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Australia: Tropical Cyclone Carlos hits mining, oil


Agence France-Presse
Tue, 22 Feb 2011 08:01 UTC
Image
© Melissa Taniora
60 homes in Karratha are without power after lines came down in a mini tornado yesterday
A tropical cyclone lashing Australia's northwest mining coast Tuesday damaged dozens of homes and forced the closure of offshore oil rigs and ports handling iron-ore exports, officials said. Tropical Cyclone Carlos, measuring category two on a five-point scale, howled along Western Australia's Pilbara coast, shutting Port Hedland -- the nation's biggest iron-ore terminal -- and halting offshore oil drilling. The companies BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto both have major iron-ore projects in the Pilbara region, and they said the wild weather had also forced the closure of rail and roads.

Woodside Petroleum, Australia's second-largest energy firm, froze production at its Enfield and Cossack Pioneer platforms, while Apache also halted work at its Stag and Van Gogh fields. Mining towns including Karratha and Dampier were on red alert as Carlos battered the coast, bringing heavy rains and winds gusting in excess of 140 kilometres (87 miles) per hour, emergency officials said. "There is a threat to lives and homes. You are in danger and need to act immediately," the Fire and Emergency Services Authority (FESA) warned residents, advising them to shelter in the safest part of their house.
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Cloud Lightning

Snow, torrential rain lash Kashmir Valley

Peerzada Ashiq
Hindustan Times
Tue, 22 Feb 2011 06:20 UTC
Image
© Fayaz Kabli/Reuters
Torrential rains, gusty winds and snowfall on Monday wreaked havoc in several parts in Kashmir and left one BSF porter dead and three security forces personnel injured at a forward post in Gurez.

The rain, which started on Sunday evening, triggered avalanches in several parts of the valley and resulted in shooting stones on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway, leading to its closure for traffic.

"An avalanche struck at a forward post at Kabul Gali, Gurez (in north-east of Srinagar) on the Gurez-Mushkoo-Drass side. A porter died and four others, including three paramilitary BSF men, were injured," Amir Ali, officer on special duty with Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, told the Hindustan Times.
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Attention

India: Heavy Rains Lash Delhi


The Times of India
Sun, 20 Feb 2011 03:58 UTC
It was darkness at noon for the capital on Sunday as heavy rains accompanied by thunder squall lashed the city, taking by surprise Delhiites who were experiencing relatively warmer weather for the past few days.

Several areas of the capital were lashed by rains that started at around 3.20pm and continued for over an hour leading to waterlogging in various stretches. Some parts of the city also experienced hailstorm.

Though the morning was sunny, clouds and darkness descended on the city along with rains, prompting motorists to switch on the headlights of their cars.

Traffic was not affected much due to rains and waterlogging as it was a Sunday and vehicular movement was less on the roads.
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Cloud Lightning

Rains, wind keep mercury down in northern India


MSN News
Mon, 21 Feb 2011 00:00 UTC
Heavy rains accompanied by thunder squall today caught Delhiites unaware, while chilly winds and rains brought down temperature in northern states of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab.

The national capital, where rain led to water-logging in various stretches, received a total of 8.6 mm rainfall in a span of few hours, the MeT office said.

The maximum temperature was recorded at 26.4 deg C, while the minimum settled at 10.3 deg C.

The intense cold wave sweeping Himachal Pradesh continued today with chilly winds blowing across the region.

The minimum temperature dropped to 1.7 deg C and 2.2 deg in capital Shimla and Solan, while Sundernagar, Bhuntar and Dharamsala recorded a low of 4.8 deg C, three deg below normal.

Keylong and Kapla in tribal Lahaul and Spiti and Kinnaur districts recorded minimum temperatures of minus 8.1 deg C and minus 4 deg C.

Day temperature, however, rose to 8 deg C in Keylong, nine degree above normal.

The maximum day temperature dropped by few notches to stay at 11.6 deg C in Shimla, 14.5 deg C in Bhuntar, 16.4 deg C in Dharamsala, 17.4 deg C in Mandi and 17.3 deg C in Solan.
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Igloo

US: Storm Brings Foot of Snow, Ice to the Dakotas


The Dickinson Press
Mon, 21 Feb 2011 06:46 UTC
South Dakota transportation officials on Monday reopened the section of Interstate 90 between Wall and Chamberlain that was closed Sunday due to a winter storm. I-29 between Sioux Falls and the North Dakota border remained closed.

The weekend storm dumped more than a foot of snow as well as freezing rain on parts of the Dakotas. Motorists were advised to use caution or not travel in many areas, including southern North Dakota.
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Bulb

US: Icy Weather Leaves 80,000 Without Power in Ohio


WFMJ
Mon, 21 Feb 2011 09:25 UTC
A mix of rain, sleet and snow that blew across northern Ohio and glazed roads and power lines with ice has left thousands of people in the dark.

First Energy spokesman Mark Durbin says more than 80,000 customers were without power Monday morning. About half of those are in the Toledo area, and the other half are in the Cleveland area.

Durbin says crews are working to fix power lines but it's likely some customers won't have their power restored until Tuesday.
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Bizarro Earth

Flooding Costs South African Farming $392 million


Reuters Africa
Mon, 21 Feb 2011 09:06 UTC
Image
Floods in South Africa have cost the farming sector about 2.8 billion rand in damages, and farmers are hoping for a government bailout, an industry official said on Monday.

Heavy rains, mainly in January, killed more than 100 people and saturated farms in one of Africa's major food producers, leading the government to declare 33 municipalities disaster areas.

"The flood damages around the country run to about 2.8 billion rand, according to our assessments," Johannes Moller, president of Agri SA, told delegates at an agriculture conference.

He said crop losses accounted for 1 billion rand, while infrastructure losses on farms, mostly along the Vaal and Orange rivers, cost farmers about 1.8 billion rand in the Northern Cape, with the remaining 200 million in damages elsewhere in the country.

Moller later told Reuters they were hopeful government would provide financial assistance to get more than 1,000 commercial and emerging farmers back on their feet within 12 months.

"I'm quite hopeful that in the end that government will decide to give financial aid, because that's the only way that we can start rebuilding and do it within one season," he said.
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Igloo

US: More Snow Expected Tonight in Lower Southeast Michigan


The Detroit News
Mon, 21 Feb 2011 19:27 UTC

A day after a winter storm dumped more than 10 inches of snow on Metro Detroit, more white is expected tonight - but in much smaller bursts.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory through 10 p.m. for part of lower southeast Michigan.

As much as 2-3 inches of snow could fall tonight near Monroe, while about half an inch was expected in Detroit, according to the weather service. Overnight lows will dip into the teens.

Highs Tuesday and Wednesday could be in the 20s and 30s.

The next major weather system comes Thursday, when highs are expected to rise near 40 and bring a wintry mix of rain and snow showers.

Early models show much of the heaviest rain could trek south, said Matt Mosteiko, a meteorologist at the NWS station in White Lake Township. "It looks like we'll miss out on the bulk of precipitation."

Sunday's storm caused numerous accidents, snarled traffic, prompted city snow emergencies and knocked out power statewide. Road crews also stepped up efforts to take advantage of the lighter traffic due to Presidents Day.

About 109,000 utility customers were without power today and more than 117,000 had been affected by weather-related outages. Consumers Energy spokesman Tim Pietryga said in a statement that most of the Jackson-based utility's customers without power are in Kalamazoo, Lenawee, Monroe, Hillsdale, Calhoun and Branch counties. DTE Energy Co. said no major outages have been reported.
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Eye 2

Austrialia: Floods bring crocs as boy taken in creek

Mark Schliebs
The Australian
Mon, 21 Feb 2011 15:59 UTC
Evacuees Daly River croc
© Fiona Morrison
Evacuees from the Daly River region at the Batchelor College in Wooliana
About 300 people were evacuated from a flooded and crocodile-infested town in the Northern Territory after the deluge from Cyclone Carlos caused the Daly River to rise to 14.9m.

Authorities estimate nearly every resident of the town of Daly River, located 200km south of Darwin and named after the creek that runs through its centre, had been moved by boat to a school at nearby Woolianna.

The river is expected to remain above 14m for a week. The Northern Territory Emergency Services director, Peter Davies, said buses had started moving people from the school.

"From there, those who don't have anywhere else to go will be taken to Batchelor College," Mr Davies said yesterday.

"We offered people the opportunity to evacuate on Saturday and they said no. But this morning, when the same offer went up, pretty much the whole community wanted to leave."

Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Ashley Patterson said 355mm of rain fell from Thursday to Sunday morning at nearby Mount Nancar.

But just 2mm was recorded yesterday, providing psychological relief for locals -- despite the river height nearing 15m last night.
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Cloud Lightning

Pakistan: Rain, snow disrupts life in Quetta, Ziarat


On Line News Pakistan
Sat, 19 Feb 2011 17:19 UTC
Image
© Google Maps
Quetta, Pakistan
Quetta: Rain has been pouring off and on in Quetta and nearby regions whereas snowfall was recorded in Ziarat closing road links between Quetta and Chaman and Ziarat-Sanjawi.

Quetta, Bustan, Pishin, Yawar, Qila Abdullah, Khanozai, Kan Mehtarzai, Mustang, and several other regions received heavy rains. As a result most of the places were flooded with rain water.

Ziarat has been hit with snowfall since last night and 5 inches of snow has been recorded so far. According to the Meteorological Department of Pakistan there is a prediction of rain in the next 24 hours. The weather will remain cold and dry in other parts of the region.
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