Canada freezes as snow storm strands thousands Posted Sun Dec 13, 2009 8:07pm AEDT People in the north-central part of the Canadian province of Ontario are digging out after* one of the worst snow storms on record.* Some areas north of Toronto received as much as 100 centimetres of snow over the past three days. The main highway through the region re-opened for the first time in days, but nearly all side roads remain closed, blocked by a thick blanket of snow, in some areas chest high. More than 100,000 people have been affected by the storm, either cut off in smaller communities, or in their cottages, or stranded by the road closures. In one town the mayor declared a snow emergency, shutting schools and businesses. Officials say emergency road crews clearing roads are completely exhausted. Officers at one police detachment said they could not see their parked patrol cars buried under the snow. Police are also urging travellers to stay away from the region at least for the next couple of days. Meanwhile, western Canada is in the grip of a cold snap with temperatures plummeting anywhere from -40 to -50 degrees Celsius. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/13/2770207.htm =============================== 46 Injured in 50-Car Pileup in Connecticut *SHELTON, Conn.  — * [image: http://www.foxnews.com/images/591809/1_61_a320.jpg] Dec. 13: Wrecked cars are seen on a wet road in Shelton, Conn. *Police say at least 50 cars crashed in a chain-reaction collision on a wet Connecticut road that was turning icy, and 46 people reported minor injuries.* Shelton police Detective Sgt. Kevin Ahern says six people were taken to hospitals from the wreck that happened shortly after noon Sunday on state route 110. None of the injuries were life-threatening. WFSB says the southwestern Connecticut<http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,580139,00.html?test=latestnews#road has been closed for more than five hours so authorities can continue investigating the accident. Police expected it to reopen early Sunday evening. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,580139,00.html?test=latestnews ================================ A snowy dusting in Victoria's summer Sam Terry, Friday December 11, 2009 - 18:12 EDT  Most people consider summer a time to wear shorts and thongs wherever one pleases, with little thought of ski jackets or snowboards. However Victoria's Mount Baw Baw saw a light dusting of snow, and it's already two weeks into summer. A cold front crossed the nation's southeast during Thursday, bringing gusty winds and some good falls to southern Victoria. Mount Baw Baw was one of the many locations to receive these falls, 31 millimetres in fact. Part of this was snow, around five centimetres, not enough to rejuvenate the ski season, but enough to create an excited buzz. Melbourne itself didn't miss out. The city recorded 10 millimetres, now making a total (so far) of 30 millimetres. Surrounding suburbs also had quenched rain gauges, with the largest falls over the eastern suburbs, right in the way of the southwesterly winds behind the front. Saturday will see winds ease and isolated showers abate in southern Victoria. It is also unlikely that there'll be any more summer snow... at least until next Thursday. http://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/a-snowy-dusting-in-victorias-summe... ============================ Columbus Rain Tops Record  By Josephine Bennett  Updated: 19 hours ago COLUMBUS, Ga. — Months of rain have not only ended the drought, they've broken a record in one of Georgia's major cities. Starting in March rains began to loosen the grip of a two year drought across the state. By June, Governor Sonny Perdue declared the drought over. Lakes and reservoirs that were empty a year ago are now full. Right now cities like Atlanta, Athens and Macon are all above average for precipitation, but one place is a clear winner according to State Climatologist, David Stooksbury. Columbus wins the crown. For the past 365 days Columbus has received 155% of normal rainfall. Over the weekend Columbus broke a yearly rainfall record set back in 1964. Stooksbury says other cities could follow Columbus. He says an El Nino weather pattern is responsible for the cold, wet weather. It should last through March, increasing chances of floods, tornado's and ice storms. http://www.gpb.org/news/2009/12/14/columbus-rain-tops-record ===================== Moscow shivers as unseasonal warmth turns to bitter frost [image: Moscow shivers as unseasonal warmth turns to bitter frost] © RIA Novosti Alexey Kudenko <http://en.rian.ru/ | Buy this image<http://visualrian.ru/images/item/523040 Related News    - Russia reigns over its weather<http://en.rian.ru/valdai_foreign_media/20091208/157153533.html    - New temperature record registered in Moscow    <http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091203/157081437.html    - Winter temperature record broken in Moscow<http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091202/157068466.html    - Mushrooms pop up near Moscow as warm weather continues<http://en.rian.ru/Environment/20091127/157007283.html    -    A vicious frost held Moscow in its grip on Tuesday as record warm weather    at the start of December gave way to temperatures of minus 25 degrees    Celsius (-13 degrees Fahrenheit).    The biting cold comes after an all-time record high temperature for    December 3 was registered in the Russian capital. As the temperature soared    to 8.2 degrees Celsius, bears at the Moscow zoo were unable to begin    hibernating and mushrooms began growing in nearby forests.    All that is but a distant memory now, as current icy temperatures are    around 16 degrees Celsius below the norm for the time of year.    But temperatures are unlikely to drop further, the head of the    meteorological service Gidrometeobureau told RIA Novosti. Alexei Lyahov said    the mercury was expected to soar to minus 18-21 degrees Celsius on    Wednesday. http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091215/157243965.html =================================== Schools close as heavy rains drench the South Dec 15 09:04 AM US/Eastern NEW ORLEANS <http://topics.breitbart.com/NEW+ORLEANS/ (AP) - Schools are closed in parts of Louisiana,<http://topics.breitbart.com/louisiana/ Alabama <http://topics.breitbart.com/alabama/ and Georgia<http://topics.breitbart.com/Georgia/as heavy rain continues to drench the already-soggy South. More than an inch of rain an hour was falling in south Louisiana, and the New Orleans airport<http://get.lingospot.com/_link_/?@li2=1812&is_lhid=1&key=SVKEJENJ&ps_id...recorded more than 7 inches of rain in a 24-hour period that ended Tuesday morning. <http://topics.breitbart.com/Tuesday+morning/ Parts of southwest Alabama got up to 10 inches of rain in just a few hours. Flash flood watches are in effect across the region. A handful of roads are closed and police are rescuing stranded drivers. Schools are closed in some counties because water on the roads is making conditions too hazardous for school buses <http://topics.breitbart.com/school+buses/ to get through. Some places are also dealing with power outages.<http://topics.breitbart.com/power+outages/ http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9CJPEL00&show_article=1&catn...  <http://topics.breitbart.com/power+outages/ Calgary beats record set in 1893 Calgary has beaten a weather record set more than 100 years ago. At about 7:00 Monday morning, Calgary dipped to minus 32.4 degrees beating the old record by .2 degrees. And at least twelve low temperature records have been broken, with the coldest being Sundre coming in at minus 41.6C. That's prompting calls from the Catholic and public schools to warn parents about letting kids stand outside to wait for the bus.   The frigid temperatures also cancelled bus service in the Chinook Edge School District. The lowest windchill was in Camrose, where the wind makes it feel like minus 50C. The record low temperature for Calgary is minus 32.2 set in 1893.  The last time the city hit minus 40C was in 1997. The Arctic air mass giving us the cold air will slowly move east beginning Tuesday and will be replaced by milder Pacific air. A low in the Pacific will push rain onto the west coast, snow in the BC mountains, and warmer weather for Alberta. We should hit minus 8 Tuesday, then go above zero starting Wednesday. By Friday, chinook conditions may develop.   It won't be warm enough to melt much of the snow, but road and highway conditions will improve. http://www.660news.com/news/local/more.jsp?content=20091214_210122_3056 ===================== Westwego officials say tornado may have struck this morning (NO Louisiana)  By Allen Powell II, The Times Picayune<http://connect.nola.com/user/apowell/index.html December 15, 2009, 10:36AM Westwego officials are seeking confirmation about whether a small tornado may have touched down in the southern part of the city at about 5 a.m. today. Westwego Mayor John Shaddinger said residents south of the West Bank Expressway who live between Central Avenue and Victory drive <http://http//maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=vic...reported high winds and the peculiar train sound often heard during tornadoes this morning. Shaddinger said several homes in that area did have some moderate wind damage, including one home that had a large tree branch fall
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