World weather news

World weather news, December 2000

1st

The lower 48 states (USA) had the second coldest November on record (since 1895), mostly due to the cold in the West. For instance, Denver's mean temperature of 28.9F was 8.7F below normal, and was only surpassed back in 1880. See here for more figures.

2nd

Reported on the radio this morning, New Zealand experienced the coolest November for 50 years. This was attributed to the number of south westerly weather systems passing over the country. It was colder then usual in central and eastern areas of the North Island and drier and more sunny in the north and west of the South Island.

2nd

Floods have killed at least 14 people and left thousands homeless in Indonesia's North Sulawesi province. Days of monsoon rains caused the city's three rivers to burst their banks late on Thursday. Flooding and landslides have killed at least 200 people in Indonesia in the last month. Environmentalists say widespread deforestation - the result of timber cutting by logging operations and villagers looking for firewood - has been a contributing factor in the devastation.

2nd

A river swollen by heavy rains overflowed its banks near the gold fields of northwestern Tanzania, killing at least 26 people and injuring 17 others. More than two hours of heavy rainfall on Friday caused the Mirongo River to swell on the outskirts of the Lake Victoria port of Mwanza. It was the first time in memory that such heavy flooding hit the region, which is the East African nation's breadbasket and center of gold mining activities.

2nd

Floods subsided in much of the central and southern Philippines as tropical storm Rumbia moved away from the country, but the storm left at least 12 people dead and seven missing

6th

Early snow storms in Mongolia have killed almost 16,000 head of livestock and thousands of families are migrating to save herds from another devastating winter, the State Emergency Commission.

7th

The 2001 Atlantic hurricane season will be quieter after six years of record activity, said hurricane forecaster William Gray Thursday. Gray and his team of forecasters expect nine named storms, five hurricanes and two major hurricanes in 2001. Between 1950 and 1990, the Atlantic Basin, which includes the North Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, averaged 9.3 named storms, 5.8 hurricanes and 2.2 major hurricanes per year.

8th

Cyclone Sam was upgraded to a category five severe tropical cyclone early on Friday - the top of a five-point scale - as it moved closer to Australia. At 4 a.m. WST (2000 GMT on the 7th) Sam was located 93 miles west of Broome, Western Australia

10th

A trough crossing Belgium on Sunday afternoon gave heavy showers with thunder in many places and hail in some. Alsemberg near Brussels reported 1 cm diameter hailstones. Gusts recorded included 70kn at Liège-Bierset. In St Gérard near Namur one person was killed and another injured when they were hit by roof tiles blown off by the wind. In Wortegem-Petegem in East Flanders, the roofs of 3 houses were badly damaged. In various other places the fire brigade were called to deal with blown down trees, snapped electric cables and damaged roofs and chimneys. In Puurs near Antwerp several cars were damaged when part of the roof of a block of flats blew on to them. Around 14.00 the village of Houdain south of Lille in Northern France suffered what might have been a small tornado. A number of house roofs were severely damaged and a man was hurt by debris. Storms affected Germany later in the evening. In Trier roofs were blown off stalls in the Christmas market - 5 people were hurt by flying debris. Nuremberg Airport registered wind force 10 and around 40 calls were made to the fire brigade there to deal with wind damage.

11th

Cold air from Canada, combined with a storm system that probably was born near the Rockies, created ice and snow that coated much of Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana (USA). The cold reached south to Texas and as far west as California, Washington and Oregon. By midday, United Airlines had cancelled 364 of its 434 planned departures from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and 334 of its 434 planned arrivals. O'Hare is United's biggest hub

13th

The monsoon trough, extending NE from ex-TC Sam across the Gulf of Carpentaria (Australia), continues to produce isolated heavy falls. Abington Downs, near Georgetown, southeast of the Gulf, recorded 136.6mm to 9am. Over 400mm has fallen to the south and east of the Gulf in the past week, with river systems, including the Gregory, in flood. Two people were airlifted from their home near Lawn Hill National Park today as floodwaters rose.

14th

A group of up to 163 illegal immigrants feared drowned while trying to reach Australia from Indonesia likely sailed into a massive cyclone, Australia's immigration minister said. Australia has said the 163 immigrants, probably from the Middle East, were thought to have died after leaving Indonesia late last week in two boats for Ashmore Islands, an outcrop of reefs about 600 km (370 miles) off Australia's remote northwest. The two boats -- one carrying 87 people and another with 80 aboard -- left while Tropical Cyclone Sam was building in intensity off Australia's northwest near the Timor Sea. Four survivors were picked up by a Japanese tanker.

14th

Residents from the Plains to the Northeast (USA) coped with power outages and treacherous travel as a winter storm that rampaged across the nation moved out to sea. Nearly 500,000 homes and businesses in Arkansas and Texas alone were without electricity after Wednesday's ice storms caused power lines to fall. Slick roads and heavy snowfall caused at least 11 traffic deaths from Texas to Indiana.

14th

One person was seriously injured and others were feared buried under rubble Thursday after a portion of a snow-covered roof collapsed in a suburban shopping mall in Sarnia, Ontario (Canada). Much of central and eastern Canada have been under a blanket of snow since Monday, with two winter storms dumping 40 to 50 centimeters (16 to 20 inches) of snow over the region.

15th

Winds gusting up to 90 mph left at least 100,000 homes and businesses without electricity in western Washington State (USA) as snow snarled traffic in other parts of the state. One death was reported on snowy roads.

15th

Freezing rain affected much of Arkansas (USA) today, closing more than 100 schools throughout the state.

16th

Tornadoes killed 12 and injured over 50 when they hit Tuscaloosa and other parts of Alabama (USA).

17th

Thousands of people waited for the electricity to be turned back on today as the latest in a series of storms blew blinding snow and bitingly cold air across the USA. Police urged travellers to stay off the roads in parts of the northern Plains as blowing snow cut visibility to near zero. Highways had been shut down in parts of Wyoming, cutting off access to one town, and winds gusting to 41 mph have produced wind chills as low 47 degrees below zero at Fergus Falls, Minn.

19th

Floods and mudslides triggered by two days of heavy rain killed 13 people and drove more than 2,000 from their homes in southeastern Brazil, civil defense officials said Tuesday. Although the torrential weekend rains that pounded the states of Espirito Santo, Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo have subsided, some cities and towns remained isolated because of damaged bridges and flooded highways.

25th

Mudslides caused by heavy rains in southern Brazil killed three people and blocked roads. Two toddlers and an unidentified third person were buried in collapsed homes Sunday night in the city of Alto Feliz, said Ricardo Andre Lanius, a highway patrol officer in Rio Grande do Sul state. He said heavy seasonal rains caused flooding in the northern part of the state and washed out parts of a major state highway near Porto Alegre, some 700 miles southwest of Rio de Janeiro.

27th

Workers cleared rocks and branches from Havana's major thoroughfares today after heavy weekend rain killed two people and damaged 135 homes. The deluge - an average of 6.9 inches - took its toll on Havana's older neighbourhoods, collapsing 25 dilapidated buildings. Local administrator

28th

Exceptional extremes in temperature continued today, with both minimum and maximum temperatures 10C to 15C above and below normal reported. It was an unusually cold start to the day in southeastern Australia as the cold air that has been sweeping Tasmania over the past few days made its presence felt. Canberra recorded its coldest summer morning since 1987 when the thermometer dropped to 3C, while Omeo, across the border in Victoria, recorded -1.2C, 9.5C below normal, and Scamander on Tasmania's east coast recorded 3.8C, its lowest December minimum in a 17 year record. Meanwhile, towns in southwestern WA had a hot night with temperatures not dropping below the mid-20s, around 11 or 12C above average. Today, cloud again kept much of Central Queensland 10 to 15 below, while Western Australia's heatwave moved east somewhat, giving Albany Airport a top temperature of 40.9C, only 2C shy of its December record, and towns in the Great Southern tops of around 40C.

30th

Nearly a week after a Christmas ice storm devastated the southern Plains (USA), tens of thousands of homes and businesses in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas remain without power. About 135,000 homes and businesses in the state remained in the dark. Some communities have also been without water and sewer service for days. In Oklahoma, about 104,000 people remained without power, and some areas weren't expected to get service restored for five to 10 days.

31st

A rare snowfall up to 4 inches deep made roadways slick and sent numerous cars and trucks spinning off the road throughout northern Louisiana on New Year's Eve. It was the largest accumulation in the state in 15 years, as temperatures dipped down into the 20s overnight. By nightfall, Interstate 49 and the eastbound lanes of Interstate 220 were closed. Traffic was at a standstill along state Highway 3 after two 18-wheelers collided and three others slid off the roadway. I-20 between Ruston and Monroe was also clogged.

31st

At east one runway is open in each of the New York area's airport as the region begins cleaning up from a record snowstorm. As much as 29 inches of snow plastered New York, New Jersey and other parts of the Northeast USA on Saturday, cancelling hundreds of flights and slowing motorists in and out of some of the nation's major cities to a crawl. New York's Central Park recorded 12 inches of snow, a record for Dec. 30.

World weather news, November 2000

1st

A tornado hit the North Dakota capital city of Bismarck Wednesday afternoon. More than 40 homes were damaged and shoppers at the city's largest shopping mall had to take cover. It was one of several twisters reported in North Dakota. It was the first time a tornado had struck the state in November since official record-keeping began in 1916.

2nd

Typhoon Xangsane whirled away from Taiwan and closer to southern Japan, leaving 54 dead and 32 missing in the island's worst flooding in three decades. The storm also killed 40 people and left 66 others missing in the Philippines last week. It caused the worst floods in Taiwan for 30 years.

2nd

As a blizzard dumped snow across the Northern Plains (USA), a tour bus carrying dozens of Canadian tourists flipped over in southwestern North Dakota and landed upside down. Many of the 56 people aboard the bus Thursday suffered broken bones and a few were flown to Bismarck with more serious injuries. The central and northern Black Hills area of South Dakota was hit the hardest, while Lead, South Dakota, set a single-day accumulation record, with 31.9 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

1st-3rd

Heavy rain in Hawaii. The rains were the heaviest and most persistent across the eastern half (windward side) of Hawaii. Hilo reported 27.24 inches of rain in a 24-hour period from approximately 1 PM HST on November 1st, 2000. This broke the previous 24 hour rainfall record of 22.30 inches set on February 19th and 20th in 1979. Deep tropical moisture was pulled northward over parts of the Hawaiian Islands fueling strong convection and flooding rains. The rainfall from the thunderstorms flooded numerous homes, forcing dozens of families to evacuate. In addition, several landslides were reported on Hawaii Belt Highway, and schools and most businesses were closed. Kapapala Ranch on the island of Hawaii reported 27.49 inches of rain for a 24 hour period ending at 2AM HST on November 3rd, 2000. The Hawaiian state 24 hour rainfall record is 38.00 inches at Kilauea Plantation on the island of Kauai and occurred on Jan 24-25, 1956.

3rd

Typhoon Bebinca affected the northern Philippines on Friday, killing at least 26 people, triggering landslides and flooding many areas. Packing winds of up to 95 mph when it hit, the storm was about 260 miles west-northwest of Manila midday Saturday, moving toward southern China at 12 mph with top winds of 65 mph. Bebinca is expected to re-gain strength as it moves across the South China Sea. Typhoon Bebinca arrived a week after Typhoon Xangsane swept through the northern Philippines and left 54 people dead, 249 injured and 66 missing.

2nd-6th

Heavy rains and thunderstorms associated with the slow passage of a cold front and upper-level low pressure system through Texas state was responsible for flooding that claimed six lives.

6th

Alpes-Maritimes in SE France had hours of heavy rain and strong winds - leading to flooding and landslips. Gusts of 85-95 km/hr in Nice. In Nice a 60 year-old man was killed by a landslip. The seaward side of the Promenade des Anglais seafront road was closed to traffic on Monday evening because of shingle blown from the beach. Nice Airport was also closed for a time. A 34 year-old man was killed by a mudslide in the town of Gap as he was helping a driver whose car had got stuck in the mud. Rainfall totals in the 24 hrs to 19.00 local time on Monday - Ajaccio on Corsica 46 mm, Bordeaux 49 mm, Marseille 54 mm, Nice 111 mm, Cannes 116 mm. Vence in the hills above Nice had 143 mm between 18.00 local time on Sunday and 12.00 on Monday - including 98 mm between 04.00 and 10.00. Amateur site at Besse-sur-Issole NE of Toulon had 93 mm between 22.00 on Sunday and 12.00 on Monday. Cap Ferret near Arcachon reported 83 km/hr gusting 130 km/hr and Pointe du Raz in Brittany 91 km/hr gusting 120 km/hr. Earlier in the day mean winds/gusts reported included Ouessant 83/111 km/hr, Ile d'Oléron 60/110 km/hr, Belle Ile 70/120 km/hr and Ile d'Yeu 70/120 km/hr.

5th-6th

On Sunday night Switzerland was swept by violent föhn winds - electric poles and trees were blown down and some houses suffered damaged roofs. Gusts of 200 km/hr were reported on the highest peaks.

6th

Rain-triggered landslides killed at least 52 people. As many as 14 villages in Central Java province were hit on Sunday after two days of heavy monsoon rain. In the village of Pacekelen, 14 people were buried alive. Ten are still missing. Police and soldiers are working to find survivors. Last week, landslides killed 36 people in the same region, about 280 miles from Jakarta.

6th-7th

In northern Italy storms caused floods and landslides, forcing scores of people to evacuate their homes. Three people, including an elderly man who drowned in his home, died on Monday in Liguria, the area around Genoa which has been hit hard by recent bad weather. Another man died in Val D'Aosta. In the centre-southern Abruzzo region, a man was missing after his fishing boat went down in a storm off the coast of Vasto, in the Adriatic Sea. Another man aboard has been rescued. 24-hour rainfall totals included - Turin 36 mm, Rivolto 43 mm, Piacenza 52 mm, Genoa 94 mm, and in the Giovi Pass 130 mm. Locarno in Switzerland had 91 mm.

8th-9th

Powerful thunderstorms moved across Alabama overnight and spread into Georgia, soaking Atlanta's morning rush hour. The storm system battered parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama on Wednesday and generated at least thirty-two tornado warnings. A warning means that a tornado either has been sighted or has been indicated on radar.

9th

Snow moved into the Dallas-Fort Worth (USA) area overnight and iced roads and bridges. The snow was heaviest in western portions of the state. The city of Sweetwater reported 10 inches of snow. Five inches of snow fell on San Angelo, which tied the city's record date for the earliest snowfall.

12th

Powerful thunderstorms battered the Houston (Texas, USA) area Sunday night. High winds tore the roofs off apartment buildings, knocked down trees and left thousands of people without electricity. Five people received minor injuries, when the winds ripped the roofs off five apartment buildings in south Houston. A wind gust of about 78 mph was recorded at Houston's Hobby International Airport. At one point, 23,000 customers were without power in Harris, Fort Bend and Wharton counties. The storm also generated golf-ball sized hail in some areas.

12th

The Leonid meteor shower is expected next weekend and once again, NASA will offer a stratospheric view of the annual show. As many as 100 shooting stars per hour could streak across the sky on Nov.17 and 18, as the earth passes through debris from the comet Tempel-Tuttle. The best viewing is expected from the eastern United States, Canada, Africa and Europe. However, weather conditions, city lights and uncertain meteor forecasts can disappoint Leonid fans, so the best view may be on your computer screen. NASA plans to launch a camera-equipped weather balloon 100,000 feet above the earth and then offer live pictures of the meteor shower on the web at LeonidsLive.com. The balloon is scheduled for launch early Saturday morning, Nov.18 and should reach maximum altitude during the last of three meteor stream encounters.

15th

The native people of the Canadian Arctic are seeing something unknown in their oral history - thunder and lightning. Electric storms in the upper Arctic are among the evidence of climate change being reported in a new study by the International Institute for Sustainable Development, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The study lists various environmental changes, including melting permafrost and thinning ice. And some more subtle changes, such as the appearance of robins and barn swallows that allegedly weren't previously seen so far north.

16th

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez declared a state of emergency in 10 states after days of incessant heavy rains left at least three people dead and 2,400 homeless in the northern coast. The rains have raised fears of a recurrence of last year's massive floods and mudslides that killed at least 15,000 people, left tens of thousands homeless and wiped out entire towns in the northern coastal state of Vargas. The capital city of Caracas, Vargas and eight other states on the northern coast and to the west were declared in a state of emergency. Two people died after mudslides buried their homes and one man drowned after he was swept away by an overflowing river. Rivers swelled, streets became streams and mudslides buried hundreds of shanty homes this week as rains poured down on the northern coast and west of the country.

16th-17th

Yet more heavy falls of rain in parts of SE France and Northern Italy. Rainfall totals in the 24 hrs ending 0600 GMT on Friday included Nice 40 mm, Le Luc 53 mm, Hyères 55 mm, Cap Cépetn 93 mm and Locarno 68 mm. Near gale force N-NW mistral in Marseille on Friday afternoon and evening with gusts to 91 km/hr. Toulon and St Tropez had gusts to 110 km/hr; Cap Béar near Collioure reported 125 km/hr. 24-hour rainfall totals ending 1800 GMT on Friday included Piacenza 47 mm, Turin 49 mm, Genoa 84 mm. Oran on the Algerian coast had 45 mm in the 24 hrs ending 0600 GMT on Saturday.

19th

Two avalanches swept away groups of skiers at separate resorts in the western province of Tyrol, killing four people. The first avalanche roared down a mountain at the ski resort of Obergurgl, 215 miles west of Vienna, killing three German skiers. The search using helicopters and dogs was concentrated on the Rosskar ski area, where witnesses said skiers had ventured onto runs that had been closed due to avalanche warnings. A second avalanche struck hours later in Goelbner, another tiny Tyrolean resort 260 miles southwest of Vienna. It swept away a group of seven skiers, killing an Austrian man.

19th

Torrential rain sweeping across parts of western and central Greece flooded thousands of homes and left motorists stranded, from Athens to the holiday island of Corfu. Many districts in Athens were blacked out for several hours, as rain water flooded central roads and buildings in the capital. One woman was killed when her car was hit by falling rocks on a southbound Athens highway. In Corfu, fierce gales damaged homes, lifting the roofs off many properties.

19th

At least 11,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in Sri Lanka's northeast after floods swept through three cities. The displaced people were rushing to safer areas from Batticaloa, Ampara and Polonnaruwah towns and taking refuge in schools, hospitals and public buildings, the broadcast said. Heavy rains lashed the region, damaging huts, harming crops, lagoon fish and prawn yields.

20th

Flooding triggered by torrential downpours derailed a train, caused rivers to overflow their banks and submerged rice fields in central Vietnam. At least 31 people were killed. An average of 12 inches of rain fell on nine coastal provinces from Thursday to Sunday, causing the region's rivers to swell. One train and three carriages derailed near the resort city of Nha Trang when a culvert was washed away Friday night, killing the engineer and injuring his assistant.

20th

Fueled by two weeks of heavy rain, floodwaters cut off villages and destroyed crops Monday in two eastern Australian states. About 50 homes in the village of Woolomin, about 150 miles north of Sydney, were evacuated as the Peel River burst its banks. The swollen river also threatened the nearby provincial town of Tamworth. At least 12 rivers in northern New South Wales state were reported to be flooding. To the north in Queensland state, damage in the town of Mackay was being assessed after torrential rain forced the evacuation of homes and damaged fields of sugar cane. Flood warnings also were in force for rivers across eastern Queensland.

20th

Rising floodwaters disrupted rail and road travel in western Sweden. A graveyard in the town of Arvika was reportedly submerged, as rivers flowing south from the Norweigen Mountains, through western Sweden, reached record levels. Sweden's largest lake, Vanern is reportedly so full that the state controlled utility Vattenfall has been forced to release an unprecedented 1,000 cubic metres of water per second in to the Gota Canal system leading towards Gothenburg.

21st

All schools in Vladivostok were closed as snowstorms raged in the area for more than 24 hours. Many streets were reportedly under 1.5m of snow.

21st

Rescue workers pulled out the bodies of four people who died when a mudslide hit their house in the Tuscan countryside. One other person was missing and presumed dead. The mudslide hit the village of Vinchiana, located about 6 miles north of Lucca, on Monday. Heavy rains have caused floods in northern and central Italy, forcing scores of people to evacuate their homes.

22nd

Buffalo (New York) was moving again as tow truck drivers, police officers and snow plows worked through the night to clear roads blanketed by a 25-inch snowstorm. Stuck schoolchildren were reunited with their parents, and a 65-mile section of the New York State Thruway reopened on Wednesday morning. The monthly total as of 7 AM LST on the 21st was 42.20 inches, which is a new monthly November record

22nd

A storm that has been raging since the weekend has killed nine people in Mozambique. Five of those killed in the recent rains were in the central province of Zambezia and four were in the northern province of Nampula.

23rd

1,800 individuals remained in makeshift shelters in Canada de Gomez after a severe storm hit the city Wednesday night and early Thursday causing a river bordering the city to overflow. Two deaths have been reported, and more than 1,000 homes were damaged as 150mm of rain fell on the city in a few hou

24th

An elderly couple died when their home was swept away in a mudslide on the Italian Riviera and hundreds of people were evacuated after fresh torrential rains hit the region. The town of Imperia and villages in the mountainous hinterland were isolated by landslides and mudslides that also disrupted rail traffic on Thursday and Friday morning on the coastal line between Genoa and the French border, and closed down roads.

27th

Torrential rain and strong winds wreaked havoc in Paphos (Cyprus). A total of 40-43mm of rainfall accumulated in Paphos as property was damaged and power was disrupted. However, the highest rainfall total recorded was 96mm in Athalassa.

28th

Bad weather downed power lines, forcing two more Ukrainian nuclear reactors to shut down and leaving millions of people without electricity. Driving rain, snow, ice and heavy winds have swept across Ukraine since the weekend, causing widespread power failures. Nuclear plants provide 50% of Ukraine electricity. Half of its 14 reactors were down on Tuesday.

29th

Cyclone 03B uprooted hundreds of trees and demolished mud huts on India's southern coast, killing six people and injuring 12. The storm's 75 mph winds struck the mainland from the Bay of Bengal on Wednesday at Cuddalore, a port town in Tamil Nadu state/ The cyclone weakened and later dissipated after it hit the coastline.

30th

The six-month Atlantic hurricane season officially ends today with a tally of 14 named storms, of which eight became hurricanes and three reached major hurricane status with steady winds faster than 110 mph. Despite the busier-than-normal season, the USA escaped without a hurricane strike. The last time that happened was in 1994.

30th>

A late-season tropical storm brought heavy rain, high waves and flooding to parts of the southern Philippines, forcing residents to flee coastal villages. The storm affected Siargao island, a popular surfing spot 470 miles southeast of Manila. Nine towns were flooded in northern Mindanao, forcing 1,640 people to flee their homes by rising floodwaters and big waves that threatened coastal villages in the region. Elsewhere, more than 1,500 passengers waiting for ferry rides from the main island of Luzon to central Philippine islands were stranded after authorities halted ferry services.

World weather news, October 2000

1st

Finland was at least very close to new October record yesterday. Temperatures of 18-19C were reported. The absolute October temperature record for whole Finland is 19.4C (Helsinki-Malmi 1985).

2nd

Hurricane Keith battered the Yucatan Peninsula and Belize with torrential rain, damaging winds and storm surge while remaining nearly stationary off the coast. Since encountering land on Sunday, Keith has slowly weakened with top steady winds decreasing to 75 mph. Deadly flash floods and mudslides are possible in the Yucatan Peninsula and Belize in addition to Honduras and eastern Mexico where up to 20 inches rain are possible. Already more than 14 inches of rain has been reported at the Belize Airport according to a statement issued by the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

2nd

The death toll from devastating floods in western Bangladesh exceeded 100 as grim reports poured in Monday of tens of thousands of marooned people waiting to be rescued. There were 30 flood-related deaths in the worst-hit Jhenaidah and Chuadanga areas during nearly two weeks of unprecedented floods in 10 western districts bordering India. Reports of deaths from boats capsizing, snakebites and a lack of medical attention were pouring in from the flooded areas, where hundreds of unfed and marooned people were being exposed to water-borne diseases.

3rd

Hurricane Keith continues to batter most of Central America including Belize where it appears to have caused its most serious damage. The devastating storm toppled wooden houses and ripped the roofs off hotels in Belize. Reports from Nicaragua say ten people have been killed by flooding caused by a hurricane affecting much of Central America. The authorities said most of the victims drowned as they tried to cross swollen rivers. In neighbouring Guatemala, a young girl was also reported killed.

3rd

The pounding rains from a tropical storm flooded homes and streets and forced schools and businesses in Florida to shut down early. Thousands of residents were left without power. The storm, which started as a disturbed weather system over Cuba, dumped up to 11.5 inches of rain in some parts of Miami-Dade County over a 15-hour period. Numerous flights were cancelled at Miami International Airport. According to National Weather Service meteorologist Joel Rothfuss, the deluge was comparable to Hurricane Irene, which last October dumped up to 18 inches of rain on south Florida, causing millions of dollars in damage.

5th

As the death toll mounted along Vietnam's deluged Mekong Delta, officials said an unexpected flash flood killed at least 40 people in a remote mountain village of Lai Chauin the country's north. Lai Chau has been hit by flash floods in recent years. The flood, which occurred earlier in the week, destroyed several houses, injured 17 people and caused subsequent landslides. Elsewhere in Asia, flooding has claimed more than 1,000 lives and left more than 20 million people homeless in Bangladesh and India. Meanwhile, scores of others have been killed or marooned by flooding in Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. Many of the victims have been afflicted with diseases - including scabies, typhoid and dysentery. The floods have destroyed rice fields in 29 of Laos' districts, most of which would have been harvested later this year. Vietnamese officials said that two new threats faced the nation's flood victims - the spread of cholera and crocodiles swimming down river from Cambodia.

5th

The hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica has stretched over a populated city for the first time, after ballooning to a new record size, New Zealand scientists said. Citing data from the US space agency Nasa, atmospheric research scientist Stephen Wood said the hole covered 11.4 million square miles an area more than three times the size of the United States. For two days, September 9-10, the hole extended over the southern Chile city of Punta Arenas, exposing residents to very high levels of ultra violet radiation. Last month, scientists expressed surprise when NASA data from September 3 showed the hole at just under 11 million square miles the biggest it had ever been. Record-low temperatures in the stratosphere are believed to have helped the expansion of the ozone hole during the southern hemisphere's spring season.

5th

President Bill Clinton admitted he felt ``a little jinxed'' when he became a victim of the torrential downpours that have flooded southeastern Florida First his bomb proof stretched limousine refused to start after he had attended a rally in Jacksonville. A secret service agent attempted to breath life into the engine with jump leads and when that failed Clinton used a back-up car. The president too was soaked by the non stop rainfall and then missed attending a Democratic fund raiser when Air Force One, the presidential jumbo jet, was grounded in Florida by the weather. Up to 18 inches of rain has fallen in Florida this week. Florida's record for the greatest amount of rainfall in a 24 hour period is 38.7 inches which fell on Yankeetown in 1950.

5th

Weather related disasters should be a warning sign to the world's leaders that climate change threatens the livelihoods of millions of people, says a report issued today by the Friends of the Earth environmental group. Severe events have included storms in Taiwan, Brazil and Canada, and flooding in Bangladesh, Japan, Vietnam and India. There have also been fires in the US, Italy and the Balkans, and droughts in Burundi, Croatia, Kenya and Iran. The environmental group said that no individual disaster could be directly blamed on man-made climate change. But scientists believe that the number of such events will rise as the effects of climate change are felt.

10th

The worst flood in the Cambodia's history has caused \$79 million in damage. The flood has affected more than 2.7 million people and nearly half of which are in urgent need of food, housing and medicine. In all, 252 people died in the flooding. 430 miles of national roads and bridges, and 925 miles of rural roads were destroyed or seriously damaged. More than 741,000 acres of rice paddies were destroyed. The Mekong River has been receding gradually for a week but most parts of southeastern Cambodia remain submerged.

11th

Clear skies under a high pressure system caused several record low October temperatures this morning in the southeast of Australia, with late frosts causing concern over frost damage to crops in Victoria's northwest. Nhill recorded a minimum of -2.0,C equal to its previous lowest October minimum in 38 years of computerised records. This followed a minimum of -1.6C on Monday morning. Laverton Airport, between Melbourne and Geelong, had its coldest October morning in 57 years with a minimum of zero. Local agronomists fear that some crops may have suffered damage. Field peas in the Hopetoun area of western Victoria appear the worst affected with damage rates between 15 and 75%. In South Australia, Parafield, north of Adelaide, broke a 38 year record with a minimum on 1.6C while Swan Island, off the northeastern coast of Tasmania, recorded a record low of 4.3C. Widespread light snow was reported across Tasmania overnight, with falls as low as Maydena in the upper Derwent Valley, and at Lake Leake in the northeastern highlands.

12th

A ferocious storm created havoc in Canterbury (New Zealand) today as many residents faced evacuation, thousands experienced power cuts, and road closures cut off access to outlying Banks Peninsula towns. Many Christchurch roads and all city parks were also closed because of danger from trees toppling in the saturated ground. Residents in Eketahuna were being advised to boil drinking water until Monday after the area's worst floods in 50 years.

14th

Heavy rains in southern Brazil swept away houses and flooded cities, killing at least six people and driving more than 5,000 from their homes, civil defense officials said Saturday. The rain, which began last Wednesday, lashed 33 cities and rural towns in Rio Grande do Sul state. The government and private groups distributed food and supplies to victims. Although the rain stopped Saturday and flood waters began to recede, weather forecasts predicted more rain in the area over the weekend.

15th

Some high rainfall totals in SE France on Friday night and Saturday. 24 hrs to 18.00 GMT on Saturday - Marseille 50 mm, Bastia on Corsica 57 mm, Montelimar 88 mm. Montelimar already had 30 mm in the previous 12 hrs - total thus 118 mm in 36 hrs. 24 hrs to 06.00 GMT on Saturday - Le Puy 46 mm, Orange 88 mm. 12 hrs to 06.00 GMT on Saturday - Carpentras 70 mm, Bec de l'Aigle 110 mm. At Nice and Antibes warm air from the south caused a rise in temperature from 19°C at 22.00 on Friday evening to 22°C at midnight.

16th

Flash flooding has claimed the lives of 47 people in Vietnam in the past 10 days. Storms this past weekend have left villages in Cambodia knee-deep in water. Since July, the death toll in Vietnam from massive flooding has risen to 463 as a result of tropical storms and flash floods. Floods claimed 31 lives in central Vietnam, where the rains have since stopped and waters have dropped to near normal levels, officials said. Sixteen more died in four southern coastal provinces.

16th

11 individuals died on Monday as temperatures in northern Kyrgyzstan fell below zero. According to meteorologists a cold cyclone from Siberia and Kazakhstan has been hitting the northland and capital city Bishkek with heavy snowfall. On Monday, the highest temperature was just 2 degrees Celsius during the day. The average temperature in the country in October is reportedly 15C.

16th

Rescuers were resuming their searches across Switzerland and Italy today for at least 21 people missing after a weekend of mudslides and torrential rain. Seven people were missing in the Val D'Aosta region of Italy, one of the hardest hit by the rains, as a state of emergency was declared in the worst-hit areas. The death toll has now reached 10. In Switzerland, rescuers with sniffer dogs combed the mountain village of Gondo, a third of which was destroyed in a landslide on Saturday. Twelve people are missing, feared dead. In the Italian city of Turin, the Dora Baltea river burst its banks overnight, flooding several of the city's main streets with about 20 inches of water and mud. At least 250 people were evacuated from their homes. The Caselle airport was also shut down, while the road connecting Piedmont and Lombardy was cut off. The Rhone river receded slightly as the rain eased today. But much of the Swiss state was still cut off by road, and rail links were expected to remain closed for several days. On the other side of the Alps, Lake Maggiore was at its highest level in a century.

18th

Nearly 15,000 people were evacuated in the northern Italian plains Tuesday as two raging rivers - the Po, Italy's longest river, and the Ticino that feeds into it from the Alps - took aim on the region.

18th

Floods in southwest Bangladesh inundated new areas, damaging or destroying homes in nearly two dozen villages. "New areas are being flooded with water released from other areas after the army had cut through dykes and roads," said Bhabesh Chanda, a local administrator in worst-hit Satkhira district. The floods, which struck usually dry southwest in the last week of September, have killed more than 130 people, left over two million homeless and caused huge losses to the impoverished nation's economy

19th

Late-season Hurricane Michael slammed into southern Newfoundland late Thursday, knocking down power lines, disrupting ferry service and damaging homes. The hurricane evolved into an extratropical storm and weakened as it moved inland. Forecasters said it was packing winds of 85 mph late Thursday, down from almost 100 mph - Category 2 hurricane intensity -earlier in the day when it was still over the Atlantic. On land, winds blew at a measured 80 mph, forecasters said, stripping siding from homes in Seal Cove. Nearby, the village of McCallum bore the brunt of the storm. No injuries have been reported so far. Michael was the 13th named storm of this year's Atlantic hurricane season; eight have been hurricanes. The average year has 10 named storms and six hurricanes.

21st

The flood death toll in Italy and Switzerland rose to 37 Saturday after search teams found another body. Several people are still missing and at least 23,000 people are still unable to return to their homes. On Saturday, the water level of the Po was reported to be dropping by about two inches an hour. In Comacchio, where the Po empties into the Adriatic, animal carcasses, tree trunks, and other flood debris clogged the port, hindering navigation. Damage to roads, bridges and tunnels have snarled traffic in much of the affected region. In some areas, however, life was slowly returning to normal.

22nd

Thick fog, strong winds and rain threatened to curtail operations to recover the bodies of 118 sailors inside the sunken Russian nuclear submarine Kursk. A cold front was forecast for late Sunday, raising the possibility of gale force winds in the Barents Sea that could complicate the work of divers in the area.

23rd

Thunderstorms continued to soak West Texas and eastern New Mexico during the evening, after Sunday thunderstorms reportedly produced flooding and at least one tornado. Parts of Edwards and Real counties flooded after as much as six and a half inches of rain fell on Monday. Storms stretching across the Texas Panhandle Monday afternoon produced a tornado near the eastern edge of Amarillo. No injuries were reported.

23rd

Rescue workers searched for several people believed to be missing after their trailers were swept away by fierce flooding in two western Arizona (USA) towns. Hundreds of people were forced to evacuate the neighbouring towns of Wenden and Salome after a little more than an inch of rain triggered major flooding on Sunday. Witnesses saw at least two people carried away in a torrent of water.

24th

At least five people have been killed and three are missing in floods that have been sweeping through eastern Spain since the weekend. Rescuers have been using helicopters and mechanical diggers to reach people trapped near the River Ebro in Catalonia, one of the regions worst affected by storms and torrential rain. Towns and villages along Spain's Mediterranean seaboard have been inundated. Further down the coast, in Valencia and Murcia, dozens of roads and railway lines have been cut. In all, states of emergency have been declared in 11 provinces, with Zaragoza, Teruel and Albacete also badly hit. In Valencia 149 mm fell in the 24 hrs to 1800GMT on Tuesday, including 109 mm overnight. Valencia has had 227 mm between Sunday morning and Tuesday evening.

25th

Naval commandos rescued trapped families from their balconies as rain-driven floods swept across the Tel Aviv area, temporarily closing the city's main highway and driving hundreds of residents from their homes. A little more than 3 inches fell in 24 hours. Almost 600 people in the Tel Aviv area had to be evacuated. The Ayalon Freeway, Tel Aviv's main traffic artery, was blocked for hours on its northbound lanes after the rain swept tons of mud onto the road.

28th

The death toll in weekend rainstorms in Bangladesh was at least 28. At least 200 people were injured and more than 100 fishermen missing after strong winds and heavy rains lashed the Bangladesh coast on Saturday.

29th

Tropical storm Xangsane whirled away from the Philippines on Sunday, leaving at least 12 people dead and 25 missing in its wake. More than 26,600 people were evacuated from flooded villages in southeastern portions of Luzon Island, the worst-hit area. Most of those who died either drowned or were killed by falling trees or collapsing walls. Among the missing were 19 fishermen who had been out in eight motorboats off Borlongan on the eastern island of Samar.

30th-31st

The Met Office UK said the weather in southern England was the worst for more than a decade, recalling the storm of October 1987. At least four people were killed on wet and windswept roads in England and Wales, and a Dutch ship's captain was found dead after falling into the hold of his vessel anchored off Torbay. There were four deaths in France and one in Ireland, most of them caused by falling trees. The Eurostar train service, linking London with Paris and Brussels, was suspended until 1500 GMT on Monday, and in France the speed of the TGV high-speed trains was cut to half, as high winds brought trees down across railway lines. Air France cancelled 140 flights in total, 30 of them long-haul, and British Airways cancelled 88 flights on Monday morning alone. Ferries between Denmark and Sweden were also disrupted, and light traffic - motorcycles and cars with trailers - were prevented from travelling on the new Oresund bridge connecting the two countries. Several towns on Norway's southern coast were flooded, with abnormally high tides, driven by wind and rain, flooding the centre of Kristiansand and Arendal. As gale-force winds lashed the Atlantic coast of France, an Italian cargo ship carrying toxic chemicals sent out distress signals, and all 14 aboard were taken ashore by helicopter. In N Holland, 24-hour rainfall totals to 0600GMT on the 30th included West Terschelling 81.2 mm, Midsland 82 mm, Formerum 91.3 mm. The village of Oost-Vlieland on the island of Vlieland had 85.5 mm - giving a total of 114 mm there between Friday and Monday morning. Five passengers were slightly hurt when a train caught fire near Utrecht - probably as a result of wind damage to the overhead wiring.

31st

Rescue efforts were halted Tuesday evening on Indonesia's main island as heavy rains continued to pound sites where landslides killed at least 34 people. In the Central Java province town of Cilacap, 21 bodies were found after seven rain-triggered landslides early on Monday and nine people were missing and feared dead.

31st

Worsening Drought in Southeast US: In the U.S., drought conditions have worsened across the southeast, with many areas in moderate to extreme drought. Some locations, including the Greenville-Spartanburg airport in South Carolina, have recorded no rainfall for the entire month of October. The 2000 drought, affecting agricultural regions of the south and southeast since spring, has caused well over $2 billion in losses. This includes significant losses to the corn, cotton, and soybean crops.