Weather chaos around the globe

This is the question posed by the Extinction Protocol

Russia: record snow, Sydney: record heat. Is the magnetic field reversal throwing the planet’s weather into chaos?

And some examples....

Wild Weather Strikes Across the Globe

SNOW AND ICE HIT SOUTHEAST US, LONDON, WHILE AUSTRALIA BAKES IN HEAT

Newser

18 January, 2012 

It was a wild day for weather around much of the world today, as snow hit the southeastern United States and Britain while record heat baked Australia. In Virginia, 13 inches of snow hit some areas, while in Mississippi two to four inches fell in places, reports the AP. At least one car accident death was attributed to the weather, and thousands lost power. Meanwhile in Britain, snow and ice closed one Heathrow Airport runway for 45 minutes and caused 180 flights to be canceled. Up to 12 inches of snow are expected in some areas around London today, according to the AP.

Down under, however, much of Australia baked today. The temperature reached 114.4 degrees Fahrenheit in Sydney, breaking the old record of 113.5 set in 1939, reports AFP. Just west of the city in Penrith, the mercury climbed even higher to nearly 116. What's being called a "dome of heat" over the country's outback center is creating a heat wave over 70% of Australia. "The length, extent, and severity of the current heat wave are unprecedented in the measurement record," said a government climate change report.

Rain, snowfall hit normal life in north India

Hindustan Times

18 January, 2013

The skies opened up over northern India on Friday as rain and snowfall lashed the region, throwing normal life out of gear, especially in the hill states of Jammu and Kashmir, and Himachal Pradesh.

New Delhi was in for a bout of inclement weather as rain and hailstorm lashed the national capital overnight, picking up pace on Friday morning.

According to the MeT department, the 33.5 mm rainfall in the national capital over the last 36 hours brought the maximum temperature down to 16.4 degrees Celsius, four notches below normal.

At 8:30 AM on Friday, the city had received 21 mm rainfall in 24 hours to better the record of 15.6mm rain measured in January 2003.

The downpour and hailstorm left many parts of the city reeling under water-logging and traffic snarls. Vehicular movement was affected in several areas like ITO, Vikas Marg and South Extension while many parts of the city were left without power supply.

The weatherman has predicted mainly clear skies for Saturday with fog in the morning.

Further north, heavy snowfall affected normal life in Kashmir which was cut off from the rest of the country with the Srinagar-Jammu national highway closed and air traffic suspended.

Snowfall, which began on Thursday, has resulted in snapping of electricity and water supply in many areas of the Valley, official sources said.

An official of the disaster management cell said that the ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir received the highest snowfall in the state with an accumulation of three feet of fresh snow.

Himachal Pradesh, too, was hard hit by rains and snowfall which continued for the third day on Friday with many areas in the state cut off in the rough weather.

State capital Shimla recorded 45cm of snow while Manali, Narkanda, Fagu, Khara Patthar and other tourist resorts in the higher reaches had received between 65cm to 90cm of snow till Friday afternoon.

The Hindustan-Tibet national highway was closed while traffic to Rampur was being routed via Basantpur-Kingal road.

Power supply was disrupted in Kullu, Manali and Lahaul and Spiti where people have been advised to stay indoors in view of an avalanche threat.

In Uttarakhand, popular tourist resorts of Mussoorie and Dhanolti, too, received snowfall even as heavy rains accompanied by strong winds and hailstorms lashed the plains of the state to cause a drop in temperatures.

There was rain in the plains as well, with light to moderate showers in various parts of Punjab and Haryana even as they saw the mercury rise by up to eight notches above normal.

Chandigarh, which received 28.4mm rainfall, experienced a low of 11.5 degrees Celsius, up five notches above normal while Ambala, in Haryana, was close at 11.4 degrees Celsius after getting 30mm rainfall.

Light to moderate thundershowers occurred at many places in western Uttar Pradesh and in some eastern pockets of the state as well.

Night temperatures rose across UP over the past 24 hours with the MeT office saying that rain and thundershowers were likely on Saturday. It added that there was also a possibility of hailstorm at some places.

In Rajasthan, light to moderate showers accompanied by hailstorm lashed parts of the state where Jodhpur has recorded 32.6mm rainfall since Thursday.

The MeT office here said that the rainfall, which has been triggered by western disturbance, would continue for another 24 hours.


and no snow in Berlin either....

'Incredible:' Another snowless record on tap for Chicago

Chicago Herald

18 January, 2013

Whether you like it or not, we will officially break another record for no snow today, according to the National Weather Service.

"It's pretty incredible," said NWS meteorologist Gino Izzi. "It's the middle of January and there's no snow on the ground. Dallas, Texas has had more snow than us."

Izzi said the last time we have gone this far into the season without a 1-inch calendar day of snowfall was Jan. 17, 1899. If we get no snow today -- and there is none in the forecast through the weekend -- it's a record.

Additionally, it's been 326 days and counting since we've had a 1-inch snow cover on the ground. That record was officially broken nine days ago, according to Izzi.

"If you think about it, we're just a little over a month away from basically going an entire year without snow in Chicago," Izzi said.

Izzi attributes the lack of snow, in part, to luck.

"Some of it has just been luck but there have been some pretty good storms that have missed us," he said.

While snowfall is not in the stars for the area, very cold temperatures are.

"We're watching a little system Sunday night that will bring a really, really intense cold snap – the coldest we've been in nearly two years," Izzi said.

Highs will "struggle" to reach the teens by Monday into Tuesday.

"We could have lows not very far from zero," Izzi said.

The Illinois Tollway will launch its Zero Weather Road Patrols this weekend to assist drivers stranded in their cars during times of extreme cold.

The tollway anticipates activating Zero Patrols overnight Saturday and into the day Monday, until the temperature and/or wind chill rises above zero, according to a tollway release.