Weather Around the Globa - 02/5/2014

5 February 2014: South America – Severe Weather, Volcano

Relief Web,

5 February, 2014

Argentina: Heavy rainfall resulted in house collapses and a significant number of others severely affected, in the municipality of San Pedro, Buenos Aires province. The main highway Rosario-Buenos Aires was interrupted, and so were many other roads. In the next 48h, rain and thunderstorms may still affect most of the province. (ECHO,SMN)

Bolivia: Heavy rainfall and consequent floods and river overflows have affected a total of 37 600 families in all nine departments of Bolivia and killed 31 people countrywide. Worst affected are the departments of Beni, Cochabamba, La Paz and Chuquisaca.

As of 4 February, evacuations were ongoing in three municipalities in Beni and two in La Paz. Rainfall will continue affecting the country for the next 72h. (ECHO, SENAMHI)

Peru: Heavy rainfall caused river overflows, floods and landslides in southern Peru. In the department of Madre de Dios, several districts in the provinces of Tambopata, Manu and Tahuamanu have declared a State of Emergency, since 3 000 people have lost their houses to the floods. Shelters are being established, in order to continue evacuations. Heavy rainfall is forecasted to continue, which pose further risk of river overflowing. In the departments Cuzco, Puno, Apurimac and Pasco, several houses have collapsed due to landslides triggered by rain and roads have become impassable, affecting thousands of people. (ECHO, SENAMHI)

Ecuador: Tungurahua volcano continues its eruptive process, forcing the authorities to raise the Alert level to Orange for the provinces of Tungurahua and Chimborazo, on 1 February. On 4 February, the volcano emitted ash columns which reached 3km in height. On 3 February, agricultural assistance was delivered by the Ministry of Agruculture. (National Civil Protection, Local Media)

“Europe rolled crap in the Climate Casino this week.”

Gale force winds, high seas and heavy rain have prompted a number of weather warnings in Europe, including top-levewl red alert in Spain and amber alerts in France, Italy and Portugal for coastal events, and in UK for winds and rain. Click on the affected area on www.meteoalarm.eu to stay up to date and stay safe

Snowstorm disaster in Slovenia

Slovenia, snowstorms have caused enormous damage to the extent that the state of natural disaster proved. Half of the country's forests have been damaged by freezing rain and completely frozen landscape. Trees and power lines like giant ice. This video was filmed in the town of Postojna in southwestern Slovenia.


Winter storm brings snow, cold temps to New Mexico

Australia: Queensland warned of mosquito plague

South-east Queensland residents are being warned of a mosquito plague with recent flooding and high tides setting off a breeding season.

In Australia, that's saying something!

Cloncurry: A town in the Queensland outback that is so dry it may have to be abandoned

After two rainless years, an Australian mayor sees moving everyone out as a final possibility

the Independent,

5 February, 2014

They breed them tough in outback Queensland, where residents of one small town gripped by drought are contemplating radical measures should their water supplies run out: a mass evacuation.

Cloncurry, population 3,000, has had next to no rain for the past two years. Already restricted to using water only for the bare essentials of bathing and cooking, locals may soon have to resort to the “third world” option – as the local mayor, Andrew Daniels, calls it – of boiling bore water to drink.

And after that, depending on the state of the bores, they may have no other choice but to move out en masse. “It’s an extreme move. It’s the final straw,” Mr Daniels said. “But people are really thinking about the dire position we’re in. It’s a very, very dire time for the bush.”

This is monsoon season, when the rivers should be surging and the dams overflowing, thanks to heavy rain brought by tropical cyclones. But while some areas have welcomed downpours, the rain has bypassed Cloncurry, situated 500 miles from the north Queensland coast, more or less in the middle of nowhere.

Outback Queensland is like a dustbowl at present, with more than two-thirds of the state officially in drought. The big dry is exacting a heavy toll, particularly on those who live off the land.

Timmy Maxham, manager of the Gidgee Inn in Cloncurry, told ABC radio: “I know that a lot of farmers are quite desperate – they’ve had quite a few suicides recently. I heard a story last week of a grazier who had to shoot 100 cattle, and then he shot himself. It’s really tough.”

Mr Daniels said that evacuation was part of an emergency plan being developed by the town council in response to dwindling water supplies. In the past, Cloncurry has brought water in by rail from its nearest neighbour, Mount Isa, 65 miles to the west.

However, that is not an option this time: the reservoir from which Mount Isa, a mining town, draws its water is barely 20 per cent full, according to the local MP, Robbie Katter, and it, too, is contemplating shipping residents out. “We have to talk about the worst-case scenarios,” Mr Katter said.

Cloncurry, too, is a mining town; rich reserves of copper and gold lie underground. But in these arid inland areas the really valuable commodity is water – some call it liquid gold. The lack of rain has been exacerbated by blistering temperatures in recent weeks of up to 44C.

For the state government, according to Mr Daniels, the needs of the mining industry supersede those of residents. “If the government was fair dinkum [genuine] and didn’t want the communities to suffer, they would turn off the water to the mines,” he said. “But they won’t do that, because they get about A$250m [£136m] in royalties a year out of this area.”

Queensland Agriculture Minister John McVeigh said: “This particular drought as it impacts on agriculture and regional communities is significantly different to issues that we’ve dealt with in the past. There are those market conditions and issues affecting industry, including low cattle prices. But it’s also the fact that we’ve seen heat waves in recent times which has only exacerbated the problems for stock and graziers.

“Often in previous droughts the occasional shower, the occasional storm was able to at least top up surface water supplies, dams and so forth. We haven’t seen any of that decent sort of activity for, in many places, almost two years.”

Cloncurry has two main water supplies: Chinaman Creek Dam, which is down to 15 per cent, and a second dam, Lake Julius. Once they are exhausted, it will be reliant on water from underground bores, which Mr Daniels says is “a scary thought, but I’m hoping and praying that rain comes before we have to get to that”.

The Queensland drought is not the first time Australia has seen severe drought. In 2007, the country saw the worst drought on record, forcing the government to warn that it would have to switch off the water supply to the continent’s food bowl.

The drought affected the Murray-Darling basin in south-eastern Australia, which yields 40 per cent of the country’s agricultural produce. The causes of that drought, which began in 2002 and was felt most acutely over the past six months, were complex. But few scientists dispute the part played by climate change, which is making Australia hotter and drier.

"I can't help it...I love the way people stand transfixed, waiting for disaster to befall...what a great metaphor for our general predicament:"

---Gail Zawacki

Watch: Giant wave pounds Spanish coastline

Amateur video captures a massive wave breaching the coastline of San Lorenzo beach in Gijon, Spain. Hundreds of people who were watching the rough seas can be seen scurrying for safety as water washes over the seawall and engulfs the shore.Amateur video captures a massive wave breaching the coastline of San Lorenzo beach in Gijon, Spain. Hundreds of people who were watching the rough seas can be seen scurrying for safety as water washes over the seawall and engulfs the shore.Amateur video captures a massive wave breaching the coastline of San Lorenzo beach in Gijon, Spain. Hundreds of people who were watching the rough seas can be seen scurrying for safety as water washes over the seawall and engulfs the shore.

U.S. Farm Belt digging out from snowstorm; cold spell ahead

Yahoo,

5 February, 2014

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A winter storm dumped up to a foot of snow on parts of Kansas and lesser amounts across the central and eastern Midwest in the past day, aiding winter wheat crops but slowing the transport of grains and livestock, meteorologists said Wednesday.

* The heaviest snowfall hit central and northeastern Kansas, a state that has endured months of dry conditions.

* In Iowa, a major hog producer, snow falls ranged from 5 to 6 inches in southern part of the state, 2 to 4 inches through central Iowa, and little to none in northern Iowa.

* In Central Illinois, 6 to 9 inches of snow had fallen by Wednesday morning, with 2 to 3 inches near the Illinois-Wisconsin border.

* The snow should help recharge soil moisture and insulate dormant wheat from frigid temperatures expected through Friday and again this weekend.

* Temperatures were forecast to drop to 15 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (minus 26 Celsius) across parts of Iowa and Minnesota by Thursday morning, with readings of minus 5 to minus 10 from Nebraska to northern Illinois, said Harvey Freese of Freese-Notis Weather Inc.

* The National Weather Service warned of wind chills dropping to 20 to 30 degrees below zero in parts of northeast Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and central Illinois.

* Temperatures will moderate slightly Saturday, when more snow is expected in the Midwest, followed by another cold spell early next week that could send readings near zero F (minus 18 C) as far south as Cincinnati, Ohio.

* Temperature should turn milder in the Midwest after Tuesday but remain below normal.

* In South America, conditions in Brazil's corn and soy belt should remain mostly dry for the next week to 10 days, with better potential for showers in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul next week.

* The dry conditions are stressing late-filling soybeans but helping the harvest of mature crops, said Joel Widenor, a meteorologist with the Commodity Weather Group.

* In Argentina, rains favored central Cordoba and areas near the border of Santa Fe and Entre Rios provinces, with less coverage to the south than expected. The moisture will help corn and soybean crops, while flooding threats should be very localized, Widenor said.

Better if you know Farsi

Disconnection of electricity and gas due to heavy snow and cold in North of Iran

Northern Ireland weather: Prepare for another two fierce weeks of battering

The wet weather causing misery across Northern Ireland is set to last for weeks.

Belfast Telegraph,

6 February, 2014

Storms are expected to sweep across Northern Ireland every two or three days for at least the next fortnight, forecasters have warned

Farmers, fishermen and motorists are all being badly affected, as the wind and rain batters us without let-up.

Those working the land are facing a catch-22 situation, as slurry can't be spread from overflowing tanks because of fears it will run off saturated fields and pollute watercourses, while the water is rotting planted crops.

Fishermen can't get out to sea because of constant storms, while roads are being washed out from underneath drivers.

According to MeteoGroup, the jet stream which is causing the problems shows little sign of moving from its position south of the British Isles, where it is drawing wave upon wave of low pressure systems into Northern Ireland.

We aren't the only ones suffering, as the Republic and the rest of the UK are also getting a pounding. Cork city resembles Venice, with canoeists paddling up and down the main streets, while in the south of England seafronts have been shattered, railway lines destroyed and already sodden areas suffered yet more flooding.

"There is no indication at present of it stopping. It's bringing a significant system in, at least one every three days over the next two weeks," forecaster Sally Webb said.

Meanwhile, the Met Office has warned that heavy rain and gale-force winds will continue to affect the UK heading into the weekend, bringing risks of flooding, damaging winds and hazardous waves in coastal areas.

The warning comes as a second road on the Ards Peninsula collapsed under the force of heavy rainfall and coastal surges.

A section of the A2 coastal road at Ballyhalbert collapsed

A large hole appeared on the main route through the village of Ballyhalbert late on Tuesday, as the shore was battered by huge waves.

Earlier this month another road at Ballywalter underwent emergency repairs after it collapsed.

Last night Alliance Strangford MLA Kieran McCarthy said he was putting a motion to the Assembly calling on the Executive to secure investment in coastal and flood defences along the storm-battered coast.

"The coastline is disappearing and nobody is giving much thought to it, and from what I understand it is just going to get worse in the future," he said.

"Half the road has given way and I am not surprised. That road, along with others, needs a lot of attention and a lot of investment.

Resident Cedric Wilson said: "A very large hole has appeared on the main arterial route through the village and it is only by pure fortune that we are not talking about a fatality here this morning.

"There are four or five buses that come past here every morning full of schoolchildren on their way to the local college. I have no doubt those buses could have well disappeared down into this chasm."

Ukip Strangford MLA David McNarry said people on the Ards Peninsula were facing a "damnable" situation.

"It's affecting every aspect of life – from pensioners getting out and about, to the school run running an obstacle course every day," he said. "These were just things waiting to happen. Canute wouldn't even work here."

Meanwhile, farmers have warned they face a crisis situation if there is no let-up from the storms as they're unable to spread slurry from overflowing storage facilities because of the risk of polluting rivers and streams.

Some cereal farmers are also faced with having to tear up winter cereal crops swamped by flooding and replant them.

Fishermen are "tearing their hair out", unable to get out to sea with the relentless run of bad weather, according to Association of Northern Ireland Fish Producers spokesman Alan McCulla

Last year the organisation had to appeal for hardship funding to support the fishing industry after high winds kept trawlers in port.

"The last thing we want is to see that repeated in 2014," Mr McCulla said. "Fisherman are concerned that this is what we are going to experience."

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development was asked for her assessment of the coastal flood defences during Monday's Question Time