World weather news

World weather news, November 1994

10th

(Late News) Warm episode conditions continued to strengthen in the tropical Pacific during October, indicating the strong potential for further development to mature ENSO conditions. The Southern Oscillation Index remained strongly negative during October (-1.6), and has averaged -1.5 since March.

17th

Record snowfall at Whistler, British Columbia, allowed the resort of Blackcomb to open early, (one of the earliest openings in its 15-year history).

19th

At least 75 people were killed and hundreds injured by tropical cyclone 05A in northern Somalia. 30% of buildings in Bosasso on the Gulf of Aden coast were destroyed.

21st

Australia's drought-stricken farmers are trying cloud seeding and water divining in an effort to save crops and livestock. The drought, one of the worst on record in Australia, is gripping 93% of the eastern states of New South Wales and 44% of Queensland. Some areas have had no useful rain for four years. There is no sign of the drought breaking; the Bureau of Meteorology expects below-average rainfall over almost the entire country until next March.

23rd

In Ireland, temperatures for November are some 4-5 degC degrees above normal.

23rd

Rain from Tropical Storm (later Hurricane) Gordon flooded thousands of acres of farmland in south Florida, damaging or destroying crops and threatening higher prices in the grocery store for winter fruits and vegetables. Up to $175 million worth of the annual crop had been lost. In Haiti the death toll is now put at 829.

25th

Heavy snow was reported from Oregon and California to Wyoming.

25th

Floods after several days of heavy rain damaged buildings in 19 cities and 700 villages in western Iran.

27th

89F at Victoria (Texas) broke the 68-year old record high for the 27th; tornadoes killed 7 people in Tennessee.

27th

Unusually heavy snow in Minnesota and Michigan - up to 15ins fell in 24 hours.

28th

Alta (Utah) has received 188 ins of snow so far in November - the record monthly fall is 244.5 ins in December 1983; record amounts have also fallen at low levels (eg Salt Lake City - 32.2 ins).

28th

November in De Bilt (Holland) is the warmest November since records began in 1706 (about 1.5 degC higher than the existing record).

28th

3 killed and 11 injured by lightning north of Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia).

29th

Some 3,800 people and 110,000 head of livestock are threatened by starvation following unusually heavy snowfalls in Tibet.

29th

Beijing Airport (China) plans to eliminate fog that has forced it to close several times this month by spraying liquid nitrogen across the runways.

30th

35 tornadoes in the US in November (climat. normal = 31).

World weather news, December 1994

3rd

An unusually early blizzard covered the Jordanian capital in snow; up to 10 ins fell.

4th

Heavy snow from California to Wyoming. Up to 4 feet of snow in the Sierra Nevadas.

4th

High winds and heavy snow in Alaska: -23F and a windchill of -75F at Barrow.

4th

In the USA 86F at Tampa (FL) was a record for December; at Olympia (WA) 6F was the lowest ever on this date.

5th

Two feet of snow over the mountains of Colorado; -28F at Williston (ND) was a record low for this date.

2nd-6th

Snowstorms over Hokkaido (Japan) killed 5 crew members of a Japanese air force helicopter.

7th

Unusually mild over Texas; 85F at Brownsville.

9th

Arrival of cold moist air resulting in treacherous black ice on roads around Hull (UK); 50 car accidents occurred.

11th

A severe snowstorm in Nova Scotia disrupted the search for 22 sailors still missing since their Ukrainian-flagged cargo ship sank on Friday in the North Atlantic.

11th

Cynwyd in Wales recorded 17C today which is a record December high there.

11th-12th

A strong low pressure system has produced high winds, cold temperatures and heavy snow over parts of Alaska. From Sunday afternoon to the morning of the 12th nearly 28 inches of new snow fell at Valdez.

11th-12th

Three people drowned in west Scotland, and hundreds were evacuated as floods caused widespread damage; over 100mm fell in 48 hours around Glasgow with the worst floods for 106 years there.

13th

Up to 2 feet of snow fell in Utah and Wyoming in 24 hours.

16th

Zimbabwe seems to be heading for another drought. Rains, which usually start in November and end in March, failed last month and crops already planted are withering.

17th

Gusty winds caused the postponement of the launch of the first manned balloon flight around the world, taking off from Reno in Nevada.

17th

A 100-foot-wide avalanche near Stevens Pass, east of Seattle, flowed about 300 yards and covered the U.S. Highway 2 with 6 feet of snow; 4 cars were buried and 9 injured.

17th

84F in Hollywood (Florida) was a record for the date.

19th

Three years of data from NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) have provided conclusive evidence that human-made chlorine in the stratosphere is the cause of the Antarctic ozone hole.

20th

Austria got its first real snow of the winter on Tuesday after green slopes persisted into the warmest December since 1917. In the Vorarlberg region, 20 cm fell.

20th

A cold snap in Moscow has killed 31 since the start of the month. Temperatures down to -22F in Moscow and -16F in Kiev.

21st

Two people died and eight were feared dead after Typhoon Axel battered the central Philippines.