Thread: Arctic freeze and snow wreak havoc across the planet

From The Times
January 5, 2010

Arctic freeze and snow wreak havoc across the planet

Charles Bremner in Paris and Richard Lloyd Parry Tokyo

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Arctic air and record snow falls gripped the northern hemisphere yesterday, inflicting hardship and havoc from China, across Russia to Western Europe and over the US plains.

There were few precedents for the global sweep of extreme cold and ice that killed dozens in India, paralysed life in Beijing and threatened the Florida orange crop. Chicagoans sheltered from a potentially killer freeze, Paris endured sunny Siberian cold, Italy dug itself out of snowdrifts and Poland counted at least 13 deaths in record low temperatures of about minus 25C (-13F).

The heaviest snow yesterday hit northeastern Asia, which is suffering its worst winter weather for 60 years. More than 25 centimetres (10in) of snow covered Seoul, the South Korean capital — the heaviest fall since records began in 1937.

In China, Beijing and the nearby port city of Tianjin had the deepest snow since 1951, with falls of up to 8in and temperatures of minus 10C. In the far north of China, the temperature fell to minus 32C. More than two million Beijing and Tianjin pupils were sent home and 1,200 flights were delayed or cancelled at Beijing’s international airport.

The same far-eastern weather system took its toll of Sakhalin, the Russian island off Siberia, which was hit by blizzards and avalanches. Farther west, in northern and eastern India, more than 60 people, mainly homeless, died of exposure. Thousands of schools were closed. In Uttar Pradesh, the state neighbouring Nepal, the authorities spent £1.3 million on blankets and firewood for needy households.

Western Russia suffered a deep freeze as snow swept across the Baltic and north-central Europe, leaving the worst devastation in Poland, where 13 people died, bringing the toll from the cold this winter to 122.

Up to ten skiers died or were missing in avalanches. The worst incident was in the Diemtig Valley in Switzerland on Sunday, when avalanches hit a group of skiers and then the rescuers who went to their aid. Eight people were pulled from the snow alive, but four died, including an emergency doctor, and three more were missing.

In Italy, emergency services struggled with rare cold and ice. Motorways in the northeast were closed and military helicopters were sent to Sicily with medical aid.

In the United States, heavy snow fell again on the northeast.

In Burlington, Vermont, a record 33in of snow fell in a weekend storm. The previous record in a three-day period was set in 1969. Residents of the Northern Plains were warned to expect lethally cold temperatures of about minus 30C.

The icy conditions of Western Europe, which broke records in half a dozen countries in December, are expected to last for at least another week.

Guo Hu, the head of the Beijing Meteorological Bureau, linked this week’s conditions to unusual atmospheric patterns caused by global warming.

Meteorologists were also trying to find a pattern in the heavy rains that have hit equatorial regions and the southern hemisphere in the past week.

At least 20 people have been killed in flash floods in Kenya after torrential rains made thousands homeless.

In Australia, the authorities declared a natural disaster along the Castlereagh River as it peaked after torrential rain, forcing 1,200 residents to abandon their homes for high ground.

In Brazil, the death toll from flooding and mudslides over the past four days rose above 80.

Closer to home, forecasters have warned Britons to brace themselves for a freezing cold, bleak new year — this winter is set to be the coldest for more than 30 years.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/w ... 975867.ece

From Times Online
January 4, 2010

Transport paralyzed in Asia's worst winter in 60 years


(AFP/Getty Images)

A snow plough attempts to clear 30 inches of snow which fell on Tiananmen Square in the Chinese capital over the weekend

Railways, roads and airports were paralysed in Korea and China, and dozens of people died of cold in northern India after some of Asia’s worst winter weather in 60 years.

More than ten inches of snow covered the South Korean capital, Seoul, between the early hours of the morning and this afternoon, the heaviest fall since records began in 1937. Roads were blocked, subways and buses were packed, and flights were completely cancelled at the city’s domestic airport, Kimpo, and partially at the international airport, Inchon.

A meeting of the country’s Cabinet was delayed because ministers were trapped in their cars in traffic. There were no immediate reports from isolated North Korea, but according to the South Korean meteorological agency, snow was lighter with a little more than 3in (8cm) falling on the western port of Haeju.

The Chinese capital, Beijing, and the nearby port city of Tianjin, experienced the deepest snow since 1951 with falls of up to 7.8in (30 cm). In the far north of China the temperature fell to -32C (-26F), and as low as -10C in Beijing.
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More than 2.2 million pupils were sent home after 3,500 schools were closed in Beijing and the city of Tianjin. About 1,200 flights were delayed or cancelled at Beijing’s international airport as maintenance workers thawed out planes that had become iced up over night.

Some intercity highways were completely blocked by snow, cutting off traffic to neighbouring provinces, including the coal-producing region of Shanxi. But the authorities expressed confidence that there would be no repeat of the chill in southern China in 2008, where an unaccustomed cold snap in the habitually warmer provinces led to weeks of power cuts.

In northern and eastern India, most of more than 60 deaths were those of homeless people. After the cold weather, thousands of schools were closed for the next few days and in Uttar Pradesh, the state neighbouring Nepal, the authorities allocated 100 million rupees (£1.3 million) for blankets and firewood for needy households.

Satyendra Prasad, a spokesman for the government of the state of Bihar, said: “We are looking into the deaths and in the meantime have asked local authorities to arrange bonfires in the evening for the homeless.â€

here in the Dallas Fort worth area, they were talking yesterday that low temps would be in the upper teens on Thursday an Friday.
but now they are saying 10-14