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Extreme Temperatures

Igloo

Coldest snap in five years to hit Australia with predicted snow and hail

Sydney
© Getty Images

Sydneysiders could expect an average maximum temperature of 59F (15C) for four days – a two year record.
Temperatures will drop to freezing on much of Australia's east coast this weekend in what could be the region's bitterest cold snap in five years.

Strong cold winds, rain, snow and hail were expected to batter the nation's south-east for days.

Sydneysiders could expect an average maximum temperature of 59F (15C) for four days - a two year record.

And temperatures across the region were expected to drop three to seven degrees below average for up to five days, according to Weatherzone.

The NSW Bureau of Meteorology warned of a burst of cold weather caused by a series of cold fronts set to move through the state on Friday and continue over the weekend.

Snow was expected at higher elevations overnight on Thursday.

Ice Cube

Almost 50% of Hudson Bay still covered in ice

Image
There is still a lot of sea ice in Hudson Bay, Foxe Basin, Davis Strait and Baffin Bay this week - more than average for this date - with slightly less than average in the Beaufort Sea. Past behaviour of Western and Southern Hudson Bay polar bears suggests the mean date that bears come ashore for the summer this year will be later than average due to the plentiful ice available, regardless of when polar bear biologists decide that "breakup" has occurred.

Hudson Bay, with almost 50% of the bay still covered in ice, has the third highest coverage this week since 1992 (after 2009 and 2004); Davis Strait has the highest coverage since 1992; and Foxe Basin and Baffin Bay have the highest coverage since 1998. For this week, the Beaufort Sea this week has the second highest coverage since 2006 (after 2013), and more ice than was present in 1971, 1982, 1987, 1988 and 1998 - among others.

Snowflake

2,000 alpacas killed by snowstorm in Peru

Image
© Correo Puno
Alpacas
Although data of the losses caused by the snowstorm last weekend are still being consolidated, regional deputy manager and head of the Civil Defense Operations Center Regional Emergency (COER), German Chaiña Quispe gave some preliminary scope.

He said that eight provinces received snowfall, with the hardest hit being San Antonio de Putina, Carabaya and Sandia.

Snow killed more than two thousand alpacas in Puno, while more than 2000 families and 73 thousand animals were harmed in the town of Ananea.

He added that the other affected districts are Quilcapunyo, Putina and Sina.

Thanks to Argiris Diamantis for this link

Snowflake Cold

Shanghai, China records lowest July temperature in 145 years

Shanghai cold
© IC
Shanghai records the lowest temperature in July in 145 years, July 6, 2015.
Shanghai recorded its lowest temperature in 145 years on July 6, with the mercury dipping to 17.3 degree Celsius, close to the historic maximum temperature of 15.9 degree Celsius on July 2, 1876, according to wenhui.news365.com.cn.

The day's high was 21.2 degree Celsius, paralleling with that on July 6, 1903, and the average temperature was 18.9 degree Celsius, making it the lowest average temperature in July in 142 years since 1873.

Meteorologist Zhang Ruiyi said the record low temperature is a result of days of rains under cold air mass as the city is in the middle of the monsoon season.

The weather is expected to get cooler as three typhoons are approaching coastal China, which may bring gales and rainstorms to an already flooded coastal parts of China.

Sun

Bone dry and heat records fall as US West bakes under record heat

US heatwave
© AP Photo/Don Ryan
Children play in the Salmon Street Springs fountain in Portland, Ore., Wednesday, July 1, 2015.
From Seattle to Salt Lake City, the West is baking under record heat. Temperatures reaching the triple digits have made fire conditions extreme and sent folks looking for relief heading into the Fourth of July weekend. Unfortunately, the forecast in many areas calls for more sun and sweat.

WASHINGTON

Seattle, not accustomed to prolonged hot weather, saw its hottest June ever.

The average high temperature each day in June was a record 78.9 degrees, breaking the 1992 record by more than 3 degrees, said Johnny Burg, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Seattle.

"Our high is supposed to be in the low to mid 70s at this time and lows in the mid-50s," he said.

Instead, the Seattle area is seeing highs in the 80s and lows in the 60s.

Because the Seattle area suffers few heat waves, many people do not have air conditioning.

The weather was also dry in the Seattle area in June, when only 0.23 inch of precipitation was recorded. That's the fourth driest June on record.

Comment: While the west coast of the US bakes and is bone dry, Europe is experiencing a heat wave of their own with all time record temperatures. At the same time it is snowing in parts of Russia! You can't get much more extreme than that. It is as if the earth is responding with extremes as the human activity heats up. For more on the theory that human activity has an impact on how the universe interacts in kind with humanity read Earth Changes and the Human-Cosmic Connection.


Sun

Sizzling! Germany breaks national heat record at 40.3 degrees

thermometer
Germany has broken the national record for the highest recorded temperature due to Europe's weekend heat wave on Saturday and Sunday.

The thermometer in Kitzingen in the southern state of Bavaria read 40.3 degrees Sunday, breaking the 2003 record by 0.1 degrees, the German Weather Service said. It was the highest temperature Germany has experienced since the start of record-keeping in 1881.

Weather service spokesman Uwe Kirsche said Monday that the record will not be official until technicians have manually checked the station.

But he says "we assume that our equipment worked properly."

Snowflake

Snowstorm in Summer? Russian town of Vorkuta hit by July blizzard

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Snow in Vorkuta
Whereas many cities feel oppressed with the heat and the bright summer sun, this Russian town would gladly receive some more sunlight instead of snow.

The Russian town of Vorkuta saw a strange but nevertheless mesmerizing combination of green trees and white snow in the middle of summer.



Comment: Snow in Summer? Other regions that have experienced unusual snowfalls this Summer include Norway, which had 5 times more snow in June than normal, and "unprecedented" snowfalls on Scottish mountains.


Sun

London breaks U.K. July heat record; long-lasting Europe heat wave expands

Europe heat wave
© The Weather Channel
While record-smashing heat is searing the Northwest United States and southwest Canada, a European heat wave is smashing monthly records, becoming more widespread in Europe, and may last in some areas into next week.

Wednesday afternoon, the temperature at London's Heathrow Airport skyrocketed to 36.7 degrees Celsius -- 98.1 degrees Fahrenheit -- a July heat record not only there but for anywhere in the U.K., according to the U.K. Met Office.

The previous U.K. July heat record was set almost nine years ago -- 36.5 degrees C in Wisley on July 19, 2006. It was also the hottest day in Wimbledon history, topping the previous record of 34.6 degrees C on June 26, 1976.

Paris, France saw its temperature soar to 39.7 degrees Celsius -- 103.5 degrees Fahrenheit -- Wednesday. This is the second hottest reading there dating to 1873, according to Météo-France.

Parts of Belgium and The Netherlands also sweltered in 35-degree Celsius -- 95 degrees Fahrenheit -- heat Wednesday.

Sun

Record breaking heatwave envelopes Central Asia

heatwave
© unknown
Turkmenistan reported its hottest June on record Wednesday, as a heat wave envelops former Soviet Central Asia.

"June 2015 was the hottest June since 1891 when records began. Daytime temperatures exceeded 40 degrees Celsius in the shade 16 times," a spokeswoman at Turkmenistan's state meteorological service in the capital Ashgabat told AFP Wednesday.

She noted that Tuesday, when temperatures reached 47.2 degrees celsius, was the hottest June day in Ashgabat in the recorded history of the energy-rich country.

Fire

Record temperatures, field fires destroying crops in France

heatwave france, europe 2015

High temperatures projected for Europe on July 2, 2015 by the ECMWF computer model.
Fires linked to hot, dry weather are disrupting the early stages of this year's grain harvest in France, the European Union's top producer, destroying hundreds of hectares and triggering fire prevention measures in some areas.

Wednesday saw record temperatures for the time of year either side of 40 degrees Celsius in several parts of the country as a heatwave intensified, adding stress on crops in central and northern France that faced a dry spell this spring.

Fires can be sparked by combine harvesters and quickly burn crops as well as the straw left after crops are cut.

In the Eure-et-Loir administrative department, which covers part of the Beauce plain that is one of France's biggest grain belts, local authorities on Wednesday ordered farmers to plough 10-metre-wide borders around fields to prevent fires spreading.