Storms
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Snowflake

Newfoundland rings in 2019 with up to 58 cm (22 inches) of snow

Daksha Rangan
The Weather Network
Thu, 03 Jan 2019 20:26 UTC
snow newfound land
© Todd G. Baker
Many across Newfoundland welcomed the new year with a shovel in hand, as a potent winter storm delivered a wide range of 20 to 50 cm of snow.

By the time the snow tapered off Wednesday night, Gander had seen 58 cm of snow, while St. John's reached 43 cm.

For those in Gander, this blizzard event rivals the town's current record for the most snow seen in a single day: a whopping 58.6 cm, which fell on March 18, 1993.

Powerful winds accompanied the winter weather, as gusts between 90 and 130 km/h hit areas along the northeast and south coasts.

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Cloud Precipitation

Death toll in Philippines floods, landslides rises to at least 122 (UPDATE)


Al Jazeera
Mon, 31 Dec 2018 10:48 UTC
A destroyed house after a tropical depression
© Robert BalidoyA destroyed house after a tropical depression hit Daet, in Camarines Norte
Authorities warn number of victims to increase as thousands are forced from their homes by the bad weather.

The death toll from flash floods and landslides caused by torrential rains due to a tropical depression in the eastern Philippines has jumped to at least 68, officials have said, warning that the number of fatalities will climb even higher.

Fifty-seven of the victims were reported in the eastern region of Bicol, located south of the main island of Luzon, civil defence officials said on Monday. Eleven others died in the nearby region of Eastern Visayas.

Twelve people were also injured in various accidents in the two regions most affected by the rains even days before the tropical depression - known locally as Usman - made landfall in Eastern Samar province on Saturday.


Comment: Update:The Philippine Star on January 3 reports:
The death toll from Tropical Depression Usman in Bicol, the Visayas and Southern Tagalog has reached 87, with 20 others missing, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported yesterday.

NDRRMC spokesman Edgar Posadas said the figures are still subject to validation by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)'s Management of the Dead and the Missing (MDM).

Posadas said Usman also directly affected 45,348 families or 191,597 people from 457 barangays in Bicol, Eastern Samar and the Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon (Calabarzon) region, as well as in Mindoro-Marinduque-Romblon-Palawan (Mimaropa).

Vice President Leni Robredo visits Barangay
Vice President Leni Robredo visits Barangay Patitinan in Sagñay, Camarines Sur yesterday to check the extent of damage in the area following a landslide.

Update: The Gulf Today on January 3
reports:
The death toll from landslides and floods in the eastern Philippines has climbed to 122 as emergency teams reach isolated areas and recover more bodies, officials said Thursday.

According to the Deutsche Presse-Agentur, DPA, quoted civil defence and disaster risk reduction officials as saying that nearly 30 people were still reported missing in the affected areas in the eastern regions of Bicol and Eastern Visayas.

The tropical depression was the last and deadliest cyclone to hit the Philippines in 2018. Previously, Typhoon Mangkhut was considered the deadliest, killing more than 80 people in September.

Nearly 25,000 people were displaced by the landslides and floods, the national disaster risk reduction office said.

flood


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Cloud Precipitation

2018 was wettest year on record in over 2 dozen cities in the East, Midwest, including Washington D.C. and Pittsburgh

Jonathan Erdman
The Weather Channel
Mon, 31 Dec 2018 20:26 UTC
Statewide ranks of January-through-November precipitation in 2018. States shaded in dark green had the wettest first 11 months of any year in records dating to 1895.
© NOAA/NCEStatewide ranks of January-through-November precipitation in 2018. States shaded in dark green had the wettest first 11 months of any year in records dating to 1895.
Over two dozen cities in the East and Midwest had their wettest year on record in 2018, stretching from North Carolina to South Dakota.

On Dec. 15, Reagan National Airport's year-to-date precipitation total eclipsed the previous record-wet year in the nation's capital, which had stood for 129 years, since Benjamin Harrison took office as president.

After topping the record, they would tack on almost 5 inches of additional rain in the latter half of December.

Washington D.C. set a record-wet November, fifth-wettest September, fourth-wettest July and sixth-wettest May, according to National Weather Service records dating to 1871. Only January, March and October were drier than average in 2018 in the nation's capital.

Comment: See also: Record rainfall was the story of 2018 weather in West Virginia

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Cloud Precipitation

Record rainfall was the story of 2018 weather in West Virginia

Jake Flatley
Metro News
Tue, 01 Jan 2019 20:16 UTC
RAINFALL
Fans of rain certainly enjoyed 2018 in West Virginia.

Record-breaking rainfall was the story of the year in the state weather wise.

"This year has been unusually wet," Andy Chilian, WSAZ Meteorologist, said. "For example for Charleston, this is the wettest year on record. And the records go back in the late 1890s."

Chilian said Charleston broke its 2003 record of 61 inches of rain by more than five inches. Yeager Airport in the capital city measured 66.56 inches of rain on the final day of the calendar year.

2018 broke the yearly record for rainfall for a lot of places in the state while one month broke the monthly record.

Comment: See also: 2018 was wettest year on record in over 2 dozen cities in the East, Midwest, including Washington D.C. and Pittsburgh

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Windsock

Finland hit by record gusts as winter storm causes large power outages

Kati Pohjanpalo
Bloomberg
Wed, 02 Jan 2019 06:43 UTC
Finland storm
© LehtikuvaA fallen power line in Vaasa, where weather conditions were particularly strong
A winter storm ripping through the Nordic region has brought record winds and cut power to tens of thousands of homes in Finland.

Gusts of 41.6 meters per second (93 miles per hour) and average wind speed of 32.5 meters per second were measured on the Baltic Sea, according to the Finnish Meteorological Institute. That's the highest ever recorded in Finland. As many as 94,000 homes are without power.

Record-high waves caused cancellations of some passenger ferry services between Finland and Sweden, and there were disruptions on railways as trees fell on tracks.

Comment: Major storm batters N. Europe - At least 6 killed, 16 injured in Denmark train accident

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Windsock

Major storm batters N. Europe - At least 6 killed, 16 injured in Denmark train accident


RT
Wed, 02 Jan 2019 09:13 UTC
Denmark train crash
© Reuters / Ritzau Scanpix /Tim K. Jensen
More than 20 people were killed or injured in a train accident at the Great Belt Bridge in Denmark, which links the country's central islands. The tragedy came amid a strong storm which is ravaging Northern Europe.

The accident was likely caused by extremely strong winds, as the passenger train was hit by debris from an oncoming freight train, authorities said. The trains were traveling over the Great Belt Bridge, which links two of Denmark's major islands - Zealand and Funen.

Photos from the scene show a passenger train stopped on the bridge, as well as a freight train. The latter carried a number of semi-trailers, many of which appear to be severely damaged.

The semi-trailers apparently partially spilled their cargo - beverages in crates.

The extent of damage sustained by the passenger train remains unclear. The incident has prompted closure of the bridge for both train and road vehicle traffic.

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Tornado2

Waterspout appears over Encinitas, California

Alexander Nguyen
nbcchicago.com
Tue, 01 Jan 2019 11:53 UTC
waterspout
A funnel cloud developed over the Encinitas-Carlsbad area Monday afternoon as a result of a heavy rain cloud that moved into the area, according to the National Weather Service.

The funnel cloud appeared to a continuation of a weak waterspout that was spotted over in Carlsbad and dissipated as the rain cloud moved further inland, according to the NWS.

The funnel cloud was first reported around 2:20 p.m. and lasted about 15 minutes, NWS meteorologist Bruno Rodriguez said.

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Tornado2

Waterspout off Cyprus caught on camera


Cyprus Best Weekly Edition
Wed, 02 Jan 2019 11:33 UTC
waterspout
A waterspout caught the attention of local weather enthusiasts in Kyrenia on Tuesday.

Videos of the natural phenomenon became viral.
Kyrenia today! 1 January 2019. #Cyprus #Cyclones #kyrenia pic.twitter.com/Z11ezFf560

— Kemal Baykalli (@KemalBaykalli) January 1, 2019
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Snowflake Cold

China on blizzard alert as cold snap spreads


The Straits Times
Tue, 01 Jan 2019 18:28 UTC
The snow-covered Shanshan wetland in Wuhan, Hubei province, on Sunday. Public transport in parts of China has been suspended as snowstorms hit.
© REUTERSThe snow-covered Shanshan wetland in Wuhan, Hubei province, on Sunday. Public transport in parts of China has been suspended as snowstorms hit.
China has issued a blizzard alert as temperatures around the country plunged, shutting down train lines and bus routes, and grounding some flights.

The National Meteorological Centre issued a Code Blue alert, with heavy snowstorms closing in on regions in the eastern and southern provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Anhui and Hunan.

China has a four-tier colour-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe, followed by orange, yellow and blue.


Comment: See also this report from 2 days earlier: Heavy snow wreaks havoc in central, eastern China

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Info

Ice Age Farmer Report: Grand Solar Minimum 2019: What to expect


Ice Age Farmer
Mon, 31 Dec 2018 20:50 UTC
winter storm diego
© Stephanie Klein-Davis /The Roanoke Times via APJohn Woodrum, shovels his car on Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018, in Roanoke, Va. A massive storm brought snow, sleet, and freezing rain across a wide swath of the South on Sunday — causing dangerously icy roads, immobilizing snowfalls and power losses to hundreds of thousands of people.
2018 has been a hell of a year, and 2019 promises to be even more "fun." What can we expect? Christian breaks it down, from the geophysical to the geopolitical, in this Ice Age Farmer special edition.


Sources
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