Extreme Temperatures
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Snowflake Cold

Best of the Web: Record-breaking snowfall hits Hokkaido as cold front sweeps Japan - 120 cms (nearly 4 FEET) of snow in just 12 hours with more heavy falls forecast

Jessica Speed
Japan Times
Tue, 04 Feb 2025 12:48 UTC
Snow-covered streets in Obihiro, Hokkaido, on Tuesday
© JIJISnow-covered streets in Obihiro, Hokkaido, on Tuesday
A powerful low-pressure system is unleashing record-breaking snowfall along Hokkaido's Pacific coast, with the city of Obihiro accumulating more than 1 meter of snow in just 12 hours through Tuesday.

Heavy snowfall has persisted since Monday night, with Obihiro recording 120 centimeters in the 12 hours through noon on Tuesday, the highest on record for the city. Snow depth in the city has now surpassed 120 centimeters, a level last seen in 1972, according to private weather forecaster Weathernews.

While the cold front's impact is most pronounced in the northern regions along the Sea of Japan, the cold air mass is also pushing westward, spreading snow to the Kyushu region facing the East China Sea and the Shikoku region facing the Seto Inland Sea.

In some parts of Kyushu, temperatures have dropped below minus 12 degrees Celsius, according to Weathernews. Kagoshima Prefecture is experiencing steady snowfall, with accumulations visible on grassy surfaces in the city center. Mountainous areas have seen roads turn completely white.

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Snowflake

Up to 1.2m (4 feet) of snowfall in 3 days in the Alps


snow-forecast.com
Mon, 03 Feb 2025 19:37 UTC
Austria's Kaunertal after 40cm (16
Austria's Kaunertal after 40cm (16") of snowfall on Wednesday.
The biggest snowfall of the season to date has buried much of the Alps, setting the region up for the latter half of the season.

The biggest snowfall of the season to date has buried much of the Alps, setting the region up for the latter half of the season.

Accumulations of up to 60cm (2 feet) in 24 hours were reported with Chamonix posting the biggest 72-hour total of 1.2 metres (4 feet). Fellow French resort Flaine posted 105cm (3.5 feet) whilst La Thuile, just over the Italian border, got 80cm (32"), and Switzerland's Crans Montana 70cm (28").

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Cloud Precipitation

Hawaii slammed by triple threat of severe thunderstorms, blistering wind, blizzard-like snow

Hayley Vawter, Emilee Speck, Scott Sistek, Julian Atienza
Fox Weather
Fri, 31 Jan 2025 13:38 UTC
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A powerful storm system is pummeling Hawaii with flash flooding, damaging wind gusts, severe thunderstorms and blizzard-like conditions on the high mountain peaks. The storm has left thousands without power, roads blocked by floods and fallen trees and grounded island air traffic.

Flash Flood Warnings persisted late into Thursday evening over Honolulu and Maui. County offices in Maui were closed on Friday due to the downpours. Crews across the state worked to reopen roads that were closed due to downed trees or flooding.

The Big Island declared a State of Emergency on Thursday afternoon.

Video from Honolulu showed heavy rain and urban flooding. One Honolulu resident shared a video on social media of what looked to be a strong river that he said was normally a dry creek.

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Arrow Down

Five skiers killed in French Alps avalanches

Alex Loftus
BBC
Thu, 30 Jan 2025 12:05 UTC
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© AFP
Five skiers were killed in two separate avalanches in the French Alps on Wednesday, local officials have confirmed.

One torrent of snow came in Val-Cenis, in the south-eastern Savoie region, killing four Norwegian skiers, while a Swiss skier died further north in the Haute-Savoie region, near Chamonix.

Three of the Norwegians were killed instantly while a fourth, a woman, died in a nearby hospital after suffering severe hypothermia and a cardiorespiratory arrest.

They were part of a larger group of seven skiers and the remaining three were unharmed.

Jacques Arnoux, mayor of Val-Cenis, told AFP each member of the group had been carrying an avalanche beacon as they were off-piste skiing.
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Snowflake

Rare snow day in Joshua Tree National Park, California

Bethanie H
Outdoors.com
Tue, 28 Jan 2025 15:12 UTC
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Snow in the Mojave Desert is a beautiful and rare sight. Yesterday, January 27, there was snow on the ground at Joshua Tree National Park, and the photos and videos coming from the southern California park are stunning.

The Instagram account @visit_joshuatree shared several videos of snow covering the ground and coating the famous Joshua trees. The captions say all footage was from yesterday, Monday, January 27, 2025.

"Joshua Tree National Park is in the high desert with peaks above 4000 feet elevation, so it typically gets snow once a year in January / February," says @visit_joshuatree in one of its posts. "[The park] had an especially dry year with very little rain in the last six months, so snow is a welcome sight in the park, and is a good indicator for Joshua Tree blooms and wildflowers in the spring time. Joshua Trees need a 'cold snap' to start their annual clock which then produces Joshua Tree blooms in February."

See footage from a rare snow day at Joshua Tree National Park here:

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Snowflake

Heavy snow blankets South Korea - up to 51 inches in 2 days

Yoo Jee-ho
Yonhap News Agency
Tue, 28 Jan 2025 14:11 UTC
Snow is seen piled up at a village in Hoengseong, Gangwon on Jan. 28.
© YONHAPSnow is seen piled up at a village in Hoengseong, Gangwon on Jan. 28.
Heavy snow blanketed South Korea for the second consecutive day Tuesday, disrupting transportation services and causing traffic congestion for people heading to their hometowns for the Lunar New Year holiday.

As of 4 p.m., 130 centimeters had piled up on Mount Halla on the southern resort island of Jeju since Monday, while some counties in the eastern province of Gangwon had 40 cm of snow over the same period. Cities of Anseong and Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi Province, about 60 kilometers south of Seoul, had received about 25 cm of snow. In Seoul, the southwestern ward of Gwanak had 13.7 cm of snow.

For Wednesday, the Korea Meteorological Administration forecast an additional 5 to 15 cm of snow in the mountainous areas of Jeju and about 5 to 10 cm of snow in the Chungcheong and Jeolla provinces.

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Snowflake

Mid-summer snowfall blankets Canterbury skifield in New Zealand


RNZ
Mon, 27 Jan 2025 14:47 UTC
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© MT HUTT FACEBOOK
Mount Hutt skifield in Canterbury has been blanketed with snow after a chilly blast blew through.

Mount Hutt general manager of operations, James Urquhart, said it was not unusual to get some snow about once a month on the mountain.

But in the summer months, it is usually just a skiff - or light dusting - of snow.

Urquhart said he woke up on Monday morning to see about 5cm of powder on the monitoring webcams.

"It's not going to affect us too long. It'll melt pretty quick. It'll be gone probably by this afternoon.
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Snowflake Cold

Which US Southern cities had the most snow? Here are the biggest snow totals by state, some historic

Ben Noll
Washington Post
Thu, 23 Jan 2025 13:43 UTC
Satellite imagery captures the historic
© NOAASatellite imagery captures the historic winter storm early Wednesday, with a cloud shield extending over 1,500 miles from the Gulf of Mexico to southern Canada.
As historic snowfall — in some places more than double-digit totals — fell Tuesday along the Gulf Coast and in the Deep South and Southeast, meteorologists ran out of adjectives to describe what they were seeing.

"Just like hundreds of other meteorologists today, I am speechless," one wrote, sharing a video clip of whiteout conditions on Pensacola Bay Bridge in Florida. The city of Milton, Florida, reported 9.8 inches — probably the state's biggest daily snowfall on record.

In Louisiana, deep mounds of snow met the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. In New Orleans, locals skied down Bourbon Street as the airport recorded 8 inches, smashing the daily record of 2.7 inches.

By the end of Tuesday, New Orleans had observed more snow in this single event than New York City and Anchorage did in all of December and January — and according to the data, the area around the city may have been Tuesday's snowiest place, with an estimated total of just over a foot.
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Snowflake Cold

Best of the Web: Rare snowstorm hits US south, with 4 deaths reported - 10.5 inches of snow recorded in Louisiana

Nadine Yousif
BBC
Wed, 22 Jan 2025 12:07 UTC
Rare snow blankets iconic Bourbon Street in New Orleans
Rare snow blankets iconic Bourbon Street in New Orleans
A rare winter storm is bringing snow and freezing rain to parts of the US deep south, closing highways and airports in Texas and prompting a first-ever blizzard warning in southwest Louisiana.

Four people are thought to have died from cold exposure so far - two cases are being investigated as cold-related by Austin authorities in Texas, while two deaths from hypothermia were reported in Georgia and Milwaukee.

Up in the country's north, parts of New York state are being hit by another storm, blanketed by up to 18 inches of snow.

More than 2,200 flights within the US were cancelled on Tuesday, and 3,000 more were delayed, according to online tracker Flight Aware.

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Arrow Down

3 killed in avalanche that trapped 5 skiers in Italy

Julian Atienza
Fox Weather
Mon, 13 Jan 2025 19:09 UTC
Piedmont Alpine and Speleological Rescue responds to avalanche in Italy's Piedmont region. Two skiiers were rescued, three found dead.
© Piedmont Alpine and Speleological RescuePiedmont Alpine and Speleological Rescue responds to avalanche in Italy's Piedmont region. Two skiiers were rescued, three found dead.
Three skiers were killed in an avalanche in Italy's Piedmont region on Sunday.

Piedmont Alpine and Speleological Rescue said they responded to calls of an avalanche involving five mountaineers just after noon local time.

The avalanche happened on the peak of Punta Valgrande, a popular mountain in the Swiss Alps among experienced hikers and skiers, near the border of Italy and Switzerland.

Rescuers said the victims were dragged several hundred feet by the snow.

Medical teams arrived by helicopter and were able to rescue two skiers, but three others were found dead on the scene.

Meanwhile, in Adamello in the nearby Italian Alps, search operations for a missing climber were temporarily suspended due to worsening weather conditions, according to a report from Reuters.
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