World weather news, February 2012

1st

A man was arrested in Chile for stealing ice from a fast-melting glacier that is protected by law. The man allegedly stole ice from the Jorge Montt Glacier, one of 63 glaciers that was studied by NASA for melting rates back in 2003. Jorge Montt Glacier is on northern edge of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field in the Bernardo O'Higgins National Park, located to the south of a town called Caleta Tortel, Chile.

2nd

Europe's cold snap has claimed 164 lives, as countries from Ukraine to Italy struggle with temperatures that plunged to record lows in some places and with more cold weather forecast. Entire villages were cut off in parts of eastern Europe, trapping thousands, while road, air and rail links were severed and gas consumption shot up during what has been the severest winter in decades in some regions. In Ukraine, tens of thousands headed to shelters to escape the freeze that emergencies services said has killed 63 people - most of them frozen to death in the streets, some succumbing to the hypothermia later in hospitals.

• Nine more people died in Poland as the mercury dropped to -32C in some parts, bringing the country's toll to 29 since the fearsome spell of cold weather started.
• Russian gas giant Gazprom, said it had boosted deliveries to Europe, while several European countries reported drops in Russian supplies, with operators in Austria and Slovakia both reporting falls of 30 percent.
• Tens of thousands of people in Ukraine have sought help in more than 2,000 temporary shelters as temperatures fell to minus -33C in the Carpathians and -27C in the capital Kiev.
• In Romania, eight people died overnight, bringing the country's overall toll to 22. Schools remained closed in some parts.
• In Bulgaria, at least 10 people have died. With parts of the Danube river freezing, authorities moved some vessels to ports further away to protect them from the advancing ice.
• In the Bulgarian capital Sofia, some residents found their money frozen as automated teller machines stopped functioning.
• In Latvia, 10 people have died around the capital Riga alone, with no figures available for the rest of the country. In neighbouring Lithuania a 55-year-old homeless man became the ninth victim of the deep chill.
• In Estonia, organisers had to postpone a trio of cross-country skiing events after temperatures plunged to -30C. Many Friday and weekend sports events have been cancelled elsewhere on the continent.
• In north and central Italy, hundreds were trapped overnight on trains as freezing temperatures and heavy snowfalls caused widespread transport chaos. The cold has so far killed an infant in Sicily, a 76-year-old in Parma and a homeless man in Milan during what forecasters say is the coldest weather in Italy in 27 years.
• In France, 41 of the 101 regions were on alert for snow or "deep cold". In Paris, the army set aside nearly 600 places in military buildings to shelter the homeless from the cold.
• Two people died in Austria, and seven perished in Serbia, where 11,500 others were trapped mostly in remote mountain villages inaccessible by road.
• Five have died in the Czech Republic and two each in Slovakia and Greece.
• In Belgrade, homeless people unable to secure one of the 140 spots in the capital's sole shelter took refuge in trolley buses and trams.
• In neighbouring Bosnia, several remote hamlets in the east were cut off, forcing helicopter airdrops of food and supplies this week.

2nd

Hollywood star and weather seer Punxsutawney Phil used to be the only groundhog that mattered in weather predicting, but Phil's shock decision Thursday that spring is still six weeks away put him out on a limb. As the eastern United States enjoys an exceptionally mild winter, most would have guessed that spring is around the corner. But when Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his burrow on Thursday, his handlers announced he was able to see his shadow. According to tradition, that signals six more weeks of winter. The ritual in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania risked provoking skeptics, whether children looking forlornly at their unused sleds, or adults sweltering on their way to the office in winter overcoats. As it happens, last year, in the thick of a particularly savage, snowy winter, Phil perkily suggested that he hadn't seen his shadow and therefore relief was around the corner. Maybe not so clever. Americans might start paying more attention to Phil's often overlooked competitor Charles G. Hogg, the resident groundhog at Staten Island Zoo in New York City. On being dragged out of his burrow Thursday in the presence of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Chuck, as he's commonly known, did not see his shadow -- meaning, of course, that currently mild temperatures will stay that way right up until the official start of spring. Groundhog Day, which falls each year on February 2, started with a German tradition in which farmers monitored the animal's behavior closely to make decisions about when their fields should be planted. Punxsutawney held its first Groundhog Day in the 1800s, according to the official website.

World weather news, January 2012

30th

Gigantic waves up to 35 feet high drew hoards of spectators and surfers to the shores of Oahu. Known to the locals as "winter waves," the massive breakers even forced the postponement of the Volcom Pipe Pro surfing competition along the island's North Shore. A large northwest swell was responsible for the monstrous waves on the north- and west-facing shores of the Hawaiian islands. The energy driving the waves was even making for some hearty waves on the leeward Kona Coast of the Big Island.

31st

It's been an unbelievable winter for many in Alaska, while the rest of us in the Lower 48 are wondering when or if prolonged cold and wintry conditions will finally arrive. After reaching into the -40F and -50F territory several times this winter across the central and northern part of state, satellite and even an amateur weather station recorded the peak of the cold over the weekend as temperatures dropped to -70F outside of Fairbanks.