Extreme weather globally - 01/10/2017

The cold snap in Europe continues as parts of Russia drops to an incredible -53C -63F Australia hits +43C +110F! 

the Big Wobble,

10 January, 2017

Deadly cold is still gripping Europe with parts of Eastern Russia dropping an incredible minus 53C or minus 63F

The cold snap in Europe has cost the lives of nearly 50 people these past few days.

A Serbia resident has died of freezing and a man is still reported missing. Over 120 people evacuated across Serbia due to poor weather, media have reported. Snowed-in vehicles, chain collisions and massive snowdrifts marked the past few days in Serbia, with low temperatures, poor visibility and snowdrifts still creating problems and causing delays or traffic stoppages. 

Around 30 villages in the Sjenica area remained blocked by the snow, municipal president Hazbo Mujovic said on Monday afternoon. Many roads are also closed, he added.

The freezing cold weather will continue in Serbia until Wednesday, with morning temperatures ranging from minus 18 to minus 10 degrees Celsius, in some areas dropping to minus 25. Over the weekend, about ten mountain villages in the municipality of Vladicin Han were cut off due to snowdrifts up to three meters tall. 

Also on Sunday, the coldest area of Serbia was Sjenica in the southwest with minus 33 degrees. The Ministry of Transportation decided to close the rivers Sava as well as Danube (from Bezdan to Prahovo) for navigation due to the ice forming on the surface, and the strong winds

High winds wreaked havoc in Colorado Springs yesterday with wind gust reaching 101 miles per hour leaving thousands without power.

In Australia the West coast once again had temperatures of + 43C +110F

This was taken in Cyprus, not Finland!

Every state but Florida has snow on the ground

http://www.wptv.com/storm-shield/storm-shield-featured/every-state-but-florida-has-snow-on-the-ground

It's a rare feat when snow is on the ground anywhere in the South, and it's even rarer when every state in the nation (except Florida) has snow on the ground.

The snow is covering nearly 60 percent of the country as of Monday morning.

All this snow is still on the ground after a cold, snowy weekend in most of the United States.

For the rest of this week, however, any new snowfall is likely to be limited to the northernmost states and higher elevations in the West.

That's because temperatures are about to thaw and that means the snow will be melting.

Warmer air is making a brief comeback for most of the United States this week, but it appears to be short-lived.

By the end of the week and into the weekend, Arctic air will return everywhere but the Southeast and along the East Coast.

This deep freeze, however, doesn't appear to have widespread snow accompanying it.

Conditions worsen for Europe's refugees as temperatures plummet

Freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall are making life even harder for thousands of refugees living in limbo across Europe.

The cold snap gripping Europe has left dozens of people dead, including refugees in Bulgaria, according to Agence France-Presse.

Snow blanketed the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, home to more than 4,000 people, on Friday. Roland Schönbauer, a spokesman for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), told CNN Monday that the organization was transferring some 120 vulnerable men, women and children, including people still living in tents, to hotels following the storm.

A migrant receives food during snowfall at the Moria camp on Lesbos, on January 9, 2017.

The situation in Moria is fluid, and the spokesman did not have an estimate for the number of people still living in tents. Volunteers say thousands of refugees are still living in outdoor tents in the camp, despite statements by Greece's minister for migration, Yiannis Mouzalas, indicating otherwise.

"There are no refugees or migrants living in the cold anymore," Mouzalas told journalists at a news conference Thursday. According to local reports, Mouzalas suggested that there were only a handful of tents left in Vayiohori, near Thessaloniki, and Athens.

A Lesbos resident and volunteer, Philippa Kempson, shared video with CNN showing the shocking conditions at Moria camp, where some tents appeared to have collapsed underneath the weight of the snow.

"I'm amazed no one is dead yet," she said. Kempson and her husband Eric have been helping with relief efforts on the island since the refugee crisis escalated two summers ago. They said that this is the worst winter they have experience on Lesbos for 15 years....

21 dead 1 million affected after 2nd deadly flooding event in less than a month in South Thailand after record ranifall

Photo WorldCrises

the Big Wobble,

10 January, 2016

Thailand’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) report that 21 people have now died in the floods affecting southern provinces of the country.

At least 11 provinces are in emergency situations as a result of flooding which has affected over 1 million people. Thai Meteorological Department has forecast further heavy rain until Tuesday, 10 January.

Nakhon Si Thammarat airport closed from 06 January and will possibly re-open today, 09 January. Thai news agency NNT said that the province of Nakhon Si Thammarat has suffered its worst flood crisis in 30 years with 300,000 people affected and seven people dead.

Unusually heavy rain for this time of year, influenced by low depression and the strong northeast monsoon, has caused widespread flooding in southern provinces of Thailand since 01 January, 2017.

This is the second deadly flood event within a month in south Thailand. At least 11 people died and 350,000 were affected after flooding struck southern provinces in December 2016.

As of 07 January the affected provinces included Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, Songkhla, Phattalung, Trang, Nakhon Sri Thammarat, Krabi, Surat Thani, Chumphon and Ranong.

DDPM said that 91 districts, 569 sub-districts, 4,205 villages, 330,318 households and over 1 million people have been affected. Damages have been reported to 218 roads, 59 bridges, 5 government facilities, 11 schools and 5 mosques.

Queensland heatwave to send temperatures soaring in state's central, southern regions

http://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/queensland-heatwave-to-send-temperatures-soaring-in-states-central-southern-regions/525665

Central and southern Queensland are now in the grip of a heatwave, which is expected to peak on the weekend.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said temperatures were set to soar over the next four days.

The mercury is predicted to today hit 34 degrees Celsius degrees in Brisbane, 37C in Ipswich and 38C in Blackwater.

The heat will peak on Saturday, when Brisbane's temperature is forecast to rise to 36C, with predicted peaks of 39C in Ipswich and 40C at Biloela in central Queensland.

Senior forecaster Sam Campbell said the hot nights had already started.

"It only got down to around 24 in Brisbane city overnight," he said.

"It was quite humid so you throw that in with relative humidity and it actually felt more like 27 degrees throughout most of the night."

A very high fire danger is forecast for the central highlands, coalfields, the Lockyer Valley, Maranoa and Darling Downs today and tomorrow.

The Rural Fire Service's regional manager Brian Smith asked central Queenslanders to avoid any activities that could start a fire, including the use of power tools and machinery.

"We also encourage everyone to limit the use of fire if possible," he said.

of high maximum and minimum temperatures that are unusual for the location.

A heatwaves ends when the mercury falls to more normal levels.

A warning has also been issued to large parts of NSW, .

Watch for signs of dehydration, check on neighbours: QAS

Heat illness expert Dr Liz Hannah, from the Climate and Health Alliance, said international data showed that there were five times more extreme heat days than extreme cold days.

"Australia really has to get very sensible about understanding heat and protecting ourselves," she said.

"Probably changing things like expectations that people should continue working out in the heat and being more flexible.

"We don't really productivity to stop but we can't risk people's health."

She said people would cope better with the heat if they had good cardio-respiratory fitness, as blood vessels dilate when the body heats up and the heart has to work harder.

"Your heart has to push a lot harder and beat a lot faster to spread the blood around," she said.

"If the heart is weak, then you can go into heart failure.

"What we find is as it heats up, heat deaths and people who flock into emergency [departments], that really spikes up, definitely after a few days of hot weather."

QAS director of patient safety Tony Hucker said people will need to keep up their fluids, wear cool clothing, and keep out of the sun.

Signs of dehydration will include dark urine, headaches, abnormal behaviour, nausea and vomiting.

"Heat-related illnesses can sneak up on you when you really don't expect it," he said.

"If you've got elderly neighbours it's really nice to just go and knock on the door and make sure they're okay."

- ABC

Heatwave: Fire bans in NSW, air quality warning in Sydney as temperatures soar

Temperatures are soaring across large areas of New South Wales with the heatwave conditions prompting total fire bans in many parts of the state and an air quality warning remaining in place for Sydney.

People in Sydney with respiratory conditions, including asthma, were told to take care yesterday after higher-than-normal levels of toxic ozone gas were reported, caused by a combination of the hot, still weather and pollution.

Sydney is expected to hit a top of 38 degrees Celsius today, with the city's west expected to see temperatures as high as 40C and 42C on Friday.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) is forecasting temperatures in many other areas including Newcastle, Cobar, Moree and Nyngan to be above 40C today....