Australia Swamped by Floods

'Days of torrential downpours have left many communities inundated, with up to 11 inches falling in a 24-hour period in some areas. Flooding has shut down about 300 roads across Queensland, including two major highways to the state capital Brisbane. At Chinchilla, Charleys Creek reached levels not seen for almost 70 years with about 40 homes and businesses inundated and residents also holed up at an evacuation centre. The rain has also caused at least $400 million worth of damage to crops across the state, including sunflower and cotton, that were just recovering from months of drought...Read more:

Christmas Day will be coldest ever with mercury plummeting to MINUS 18... and snow is set to return on Boxing Day

Traditional family walks to help the turkey go down could be off the cards this year as December 25 is set to be the coldest Christmas ever. The mercury plummeted to -5.9C at Glenlivet in 1996, but that record was smashed last night when temperatures dropped to -17C at Worcester and -18C at Altnaharra in northern Scotland. And just as people will be thinking about heading home on Boxing Day, more snow will fall in the afternoon across England and Scotland bringing new misery to those who want to travel. Weather forecasters say they are expecting 'heavy and prolonged snowfall' in some parts of the country, particularly from the Midlands up to southern and central parts of Scotland. That will continue throughout Monday when it will head towards the South East and it will keep falling into Tuesday morning. (Daily Mail)

Piers Corbyn On Britains Coldest Winter in 100 Years

'As the snow buries Britain under a freezing white blanket, Piers Corbyn has a lot to say about the weather forecasting in Britain, which is a good time to remember that the Head of the UK Met Office is a one time director of eco mentalists pressure group WWF. The WWF along with Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and Oxfam are major players in the great global wealth redistribution scam, no one really calls it Climate something or other anymore...Read more:

Worst Flood In 30 Years .......

Queanbeyan, NSW, residents have been evacuated today as the city endures its worst flood in 30 years. According to the Bureau of Meteorology, the Queanbeyan River peaked at Oaks Estate and Queanbeyan’s Queen Street gauge at about noon today. Minister for Emergency Services and Monaro MP Steve Whan said Queanbeyan had been added to the list of areas declared natural disasters, as severe flooding continued throughout inland NSW. Mr Whan said heavy rain had fallen overnight along the Queanbeyan River, with falls of up to 103mm at Googong Dam and 88mm at Tinderry Mountain.

“The Queanbeyan River peaked at over 8m in the town around noon today,” Mr Whan said. “This has meant extensive flooding through the streets of Queanbeyan and has forced the evacuation of the Queanbeyan Riverside Caravan Park. Queanbeyan has almost been cut in half by the floodwaters ... Significant damage has been done to infrastructure in the town, including the art gallery, roads, bridges, the sewerage treatment plant and drains. Water has even penetrated under elevated properties in the Riverside Shopping Centre as well as the Queanbeyan Leagues Club and Woolworths car parks.''....(Canberra Times)

Severe weather warning issued for NSW

The next 24 hours will be critical for NSW, with people being warned to prepare for flash flooding and gale force winds in the state's north and southwest. Weather experts say few areas of the state will escape torrential downpours. (Sydney Morning Herald)

New York hit by a TORNADO: One person killed and a trail of destruction left as 100mph winds rip through city

At least one person has been killed after a tornado-like storm ripped through New York. The sky turned black and tornado-like squalls torn through the city stranding ten of thousands of commuters. Officials suspended access to overcrowded Pennsylvania Station in midtown Manhattan, where people were locked shoulder to shoulder after fallen trees forced a halt to commuter rail traffic. Staten Island, Brooklyn and Queens were hit hardest by the storm. Locals used axes to hack at trees that in some cases had crashed across stairways and front porches, trapping people inside homes. Winds reached up to 100mph shut down roads and power lines leaving 70,000 customers without power. The city's 911 switchboards were inundated with calls of injuries, a Fire Department spokesman said. He said several firefighters responded to scenes in Queens and Brooklyn where motorists were stuck in their vehicles after trees fell on them. (Daily Mail)

NZ copping Aussie-sized storm

A massive storm the size of Australia is thrashing New Zealand with no relief expected over coming days from strong winds, rain and bitter cold. The wild conditions prompted the NZ MetService to issue severe weather warnings for all parts of New Zealand's North and the South Islands until the storm passes over early next week. The service said winds peaking at 130km/h were whipping parts of the country on Friday, including Wellington, where power was cut off to more than 3500 homes. (Sydney Morning Herald)

Freak twisters strike again: First Norfolk, now Cumbria and the Midlands are hit

Twisters have struck again, this time hitting the North-West and the Midlands. The sightings come after two 80ft high tornadoes ripped across ten miles of countryside in Norfolk on Sunday.

Yesterday afternoon it was Leicestershire's turn as a freak funnel was spotted forming over Harborough railway station. On Sunday two powerful 'Fen Twisters' gusting at over 100mph tore the roofs from buildings, toppled trees and even hurled a trampoline into power lines causing a blackout for 300 homes.

They left gardens and woodland damaged across the area between Marshland St James and Stradsett after striking 'out of the blue' during freak storms on Sunday afternoon. The roof of an out-building was ripped off and dumped on top of a tree 330 feet away in Stradsett and a summer house was lifted from a garden and dumped in a field. Dozens of trees were pulled from the ground in neighbouring woodland owned by The Stradsett Estate. (Daily Mail)

Storm blows a 200ft hole in Guatemala City, swallowing a building

At least one man was killed and others are missing after a three-storey building fell into a 200ft-deep sink hole in Guatemala City.

Tropical storm Agatha, the first named storm of the 2010 Pacific season, slammed into Guatemala and neighbouring El Salvador at the weekend, dumping more than three feet of rain in the region.

The enormous crater appeared while the city was being ravaged with high winds, torrential rain and deadly mudslides. Witnesses claim at least one man was in the three-storey building when it was swallowed up at a downtown intersection, and others remain missing.

Agatha has killed at least 146 people across Central America, and has sparked fears for the economies of Guatemala and El Salvador - as there has been widespread damage to the coffee crop in both countries.

'I've got no one to help me. I watched the water take everything,' said Carlota Ramos in the town of Amatitlan near the Guatemalan capital, crying into her hands outside her brick house almost completely swamped by mud.

As the sun came out, exhausted rescue workers hauled away stones and tree trunks from crushed houses as they fought to reach wounded people and find dozens still missing. 'We just have shovels and picks. We don't have any machinery to dig,' said firefighter Mario Cruz, who had been working almost nonstop since Friday night.(Daily Mail)

The day the sky turned yellow: Sandstorms sweep across China

Sandstorms whipped across China today, turning skies a surreal yellow and forcing residents to don masks and scarves to protect themselves from the unhealthy grit. It was the latest sign of the effects of desertification - overgrazing, deforestation, urban sprawl and drought have expanded deserts in the country's north and west. The shifting sands have gradually encroached onto populated areas and worsened the sand storms that strike cities, particularly in the spring.Winds blowing from the north-west were sweeping sand from the Xinjiang and Ningxia regions, as well as Gansu and Inner Mongolia provinces across China's arid north. The sand and dust were even carried to parts of southern China. The noon newscast on state television showed the tourist city of Hangzhou on the eastern coast, where graceful bridges and waterside pagodas were hidden in a mix of sand and other pollution. In Taiwan, an island 100 miles (160 kilometres) away from the Chinese mainland, drivers complained their cars were covered in a layer of black soot in just 10 minutes. The Central Meteorological Station urged people to close doors and windows, and cover their faces with masks or scarves when going outside. Sensitive electronic and mechanical equipment should be sealed off, the station said in a warning posted today on its Web site. (Daily Mail)

Shock for British holidaymakers as freak blizzard hits Majorca with snow across the Med

A rare blizzard has struck the Spanish coast and Balearic Islands in some of the worst weather seen in 50 years. The snow storm swept in on the holiday island of Majorca after causing havoc in Barcelona, the Costa Brava and parts of the French Mediterranean coast. Roads were closed as up to four inches of snow fell across Majorca and many residents and holidaymakers stayed indoors. Thousands of householders on the Costa Brava were still without electricity today in the wake of the worst snow along the Catalan coast for half a century. Flights were cancelled and commuters faced traffic chaos as drivers battled in the sub-zero temperatures. Around 3,000 people were forced to stay in the town hall after the road closures as they were unable to get home.

The snowfall is the heaviest seen in Barcelona since 1962. As well as Spain, snow also fell in France, Italy and Greece. Thousands of lorries were left stranded on the France/Spain border after 40 roads were blocked by snow that fell to over 3ft deep. In Italy, the snowfall hit tourist hotspots such as Pisa, Siena and Assisi, and brought Rome to a standstill. Snow closed schools on the island of Elba and in the Umbria region, while in Sicily a landslide disrupted rail travel. (Daily Mail)

Once-in-a-Century Storm Hits Melbourne

Weather Modification And Barky's Jokes About 'Snowmageddon'

'President Barack Obama reportedly 'joked' about a major snowstorm that has taken the lives of several, caused multiple accidents and massive power outages. Was it a Freudian slip, or 'Barkism,' that this was a manmade snowstorm?

What I do know is that weather modification is not science fiction, but has been with us since at least the 1960s, when the Ho Chi Minh Trail was flooded out by US forces during the Vietnam War. Nowadays I think it would be safe to say that the majority of clouds we see here in the US (and likely throughout the world) are made by craft spraying trails that proliferate across the sky. If 'we're' making the clouds, then it stands to reason that we're also creating whatever precipitation that falls due to those clouds, does it not? If that's the case, then the American people have just been attacked.'

Read more...

Cyclone Magda damages buildings in WA

Tropical cyclone Magda may have damaged some buildings as it crossed the Kimberley coast but there are no reports of injuries, West Australian officials say. About 20 people had bunkered down in a cyclone shelter at the pearling community of Kuri Bay, north of Broome, which is near where the category two cyclone made landfall on Friday, the Fire and Emergency Services Authority (FESA) said. "The people are fine and there are no injuries," a FESA spokesman said. "There have been reports of some infrastructure damage but nothing is confirmed. A boat will most likely head to the area tomorrow." The weather bureau said the threat from Magda abated after it crossed the coast shortly before 5am (WST) and weakened as it moved inland. (Sydney Morning Herald)

Flash Flood Warning As Snow Thaws

Forecasters have warned of flash flooding as Britons brace themselves for the latest phase of winter weather chaos. Sky weather presenter Sarah Pennock, warning of heavy rain on Friday, said: "We wouldn't normally expect a thaw to cause significant flooding. "But with a sudden rise in temperature, and some heavy downpours, we could see some local flash flooding. Particularly at risk are those places that have several inches of lying snow in northwestern and central parts." (Sky News)

The Mini Ice Age Starts Here

'The bitter winter afflicting much of the Northern Hemisphere is only the start of a global trend towards cooler weather that is likely to last for 20 or 30 years, say some of the world’s most eminent climate scientists. Their predictions – based on an analysis of natural cycles in water temperatures in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans – challenge some of the global warming orthodoxy’s most deeply cherished beliefs, such as the claim that the North Pole will be free of ice in
summer by 2013. According to the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre in Colorado, Arctic summer sea ice has increased by 409,000 square miles, or 26 per cent, since 2007 – and even the most committed global warming activists do not dispute this. (Read more...)

Biggest freeze for 30 years wreaks havoc (and there are 10 more days to come)

Deep freeze Britain was as cold as the South Pole as temperatures plummeted to a staggering minus 21c. Amid increasing fears of an energy crisis, the country is locked in the biggest chill for nearly 30 years. The mercury sank to minus 21.2C (minus 6.2F) in parts of the Scottish Highlands - considerably colder than some home freezers - with bitterly cold temperatures everywhere else on another day of widespread weather disruption. Icy conditions have again left roads in a treacherous state and caused delays and cancellations for rail and air passengers. Hundreds of schools have also shut again today, resulting in a full week of closure for some children. Last night forecasters gave a grim warning of worse to come, with strong winds blowing in to add wind chill to already below-zero temperatures which could continue for at least ten more days. The prediction came as the worst cold spell since the winter of 1981-82 continued to cause chaos. (Daily Mail)