Extreme Temperatures
Peru's government has declared a state of emergency in parts of the southern Andean region of Puno hit with the coldest temperatures in a decade, daily El Comercio reported.
President Ollanta Humala announced the emergency for seven provinces in Puno - Carabaya, Sandia, Lampa, San Antonio de Putina, Melgar, Puno and El Collao.
Hundreds of families have been affected and more than 250,000 alpacas have died due to freezing temperatures and snow storms.
Passengers on buses running between Puno and Arequipa were forced to wait some eight to 10 hours on the icy highways at temperatures of minus 15 degrees Celsius.
"(A low) will cross Greenland mid week and sets it's sights on Iceland Friday into Saturday, deepening on approach," says Mark Vogan Blog. "This system will have some very cold air attached and while strong to gale force winds will likely be a significant feature, the most noteworthy aspect to this storm which pressure down to the mid 970s in millibars, could be the cold temperatures and snow"
"...this looks to be a very well organised and unusual storm for late August even though this fairly high latitude can and does seen deep lows at this time of year. It's the cold that comes with it which could well grab weather headlines this weekend bringing a rare late August snowstorm to Iceland.
http://www.markvoganweather.com/2013/08/26/iceland-storm-snow-potential-uks-first-taste-autumn/
Thanks to Ralph Fato for this link
Residents of San Pedro de Atacama say the weekend snow was the heaviest in three decades for the desert city, which is 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) north of the capital, Santiago.
But local officials say they are concerned the snow and rain that fell over the weekend could cause some rivers to flood as has happened in the past.
The national tourism office says the road to San Pedro de Atacama was temporarily blocked due to the unusual weather. Officials have not ordered any evacuation although they expect more rain in the area.
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Paradise-Mt. Rainier, Washington - Elevation: 12,600 feet.
This Afternoon A 30 percent chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 35. West northwest wind around 6 mph. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Tonight A 30 percent chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 31. Northwest wind 5 to 11 mph becoming west southwest in the evening. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Sunday A 30 percent chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 34. Light and variable wind becoming south southwest 5 to 10 mph. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Sunday Night A 30 percent chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 25. West southwest wind around 9 mph. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Hobart woke to its coldest August morning in 41 years yesterday when the temperature dropped to -0.4C.
Hobart was one of the coldest places in Tasmania, but the freezing temperatures were widespread -- Launceston fell to -2.5C and Liawenee -7.6C.
And while the icy start made life miserable for many, skiers rejoiced.
"It's absolutely fantastic, the best cover we've had for years," Felicity Foot, operator of ski equipment hire firm Ben Lomond Snow Sports, said of the snow.
Ms Foot said the snow fields were further enhanced by new snow-making and grooming equipment and a new "skateboard park" for snowboarders.
They cited sixty studies from around the world that, according to a BBC World Service article, demonstrated that "even small changes in temperature or rainfall correlated with a rise in assaults, rapes, and murders, as well as group conflicts and war."
Apparently they missed the data on World War II's Battle of the Bulge or the siege of Stalingrad, both of which were fought in freezing weather. Earlier, Napoleon ran into a similar problem when he wanted to conquer Russia.
We have now reached a point in the Great Global Warming Hoax where pure absurdity is the norm for claims made on behalf of a warming cycle that ended around 1996.
NASA makes some interesting comments.
First they tell us that Arctic sea ice is over 1.5 million sq. km above last year, and is thus at one of the highest late summer extents in the last 10 years. Surprise.
Secondly Walt Meier of NASA tells us the real reason for last year's record minimum: storms.
Special Weather Statement
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
FAIRBANKS AK AUG 16 2013
NORTHEASTERN BROOKS RANGE-
INCLUDING...ANAKTUVUK PASS...ATIGUN PASS...GALBRAITH LAKE... SAGWON...FRANKLIN BLUFFS
AN EARLY FALL STORM IS FORECAST TO IMPACT THE NORTH SLOPE AND WEST COAST OF ALASKA SUNDAY AND IMPACT THE ALASKA INTERIOR MONDAY AND TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK.
A LOW DEVELOPING OVER NORTHEAST RUSSIA AND CHUKCHI SEA SATURDAY WILL BEGIN TO IMPACT THE WESTERN NORTH SLOPE SUNDAY WITH PERIODS OF RAIN...HEAVY AT TIMES.
GALE FORCE NORTH WINDS WILL DEVELOP IN THE SOUTHERN CHUKCHI SEA AND THROUGH THE BERING STRAITS SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY.
RAIN...HEAVY AT TIMES WILL DEVELOP IN WESTERN ALASKA SUNDAY NIGHT.
AN UNSEASONABLY COLD AIR MASS MOVING ON TO THE NORTH SLOPE BEHIND THIS SYSTEM WILL CHANGE RAIN TO SNOW IN AREAS FROM THE BROOKS RANGE NORTH SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY WITH SOME WET SNOW ACCUMULATION POSSIBLE IN THE BROOKS RANGE ABOVE 3000 FEET SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY.
http://pafg.arh.noaa.gov/wmofcst.php?wmo=WWAK81PAFG&type=public
Thanks to Kenneth Lund for this link

The August 7 edition of Denmark’s Jyllands-Posten featured a major 2-page article on the globe’s 15-years of missing warming and the potential solar causes and implications.
Moreover, they are featuring prominent skeptic scientists who are warning of a potential little ice age and dismissing CO2 as a major climate driver. And all of this just before the release of the IPCC's 5AR, no less!
Hat-tip: NTZ reader Arne Garbøl
The August 7 print edition of the Danish Jyllands-Posten, the famous daily that published the "Muhammad caricatures", features a full 2-page article bearing the headline: "The behavior of the sun may trigger a new little ice age" followed by the sub-headline: "Defying all predictions, the globe may be on the road towards a new little ice age with much colder winters."
So now even the once very green Danish media is now spreading the seeds of doubt. So quickly can "settled science" become controversial and hotly disputed. The climate debate is far from over. And when it does end, it looks increasingly as if it'll end in favor of the skeptics.
The JP writes that "many will be startled" by the news that a little ice age is a real possibility. Indeed, western citizens have been conditioned to think that nothing except warming is possible. Few have prepared for any other possibility.
In its latest 2-page report, the JP now appears to tell its readers that our views on climate science have to be much more open minded and unshackled from the chains of dogmatism.
JP starts by reminding readers that it was just over 100 years ago that the world had clawed itself out of the little ice age, which extended from 1400 - 1900, a time when the Thames river often froze over. All paths in determining the cause of the little ice age all seem to converge to a single factor: solar activity.
Comment: Interesting. Two years ago, this happened:
Chile's Atacama Desert hit with record snowfall
Last year this happened:
Record-breaking blizzards and record-breaking flash-flooding in the 'driest, hottest place on Earth' for three years in a row: Man-made global warming in action... or another sign that we're headed into an Ice Age?