zero and will rival the coldest air of the season so far over the northern tier of the Central states. AccuWeather RealFeel Temperatures over part of the northern Plains and Rockies can dip as low as minus 40 for a time.
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Snowflake Cold

Grapevine connecting Southern, Northern California closed several hours due to snow


CBS News SF Bay Area
Sun, 01 Jan 2017 17:47 UTC
Interstate 5 california snow
© David McNew/Getty ImagesInterstate 5, the main route between Los Angeles, to the south, and Sacramento and San Francisco, stands empty as it remains closed due to snow in January 2008. At least 800 big rig trucks and many car travelers were stranded in the storm overnight that shutdown of the Golden State Freeway over Tejon Pass, commonly referred to as The Grapevine.
New Year's Eve was a traffic nightmare for drivers hoping to get to or from Southern California on California's main artery.

All lanes were closed for several hours in both directions of Interstate 5 in the Grapevine area north of Los Angeles because of snow.

At about 10:30 p.m. Saturday, Caltrans District 6 tweeted, "The Grapevine has re-opened with CHP escorting traffic. Drive with care and patience. Happy New Year!"

Overnight, the California Highway Patrol escorted motorists through the snow on both northbound and southbound lanes.
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Snowflake Cold

Military join in clearing snow-bound motorway in Bulgaria


The Sofia Globe
Sat, 31 Dec 2016 12:37 UTC
Bulgarian military join in clearing snow-bound Trakiya Motorway
Bulgarian military join in clearing snow-bound Trakiya Motorway
Bulgarian military personnel from the town of Sliven and from the Black Sea city of Bourgas used 17 special machines to join in efforts to clear Trakiya Motorway, scene of heavy snowdrifts and a chain collision that left hundreds of people stranded in their cars.

The military began assisting people at 3am on December 31, the Defence Ministry said.

Military personnel helped transport dozens of people who had been stranded and used equipment to move lorries and buses that got stuck in snow drifts.

In the early hours, land forces members transported a mother with a six-month-old baby to spend the night in the village of Venets.

Bulgaria's Interior Ministry, in an update on the road situation at 1pm on December 31, said that the bypass route from Yambol via the village of Kamchiya to Sredets and Bourgas was temporarily closed because of an emergency involving three goods lorries near the village of Sarainsko and five goods lorries near the village of Voynika. Traffic police and fire teams were at the scene, the ministry said.

Snow clearing
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Snowflake Cold

Persistent dense fog blankets Persian Gulf countries

Rob McElwee
Al Jazeera
Wed, 28 Dec 2016 16:16 UTC
An unusually long-lasting bank of sea fog has been wandering over the waters of the Gulf. This has invaded all Gulf countries in the past few days, causing travel delays.

Cold air has been drawn down in a series of chilling outbreaks from just west of the Urals. This brought winter to the Levant, thundery flooding to Iraq and snow to Iran.

Cold air over warm water causes evaporation until the point where the air will take no more. At this point, fog forms and if the wind is light, it hangs around as a fog bank.

Every night as temperatures drop inland, the fog creeps in. If you are lucky, daytime heat will send it back into the Gulf again.


Comment: Lately, there's been some unusually thick and persistent fog in a number of places, not least northern US, northern China, and northern India.

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Snowflake Cold

Thick fog blanketing much of the planet as flash-freezes bring record-cold temperatures

Adapt 2030
YouTube
Wed, 28 Dec 2016 15:37 UTC
fog madrid
© Adrián del Campo / ‏@acc037Thick fog covers Madrid, Spain, December 12, 2016
The December 2016 ALTA report otherwise known as the Webbot Report predicted flash freeze events, out of season weather patterns and bizarre fog events across the Northern hemisphere, among other things. This is a list of "Hits" the webbots got correct in weather prediction.


Comment: Countless other places have experienced unusually dense fog in recent days and weeks, not least central Spain and the Persian Gulf states.

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