Storms
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Snowflake

Ukraine's death toll from cold spell reaches 151

In most cases, people died because they were under the influence of alcohol, which increases the risk of hypothermia
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© Anatolii Stepanov/ReutersPeople spend time in a snow-covered park in Kiev Feb. 16, 2012.
Kiev - Health officials say 151 people have died in the Ukraine during Eastern Europe's record-breaking cold spell, with alcohol regularly a contributing factor. The health ministry said Thursday that nearly 4,000 others have been hospitalized with hypothermia and frostbite.

Emergency officials say in 90 percent of cases, people died because they were under the influence of alcohol, which increases the risk of hypothermia and generally decreases a person's ability to feel and respond to the cold. The cold spell has prompted authorities to close nurseries, schools and colleges across the country. Heavy snowfalls have also caused power outages and trapped hundreds of vehicles on motorways in southern Ukraine, as well as several ships in the Sea of Azov.

Igloo

US: Hurricane-Force Storm Smacks Alaska

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© NOAAA hurricane-force storm hits Alaska on Feb. 14, 2012
Alaska's wild winter has been relentless, with yet another hurricane-strength blizzard smacking the state yesterday (Feb. 14).

The lower 48 states have had an unusually mild winter, but Alaska has been buried under snow and shivering in frigid temperatures.

Temperatures in some towns have dipped to a whopping 30 degrees below average for this time of year. So much snow had fallen in the town of Cordova in January that Alaska's National Guard had to help dig residents out. The tiny village of Nome needed an emergency shipment of fuel after its final shipment for the winter was blown off course by another fierce storm.

A climate pattern known as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation is influencing this wicked winter, as it tends to keep Alaska cooler than normal. La Niña, a cooling of the waters of the equatorial Pacific, has also been in play, and it also typically creates colder temperatures for Alaska.

Cloud Lightning

Cyclone Giovanna pummels Madagascar, kills one

Power cut off in major towns; authorities tell drivers to stay off roads

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© NASATropical Storm 12S built up steam and became a cyclone on February 10, 2012 as NASA's Terra satellite passed overhead.
Antananarivo, Madagascar - A category 4 cyclone pummelled Madagascar's eastern shores on Tuesday, killing at least one person and causing power shutdowns in some major towns, the authorities said.

In the eastern port city of Tamatave, schools and offices were closed for a second day as heavy rains and powerful gusts lashed the seaboard after Cyclone Giovanna hit the island.

"One person died in Brickaville after an electricity pole fell on her," Alain Mahavimbina, the top official in Antsinanana, told Reuters.

Madagascar is prone to cyclones and tropical storms, especially in the rainy season, from February to May. In 2008, Cyclone Ivan smashed Madagascar, killing more than 80 people and leaving over 200,000 homeless.

"Tamatave is like a ghost town," resident Joel Milamaro told Reuters. "The roads are deserted."

Snowflake

Emergency food flown into stranded European towns

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© Vladimir Gogic/APA Serbian police helicopter delivers food to sailors stuck on stranded boats on the Danube river near Smederevo, Serbia, on Monday, Feb. 13.
Bucharest, Romania - Military planes and police helicopters flew in tons of emergency food to snowbound villages and ships in the Balkans on Monday, after blizzards so fierce that some people had to cut tunnels through 15 feet (4 meters) of snow to get out of their homes.

Since the end of January, Eastern Europe has been pummeled by a record-breaking cold snap and the heaviest snowfall in recent memory. Hundreds of people, many of them homeless, have died in the bitter cold and tens of thousands have been trapped by blocked roads inside homes with little heat.

Authorities declared a state of emergency Monday in eastern Romania, where 6,000 people have been cut off for days. About a dozen major roads were closed, 300 trains canceled and more than 1,000 schools shut down.

In addition to the flights, the defense ministry also sent 8,000 soldiers out clearing roads across Romania and helping those trapped by the overwhelming snow.

Emergency officials in Serbia used helicopters to deliver food and evacuate sailors stuck on icebound boats on the Danube river near the town of Smederevo. They also resupplied a Danube island near Pancevo, north of the capital of Belgrade.

Snowflake

Snow Piled 10 Metres High Along Japanese Road


We've dodged much of winter's wrath in Canada with higher than normal temperatures and smaller amounts of snow this year. The same can't be said for other parts of the world.

A cold snap returned to Japan this week bringing blizzards and creating record snow piles in some areas. The city of Niigata in central Japan has already seen 13 feet of snow and the weather agency is predicting up to 25 additional inches over the next few days, reports WFMY News. The village of Okura has received more than 10 feet of the white stuff and the Hokuriku area received three feet in less than 24 hours.

It is no wonder this road in Japan has massive snow walls on both sides. The video below shows footage from a bus travelling up the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route. Snow is as high as 10 metres above the road in some spots.

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Igloo

Europe: Snow blocks in tens of thousands as cold death toll rises

A man walks between cars covered with snow in Podgorica.
© AFP/Savo PrelevicA man walks between cars covered with snow in Podgorica.
Snow drifts reaching up to rooftops kept tens of thousands of villagers prisoners in their own homes Saturday as the death toll from Europe's big freeze rose past 550.

More heavy snow fell on the Balkans and in Italy, while the Danube river, already closed to shipping for hundreds of kilometres (miles) because of thick ice, froze over in Bulgaria for the first time in 27 years.

Montenegro's capital of Podgorica was brought to a standstill by snow 50 centimetres (20 inches) deep, a 50-year record, closing the city's airport and halting rail services to Serbia because of an avalanche.

Eight more people were reported to have died in Romania, taking the toll for the country to 65, three in Serbia, one in the Czech Republic and one in Austria.

Polish fire brigade spokesman Pawel Fratcak said Saturday that defective heating had triggered a spate of deadly blazes in houses and apartments, with eight people killed on Friday night and three the night before.

Snowflake

Afghanistan Hit with Heaviest Snows in 15 Years

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More than 20 children have recently died due to the cold weather in Kabul which the Afghan capital has been experiencing its worst cold-snap and heaviest snows in at least 15 years, the National Weather Center said Wednesday. According to an Afghan based TV channel, some of the internally displaced people of the country warn that cold weather may claim more lives. Lack of food and firewood is said to be their main problems in the winter.

This year's severe cold weather has raised concerns among the Afghan population, especially the displaced families. "In this winter, eight children, three old men and women have so far lost their lives," one of the displaced people said. "We cannot pass the winter by burning plastic, paper and pieces of clothes. We really need help.""Living under these tents is very difficult," said another displaced person. "Life is difficult when you don't have anything to eat or burn."The families living under the tents in Kabul are badly in need of help and most of them may perish if not helped."We ask everyone to help these needy families, they can help one family and protect them from cold weather," Head of the Afghan Red Crescent, Fatima Gilani said.

The Afghan Ministry of Refugees and Returnees rejects reports about the death of 20 children due to severe cold in Kabul, a spokesman for the Ministry, Salamuddin Jurat said on Tuesday.The refugees living under the tents have not faced any kinds of losses so far, he added. "The reports are baseless and untrue," the spokesman said.Meanwhile, the Afghan Ministry of Public Health confirms the deaths due to the severe cold in Kabul."Because the cold weather was unprecedented and they were living under the tents, they died before arriving to our health facility during last month," Spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health, Ghulam Sakhi Kargar told the channel.

There are currently more than 30,000 poor families living under tents in Kabul. There reports of high level of maternity deaths in these camps with 144 out of 1,000 children under five years of age.This comes as the recent avalanches in Badakhshan province claimed lives of more than 40 people.Several houses have reportedly been destroyed in these avalanches. Several routes in Badakhshan, Ghor and Daikundi provinces have been closed due to heavy snow falls.

Igloo

Snow to return as freezing temperatures split Britain

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© ReutersForecasters warned that travelling conditions would remain "difficult" across much of Britain as many parts still recover from the weekend's snowfalls.
Snow is set to return to much of southern Britain by Thursday as the country battles with freezing weather and transport chaos.

On Thursday much of the south, including Heathrow airport, which was ground to a halt at the weekend, will be hit by a mixture of potentially treacherous snow, sleet and rain.

Temperatures throughout southern areas expected to remain close to freezing. The north will remain significantly warmer with temperatures as high as 8C.

The Met Office said overnight temperatures in some areas could fall to as low as -13C. It remains unclear how much snow will fall, as an Atlantic weather system pushes across the country from the west.

Cloud Lightning

Australia Flooded New South Wales towns face weeks of isolation

NSW Australia floods
Many properties, such as this one near Wee Waa, could remain isolated for weeks.
Thousands of people in northern New South Wales are facing weeks of isolation, as record floodwaters from Queensland cross the border into already swollen waterways.

The State Emergency Services says about 7,000 people are currently isolated around the state, including 2,000 at Wee Waa.

Around 1,700 people in Walgett could be stranded for up to a fortnight, while several hundred people living in Goodooga may be cut off for as long as eight weeks.

The towns of Lightning Ridge, Mundindi, Collarenebri and Bourke are also likely to be affected, along with many farms.

SES spokesman Phil Campbell says communities are stocking up and there will be helicopter support to fly in more supplies to the thousands who are stranded.

Cloud Lightning

Mass evacuation in Australia as flood waters rise

Flood waters rose Monday in parts of Queensland but residents of a threatened town in the Australian state were thrown a lifeline with news that the levee on a swollen river might hold.

Thousands of Australians have been forced to abandon their homes as a record deluge sweeps through areas still reeling from last year's devastating flooding, with St George, in Queensland's south, under most threat Monday.
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© AFP
Many of its residents fled Sunday evening to evacuation centres in nearby Dalby or the state capital Brisbane, although some 400 stayed to help limit the damage despite a mandatory evacuation order.

Local mayor Donna Stewart said the Balonne River in St George, flooding for the third time in less than two years, had reached 13.48 metres (44 feet) and was expected to keep rising until at least Tuesday night.