Thread: SNOW HITS CAIRO, FIRST IN 100 YEARS - 'Historic' Israeli Snowstorm; Power Outage

SNOW HITS CAIRO, FIRST IN 100 YEARS




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'Historic' Israeli Snowstorm; Power Outage in Jerusalem...


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Over 2,000 cold and snow records set in USA this past week...

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SUN ACTIVITY AT CENTURY LOW




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Snowburst: 5 to 6 feet of snow in upstate New York!

Winter Storm Will Span Over 1,000 Miles...

Watches/Warnings...

RADAR...


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WOW: Three Days of Severe Snow in the Middle East

Posted on December 14, 2013 by Admin in Awesome, Interesting, Nature, News // 0 Comments



Nobody in Cairo was dreaming of a white Christmas, but it looks like they’ll get one. The worst snowstorm in more than 50 years hit the Middle East, blanketing Cairo, Jerusalem and areas of Syria in white powder. It was the first time in 100 years that Egypt had seen snow.

Instagram quickly filled with images of snowball fights and landscapes, but in areas like Palestine, some were caught off guard. The United Nations expressed concern for refugees caught in the cold, but many families are ineligible for help because they are not registered with the UN, according to Al Jazeera. Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, was forced to close its doors briefly after snow clogged its main highway.

Jerusalem


Jerusalem

Cairo

Cairo

Cairo

Cairo

Iraqi Kurdistan

Iraqi Kurdistan

JORDAN

JORDAN

LEBANON

LEBANON

Ramallah

Ramallah

SYRIA

SYRIA




Egypt

Egypt




http://livefreelivenatural.com/wow-t...-middle-east/#

'Historic' snow storms spread havoc and misery across the Middle East

The worst snow storms since 1953 have caused chaos in Israel and the Palestinian territories and exacerbated an already severe crisis among Syrian refugees



A Palestinian worshiper prays outside the Dome of the Rock at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem Photo: AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP

By Robert Tait, Jerusalem
4:06PM GMT 13 Dec 2013


The Middle East was hit with its heaviest snow storms in 60 years yesterday, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in Syria and forcing Israel to allow emergency aid into Gaza.

The storm, named Alexa, extended from Turkey to Egypt, with parts of Cairo reportedly experiencing their first recorded snowfall for years.

Several inches of snow fell in the Sinai Peninsual, usually an arid desert region, while authorities were forced to close the port in the coastal city of Alexandria – which saw relatively light snowfall – after a third consecutive day of bad weather and high winds.

In Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley – where there are an estimated one million Syrian refugees are crowded into 250 camps – relief agencies handed out warm clothing, blankets, bedding, heating equipment in refugee camps as snow fell relentlessly for the second day running.



^{Syrian refugee children stand outisde their tent in Aarsal town in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa region (REUTERS)}

A Lebanese security official said that a three-month-old Syrian baby died on Friday in the northern town of Akroum.



^{A Lebanese man holding a umbrella walks past abandoned Israeli cannons during a snow storm in the southern village of Khiam, on the Israeli-Lebanese border (MAHMOUD ZAYYAT/AFP)}

In Syria’s contested northern city of Aleppo, soldiers and rebels took a break from fighting as a thick layer of snow blanketed deserted streets. One anti-government activists said it had been quieter than it has been in more than a year, since the storm began late on Tuesday.

Military authorities in Israel were driven to show rare leniency towards the Gaza Strip after UN officials expressed fears that the snow was leading to widespread flooding in the tiny coastal enclave - already in the grip of prolonged power cuts due to a chronic fuel shortage.

COGAT, the Israeli government agency in charge of the occupied Palestinian territories, said it had ordered the opening of the Kerem Shalom to allow the transfer of tanks of heating gas into the strip, which has been subject to a tight Israeli blockade for several years. Four water pumps were also to be transferred to address flooding, COGAT said.

Gaza's Hamas rulers said 60 homes had been evacuated since storms began on Wednesday.



^{Members of the Palestinian civil defense evacuate people after their homes were flooded with rainwater (MOHAMMED SALEM/REUTERS)}

The emergency aid effort coincided with the establishment of a joint Israeli-Palestinian command centre to tackle severe traffic problems and power cuts in the occupied West Bank.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency said it was working "round the clock" to hand out food parcels, mattresses and blankets in the worst-affected areas.

The growing sense of crisis was mirrored in Israel, where authorities struggled to cope despite significantly better infrastructure and resources.



^{People carefully make their way through a snowy back street in Jerusalem (GETTY IMAGES)}

Up to 15 inches of snow blocked many streets in Jerusalem, where thousands of residents endured power cuts that started on Thursday night. Several trees in the city were felled by high winds during the early hours of Friday morning.

Main roads into the city, which is 2,600 feet above sea level, remained closed on Friday as snow storms continued late into the afternoon. Highway One, the main road between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv was blocked off while schools were also closed for a second successive day.



^{Hundreds of cars sit stuck during a snow storm on one of the two main highways to Jerusalem (URIEL SINAI/REUTERS)}

Police warned motorists to stay off the roads unless they own four-wheel drive vehicles.

Around 1,000 people were being held in make-shift accommodation in Jerusalem's International Conference Centre on the outskirts of the city after being stranded in their vehicles. Some drivers reported being stuck in their cars for up to 10 hours before being rescued by hastily-assembled emergency teams.

"We are battling a storm of rare ferocity," said Nir Barkat, Jerusalem's mayor, who called the snow fall "historic" and a "tsunami". He added: "Only when the storm has eased can we start clearing roadways. We are at the moment using all means to rescue those caught in the storm."

However, there was criticism of the response from police and municipal authorities, who seemed to be caught off guard, despite forecasts of extreme weather earlier in the week. The wintery outbreak seemed all the more for severe after several weeks of record-breaking high temperatures in November and early December.

The havoc spread far beyond Jerusalem to the north of Israel, where the towns of Metula, Upper Nazareth, Amuka, Mitzpe Hila, and Kerem Ben Zimra were without power. There were also power outages in Haifa, the main city in the north, and in Safed in the Uper Gallilee.

Yitzhak Ahronovitch, Israel's public security minister, said it would take several days to repair the damage caused by the storm.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...ddle-East.html

Snow In Egypt For The First Time In 100 Years, Reports Say (PICTURES)

The Huffington Post UK | By Jessica Elgot Posted: 13/12/2013 12:49 GMT | Updated: 13/12/2013 12:49 GMT

The snow that has blanketed much of the Middle East turned Cairo white on Friday - with local news reports claiming it was Egypt's capital's first snowfall in 112 years.



Snow covers the scene in Egypt's Sinai PeninsulaThe city averages less than an inch of rain each year, and hundreds stopped their walk to work or school to snap pictures of the falling flakes, tweeting their delights.
In Jerusalem, local media reported that schools and roads were closed, and transport suspended after four inches of snow - the most since 1953.
Palestinian and Israeli children shaped clusters into snowmen across the divided capital, with boys shrieking with delight as they put the finishing touches to a frosty man outside the gold-domed Al Aqsa mosque.
"Last week, the chief rabbis asked Jews around the world to pray for rain in Israel since winter had begun with a dry spell," Jewish online magazine Tablet reported."Apparently, it worked."
Snow, sleet and icy winds have covered Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, deepening the troubles of many war refugees, living in freezing tents. Many have melted snow on their stoves, their only source of drinking water.

Snow in the Middle East: December 2013

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http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013...n_4438571.html

Biblical snowstorm: Rare flakes in Cairo, Jerusalem paralyzed by over a foot

BY JASON SAMENOW

December 13 at 12:06 pm



Vehicles are see stranded in the snow in Jerusalem on December 13, 2013. AFP PHOTO/AHMAD GHARABLI

A powerful, slow-moving storm is producing historic snows in the Middle East – from Jerusalem to parts of Cairo.
From all accounts, snow in Cairo is exceptionally rare – although historical records are difficult to attain.
Some reports suggest it’s the first snow in Cairo in over 100 years – although they are not substantiated.
New York Magazine offers this intelligence:

Claims that this is Cairo’s first snowfall in exactly 112 years seem to be sourced from a tweet by one local man who later admitted he was just guesstimating. Whatever the exact number is, though, the point is that it basically never snows in Cairo.

The Weather Channel notes even rain isn’t all that common in Cairo, which averages less than an inch a year.
The storm has generated crippling amounts of snow in Jerusalem, stranding commuters, cutting power in areas, and closing schools and businesses. A foot to a foot and half of snow has fallen across the city.
The Jerusalem Post reports dozens of cars trapped on roads leading into the city and within its confines and that the Israeli Defense Forces have been called in to assist. It adds Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat said the city was facing “a battle against a rare storm, the likes of which we have never seen.”

Snow piles up on the streets of Jerusalem (Jonathan Hoffman)

“There are no words to describe the situation here,” said Jonathan Hoffman, a Jerusalem resident, posting on a weather hobbyist forum early this morning local time. “The heavy snow never stopped falling and is still coming down. The city: shut down, immobilized.”
Meteorologist Justin Consor, who lives in Israel, said the snow that fell Thursday in Jerusalem was the most in over 100 years in December.
Link: Unofficial list of Jerusalem snowfall records
And the storm isn’t over. Another round of heavy snow is possible Friday night into Saturday. The Jerusalem Post says the incoming round is “triple the size of the last day’s.” If that’s the case, this snowstorm could become the greatest on record in Jerusalem.
Snows of more than 6 inches occur in Jerusalem about every 5 to 7 years, whereas about 2 out of every 3 years see at least some snow, Consor said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...historic-snow/

Over 2000 cold and snow records set in the USA this past week

Posted on December 13, 2013
by Anthony Watts

Compare to 98 high temperature records, and 141 high minimum temperature records

Quite an imbalance in weather records this week. Even the AGU fall meeting in San Francisco where the best and brightest global warming scientists were meeting was surrounded by record (such as 25F in San Jose Dec 9th) and near record setting low temperatures, though the irony was lost on many of them.

See the map:



Source: NOAA National Weather Service and HamWeather records center

Low Temp: 606 + Low Max temp 1234 + Snowfall 385 = 2225
In other cold and snowy news, the Egyptian capital of Cairo sees snowfall for the first time in 112 YEARS

Here are some other nearby temperatures for December 9th, the first full day of the AGU Fall Meeting:

:REGIONAL TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION TABLE
:NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
:430 PM PST MON DEC 09 2013
:
:HIGH AND LOW TEMPERATURES PAST 18 HOURS AS OF 4 PM TODAY.
:PRECIPITATION PAST 24 HOURS. M=MISSING T=TRACE.
.BR SFO 1209 P DH16/TX/TN/PPDRZZ
:
: ID : LOCATION ELEV : HIGH/ LOW / PP24HR /
:
:...NORTH BAY...
KENC1: KENTFIELD 145 : 46 / 25 / 0.00 /
NSHC1: NAPA 35 : 50 / 24 / 0.00 /
APC : NAPA ARPT 33 : 49 / 19 / 0.00 /
SARC1: SAN RAFAEL 120 : 49 / 29 / 0.00 /
STS : SONOMA CNTY ARPT 125 : 35 / 19 / 0.00 /
:
:...SAN FRANCISCO PENINSULA...
HMBC1: HALF MOON BAY 27 : 52 / 34 / 0.00 /
RWCC1: REDWOOD CITY 145 : 52 / 27 / 0.00 /
SFOC1: SAN FRANCISCO 150 : 51 / 36 / 0.00 /
SFO : SAN FRANCISCO ARPT 8 : 52 / 36 / 0.00 /
:
:...EAST BAY...
CWPC1: CONCORD 23 : 48 / 34 / 0.00 /
CCR : CONCORD ARPT 23 : 47 / 28 / 0.00 /
FETC1: FREMONT 38 : M / M / M /
HWD : HAYWARD ARPT 47 : 52 / 28 / 0.00 /
LVK : LIVERMORE ARPT 393 : 48 / 27 / 0.00 /
OAMC1: OAKLAND 30 : 56 / 34 / 0.00 /
OAK : OAKLAND ARPT 86 : 54 / 30 / 0.00 /
RICC1: RICHMOND 20 : 51 / 31 / 0.00 /
:
:...SOUTH BAY AND SANTA CLARA VALLEY...
GILC1: GILROY 194 : 53 / 29 / 0.00 /
NUQ : MOFFETT FIELD 34 : 51 / 29 / 0.00 /
MGNC1: MORGAN HILL 350 : 52 / 27 / 0.00 /
SJC : SAN JOSE ARPT 51 : 51 / 25 / 0.00 /
:
:...MONTEREY BAY AND BIG SUR...
BISC1: BIG SUR STATION 200 : M / M / M /
MTR : MONTEREY NWS 122 : 52 / 29 / 0.00 /
MRY : MONTEREY ARPT 165 : 54 / 28 / 0.00 /
SCRC1: SANTA CRUZ 130 : 57 / 25 / 0.00 /
WVI : WATSONVILLE ARPT 160 : 56 / 25 / 0.00 /
:
:...INTERIOR MONTEREY COUNTY/SAN BENITO COUNTY...
CVVC1: CARMEL VALLEY 480 : 54 / 24 / 0.00 /
HOLC1: HOLLISTER 275 : 53 / 29 / 0.00 /
KICC1: KING CITY 320 : 55 / 19 / 0.00 /
SNSC1: SALINAS 85 : 55 / 26 / 0.00 /
SNS : SALINAS ARPT 84 : 55 / 26 / 0.00 /
.ENDTODAY`S HIGH AND LOW TEMPERATURES.
* = ESTIMATED HIGH TEMPERATURE.
+ = ESTIMATED LOW TEMPERATURE.
# = ESTIMATED HIGH AND LOW TEMPERATURE.


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http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/12/1...his-past-week/