World weather news, February 2010

2nd

Punxsutawney Phil, the celebrated rodent at the center of America's quirky Groundhog Day festivities, saw his shadow, presaging six more weeks of winter. For the annual February 2 ritual, the weather-forecasting groundhog is coaxed or pulled from his burrow, as crowds of onlookers watch to see if his shadow can be discerned. If Phil appears to see his shadow, winter will continue for six weeks. If not, spring starts early.

1st-3rd

A heatwave seems to have locked in over the South American mid-continent with every likelihood that it will hold through at least Saturday. The heat wave set a record for electrical demand in the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul (RGS) on Tuesday. On Tuesday, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, topped out 37C, or 99F. And with apparent temperature to at about 44C. The normal high would be 30C. Overnight, the low was about 27C, versus the normal of 21C. The night was even more sultry at Santa Maria, in the heart of RGS. The overnight low here was 29.6C.

4th

The US capital Washington was preparing to hunker down for its second major storm of the winter, with forecasters warning that up to two feet of snow could blanket the city and suburbs. The National Weather Service issued a "winter storm warning for heavy snow with near-blizzard conditions," and said there could be between 16 and 24 inches of heavy snow. The warning from late Friday to late Saturday applies to the capital, Washington DC, as well as the neighboring states of Virginia and Maryland.

5th

At least seven people were killed in avalanches in the Alps in the past week. One of the victims was a British serviceman, the others are believed to be Austrians, Germans and Swiss. Most of the avalanches were in Austria, where the levels 3 to 4 now prevailing in the five-lavinvarning scale.

5th

An official in French Polynesia says swelling ocean waters driven by Cyclone Oli have left at least one person dead on the South Pacific archipelago. Waters carried away the 40-year-old man as pounding rain and winds of up to 200km/h lashed the Austral Islands.

World weather news, January 2010

29th-30th

Heavy snow and high winds have caused traffic chaos across Germany with at least three deaths reported nationwide. Conditions closed some motorways and caused long traffic jams on many others. North Rhine-Westphalia, which includes the cities of Cologne and Dusseldorf, recorded 300 accidents on Friday night and Saturday morning. Public transport in some areas has been shut down and police have advised people not to travel if possible. The traffic chaos in North Rhine-Westphalia led to one death and 40 more people injured, while in Bavaria another two people were killed on frozen roads. Flights at some airports were cancelled or delayed. Bus services in the northern city of Rostock were suspended and sports fixtures cancelled after 30cm of snow fell in one night. In Hamburg hundreds of families skated across the frozen Alster Lake, which forecasters said was a once in a decade phenomenon.

31st

Stockholm has not had a day with above 0Cs throughout January. This has not happened one month of January since 1829 and regarded as sensational by SMHI. Sweden in general has had the coldest January since 1987. In Vaxjo this winter had the longest continuous period of below 0c temperatures since 1947. Gävle with -30C had the lowest temperature since 1963 and Malmslätt with -29C the lowest since 1966. Some Baltic provinces have not reported as much snow now for approximately 25 years.

31st

For the first time since 1997 the monthly average temperature in De Bilt was below 0C. The average of -0.5C was 2.0C below average. The North east of The Netherlands was colder than the south west. In Eelde the average temperature was -2.0C, in Vlissingen +1.0C.