http://www.angelfire.com/on/predictions/recordbreaking.html
JANUARY 2004:*The coldest day in a decade for some U.S. cities (January
10th).*The worst cyclone in living memor
y
JANUARY 2004:
*The coldest day in a decade for some U.S. cities (January 10th).
*The worst cyclone in living memory has devastated the tiny South
Pacific island of Niue.
*The tiny south-western Queensland, Australia town of Birdsville has
recorded its hottest January day on record.
DECEMBER 2003:
*Heta is the first tropical cyclone to threaten the Pacific archipelago
of Samoa in more than a decade.
*Winnipeg hospitals saw a record number of cases of a "superbug" this
past year.
*Victoria, Australia had one of the hottest Decembers on record.
*The world's most lethal quake in at least 10 years laid waste most of
Bam's mud brick buildings in Iran in seconds.
*The most powerful quake (6.5) to strike California since a 7.1 quake
rocked the desert near Joshua Tree more than four years ago in 1999. The
last one of a similar size in the coastal area was in 1952.
*The first winter cyclone in Southern India in 18 years.
*North Carolina experienced its strongest earthquake in more than a
century.
*The most powerful quake to hit the Taitung area of Taiwan in over the
past 30 years.
*Lapland saw one of its hottest summers this year with temperatures as
high as 30 Celsius. Its weather has become increasingly unpredictable,
with 1999 the coldest winter in the last century when the mercury
plummeted to -51 C.
*Tropical storm Odette is the first recorded tropical storm to brew in
the Caribbean Sea in December. (Hurricane season officially ends Nov.
30.)
NOVEMBER 2003:
*Worst thunderstorm in 100 years in Melbourne, Australia.
*According to the United Kingdom (UK) meteorological office, 2003 has
been one of the driest years on record.
*The biggest known outbreak of hepatitis A in U.S. history has occurred
at a Chi Chi's restaurant near Pittsburgh.
*After 10 days of dramatic activity, the most powerful solar flare ever
seen has exploded on the Sun's surface. The Sun's current spate of
activity is the most dramatic and intense ever witnessed on the Sun's
surface. Powerful solar flares are given an "X" designation. Last week
there were X7 and X10 events that took place back-to-back. There was an
X8 and an X3 event on Sunday. On Monday, there was an X3 flare followed
by smaller ones. Tuesday's flare went off the scale, researchers say it
was well above X20. The major flares have come from sunspot region 486,
now officially the most active solar region in recorded solar
observational history.
*Sunspot activity is the highest in 1,000 years, scientists say. The sun
has been acting unusually lately, with more sunspots recorded since the
1940s, than in the previous millennium.
OCTOBER 2003:
*Victoria, Australia recorded its coolest October in 27 years.
*Three of the biggest sunspot groups to appear in years crossed the
Sun's face and one of them spewed one of the most powerful coronal mass
ejections (CMEs) ever recorded.
*Two raging wildfires in the Los Angeles suburbs merged to form the
biggest conflagration in the region in a generation.
*California's deadliest outbreak of wildfires in more than a decade.
*Vienna, Austria, has its earliest snowfall in more than 60 years.
*It was a freakish summer of record heat and little rain in Iberia.
SEPTEMBER 2003:
*Landslides in September devastated the Pullathomas/ Glengad area of
Erris in Ireland. They rank among the worst natural disasters ever to
befall a west of Ireland community.
*The ozone hole over the South Pole is as large as it has ever been, and
is also lasting longer this year. The thinnest area is the largest every
measured, roughly two thirds of the hole's total size. The hole is also
deeper. This year the hole peaked twice, once in mid-September and again
in late September.
*A meteorite that crashed in eastern India was part of the most
spectacular meteor shower in the country's recent history.
*Hurricane Juan was the worst storm to hit the Nova Scotian peninsula in
decades.
*Afghanistan has suffered through months of the worst sandstorms in
living memory.
*Europe this year experienced its hottest summer for at least 500 years
*Hurricane Isabel is the most powerful storm in four years to menace the
mid-Atlantic coast.
*This was the worst fire season they've had in 50 years in British
Columbia, Canada.
* The hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica has hit record proportions
for this time of year and could get bigger still within the next few
days, possibly breaking the all-time record for size. It was the largest
that it has ever been during August.
*Typhoon Maemi ravaged South Korea with their strongest winds in a
century and most powerful typhoon ever.
*Maemi was the strongest typhoon to hit the Okinawan islands in southern
Japan in 35 years and one of the 10 strongest to hit anywhere in Japan.
*The worst flooding in 20 years in northern China.
*From 1995 through 1999, there were 41 hurricanes in the Atlantic,
Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico, the most on record in a five-year
period.
*The most powerful hurricane to hit Bermuda in 50 years slammed into the
island chain.
*In Costa Rica, the Arenal Volcano spewed lava, rocks and ash in its
strongest eruption in more than two years.
*Dujuan was the strongest typhoon to hit China in a quarter of a
century.
*Worst drought in 40 years in Russia.
AUGUST 2003:
*In the last two decades the Earth's average temperature has been the
highest for about two thousand years. Based on the study of temperature
data from up to 1,000 years ago, the late 20th century has been the
warmest period on record.
*The heat wave that scorched Europe in August was one of the deadliest
hot-weather disasters in a century.
*Italian meteorologists have described this summer as the nation's
hottest in more than 50 years.
*Western and southern Afghanistan have suffered through months of the
worst sandstorms in living memory.
*A massive 7.9 earth tremor hit a sparsely populated part of New
Zealand's South Island. It was the largest earthquake to strike the area
in decades.
*British Columbia has been under a state of emergency since Aug. 2 in
the worst fire season in 50 years.
*Croatia is gripped by its worst drought in 50 years.
* A giant gerbil invansion is the worst rodent disaster to hit the
region of Xinjiang China in 10 years.
*The possibility of major landslides occurring in the area of Kanagawa
Prefecture in Japan is at its highest in recent years.
*French vineyards have begun harvesting grapes a week early because
their sugar content has been increased prematurely by the strong
sunlight.
*Record-high temperatures have been set in numerous cities across
France.
*This year's heat wave is France's worst ever on record.
*Turin endured a frazzling 41.6C, the highest temperature noted in the
north-western Italian city since records began there in 1750.
*Neutstadt, in southern Germany, had a record high temperature overnight
..
*This is the worst heat wave to cover Southern and Eastern Europe in 150
years.
*The United Kingdom recorded its hottest day ever.
*The waters of the Mediterranean Sea have reached their highest
temperatures for 45 years - 32C.
*London overnight set a new heat record at 35.5 degrees Celsius, half a
degree hotter than the highest temperature previously recorded in the
capital on August 3, 1990.
*There were more record temperatures in northern France, where the city
of Lille reached 36.4 degrees, beating the 36.1 degrees recorded in
1959; while the town of Beauvais topped 38.7 degrees, a whole
degree-and-a-half hotter than the 37.2 degrees recorded in 1947.
*Swiss authorities said there were signs that mountain ice caps were
melting at 4,000 metres' altitude, in what a Zurich university professor
called a "really exceptional situation".
*Norway has also seen record-high temperatures.
*Italy's maize crop is expected to be the worst in five years, entirely
due to drought.
*FRANCE RECORDED ITS HIGHEST TEMPERATURES IN MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY.
*THE FRENCH SUMMER HAS BEEN DECLARED THE HOTTEST SINCE WORLD WAR II.
*TEMPERATURES IN SLOVENIA ARE AT THEIR HIGHEST FOR A CENTURY.
*IN GERMANY A RECORD NIGHT-TIME HIGH WAS RECORDED.
*TEMPERATURES IN THE SOUTHERN REGION OF ANDALUCIA, SPAIN HAVE RISEN
ABOVE 40C (104F), WITH SOME TOWNS RECORDING THEIR HIGHEST-EVER
TEMPERATURES.
*AT LEAST ONE MILLION PEOPLE IN SOUTHERN PAKISTAN HAVE BEEN LEFT
MAROONED OR HOMELESS AS A RESULT OF FLOODS CAUSED BY THE WORST MONSOON
RAINS IN A DECADE.
*FIERCE BLAZES SWEEPING ACROSS TWO-THIRDS OF PORTUGAL'S MAINLAND REGIONS
ARE SAID TO BE THE WORST IN LIVING MEMORY. One fire alone last week
destroyed 11,000 hectares, making it the LARGEST INDIVIDUAL FIRE FOR 15
YEARS.
*THIS IS THE DRIEST THEIR FORESTS HAVE EVER BEEN SINCE THEY STARTED
RECORDING THOSE SORTS OF STATISTICS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA.
* THE WORST FIRES IN 50 YEARS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA.
*MONGOLIAN ZUDS (a long dry summer followed by an extremely cold winter)
HAVE NEVER BEFORE BEEN SO BAD AND SO OFTEN. Three years in a row winter
temperatures have plunged dramatically low.
JULY 2003:
*The highest sea level in 100 years was recorded around Japan.
*MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA HAS INSTITUTED THE TOUGHEST WATER-USE RESTRICTIONS
IN 20 YEARS.
*PAKISTAN HIT BY THE WORST FLOODS IN A DECADE.
*WESTERN AND SOUTHERN AFGHANISTAN ARE SUFFERING THROUGH TWO MONTHS OF
THE WORST SANDSTORMS IN LIVING MEMORY.
*EUROPE SUFFERING THE WORST DROUGHT IN YEARS, brought on by a prolonged
heat wave that has kept temperatures well above 86 degrees for weeks. In
Italy, France, Germany, Portugal, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary,
Serbia, Croatia and Romania harvests are expected to be up to 60 percent
below normal yields for some crops.
*CROATIA'S MAJOR RIVERS, THE SAVA, DRAVA, KUPA AND DANUBE, WERE REPORTED
AT THEIR LOWEST LEVELS EVER.
*SERBIA'S MAJOR RIVERS ARE AT THEIR LOWEST LEVELS IN 100 YEARS.
*IN THE DANUBE DELTA, 10 PERCENT OF THE WETLANDS HAVE DRIED UP, while
about 40 percent of the delta's water has evaporated. VOLUME OF THE
DANUBEWAS, at 3,066 cubic yards a second, THE LOWEST IN 160 YEARS.
*IN ITALY WHERE A HEAT WAVE AND ACCOMPANYING DROUGHT HAVE LASTED WEEKS,
THE NATIONAL GRID WAS OVERLOADED BY THE USE OF AIR CONDITIONERS, CASUING
SUMMER BLACKOUTS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OVER 20 YEARS.
*THE PO RIVER, WHICH FEEDS MANY LESSER RIVERS IN NORTHERN ITALY, IS AT
NEAR RECORD LOW LEVELS.
*IN FRANCE WILDFIRE ARE RAGING SIMUTANEOUSLY IN SEVERAL SOUTHERN REGIONS
AND WERE SPREADING AT A PACE UNSEEN SINCE SPECIAL FIRE-FIGHTING SERVICES
WERE CREATED AFTER WORLD WAR II. Southern and eastern France have been
hard hit by drought, without significant rainfall in about two months.
*FAR-EASTERN RUSSIA IS EXPERIENCING ONE OF THE MOST SEVERE FOREST FIRE
SEASONS ON RECORD.
*IMBUDO WAS THE STRONGEST TYPHOON TO HIT CHINA IN YEARS.
*IMBUDO WAS THE STRONGEST TYPHOON TO HIT THE PHILIPPINES IN FIVE YEARS.
*THE WORST FLOODS SINCE 1991 IN CHINA'S HUAI AND CHU RIVER VALLEYS. IN
SOME PLACES WATER LEVELS ARE AT RECORD HIGHS.
*THE BLIZZARD THAT HIT NEW ZEALAND OVER THE WEEKEND OF JULY 5 IS BEING
REPORTED AS THE WORST IN 50 YEARS.
*WORST BLIZZARD IN DECADES IN NEW ZEALAND. North Island's east coast
reported the worst snowfalls in 40 years.
*THE WORLD IS EXPERIENCING RECORD NUMBERS OF EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS,
such as droughts and tornadoes, with global warming the cause. CNN
reports that this represents a clear and alarming trend towards wilder
weather.
*FOR THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE, THE INCREASE IN TEMPERATURE IN THE 20TH
CENTURY WAS LIKELY TO HAVE BEEN THE LARGEST IN ANY CENTURY DURING THE
PAST 1,000 YEARS.
JUNE 2003:
*SWITZERLAND EXPERIENCED ITS HOTTEST JUNE IN AT LEAST 250 YEARS while in
the south of France average temperatures were between 5 and 7 degrees
Celsius (9 to 13 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than the long term average.
England and Wales also experienced their hottest month since 1976.
*THE RIVER PO IN ITALY IS AT A RECORD LOW - 24 FEET BELOW ITS NORMAL
LEVEL. In Venice, rainfall in the first six months of the year was 40%
lower than average.
*RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES IN ITALY IN JUNE.
*TEXAS HAS HAD THE SECOND-DRIEST SPRING IN A CENTURY.
*WORST GRASSHOPPER INFESTATION EVER SEEN IN WESTERN CANADA. It's the
last kick from a drought that devastated crops last year.
*IN IDAHO AND UTAH, DROUGHT HAS LED TO THE WORST INFESTATION OF THE
CROP-EATING MORMON CRICKET IN SIXTY YEARS.
*IN PARTS OF THE EASTERN AND SOUTHERN U.S., IT'S BEEN THE WETTEST SPRING
ON RECORD. And this is one of the worst allergy seasons they've had in
perhaps 50 years.
*WORST DROUGHT IN 40 YEARS IN INDIA.
MAY 2003:
*562 TORNADOES WHICH HIT THE UNITED STATES IN MAY THIS YEAR WAS A RECORD
- far higher than the previous monthly peak of 399 in June 1992.
*GLOBAL AVERAGE LAND AND SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURES IN MAY 2003 WERE THE
SECOND HIGHEST SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1880.
*STRONGEST EARTHQUAKE TO HIT JAPAN IN TWO YEARS.
*THE MOST DEVASTATING EARTHQUAKE TO HIT ALGERIA IN 20 YEARS.
*WORST FLOODING IN SAMOA IN 20 YEARS.
*MANITOBA, CANDA IS EXPERIENCING SCORCHING WILDFIRES AND ONE OF ITS MOST
COMBUSTIBLE SPRINGS EVER.
*SRI LANKA SUFFERED ITS WORST FLOODING IN 50 YEARS.
*RECORD NUMBER OF TORNADOES IN THE U.S. IN THE MONTH OF MAY.
*SOME OF THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL IN MORE THAN A HUNDRED YEARS SWAMPED
PARTS OF THE SOUTHERN U.S.
*THE TENNESSEE RIVER IS AT ITS HIGHEST LEVEL IN FOUR DECADES AFTER DAYS
OF TORRENTIAL RAIN.
*THE CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER IN GEORGIA ROSE TOWARD ITS HIGHEST LEVEL SINCE
AT LEAST 1961.
*CENTRAL ALABAMA SET A RECORD FOR RAINFALL IN A TWO-HOUR PERIOD WITH
NEARLY 11 INCHES FALLING.
*THE MOST DEVASTATING SERIES OF TORNADOES TO EVER STRIKE MISSOURI.
*THE WORST FLOODING IN DECADES HIT ARGENTINA, RECORD FLOOD LEVELS.
*AUSTRALIA SUFFERED ITS WORST-RECORDED ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER WHEN
BRUSHFIRES FUELED BY A SEVERE DROUGHT BLACKENED ALMOST 10% OF THE
COUNTRY DURING THE SUMMER OF 2002/03.
APRIL 2003:
*RECORD-TYING 4.9 EARTHQUAKE STRUCK ALABAMA and was felt in 7 eastern
states.
*THE MOST SEVERE FLOODING FOR SEVERAL DECADES IN ARGENTINA.
*ONE OF THE WORLD'S WETTEST PLACES, IN THE NORTHERN HILLS OF INDIA, IS
SUFFERING FROM A SHORTAGE OF WATER. The area once recorded more than
1,000 inches (2,540 centimetres) of rain in just one year - a global
record. Cherrapunji received less rain in the whole of 2001 - only 363
inches (922 cm) - than it got in just one month in 1861.
*THE EARLIEST ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON IN MEMORY. Ana was the first
storm of 2003 and one of only two tropical or subtropical storms to form
in April since record keeping began.
*WATER TEMPERATURES IN A NEWFOUNDLAND CANADA BAY ARE THE COLDEST
MEASURED IN DECADES and a massive cod kill has occurred there.
MARCH 2003:
*THE AUSTRALIAN TERRITORY OF TASMANIA RECEIVED RECORD-SETTING RAINFALL.
*BRITAIN HAD THE SUNNIEST MARCH IN 40 YEARS. England, Wales, Scotland
and Northern Ireland experienced record-breaking hours of sunshine in
March. the first two months of 2003 were the UK's second sunniest since
records began in 1960.
*DENVER, COLORADO HAD ITS BIGGEST BLIZZARD IN 90 YEARS.
*A FOREST FIRE NEAR THE SOUTH COAST OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA IS BEING
REPORTED AS THE LARGEST IN MEMORY.
*RECORD-SHATTERING COLD TEMPERATURES THREATEN TO FREEZE MASSIVE LAKE
SUPERIOR'S SURFACE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MORE THAN TWO DECADES. Lake
Superior last froze completely in 1979, and this year's ice cover is the
most since 1996-97.
FEBRUARY 2003:
*MOST SEVERE EARTHQUAKE TO HIT XINJIANG CHINA SINCE 1949.
*THE WORST BLIZZARD IN SEVEN YEARS SHUT DOWN MUCH OF THE NORTHEASTERN
U.S.
*SOME OF THE HEAVIEST SNOWFALLS ON RECORD IN THE NORTH EASTERN U.S.
*RECORD-SETTING RAINS FELL OVER SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.
*GREENHOUSE GAS LEVELS IN THE ATMOSPHERE ARE AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS EVER
RECORDED.
*WATER STORAGE LEVELS HAVE FALLEN BELOW 60%, TO THEIR LOWEST LEVELS IN
FIVE YEARS, IN SYDNEY, THE BLUE MOUNTAINS AND THE ILLAWARRA REGIONS OF
AUSTRALIA.
JANUARY 2003:
*DROUGHT IS CONTINUING TO HIT QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA HARD, WITH THE STATE
RECORDING ITS DRIEST JANUARY ON RECORD.
*AN UNPRECEDENTED 6,233 BUSH AND GRASS FIRES WERE RECORDED ACROSS NEW
SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA IN THE PAST 6 MONTHS.
*MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA HAD IT'S SECOND HOTTEST DAY ON RECORD.
*VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA SWELTERED UNDER ITS HOTTEST CONDITIONS IN 64 YEARS.
*RECORD COLD TEMPERATURES DESCENDED ACROSS THE EASTERN SEABOARD OF THE
U.S.
*RECORD SNOWFALL LEVELS IN NEWFOUNDLAND, CANADA.
*RECORD LOW LEVELS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
*CANBERRA AUSTRALIA'S WORST BUSHFIRES THEY HAVE EVER SEEN.
*AUSTRALIA'S WORST BUSHFIRES IN MORE THAN 70 YEARS.
*FIJI HIT BY ITS MOST POWERFUL CYCLONE IN MORE THAN A DECADE.
*RECORD COLD TEMPERATURES HIT INDIA - there has been a month-long cold
spell.
*THERE WERE RECORD LOW TEMPERATURES IN RUSSIA OVER SEVERAL DAYS.
*THERE ARE CONCERNS THAT THE BALTIC SEA MAY FREEZE OVER. The ice may
cover it entirely for the first time since 1948. In addition to covering
an unusually large area, the ice is also five to 20 centimetres thicker
than average.
*LONDON GOT ITS HEAVIEST SNOWFALL IN 12 YEARS.
*SANTA ANA WINDS IN CALIFORNIA WERE STRONGER THAN ANY IN RECENT MEMORY.
*CYCLONE ZOE WAS THE MOST POWERFUL PACIFIC CYCLONE EVER RECORDED.
*ODD WEATHER IN EUROPE THIS WINTER HAS LEFT PASTS OF THE ALPS WITHOUT
SNOW DUE TO UNSEASONABLY WARM TEMPERATURES WHILE LEAVING NORTHERN EUROPE
WITH THEIR WORST COLD SNAP IN DECADES.
*IN FINLAND, HELSINKI HAS HAD A DRY COLD SNAP NOT SEEN IN THIS EXTREME
IN THE PAST FOUR DECADES.
*ACROSS EASTERN TURKEY, TEMPERATURES DROPPED OVERNIGHT TO THEIR LOWEST
IN 10 YEARS, reaching minus 40 degrees Celsius.
*BELGIUM IS SWAMPED BY THEIR WORST FLOODS IN NEARLY A DECADE.
*THE HEAVIEST RAINS IN A DECADE IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO.
*LAST YEAR MUCH OF AUSTRALIA WAS HIT BY THE LONGEST DROUGHT IN RECORDED
HISTORY, which devastated crop yields and sparked continual bushfires
which threatened major cities.
2002:
*2002 WAS THE SECOND HOTTEST EVER RECORDED. It continued a warming trend
that has set records for the last five years. Only 1998 was warmer.
*COLORADO HAD ITS DRIEST YEAR ON RECORD.
*IN CANADA SUCH A DEVASTATING DROUGHT HASN'T BEEN SEEN SINCE THE DUST
BOWLS OF THE 1930's.
*QUEBEC, CANADA, EXPERIENCED ITS WORST FOREST FIRES IN 10 YEARS.
*FOR HALF THE PEOPLE OF CANADA, FROM WINDSOR TO QUEBEC CITY, 2002 WAS
THE WARMEST YEAR ON RECORD. It was the kind of weather that occurs once
every 200 years.
*Data from the National Climatic Data Center show that last year was
Alaska's hottest on record and the past winter was the second-warmest
ever recorded. Nearly 98 percent of glaciers and sea ice at Alaska's
coast are in a state of melting. That has contributed to a sea level
rise of nearly a foot over the last 100 years.
DECEMBER 2002:
*ETHIOPIA SUFFERING A RECORD DROUGHT.
*AUSTRALIA EXPECTS ITS MOST DANGEROUS BUSHFIRE SEASON IN 20 YEARS.
*RECORD SNOWFALL IN NEW ENGLAND.
*OKLAHOMA CITY HAD ITS FIRST WHITE CHRISTMAS IN MORE THAN 25 YEARS.
*BEIJING, CHINA, IS EXPERIENCING ITS LONGEST PERIOD OF SNOW FOR HALF A
CENTURY.
*THREE YEARS OF UNUSUALLY HEAVY RAIN HAVE SATURATED THE SUBSOIL AROUND
PARIS. Experts say it is only a matter of time before the Seine bursts
its banks and spills into underground stations cellars and sewers - as
it did almost a century ago.
*VICTORIA AUSTRALIA'S LARGEST BUSHFIRE IN 20 YEARS.
*IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, THIS YEAR WILL COME WITHIN A WHISKER OF BEING
THE WARMEST RECORDED FOR WELL OVER A CENTURY.
*RAINFALL RECORDS WERE TOPPLED ACROSS CALIFORNIA. In downtown Los
Angeles, a 62-year-old mark was broken when nearly 2 inches fell in 24
hours; in San Francisco, 2.1 inches were recorded, easily breaking the
record of 1.36 inches set in 1962. In Nevada, 1.29 inches fell at the
Reno airport, doubling the mark set in 1957.
*AUSTRALIAN COTTON FARMERS WILL BRING IN THEIR SMALLEST CROP IN 15 YEARS
DUE TO THE DROUGHT.
*MASS LOSS FROM TROPICAL ICE FIELDS NEAR THE WORLD'S HIGHEST CAPITAL, LA
PAZ, BOLIVIA, HAS BEEN 10 TIMES GREATER IN THE 1990s THAN IN PREVIOUS
DECADES.
*WARMING GOING ON IN THE ARCTIC IS AN UNPRECEDENTED TREND. THEY ARE
EXPERIENCING THE MOST RAPID INCREASE IN TEMPERATURE IN RECORDED HISTORY.
*SURFACE MELT ON GREENLAND WAS THE HIGHEST IN RECORDED HISTORY - and
extended to elevations previously untouched by melt.
*TOKYO, JAPAN, GOT ITS EARLIEST BLANKET OF SNOW IN A DECADE.
*UTSUNOMIYA, A CITY NORTH OF TOKYO, GOT NEARLY SEVEN INCHES OF SNOW ON
DECEMBER 9TH, THE MOST THERE FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER SINCE 1912.
*GREENLAND EXPERIENCING A WARM SPELL UNSEEN SINCE THE 1930s. Satellite
data show the greatest area of melt across its mammoth ice sheet in 24
years of measurements occurred this year.
*ACROSS THE ARCTIC OCEAN, THE FLOATING MANTLE OF ICE THAT COVERS IT
THROUGHOUT MUCH OF THE YEAR SHRANK TO RECORD LEVELS THIS SUMMER.
*ONE OF THE WORST WINTERS STORMS IN NORTH CAROLINA'S HISTORY.
*ONE OF THE COLDEST SUMMER DAYS ON RECORD IN VICTORIA, ALASKA.
*AUSTRALIA IS IN THE GRIP OF ONE OF THE WORST DROUGHTS IN 100 YEARS.
*IT IS SHAPING UP TO BE ONE OF AUSTRALIA'S WORST BUSHFIRE SEASONS.
*SIDNEY, AUSTRALIA, SUFFERING THE WORST BUSHFIRES IN THE REGION FOR 30
YEARS.
NOVEMBER 2002:
*EL NINO HAS GIVEN THE YUKON RECORD-BREAKING HIGH NOVEMBER TEMPERATURES
AND THE THIRD WARMEST NOVEMBER ON RECORD.
*A DRY WINTER AND A WET SUMMER HAVE RAVAGED ITALY'S GRAPEVINES, CAUSING
THE WORST HARVEST IN A HALF A CENTURY.
*DROUGHT HAS CAUSED THE WORST FAMINE IN MALAWI, SOUTHERN AFRICA, IN 50
YEARS. The situation is much the same in Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and Zambia.
*THE LARGEST EARTHQUAKE TO HIT ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD THIS YEAR STRUCK
ALASKA (magnitude 7.9).
*ONE OF THE LARGEST EARTHQUAKES EVER RECORDED IN THE UNITED STATES - 7.9
IN ALASKA.
OCTOBER 2002:
*THE DRIEST OCTOBER ON RECORD IN VANCOUVER, CANADA.
*5.4 EARTHQUAKE IN CAMPOBASSO, ITALY (136 miles southeast of Rome) WAS
THE STRONGEST QUAKE IN ITALY SINCE 1977.
*HURRICANE KENNA WAS THE MOST POWERFUL STORM TO HIT MEXICO'S PACIFIC
COAST IN DECADES. Kenna appeared to hit land with the strongest Pacific
Coast winds since Hurricane Madeline came ashore near Zihuatanejo in
1976 with 144 mph winds.
*THE ICE FIELDS ATOP MOUNT KILIMANJARO HAVE RETREATED TO THEIR LOWEST
SURFACE EXTENT IN THE PAST 12,000 YEARS and could disappear within the
next two decades.
*HIGOS WAS ONE OF THE STRONGEST TYPHOONS TO THREATEN TOKYO IN DECADES,
SINCE THE END OF WORLD WAR II. Stronger typhoons have struck other parts
of Japan, but most do not pass directly over the capital.
SEPTEMBER 2002:
*THE OZONE HOLE OVER THE ANTARCTIC THIS SEPTEMBER WAS THE SMALLEST IN 15
YEARS, and it split in two.
*TYPHOON RUSA KILLED 184 AND WAS THE WORST TYPHOON TO HIT SOUTH KOREA
SINCE 1959, , when Typhoon Sarah killed more than 840.
*A 5.6 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE HIT SICILY - THE STRONGEST TO RATTLE THE
ISLAND IN 20 YEARS.
*RUSSIA RECORDING THE LOWEST RAINFALL IN A CENTURY AND SMOG THAT IS THE
WORST IN 30 YEARS.
*RECORD RAINFALL IN SOUTH KOREA, BATTERED BY TYPHOON RUSA, THE WORST
TYPHOON TO HIT THE PENINSULA IN 40 YEARS. Gangneung was one of the areas
hit hardest by the typhoon - 3 feet of rain fell within 30 hours, the
highest precipitation since weather officials began compiling records in
the 1930s.
AUGUST 2002:
*IN CHINA, WATER LEVELS ON THE YANGTZE RIVER HAVE REACHED THEIR HIGHEST
LEVELS IN 14 YEARS. The Xiangjiang river is more than 6.5 feet above its
flood-warning levels for the first time on record and still rising.
* IN NEW JERSEY, 8 OF THE PAST 12 MONTHS HAVE BEEN THE DRIEST SINCE THE
STATE BEGAN KEEPING RECORDS IN 1895. August is also shaping up to be the
driest on record.
*FLOODING IN GERMANY IS NOW THE WORST IN THEIR HISTORY.
*THE GREAT SALT LAKE IN UTAH IS AT ITS LOWEST LEVEL SINCE 1980.
*BANGLADESH SUFFERING THEIR WORST FLOODING IN 4 YEARS.
*MANIPUR STATE IN INDIA SUFFERING THEIR WORST FLOODING IN THREE DECADES.
*DREZDEN, GERMANY SUFFERING THEIR WORST FLOODING IN OVER 150 YEARS. In
the German state of Saxony authorities declared the worst flooding in
the regions history.
*MORE THAN A WEEK OF UNPRECENDENTED FLOODING IN AUSTRIA. The water level
of the Danube River is nearing 100-year highs.
*THE CZECH CAPITAL, PRAGUE, SUFFERING THEIR BIGGEST FLOOD IN MORE THAN
175 YEARS.
*INDIA'S WORST DROUGHT IN 14 YEARS.
*OREGON WILDFIRE IS THE LARGEST WILDFIRE IN THE STATE'S HISTORY.
*CHINA SUFFERING ITS WORST FLOODING SINCE 1998, when the flooding was
the worst in decades.
*EUROPE SUFFERING SOME OF THEIR WORST FLOODING SINCE RECORDS WERE FIRST
KEPT IN 1896.
*WESTERN CANADA'S WHEAT PRODUCTION IS LIKELY TO HIT A 28-YEAR LOW DUE TO
DROUGHT CONDITIONS.
*SMOKE FROM PEAT AND FOREST FIRES CAUSED THE THICKEST SMOG IN 30 YEARS
IN MOSCOW, RUSSIA.
*SOUTHERN ASIA'S WORST FLOODS IN 4 YEARS.
JULY 2002:
*A 5-DAY STORM DROPPED 15.1 INCHES OF RAIN ON SAN ANTONIO - A RECORD FOR
THE MONTH OF JULY.
JUNE 2002:
*IN THREE DAYS SOUTHERN ALBERTA, CANADA, RECEIVED ALMOST A YEAR'S WORTH
OF RAIN.
*LARGEST WILDFIRE IN ARIZONA'S HISTORY.
*DROUGHT IN PARTS OF ARIZONA IS THE WORST IT'S BEEN IN 107 YEARS.
*WORST FLOODING IN 60 YEARS IN GEORGIA (near Russia).
*RUSSIA'S MOST DISASTROUS FLOODING IN THE PAST 10 YEARS.
*TWO DAYS OF STORMS DROPPED NEARLY A YEAR'S WORTH OF PRECIPITATION IN
NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA. Wild Rice River reached record levels twice.
$370 million worth of damage. ONE OF THE WETTEST JUNES ON RECORD.
*ONE OF THE CLOSEST APPROACHES TO EARTH OF AN ASTEROID THE SIZE OF A
SOCCER FIELD. Narrowly missed the Earth by 75,000 miles, less than a
third of the distance to the moon.
*THE LARGEST WILDFIRE IN COLORADO'S 126-YEAR HISTORY IS BURNING NEAR
DENVER.
*ONE OF THE WORST DELUGES IN CHINA'S HISTORY HAS LEFT 500 FEARED DEAD.
*IN 6 HOURS, DROUGHT IN WESTERN MINNESOTA TURNED INTO RECORD FLOOD
LEVELS ON THE WILD RICE RIVER, after a storm brought 12 inches of rain.
*FIERCE RAINSTORMS BROUGHT VENICE'S PRECARIOUS WATER LEVELS TO RECORD
HIGHS FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. Officials declared a state of emergency in
parts of Fruili, where a record 14.5 inches of rain fell in 24 hours.
*CHILE SUFFERED THEIR WORST STORMS IN 100 YEARS - three days of
relentless rain caused flooding and landslides that have made 68,000
homeless. There was more rain in just a few days than normally falls in
a year, turning a large swath of the South American nation into a
disaster zone.
MAY 2002:
*MORE THAN 1030 PEOPLE HAVE DIED IN A HEAT WAVE IN INDIA, THE HIGHEST
ONE-WEEK TOLL ON RECORD FOR ANY INDIAN HEAT WAVE. Past heat waves have
never killed many more than a few hundred in a week countrywide.
*SICILY SUFFERING THEIR WORST DRY SPELL IN YEARS.
APRIL 2002:
*RECORD COLD IN WASHINGTON.
*THE STRONGEST TORNADO EVER RECORDED IN MARYLAND.
*THREE PEOPLE DIED IN TBILISI IN GEORGIA'S STRONGEST EARTHQUAKE IN 40
YEARS (6.0 magnitude).
*ON APRIL 16TH - 90 U.S. CITIES REACHED RECORD HIGHS - Albany hit 89
degrees, some 32 degrees above the normal high and 1 degree above the
previous record set 106 years ago. New York City posted a 92-degree
high, breaking the 1896 record for the day of 88. New Jersey's Newark
International Airport passed its record of 82 during the morning and
kept going to 92. Williamsport, Pa., hit a record 90, as did St. Louis.
Other records fell in Pittsburgh, which broke by 1 degree its old record
of 85 degrees set in 1896, and Fargo, N.D., which beat by 7 degrees its
old mark of 82 set in 1913.
*ECUADOR HAS SEEN MUCH HEAVIER RAINS THAN NORMAL. Ecuador's rainy season
normally runs from November until April, but this year the heavy rains
are expected to continue through April and into May.
*IN AUSTIN, TEXAS HEAVY SHOWERS BROKE THE PREVIOUS RAINFALL RECORD SET
IN 1976. RECORD RAIN IN MOLINE, ILLINOIS also.
*AFGHANISTAN IS AT THE EPICENTER OF THE MOST EXTENSIVE DROUGHT IN THE
WORLD. Their 4-year drought is the worst drought to parch this land in a
half-century.
MARCH 2002:
*IT HAS BEEN ONE OF THE WARMEST SUMMERS ON RECORD IN ANTARCTICA. An
enormous floating ice shelf that has existed since the last Ice Age
12,000 years ago, collapsed this month with staggering speed.
*THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE THUNDERSTORM IN THE HISTORY OF BOLIVIA'S CAPITAL
CITY. Rescue workers found more bodies in the rivers, bringing the
number of dead to 52.
*THE WORST DIE-OFF OF MONARCH BUTTERFLIES ON RECORD OCCURRED IN THEIR
WINTER NESTING GROUNDS IN THE CENTRAL AND WESTERN STATES OF MIXICO AND
MICHOACAN. An unusual combination of freezing temperatures, rains, and
clear night skies in mid-January killed 150 million to 250 million
butterflies - twice the 110 million monarchs previously believed to have
wintered here.
FEBRUARY 2002:
*THE FIRST WEEK OF FEBRUARY BROUGHT THE WARMEST WEATHER IN HISTORY FOR
THE DATES FOR MANY PARTS OF FRANCE. Paris parks are flowering in
February about six weeks early.
*CONGO, AFRICA SUFFERED THE WORST STORMS IN A DECADE.
*IN EUROPE FROM ATHENS TO MOSCOW, A RECORD-BREAKING COLD SNAP IN EARLY
JANUARY HAS BEEN FOLLOWED BY THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURES FOR A FEBRUARY 2ND
IN OVER A CENTURY.
JANUARY 2002:
*IN VIENNA TEMPERATURES CLIMBED TO 66 DEGREES THE HIGHEST RECORDED FOR
JANUARY 29TH SINCE AUSTRIA BEGAN RECORDING TEMPERATURES IN 1872.
Meteorologists said that periods of thaw were nothing unusual, but that
such a long spate of warm weather in January was exceptional.
*RECORD NUMBERS OF LETHAL JELLYFISH HAVE BEEN FOUND NEAR SHORE IN
NORTHERN QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA IN THE LAST TWO MONTHS.
*JAKARTA, INDONESIA EXPERIENCING SOME OF THE WORST FLOODS IN DECADES.
*RECORD WARMTH IN THE LAST TWO MONTHS IN MUCH OF SOUTHERN ONTARIO,
CANADA, FROM QUEBEC TO LAKE HURON.
*SNOW BLANKETED CRETE AND SEVERAL OTHER GREEK ISLANDS IN THE WORST
WEATHER CONDITIONS IN 50 YEARS.
*FREAK WARM SPELL IN MOSCOW BRINGS TEMPERATURE TO THE HIGHEST LEVEL IN A
CENTURY. The thermometer on the 24th showed 39 degrees, the highest on
record in Moscow for any Jan. 24. On the 25th, the high was 37 degrees,
the highest for Jan. 25 since 1904.
*THE CONGO'S NYIRAGONGO VOLCANO CAUSED AFRICA'S DEADLIEST VOLCANIC
ERUPTION IN 25 YEARS.
*SNOW FELL IN ROME FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A DECADE.
*ATLEAST 55 RECORD HIGHS WERE SHATTERED IN BRITISH COLUMBIA ON ONE DAY.
It's a crazy winter in Canada. On the Prairies there is no snow. The
cherry tree in front of the CBC building in Vancouver is in full bloom.
*A RARE SNOWSTORM SWEPT OVER MANY PARTS OF THE MIDDLE EAST. It was the
first significant snowfall in Damascus since 1992. In Jerusalem's walled
Old City snow had last fallen two years ago. Such sustained storms had
not hit Lebanon in 32 years.
*IN TURKEY, FREAK SNOWSTORMS HAVE CAUSED SOME OF THE WORST CONDITIONS
THEY'VE SEEN IN 40 OR 50 YEARS.
*THE COMBINATION OF HIGH TEMPERATURES, STRONG WINDS AND LOW HUMIDITY IN
AUSTRALIA IS EXTRAORDINARY AND A ONCE-IN-50 YEARS EVENT. 100 bushfires
are still raging out of control.
*TURKEY'S COASTAL PROVINCES SAW SNOW FOR THE FIRST TIME IN NEARLY 10
YEARS.
*THE WAVE OF ARSON, WHICH HAS SEEN 50 BUSHFIRES SET, IS ONE OF THE WORST
EVER IN AUSTRALIA.
*POLAND HAS BEEN LABORING THROUGH ONE OF ITS COLDEST WINTERS IN YEARS.
The last time they had such a severe winter was 23 years ago.
*IN JAPAN, THE CITY OF NAGOYA CHARTED ITS BIGGEST JANUARY SNOWFALL IN 27
YEARS.
DECEMBER 2001:
*BUFFALO, NEW YORK PARALYZED BY NEARLY 7 FEET OF SNOW - the
record-breaking storm lasted 5 days. Among the records set: the 83.5
inches of snow that fell in December makes it the snowiest month in
Buffalo's history. 35.4 inches fell in 24 hours making it the
second-highest 24-hour total in their history.
*WORST BRUSHFIRES IN AUSTRALIA SINCE 1994.
*STORMS BROUGHT MUDSLIDES TO BRAZIL AND HAVE CAUSED ONE OF THE WORST
NATURAL DISASTERS IN RIO DE JANEIRO IN RECENT YEARS. In Petropolis they
had one month's average rainfall in just a few hours. It was a record, a
deluge.
*PUERTO RICO SUFFERED THE HEAVIEST DECEMBER RAINFALL IN 4 DECADES.
*THE LARGEST EARTHQUAKE IN 50 YEARS IN THE SOUTHERN OCEAN NEAR
AUSTRALIA. (7.0 magnitude)
*RECORD HIGHS IN 30 CITIES IN THE U.S. - East of the Mississippi,
temperatures over the month of November have often been 25 degrees above
normal.
NOVEMBER 2001:
*KENTUCKY AND TENNESSEE SUFFERING SOME OF THEIR WORST SEASONAL WILDFIRE
DAMAGE - woodlands are tinder dry from an autumn drought gripping most
the of East Coast of the U.S.
*WORST RAINS AND FLOODING IN BRAZIL IN AT LEAST 22 YEARS - some areas
hit by the same amount of rain in 2 days that they usually receive in
the entire rainy season month of January.
*RECORD-BREAKING RAIN FELL IN AUSTIN AND SAN ANTONIO TEXAS - Up to 13
inches.
*IN VIETNAM TYPHOON LINGLING WAS THE STRONGEST TYPHOON TO HIT VIETNAM IN
15 YEARS.
*DAMAGE FROM HURRICANE MICHELLE NOW RANKS AS THE WORST NATURAL DISASTER
IN CUBA IN OVER 100 YEARS.
*THE WORST FLOODING IN AT LEAST TWO DECADES IN ALGERIA.
* THE RESORT ISLAND OF CAMIGUIN IN THE PHILIPPINES SUFFERED ITS WORST
DISASTER IN A HALF-CENTURY FROM TROPICAL STORM LINGLING. 135 dead and
300 people missing. (In 1951, Hibok-Hibok volcano erupted, killing 500
people.)
OCTOBER 2001:
*IN CUBA HURRICANE MICHELLE WAS THE WORST STORM TO HIT CUBA SINCE 1944.
*2001 WAS A RECORD YEAR FOR TORNADOES IN MINNESOTA WITH 72, more than
the previous two years combined. The previous one-year record was 58 in
1998. The good news is that most of the tornadoes were weak, causing no
deaths.
*INDIA - HEAVIEST RAINS IN 40 YEARS.
*WORST FLOODING IN 16 YEARS IN BRAZIL. In Curitiba, the capital of
Parana state, rainfall over 12 hours was half the October normal.
*HURRICANE JULIETTE WAS THE MOST DAMAGING HURRICANE IN BAJA CALIFORNIA'S
HISTORY. Neighborhoods were devastated; some of them disappeared.
SEPTEMBER 2001:
*IRAN - WORST DROUGHT IN 30 YEARS - Lake Hamoun, the country's largest
body of fresh water and one of the largest in the world, is desert now.
*IN TAIWAN TORRENTIAL RAINS UNLEASHED BY TYPHOON NARI SPARKED THE WORST
FLODDS EVER IN THER GREATER TAIPEI AREA. Taipei, was hit with record
rainfall of 17 inches in a single day. Tropical storms and typhoons
frequently hit Taiwan during the summer but they usually sweep over the
island in a day. Slow-moving Nari lingered, to become THE
LONGEST-LASTING TROPICAL STORM IN RECORDED TAIWAN HISTORY. The amount of
rain was incredible, BREAKING ANY ONE-DAY RAINFALL RECORD SINCE
OFFICIALS BEGAN KEEPING RECORDS IN 1930. Several cities recorded up to
800mm of rain in a day, about one-third of the average annual rainfall.
*FLOODS IN THE MEKONG RIVER DELTA, IN 6 PROVINCES IN SOUTHERN VIETNAM
ARE THE WORST IN 20 YEARS.
*CHICAGO, ILLINOIS HAD THEIR SECOND-WETTEST AUGUST ON RECORD AND THE
THIRD-WETTEST OF ANY MONTH.
AUGUST 2001:
*NORTHERN CHINA IS IN THE GRIP OF ITS LONGEST DROUGHT SINCE 1990.
*CAPE TOWN SOUTH AFRICA HAD THE WETTEST WINTER IN 40 YEARS.
*THE WORST FLOODING IN SOUTH AFRICA IN MORE THAN 40 YEARS.
*THIS IS ONE OF THE HOTTEST, DRIEST CANADIAN SUMMERS IN HISTORY - and
forest fires are raging across the country.
*TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS IN WASHINGTON D. C. CAUSED THE WORST FLOODING IN
DOWNTOWN AREAS IN DECADES.
*THAILAND SUFFERING THE WORST FLASH FLOOD IN 13 YEARS as heavy rains
were brought by tropical storm Usagi.
*DEVASTATING STORMS IN IRAN - THE REGION'S WORST FLOODING IN 200 YEARS.
May have killed nearly 300 people.
*CANADA REACHED RECORD-BREAKING TEMPERATURES OVER SEVERAL DAYS.
*NORTHEASTERN U.S. REACHED RECORD-BREAKING TEMPERATURES DURING A HEAT
WAVE THAT HAS LASTED 5 DAYS.
JULY 2001:
*TAIWAN TYPHOON TORAJI IS THE DEADLIEST IN 40 YEARS. ONE OF THE WORST
STORMS TO EVER HIT THE ISLAND OF TAIWAN. It ripped through Taiwan
leaving about 200 people dead or missing and causing over $173 million
in damage.
*CANADA SUFFERING ONE OF THE DRIEST JULYS ON RECORD.
*SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA SUFFERING IT'S WORST DROUGHT IN ALMOST 100 YEARS.
*FOURTH WETTEST JULY DAY ON RECORD IN PERTH, AUSTRALIA - More than 117
millimetres of rain fell in some Perth suburbs in 24 hours.
*WORST FLOODING IN PARTS OF INDIA IN 50 YEARS.
*THIS IS ONE OF THE SMOGGIEST SUMMERS ON RECORD IN SOUTHERN ONTARIO.
JUNE 2001:
*HEAVIEST DOWNPOUR IN ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN IN 100 YEARS - 24 INCHES. The
monsoon season in Pakistan started earlier this year after a prolonged
dry spell. The meteorological department has forecast record rains this
season.
*CHINA IS SUFFERING ITS WORST DROUGHT IN MORE THAN TWO DECADES.
*IN CHINA, RAINS FROM TYPHOON UTOR CAUSED THE YONGJIANG RIVER TO REACH
ITS HIGHEST LEVEL IN 50 YEARS.
*TYPHOON UTOR HAD AN UNUSUALLY LARGE RADIOUS OF 220 MILES, ONE OF THE
LARGEST IN 20 YEARS.
*MORE RAIN IN WASHINGTON IN ONE DAY THAN THE REGION USUALLY SEES IN THE
ENTIRE MONTH OF JUNE. A third of Washington's cherry crop is estimated
to have been destroyed by the freak storm that marched across the Yakima
Valley pelting orchards with hailstones as large as nickels.
*7.9 EARTHQUAKE IN PERU IS THE WORST TO HIT THE AREA SINCE 1913.
*DROUGHT IN CHINA IS THE SECOND MOST WIDESPREAD SINCE 1949.
*WORST PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS TO HIT THE FERTILE CENTRAL ASIAN PLAINS IN 40
YEARS. A huge mass, swarms of locusta migratoria are chomping their way
through the Central Asian plains, devouring vegetation and crops through
swathes of Russia, China and the former Soviet republics.
*NEARLY AN INCH OF RAIN (.99) FELL AT HONOLULU AIRPORT IN 24 HOURS,
SETTING A RECORD FOR THE DATE. The last record of .23 of an inch was set
in 1978. The record rainfall for the entire month of June was 2.28
inches, set in 1967.
MAY 2001:
*NORTH KOREA - HIT BY UNPRECEDENTD DRY SPELL - this long spell of
drought is something rare in the history of meteorological observation.
It is believed to happen once in 1,000 years.
*U.S. IS GRIPPED BY ONE OF THE WORST DROUGHTS SINCE THE DUST BOWL OF THE
1930S - hurting farmers, scaring firefighters, and forcing water
restrictions from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., to Midland, Texas. In parts of
the Southwest, it's so dry the cactuses need watering. The flint-dry
conditions now encompass a full one-third of the United States.
*ALBERTA CANADA'S DRIEST SPRING IN 130 YEARS .
*UNPRECEDENTED FLOODING IN RUSSIA. Russia has never had such devastating
floods before - a record 30 feet above flood stage on some rivers.
*THIS SPRING HAS BEEN ONE OF THE WORST ALLERGY SEASONS IN RECENT MEMORY
- Tree Pollen Set Records in Parts of Northeast U.S.; Great Lakes Also
Hit.
*THAILAND SUFFERED FLASH FLOODING WITH THE PROVINCE OF PHRAE
EXPERIENCING THE HEAVIEST DOWNPOUR IN THEIR HISTORY. A 6-foot-high
torrent swept away more than 800 homes.
*IN ISRAEL UNUSUAL WEATHER CONDITIONS WERE CALLED A ONCE-IN-A-CENTURY
PHENOMENON. It had not rained as heavily in May since 1986.
*INDIA SUFFERING ONE OF THE SEVEREST DROUGHTS IN LIVING MEMORY. Out of
32 districts, 31 are facing acute shortage of water. More than 30,000
villages have about a 50 percent deficit in crop yield, jeopardizing the
lives of 32 million people.
APRIL 2001:
*WETTEST APRIL ON RECORD IN MINNESOTA. With one week of April left to go
Duluth has already set a record for rainfall during April with 7.79
inches, shattering the monthly record of 5.85 inches set in 1894.
*WORST ICE CONDITIONS IN MORE THAN A DECADE OFF THE NORTHEAST COAST OF
NEWFOUNDLAND.
*ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL SOLAR FLARES EVER RECORDED erupted near
sunspot group 9415, climaxing a two-week spate of X-class flares from
that active region. The blast was directed mostly away from Earth.
That's a good thing because the flare was nearly as powerful as one in
1989 that triggered the collapse of a power grid in Canada -- no such
calamities are expected this time.
*WORST SNOWSTORM IN DECADES IN DENVER, COLORADO.
*WESTERN WASHINGTON FACING ITS MOST POTENT SUMMER WILDFIRE CONDITIONS IN
A QUARTER-CENTURY. All along the western slope of the Cascades, this
year's drought is baking normally mossy forests into an unusually
combustible stew.
*SNOWFALL THIS MONTH IN NEWFOUNDLAND, CANADA BROKE A RECORD SET 119
YEARS AGO.
*THE PICARDY REGION OF FRANCE HAD THEIR WORST FLOODING SINCE 1920.
MARCH 2001:
*THE HOTTEST MARCH WEATHER IN A CENTURY IN THE NORTHERN MEDITERRANEAN.
It has created an early fire season in Greece.
*THE BIGGEST SUNSPOT OF THE CURRENT SOLAR CYCLE UNLEASHED THE MOST
POWERFUL SOLAR FLARE IN AT LEAST 12 YEARS.
*RUSSIA PREPARING FOR RECORD SPRING FLOODING - exceptionally heavy
snowfalls and lower than usual temperatures have locked up massive
volumes of water. Weather experts have said THE CONDITIONS ARE THE WORST
FOR 70 YEARS. Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Britain and France all suffered
serious flooding earlier this year as a result of unusually high
rainfalls.
* EARLY SPRING IN WASHINGTON - THE NORTH CASCADES HIGHWAY REOPENED
EARLIER THIS YEAR THAN ANY ON RECORD.
*THE 2000-2001 SEASON SO FAR IS SHAPING UP AS THE SECOND DRIEST IN THE
PACIFIC NORTHWEST SINCE OFFICIALS STARTED KEEPING RECORDS. Only 1977 was
worse.
*PARTS OF SUDAN FACE A DROUGHT OF UNPRECEDENTED SEVERITY. Dams are dry
in the northern provinces of Darfur and Kordofan. PARTS OF THOSE REGIONS
ARE SUFFERING THE DRIEST SEASON IN LIVING MEMORY. Water reservoirs for
the capital of Darfur, Al Fashir, are empty and a dam in the north of
the state, which had still had water during earlier droughts, has run
dry.
*THE LARGEST SUNSPOT IN TEN YEARS CROSSED THE SOLAR DISK. The
fast-growing spot, called AR9393, covered an area of the Sun equivalent
to the total surface area of 13 Earths.
*JAPAN STRUCK BY THEIR DEADLIEST QUAKE IN SIX YEARS.
*MALTA HAD ITS WARMEST MARCH DAY ON RECORD. Malta this year experienced
one of its driest winters after having had one of its wettest last year.
*RECORD MARCH RAINFALL IN FRANCE HAS SUBMERGED AREAS UNDER FLOOD WATERS.
March rains have reached three times the average level.
*PARTS OF FLORIDA ARE IN THE MIDST OF THE WORST DROUGHT IN MORE THAN A
CENTURY OF RECORD-KEEPING. The tinder-dry state is threatened with its
most severe wildfire season in decades. In some areas of the state total
rainfall last year was the least in the last 100 years.
*THE NOVEMBER 2000 TO JANUARY 2001 PERIOD IS THE SECOND-DRIEST EVER SEEN
IN WASHINGTON IN 107 YEARS OF RECORD-KEEPING.
*ISRAEL SUFFERING ITS THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR OF BELOW-AVERAGE RAINFALL.
Water in the Sea of Galilee, from which the country draws 40 percent of
its drinking water, has receded to one of the lowest levels in years.
*IN EASTERN AUSTRALIA FLOODING IS NOW THE WORST IN HALF A CENTURY.
*RWANDA IS SUFFERING ITS FIRST OUTBREAK OF FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE SINCE
1932. The outbreak was believed to have started last month and the
disease was spreading through the country like wildfire. This
pandemonium is of such magnitude that five of the country's 11 provinces
have been put into quarantine.
*IN THE UKRAINE AND HUNGARY WATER LEVELS ARE THE HIGHEST IN MORE THAN A
CENTURY. They are causing less damage than the record floods of 1998
because of ***** reinforcement work since then.
*IN PERU VIOLENT STORM-DRIVEN RAINS THREATEN TO SINK FLOATING ISLANDS
INHABITED BY HUNDREDS OF INDIANS ON THE 'SACRED' LAKE TITICACA - THE
LAKE LEVEL IS THE HIGHEST SICE 1986.
*RECORD SNOWFALLS HAVE HIT MOSCOW AND OTHER RUSSIAN REGIONS OVER THE
PAST MONTH.
*PORTUGAL SUFFERING ONE OF ITS WETTEST WINTERS EVER.
*WATER LEVELS IN HUNGARY ARE UNPRECEDENTEDLY HIGH, AN EXTRAORDINARY
FLOOD ALERT HAS BEEN ISSUED.
*DROUGHT IN FLORIDA THIS SEVERE ONLY OCCURS ABOUT ONCE EVERY 100 TO 200
YEARS. In some areas of Florida, rainfall is nearly five feet below
normal. In Lake County, the lakes are disappearing.
FEBRUARY 2001:
*SEATTLE, WASHINGTON'S WATER TABLE IS THE LOWEST IT'S BEEN IN AT LEAST
30 YEARS because Seattle has experienced two drier-than-normal winters
in a row and a dry spring last year.
*SEATTLE, WASHINGTON EXPERIENCED ITS WORST EARTHQUAKE IN 52 YEARS which
caused widespread panic, especially in the early moments when office
dwellers were jolted side to side and then popped skyward, or worse.
*IN CANADA PEOPLE IN MANITOBA AND SASKATCHEWAN ARE DIGGING OUT FROM ONE
OF THE WORST WINTERS ON RECORD. Some areas have seen 200% more snow than
normal.
*IN SYRIA THE WORST SANDSTORM IN MORE THAN 40 YEARS HAS RAGED IN THE
SYRIAN DESERT FOR TWO DAYS. Over 1,000 sheep have disappeared and routes
into cities in the area have been cut off. The storm also caused
breathing difficulties for dozens of people.
*MONGOLIA IS HAVING ITS WORST WINTER IN MEMORY WITH NINETY PERCENT OF
THE COUNTRY COVERED IN THICK SNOW.
*TURKEY HAS BEEN SUFFERING FROM TWO SUCCESSIVE YEARS OF DROUGHT THAT
OFFICIALS SAY IS THE WORST IN 20 YEARS. There is no end to the drought
in sight.
*THERE WERE A RECORD NUMBER OF REPORTED SHARK ATTACKS ON PEOPLE
WORLDWIDE IN 2000. Seventy-nine unprovoked shark attacks were reported
last year, the largest number since the International Shark Attack File
began compiling statistics in 1958.
JANUARY 2001:
*IN NORTHERN NEW SOUTH WALES THE CITY OF LISMORE SUFFERED DAMAGE IN
THEIR WORST FLOODS IN 12 YEARS.
*NEWFOUNDLAND, CANADA, SUFFERING THROUGH THEIR WORST WINTER ON RECORD -
and they've been keeping records for 60 years.
*MONGOLIA SUFFERING SECOND STRAIGHT WINTER OF DISASTER AND THE FIRST
TIME ON RECORD THAT THE LAND NORTH OF CHINA HAS HAD SUCH SEVERE COLD
WEATHER IN TWO CONSECUTIVE YEARS. The cold spell has kept temperatures
hovering as low as 58 degrees below zero. Last year's winter was
Mongolia's coldest in 30 years.
*BANGALORE, INDIA SHOOK BY 4.3 TREMOR - TREMORS OF THIS MAGNITUDE HAVE
NEVER BEEN RECORDED IN THE HISTORY OF THE CITY.
*INDIA HIT BY 7.9 EARTHQUAKE, IT'S STRONGEST SINCE 1956.
*SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA HEAT WAVE HAS BROKEN A 61 YEAR-OLD RECORD BY SCORING
22 DAYS IN A ROW WITH THE TEMPERATURE ABOVE 44 DEGREES CELSIUS (104
Fahrenheit).
*SIBERIA IS ENDURING ITS WORST WINTER IN AT LEAST THREE DECADES, WITH
RECORD-BREAKING COLD TEMPERATURES.
*RUSSIA IS SUFFERING ITS COLDEST WINTER IN 3 DECADES
*FLORIDA FACES ONE OF THE WORST DROUGHTS AND FIRE THREATS THAT THEY'VE
EVER HAD. The combination of a nearly three-year drought , one of the
worst of the past 100 years, and freezes across the state have left the
state in desperately dry conditions ripe for wildfires.
*IN SOUTHWESTERN JAPAN 13 CEENTIMETERS OF SNOW FELL, THE FIRST TIME IT
HAS SNOWED THERE FOR 34 YEARS.
*WORST WINTER WEATHER IN 50 YEARS HAS MONGOLIA FACING ITS WORST
HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN ITS MODERN HISTORY. Deep snow covering 95 per
cent of the vast countryside and people and livestock perishing in minus
50 degree temperatures and 100kmh winds.
*DEVASTATING 7.6 EARTHQUAKE IN EL SALVADOR WAS THE MOST POWERFUL TO
STRIKE THERE IN MORE THAN A DECADE. It was the nation's worst natural
disaster since 1986.
*SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA SUFFERING ONE OF THEIR HOTTEST DAYS ON RECORD with
temperatures topping 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) in some areas.
*WETTEST JANUARY IN 40 YEARS IN KENYA. Heavy rain has been falling on
Nairobi for most of this month. Kenya is only just beginning to recover
from one of the worst droughts in its history, and substantial rain had
not been expected until March.
*NORTH KOREA REPORTED RECORD SNOWFALL AND BITTER COLD.
*RECORD FREEZE IN THE VAST RUSSIAN REGION.
*SEATTLE, WASHINGTON RECEIVED THE HIGHEST TIDE IN 14 YEARS.
*EARTHQUAKE THAT STRUCK KODIAK ISLAND, ALASKA WAS THE MOST POWERFUL U.S.
EARTHQUAKE IN MORE THAN A YEAR.
*CALIFORNIA'S WORST STORM IN THREE YEARS KNOCKED DOWN POWER LINES.
*SOUTH KOREA EXPERIENCED ITS HEAVIEST SNOWFALL IN 20 YEARS, up to 33
inches blanketed the mountainous country.
*SNOWFALL THAT IS 10 TIMES HEAVIER IN INNER MONGOLIA THAN IN PREVIOUS
YEARS, HAS CRIPPLED THE REGION.
*HEAVIEST SNOWFALL FOR JANUARY IN 65 YEARS IN FUKUSHIMA, NEAR TOKYO,
JAPAN.
*COLD WAVE IN RUSSIA SET A 30 YEAR RECORD AS TEMPERATURES PLUNGED AS LOW
AS MINUS 70 DEGREES.
*THE WORLD WAS HIT BY A RECORD NUMBER OF NATURAL DISASTERS IN 2000 and
global warming and a rising population are likely to make future years
even worse. The world's largest reinsurer said the number of natural
disasters rose by more than 100 to 850 in 2000. The number of deaths was
much lower than in 1999 because less populated areas were affected.
10,000 people died as a result of natural disasters in 2000 compared to
75,000 in 1999. Property damage was put at more than $30 billion.
Year 2000 weird weather highlights for the U.S.:
First, there was the balmy month of January =97 the warmest ever
recorded in the United States. Spring followed with more tepid
temperatures, registering as the second warmest on record. Then Mother
Nature intervened: severe droughts in the South, heat waves simmering
across the South and western United States. States in the Deep South
(Florida, Georgia., Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana) experienced the
driest May-October ever. Lands in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arizona,
Louisiana, and Mississippi were parched under the driest July- Sept.
ever on record. By November, torrential rainfall flooded the region
during the wettest November ever in the region. Widespread drought led
to one of the worst wildfire season in 50 years, consuming more than 7
million acres of forests and grasslands, mostly in Western states. In
Pennsylvania and West Virginia, July registered as the coolest on
record. In New York, the month was the second coolest in 100 years. The
U.S. Atlantic hurricane season was above average for the third straight
year in a row with 16 strong to violent tornadoes occurring between
March and August. There has been an increase in extremes in the last 100
years.
DECEMBER 2000:
*RECORD RAINFALL IN DECEMBER IN QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA. Much of the area
has been isolated by wet season floods for up to six weeks. 2000 was the
second wettest year in Australia since 1900.
*A NEW RECORD WAS SET IN 2000 FOR THE HIGHEST ANNUAL RAINFALL RECORDED
AT AN AUSTRALIAN WEATHER STATION. Mount Bellenden Ker, 5,100 feet high,
recorded 490 inches last year, compared with the previous record of 467
inches set in 1999.
*WARMER TEMPERATURES IN RECENT YEARS HAVE BROUGHT SPRING EVER EARLIER TO
THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE - as much as a week sooner than 20 years ago in
many .
*COLDEST NOVEMBER-DECEMBER U. S. AVERAGE TEMPERATURE ON RECORD, 33.8
degrees Fahrenheit. This broke the old record of 34.2 set in 1898. It
was the coldest November-December on record in Oklahoma, Arkansas and
Missouri and the second coldest such two-month period for Illinois,
Iowa, Kansas, Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. Heavy snow also
accompanied the cold in many areas. The record cold was a sharp change
from most of last year, which began with the warmest winter on record.
* A SNOWFALL RECORD WAS SET IN NEWFOUNDLAND, CANADA - by the 3rd week of
December 154 centimetres of snow had fallen during the month. That
shatters the old record of 151 centimetres set in 1958. The average
snowfall amount for a typcial December is about 62 centimetres. And it
wasn't over yet. More snow and flurries were in the forecast for the
remainder of the week.
*HEAVY RAINS FLOODED MEDIEVAL TOWNS IN THE YOUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF
MONTENEGRO, THE MOST SINCE 1986.
*ABOUT 28 TORNADOES WERE RECORDED ACROSS ALBERTA, CANADA, THIS PAST
SUMMER - A DOZEN MORE THAN AVERAGE AND THE MOST SINCE METEOROLOGISTS
BEGAN TRACKING TORNADOES IN 1982.
*POPOCATEPETL VOLCANO OUTSIDE MEXICO CITY SPEWED A FIERY FOUNTAIN OF ASH
AND ROCK IN ITS MOST SPECTACULAR ERUPTION IN MORE THAN A MILLENNIUM.
*TORNADOES KILLED 12 PEOPLE IN TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA IN ONE OF THE WORST
TRAGEDIES IN THE STATE'S HISTORY.
*THE WORST ELEPHANT INVASION IN NORTHERN NIGERIA IN 35 YEARS. 44
communities have been destroyed along with vast swaths of cropland.
*POPOCATEPETL VOLCANO'S ERUPTION APPEARS TO BE THE LARGEST EMISSION OF
MOLTEN ROCK FROM THE PEAK SINCE IT RUMBLED BACK FROM A 70-YEAR PERIOD OF
DORMANCY IN 1994.
*MEXICO'S POPOCATEPETL VOLCANO HAS HAD ONE OF ITS MOST ACTIVE WEEKS IN
TW0 YEARS, WITH UNPRECEDENTED SEISMIC ACTIVITY INSIDE THE CONE.
*WHILE THIS YEAR'S SOLAR MAXIMUM HAS NOT BEEN AN HISTORICAL WHOPPER, TWO
RADIATION STORMS WERE THE THIRD AND FOURTH MOST SEVERE SINCE 1975. And a
geomagnetic storm on July 15 was the worst since 1991. Geomagnetic
storms arrive later than radiation storms, last longer and fuel the
colorful lights known as auroras. High activity is expected for the next
two years.
*ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI HIT BY THE HEAVIEST SNOWFALL SINCE 1993.
*IN ENGLAND THE RIVER THAMES WAS AT FLOOD LEVEL WITH THE WATER IN THE
TOWN OF READING RECORDING THE HIGHEST LEVELS SINCE 1979.
*SEVERAL FRENCH TOWNS WERE AFFECTED BY A COMBINATION OF RECORD RAINFALLS
AND UNUSUALLY HIGH TIDES.
*THE POPOCATEPETL VOLCANO NEAR MEXICO CITY ERUPTED A RECORD NUMBER OF
TIMES IN A SINGLE DAY ON DECEMBER 12TH. It registered 200 eruptions,
breaking a 1996 record of 180 in a single day. The volcano sounded like
"a truck dumping rocks."
*THE LAST THREE WINTERS IN CANADA HAVE BEEN THE WARMEST IN 53 YEARS -
1999 was the fifth mildest in the 53 years.
*ENGLAND'S WEATHERMEN ARE CLAIMING DECEMBER COULD BE THE WARMEST FOR 20
YEARS.
*CYCLONE SAM WAS ONE OF THE STRONGEST CYCLONES EVER TO CROSS AN
AUSTRALIAN COAST. It dumped torrential rains over a widespread area and
caused significant environmental damage.
*CYPRUS SUFFERED ONE OF THEIR DRIEST NOVEMBERS ON RECORD. They are
enduring a 5 year drought.
NOVEMBER:
*NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA SUFFERED ITS WETTEST NOVEMBER ON RECORD -
and there were still 10 days left in the month. The inland had received
between two and three times its average rainfall, while the worst
affected areas had recorded four times their usual levels.
*IN AUSTRALIA NO ONE CAN REMEMBER FLOODWATERS RISING SO HIGH THROUGH THE
WINTER GRAIN FIELDS. Winter crops are more dense and yet the floods
pushed the water through areas it had never been before. This hasn't
happened in history before.
*PARTS OF FLORIDA REMAIN PARCHED FROM THE DRIEST WET SEASON SINCE 1966.
*6.3 EARTHQUAKE IN AZERBAIJAN WAS THE MOST POWERFUL TO HIT THE REGION IN
40 YEARS.
*FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 15 YEARS ANCHORAGE EXPERIENCED A SNOWLESS
THANKSGIVING. Unusual storm patterns in the Bering Sea have sent warm
air over Alaska's largest city, keeping snow away. There has been only
one other Thanksgiving in Anchorage when there was no snow on the
ground. This snowless November is approaching a record - In 1986,
Anchorage went until November 29 without an inch of season-lasting snow,
the longest wait on record. And temperatures this month have been 9
degrees Farenheit over average.
*RAIN WAS STILL FALLING AROUND NEW SOUTH WALES WHEN THE TOWN WAS HIT BY
ITS HIGHEST RIVER LEVELS IN THREE DECADES and its third heaviest
flooding in the past century.
*IN ITALY MANY FLOODED AREAS HAVE RECEIVED MORE RAINFALL IN THE PAST
MONTH THAN IN AN ENTIRE NORMAL YEAR.
*BRITAIN HAS BEEN SUFFERING THE MOST ABNORMAL WEATHER SINCE RAINFALL
RECORDS BEGAN MORE THAN 200 YEARS AGO IN 1766.
*AUSTRALIA SAYS THEIR FLOODS ARE THE WORST IN 50 YEARS.
*BUFFALO, NEW YORK EXPERIENCED ITS BIGGEST NOVEMBER SNOWSTORM EVER - 3
inches an hour and a total over 2 feet - they already have half the snow
that the city normally expects in a whole season. It was the 3rd most
snow in any 24-hour period in their history.
*SWEDEN - WORST FLOODING IN OVER 100 YEARS - many rivers and lakes have
reached record levels and are predicted to keep rising for the rest of
the year and stay swollen until next spring or summer. And more rain is
on the way.
*HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE HAVE DIED IN FLOODS THIS YEAR IN THE SOUTHERN MEKONG
DELTA WHCH HAS SUFFERED ITS WORST FLOODS IN DECADES.
*RIVERS FLOWING SOUTH FROM THE NORWEGIAN MOUNTAINS THROUGH WESTERN
SWEDEN HAVE RISEN TO RECORD LEVELS.
*TEMPERATURES IN THE U.S. FOR THE 10 MONTHS THROUGH OCTOBER 2000 WERE
THE WARMEST ON RECORD SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1895. Regions of the South
and the Southeast were also much drier than normal, making it the 24th
driest period overall since 1895.
*THE LARGEST EVER OUTBREAK OF MOUNTAIN PINE BEETLE HAS PROMPTED A STATE
OF EMERGENCY IN CANADA'S PACIFIC PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. Although
half of the beetles are normally killed off by winter cold, two years of
mild winters have quadrupled the insects' population. The epidemic has
affected vast areas of pine trees.
*SWEDEN SUFFERING RECORD FLOODING IN PARTS OF THE COUNTRY.
*DROUGHT IN YUGOSLAVIA HAS REDUCED THE MAIZE CROP TO ITS LOWEST LEVEL IN
11 YEARS, PUSHING UP PRICES TO 50 YEAR HIGHS.
*THE NATIVE PEOPLE OF THE CANADIAN ARCTIC ARE SEEING SOMETHING UNKNOWN
IN THEIR ORAL HISTORY - THUNDER AND LIGHTNING. Electric storms occuring
in the upper Arctic are evidence of climate change.
*SO FAR THIS AUTUMN, BRITAIN - WHICH WAS IN DROUGHT 2 YEARS AGO - HAS
ENDURED THE WETTEST AUTUMN SINCE RECORDS BEGAN 273 YEARS AGO.
*THE ENGLISH RAT POPULATION HAS SOARED TO ITS HIGHEST LEVELS IN RECENT
MEMORY. Reports of rat infestations have risen 18 percent in the past
year. Britain is under siege from an emerging breed of rat that is not
vulnerable to any present day poisons. Not only have the rodents
developed resistances to previously deadly anticoagulants, but they have
been learning from other rats to avoid the poisons after witnessing
their effects.
*MANITOBA SUFFERED ITS WORST FALL FLOODING IN RECENT MEMORY.
*TEXAS RECEIVED RECORD RAINFALL. Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport
collected a record 2.14 inches of rain on November 7, breaking the
previous record for the same day of 1.59 inches, which was set in 1957.
*BRITAIN ISSUED A RECORD NUMBER OF SEVERE FLOOD WARNINGS THROUGHOUT
WEEKS OF HEAVY RAIN.
*CENTRAL BURUNDI IS EXPERIENCING WHAT SOME SAY IS ITS WORST MALARIA
OUTBREAK IN LIVING MEMORY.
*IN ENGLAND THE OUSE RIVER REACHED ITS HIGHEST LEVEL IN 400 YEARS and
forecasters warned that more heavy rain was on the way.
* A RECORD-SETTING AMOUNT OF RAIN - MORE THAN 2 FEET - INUNDATED THE
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS WITHIN A 24 HOUR PERIOD - 26.22 inches of rain fell at
the Hilo Airport, breaking the previous 24-hour record of 22.3 inches
set in 1979.
*BRITAIN SUFFERING THE WORST FLOODS IN 100 YEARS - THE LATEST STORM WAS
THE WORST FOR MORE THAN A DECADE, with the south of the country brought
to a virtual standstill as fallen trees and floods shut roads and rail
lines. And worse is yet to come.
*TAIWAN HIT BY THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE STORM TO HIT THE ISLAND IN 5 YEARS.
OCTOBER:
*THIS YEAR'S RAINY SEASON IN CAMBODIA HAS BEEN THE WORST SINCE 1996.
*IN SWITZERLAND, AFTER HEAVY RAINS, LAKE MAGGIORE IS AT ITS HIGHEST
LEVEL IN 160 YEARS. Storms dumped half the average annual rainfall in
just three days.
*ITALY HAD ITS WORST FLOODING SINCE 1994. The Po river hit its highest
level in at least a half-century; its height at Piacenza was the highest
ever recorded there.
*SOUTHERN ENGLAND RECEIVED WHAT IS NORMALLY 60 DAYS WORTH OF RAIN IN
JUST 24 HOURS.
*SOUTHERN ENGLAND SUFFERING WORST FLOODS IN DECADES.
*IN PARTS OF SWITZERLAND MORE RAIN FELL IN 3 DAYS THAN IN A NORMAL
ENTIRE MONTH IN OCTOBER.
*EARLY SEASON SNOW BROKE RECORDS IN A NUMBER OF CITIES IN THE NORTHERN
U.S. More than one foot of early snowfall blanketed Michigan's Upper
Peninsula and parts of northern Wisconsin. snow and ice fell over much
of Michigan as well as parts of northern New England.
*RECORD COLD, UNSEASONABLE TEMPERATURES WERE REPORTED FROM MINNESOTA TO
FLORIDA ON COLUMBUS DAY. It was the coldest Oct. 9 in more than a
century at St. Cloud, Minn., with a low of 16, and Springfield, Ill.,
where thermometers bottomed out at 25. Previous records for the date in
both cities had been established in 1895. Record books also were
rewritten in Alabama, where Huntsville dropped to 29, and in Georgia,
Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina,
Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and West
Virginia. Records were tied in New York, Arkansas, New Jersey and
Virginia.
*JAPAN SUFFERED ITS STRONGEST EARTHQUAKE IN 5 YEARS - a 7.3 magnitude
struck a large region of the southwest, injuring at least 28 people and
destroying buildings.
*THE OZONE HOLE OVER THE ANTARCTIC IS THE DEEPEST ON RECORD SINCE
SCIENTISTS BEGAN MEASURING THE SEASONAL PHENOMENON 15 YEARS AGO. Near
total destruction of the ozone in some layers of the stratosphere has
been observed since the middle of September, much earlier than in
previous years. Last month, scientists expressed surprise when NASA data
from Sept. 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.
*THIS SUMMER WAS THE SECOND DRIEST IN THE 106 YEARS THAT MONTHLY
RAINFALL RECORDS HAVE BEEN KEPT IN ALABAMA.
*THE WORST DROUGHT IN THREE DECADES HAS HIT MORE THAN HALF OF
AFGHANISTAN'S 23 MILLION POPULATION, forcing tens of thousands of people
to flee their villages.
* 6.6 EARTHQUAKE IN TANZANIA, AFRICA IS THE MOST POWERFUL FELT IN THE
REGION SINCE 1910.
SEPTEMBER:
*AFTER THE FAILURE OF TWO RAINY SEASONS IN KENYA, WHAT USED TO BE
PERMANENT RIVERS, LIKE EWASO NG'RIO, ARE NOW BECOMING SEASONAL FOR THE
FIRST TIME IN HISTORY.
*WORST FLOODING TO HIT VIETNAM IN 40 YEARS HAS CLAIMED 224 LIVES
*DAMAGE IN NORTH KOREA CAUSED BY THE HEAVY RAINS BROUGHT ON BY TWO
TYPHOONS IN MID-SEPTEMBER AND AT THE END OF AUGUST, WAS REPORTED TO BE
THE WORST IN 30 YEARS.
*THE PAST DECADE WAS THE WARMEST FOR 1000 YEARS.
*RECORD LIGHTNING ACCOMPANIED A MASSIVE THUNDERSTORM IN AUSTRIA.
*HEAVIEST DOWNPOUR EVER RECORDED IN JAPAN - 23 inches in Tokai.
*THE WORST FLOODS IN 70 YEARS HAVE SWAMPED VAST AREAS OF THE MEKONG
RIVER REGION OF CAMBODIA, LAOS AND VIETNAM - it threatens to drive half
a million people or more from their homes in coming days.
*JAPAN ENDURES THEIR WORST TORRENTIAL RAINS IN A LEAST A CENTURY. The
rainfall in the region was the highest on record for a 24-hour period
since the local observatory began keeping records in 1891.
*CAMBODIA IS FACING ITS WORST FLOODING FOR SEVERAL YEARS AND THE NUMBER
OF FLOOD-RELATED DEATHS THIS YEAR COULD BE THE MOST DEVASTATING IN
MEMORY, surpassing 1996.
*THE HOLE IN THE OZONE LAYER IS NOW THREE TIMES LARGER THAN THE U.S. -
ITS BIGGEST EVER. U.N. weather experts said the hole over the Antarctic
is growing earlier in the year than usual.
*RECORD NUMBERS OF BLACK AND BROWN BEARS ARE COMING OUT OF THE MOUNTAINS
LOOKING FOR FOOD AND WATER, invading campgrounds, suburbs, and even
small towns. Colorado having some of the most severe bear problems that
they've had in decades.
*DALLAS HIT 111 DEGREES - AN ALL-TIME HIGH FOR THE DAY AND THE HIGHEST
TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED IN THE CITY IN SEPTEMBER. The previous record
was 108, set in 1980.
AUGUST :
*A BRUTAL HEAT WAVE PUMMELED THE GULF COAST IN AUGUST, SETTING 6
RECORD-HIGH TEMPERATURES FOR THE MONTH. Biloxi hit an all time record
high 105 degrees.
*MOBILE ALABAMA TIES THEIR RECORD, SET IN 1954, FOR THE MOST 100 DEGREE
DAYS IN ONE YEAR (7). Forecasters say more weather records may fall as
the heat lingers. For the year, Mobile is 18 inches short of its average
precipitation.
*CLIMATE CHANGE UNSEEN SINCE THE ICE AGE IS THREATENING A THIRD OF THE
WORLD'S HABITAT.
*INDIA SUFFERING THE WORST FLOODING IN 40 YEARS. Half a year's average
rainfall poured down on Hyderabad in one day. Less than three months ago
millions of Indians were suffering from one of the worst droughts in the
country's history.
*THE GREEK MAINLAND IS SUFFERING SOME OF THE REGION'S WORST FIRES FOR
DECADES.
*NORTH TEXAS DROUGHT SURPASSES THE 1934 DUST BOWL YEAR.
*FIRE SEASON IN THE U.S. WEST IS NOW THE WORST IN 95 YEARS.
*WORST HEAT WAVE IN MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY IN CROATIA AND THERE IS NO
END IN SIGHT TO THE BLISTERING HEAT. This is the hottest summer since
1950.
*KOSOVO IS EXPERIENCING THE HIGHEST SUSTAINED SUMMER TEMPERATURES SINCE
1946.
*FIRE INDICES ARE APPROACHING ALL-TIME HIGHS IN IDAHO, MONTANA AND OTHER
STRICKEN STATES.
*ROMANIA HAS BEEN HIT BY SUCCESSIVE WAVES OF EXTREME TEMPERATURES SINCE
JUNE WITH THE LACK OF RAINFALL DRAGGING THE COUNTRY INTO ITS WORST
DROUGHT THIS CENTURY.
*CRITICAL DROUGHT CONDITIONS IN THE SOUTHEASTERN U.S. ARE KILLING MORE
TREES THAN SEEN IN OVER 34 YEARS - 4 million trees this year versus 1
million in an average year.
*WORST FOREST FIRES IN OVER A DECADE IN THE ARDECHE REGION OF SOUTHERN
FRANCE.
*HURRICANE ALBERT BECAME ONE OF THE LONGEST-SURVIVING AUGUST STORMS IN
HISTORY.
*NORTHEASTERN U.S. EXPERIENCING ONE OF THE COOLEST, SOGGIEST SUMMERS IN
MEMORY. New York City had its coolest July since 1914.
*WILDFIRES IN MONTANA BEING CALLED A 100-YEAR CATASTROPHE.
*THE RESOURCES AVAILABLE FOR FIGHTING IN THE WESTERN U.S. ARE AT A LOW
LEVEL THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE.
*HOOLIGAMISM IS BECOMING MORE VIOLENT - IN EUROPE THIS IS THE MOST
VIOLENT FOOTBAL SEASON IN RECENT TIMES.
*ARTIC TEMPERATURES IN THE LATE 20TH CENTURY WERE THE WARMEST IN FOUR
CENTURIES.
*CENTRAL ASIA IS EXPERIENCING THEIR WORST DROUGHT IN DECADES - crops are
failing all over the region.
*WIDESPREAD FLOODING, TRIGGERED BY 3 DAYS OF POUNDING RAIN, IS THE WORST
EVER RECORDED IN THE CITY OF DOUALA - 3 million have been forced to
leave their homes, some left stranded in tress or on top floors of
buildings.
*THE SHEER NUMBER OF FIRES AND THEIR GROWTH ARE PROMPTING U.S. OFFICIALS
TO CALL THIS THE WORST FIRE SEASON IN 50 YEARS.
*NEARLY 3.8 MILLION ACRES HAVE BURNED IN THE U.S. THIS SEASON, THE MOST
SINCE AT LEAST THE LATE 1980s.
* MORE THAN 18 MILLION CUBIC FEET OF A GLACIER BROKE FREE IN SWITZERLAND
IN WHAT HAS BEEN TERMED AN EVENT THAT COULD HAPPEN ONLY ONCE OR TWICE IN
A CENTURY - THE LARGEST AMOUNT OF ICE TO BREAK FREE IN THE ENTIRE
MOUNTAIN RANGE DURING THE PAST 35 YEARS.
*NORTHEASTERN BRAZIL SUFFERED ITS WORST FLOODING IN 25 YEARS.
*IRAN SUFFERING WORST DROUGHT IN 30 YEARS.
*THIS IS JUST THE START OF THE FIRE SEASON IN THE WESTERN U.S. AND
ALREADY 3.5 MILLION ACRES HAVE BURNED - in the record year of 1988 only
2 million acres had burned by this time that year.
*HEATWAVE IN CALIFORNIA CREATING RECORD POWER PLANT DEMAND - A
stage-three power emergency was expected to be declared, triggering
rolling blackouts across the state.
JULY 2000:
*WORST FIRE IN 10 YEARS IN BAJA CALIFORNIA
*RECORD RAINS IN BRAZIL HAVE TRIGGERED MUDSLIDES - 39 mudslides in one
day alone in the city of Recife.
*THE FIRST 6 MONTHS OF 2000 HAVE BEEN THE DRIEST START OF ANY YEAR FOR
SECTIONS OF LOUISIANA COAST SINCE RECORDS WERE BEGUN IN 1889.
*THE OZONE HOLE THAT OPENS OVER ANTARACTICA EVERY YEAR HAS BEEN WORSE
THAN EVER DURING THE PAST FEW YEARS - RIGHT NOW IT IS AT THE PEAK OF
THINNING FOR THE YEAR - AND SCIENTISTS PREDICT IT WILL NOT BEGIN TO
REBOUND UNTIL AROUND 2010.
*FOR ONLY THE SECOND TIME IN A CENTURY, JULY HAS COME AND GONE IN NEW
YORK WITHOUT THE TEMPERATURE REACHING 90 DEGREES - THIS HAS BEEN ONE OF
THE COOLEST JULYS EVER RECORDED THERE - in contrast, the temperature
topped 90 on 18 days in July 1999, including nine days when it exceeded
95 and two when it broke the 100-degree mark. .
*WESTERN UNITED STATES SUFFERING THROUGH THE WORST FIRE SEASON IN MORE
THAN A DECADE AND THE OUTLOOK CALLS FOR IT TO GET WORSE.
*THE WORST FIRE IN THE HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA'S SEQUOIA NATIONAL FOREST.
*MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA JOLTED BY THE STRONGEST QUAKE IN 68 YEARS (3.2
magnitude).
*UNPRECEDENTED DROUGHT IN IRAN HAS COMPLETELY DRIED UP 3 MAJOR LAKES.
*PARTS OF PAKISTAN ARE SUFFERING THROUGH THE WORST DROUGHT IN THE
COUNTRY'S HISTORY.
*THE U.S. PARK SERVICE IS FACING THE WORST FIRE SEASON FOR FOUR YEARS.
*UNUSUALLY HIGH RAINFALL AND FLOODING HAVE HIT SWEDEN.
*THE BOULDER SUNSPOT NUMBER SOARED TO A VALUE OF 401. Experts say that's
rare, even near the peak of the solar maximum.
*IN ALABAMA TEMPERATURES REACHED AT LEAST 100 FOR 16 STRAIGHT DAYS,
BREAKING THE RECORD OF 13 DAYS IN 1980. A high temperature of 102 broke
the old record of 101 set in 1980.
*CHINA FIGHTING BIGGEST LOCUST PLAGUE IN 25 YEARS.
*RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES SET IN FLORIDA. High temperature of 101 broke
the old record of 100, set in 1980.
*RECORD HEAVY RAINFALL FELL IN AHMEDABAD - at 375 m.m. in a single day,
it was the highest since 415 m.m. rained on July 27, 1927. The whole of
Ahmedabad, with a population of more than four million people, has
turned into a veritable lake with every inch of the city under knee to
chest-deep water.
*LARGEST SOLAR RADIATION STORM SINCE 1989, then a solar storm knocked
out the electrical system in all of Quebec and destroyed a large power
transformer in New Jersey.
*WORST TORNADO TO HIT ALBERTA IN 13 YEARS.
*THE SUN IN BRITAIN HAS BEEN OUT JUST 2.77 HOURS IN JULY (as of 7/13),
SHATTERING THE OLD RECORD SET IN 1944 OF A LITTLE OVER THREE HOURS.
*PARAGUAY SUFFERING WORST WINTER IN A CENTURY - Temperatures fell to 32
degrees Fahrenheit whereas they usually swelter at 113 F for most of the
year. "Not only are these the lowest temperatures on record for this
country but this is one of the greatest variations from one extreme to
another in a non-desert area of the continent."
*GREECE IS FACING THE WORST CONDITIONS FOR FOREST FIRES IN DECADES.
*COPAHUE VOLCANO ON THE BORDER OF CHILE AND ARGENTINA ERUPTED IN ITS
WORST ACTIVITY IN 25 YEARS.
*FRANCE SUFFERING ONE OF THE COLDEST SUMMERS IN DECADES.
*ROMANIA SUFFERS WORST DROUGHT IN 100 YEARS.
*HEAT WAVE IN SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE BROKE CENTURY-OLD RECORDS.
*JAPAN HIT WITH THE SECOND HEAVIEST RAINFALL ON RECORD THERE - 3 inches
in one hour.
*THE YUGOSLAV CAPITAL OF BELGRADE RECORDED ITS HOTTEST DAY IN A DECADE.
*BALKANS SUFFERING THE WORST DROUGHT TO STRIKE THE REGION IN 50 YEARS.
*BALKANS SUFFERING RECORD CROP LOSSES.
JUNE 2000:
*SEATTLE SUFFERED A BROWN LAYER OF SMOG AS HIGH TEMPERATURES BROKE
13-YEAR-OLD RECORDS.
*SCORCHING TEMPERATURES IN HUNGARY BROKE THE EXISTING 100 YEAR OLD
RECORDS.
*CHILE SUFFERS WORST STORMS IN TWO DECADES, LEAVING MUCH OF THE COUNTRY
INUNDATED BY FLOODS.
* AN UNPRECEDENTED MASSIVE POISONOUS RED TIDE OF ALGAL BLOOM IN THE EAST
CHINA SEA HAS GROWN TO 2700 SQUARE MILES AND IS SIX AND A HALF FEET DEEP
IN SOME AREAS.
*WORST FLASH FLOODING IN THE HISTORY OF FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA AND
MOORHEAD, MINNESOTA
*6. 6 EARTHQUAKE IN ICELAND IS THE WORST TO HIT THE ISLAND IN ALMOST 90
YEARS.
*7.5 EARTHQUAKE IN AUSTRALIA'S COCOS ISLANDS IS THE LARGEST QUAKE EVER
RECORDED IN THAT PART OF THE INDIAN OCEAN.
*FLORIDA SUFFERING THROUGH THE WORST DROUGHT IN ITS RECORDED HISTORY.
*HUGE PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS IN PERU - LARGEST SINCE 1982.
*AVALANCHE CAUSES WORST CLIMBING ACCIDENT IN VENEZUELA'S HISTORY - 5
climbers buried alive.
*CHILE SUFFERS WORST RAINS IN 20 YEARS leaving over 40,000 homeless.
*HEAT BROKE RECORDS THROUGHOUT NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.
*SCOTLAND HIT BY THE WORST JUNE STORMS IN 30 YEARS.
*THE LOW-PRESSURE SYSTEM AFECTING SCOTLAND IS THE LOWEST SINCE RECORDS
BEGAN BEING KEPT IN 1871.
*U.S. HAD THE WARMEST SPRING ON RECORD.
*CYPRUS SUFFERS WORST FIRES IN 30 YEARS.
*NEBRASKA WHEAT CROP EXPECTED TO BE THE POOREST IN 50 YEARS DUE TO
DROUGHT CONDITIONS.
*GEORGIA FARMERS SUFFERING THE WORST DROUGHT CONDITIONS IN THE STATE'S
HISTORY.
*U.S. IS SEEING THE WORST START OF A FIRE SEASON SINCE 1996.
*THIS HAS BEEN THE DRIEST SPRING ALONG FLORIDA'S GULF COAST SINCE AT
LEAST 1915 WHEN RECORDS WERE FIRST KEPT. The drought index in some
counties there rivals that of Arizona's deserts.
*GEORGIA HAS POSTED THE DRIEST MAY THIS YEAR SINCE 1895. Some streams
have run dry and RIVERS ARE AT RECORD LOWS.
*THE SOUTHEASTERN U.S. HAS BEEN IN DROUGHT CONDITIONS FOR NEARLY 3
YEARS, leaving some areas with rainfall deficits of more than 45 inches.
*AFGHANISTAN SUFFERING WORST DROUGHT IN 30 YEARS AND IT IS SPREADING.
*WORST FLOODING IN 30 YEARS IN NORTHERN ENGLAND.
*HEAVIEST RAINS IN 150 YEARS IN GANSU RGION OF CHINA, one of the driest
and poorest regions.
*WORST DROUGHT IN 10 YEARS IN THE ENTIRE HALF OF CHINA NORTH OF THE
YANGTZE RIVER.
*7.9 EARTHQUAKE IN SINGAPORE ON JUNE 4TH WAS ONE OF THE STRONGEST
RECORDED IN INDONESIA IN RECENT YEARS.
*HEAVIEST DOWNPOUR IN TEXAS SINCE 1991.
*ONE OF THE WORST COLD SPELLS IN LIVING MEMORY IN AUSTRALIA. Snow fell
less than 60 miles from the city of Melbourne for the first time in 25
years. The bitter cold caused demands for gas and electricity to reach
record levels for the third consecutive day.
*WORST FLOODING IN 5 YEARS IN MEXICO CITY.
*WORST FLOODING IN 35 YEARS IN MINNESOTA.
*WORST FIRE SEASON IN 30 YEARS IN THE U.S.
MAY 2000:
*WETTEST MAY ON RECORD IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.
*LOS ALAMOS FIRE WAS THE LARGEST WILDFIRE IN NEW MEXICO'S HISTORY
*CANADA SUFFERING WHAT MAY BE IT'S BIGGEST E. COLI EPIDEMIC EVER and one
of the worst outbreaks in North America.
*HEAT WAVE IN SEVERAL WESTERN STATES BROUGHT RECORD TEMPERATURES. A
record 117 in Lake Havasu City and 116 in Bullhead City. Twenty cities
across New Mexico reached record highs. Albuquerque hit 97 degrees,
breaking the 1989 record of 96. In Carlsbad, the temperature soared to
109, shattering the record of 102 set in 1953. In southern Utah, six
communities had record highs for the date broken or tied Tuesday. St.
George reached 104, topping the record of 102 set in 1984. Moab hit 101,
breaking the 1984 record of 98. The temperature in Lancaster, Calif.,
reached 103 degrees, breaking the 1967 record of 97. Even San Francisco,
which usually experiences cool weather well into spring and early
summer, experienced record hot weather this week, topping 93 degrees
Sunday. That broke the record 86 degrees for the same day in 1886.
*RECORD NUMBER OF 12 MAJOR DUST STORMS HAVE SCOURED NORTHERN CHINA THIS
YEAR. Three desert areas are rapidly encroaching on China's capital
Beijing, unnerving officials and prompting them to put an emergency
campaign in place.
*TEMPERATURES IN KUWAIT HIT A RECORD HIGH OF 115 DEGREES FOR THREE DAYS.
A meteorological official predicted that temperatures in July could also
exceed the previous record of 126 degrees Fahrenheit recorded in the
shade two years ago.
*NEW MEXICO HAS HAD AS MANY ACRES OF FOREST AND GRASSLAND BLACKENED AS
IT NORMALLY GETS IN AN ENTIRE YEAR and summer hasn't even arrived.
*RECORD-SETTING RAINFALL OVER PAPUA NEW GUINEA.
*WETTEST RAINY SEASON IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA SINCE RECORD-KEEPING BEGAN IN
1945. Although the rainy season normally ends in April, this year the
wet weather could continue until August.
*RECORD RAINFALL IN MINNESOTA - 5 INCHES IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS.
*WORST DROUGHT IN 45 YEARS IN MISSOURI.
*ARGENTINA RAINFALL BY MAY 16TH ALREADY 12.9 INCHES, JUST SHORT OF THE
13.1 THAT FELL IN THE ENTIRE MONTH OF MAY IN 1985 AND SET A RECORD FOR
THE CENTURY.
*DRIEST WINTER IN 100 YEARS IN SOUTHWESTERN U.S. AND MISSOURI.
*MANATEES ARE DYING AT A RECORD RATE IN FLORIDA.
*WORST WATER SHORTAGE IN 100 YEARS IN PAKISTAN.
*WORST SWARM OF LOCUSTS IN AUSTRALIA IN 20 YEARS.
*WORST DESTRUCTION IN OVER 30 YEARS IN NIGERIA CAUSED BY FREAK HIGH
WINDS WHICH DESTROYED SEVERAL TOWNS AND A WIDE SWATH OF CROPLAND.
*MUCH OF THE EASTERN U.S. SUFFERED A WEEKEND OF RECORD HEAT.
Temperatures climbed toward July-like readings. Thermometers peaked at
record highs Sunday in several cities, including Detroit at 86; 84 at
Bluefield, W.Va.; 89 at Burlington, Vt.; 93 at both Harrisburg, Pa., and
New York; and 94 at Concord, N.H., and Newark, N.J. Washington's Dulles
International Airport tied its record at 90 degrees. Concord's former
record of 91 had been on the books since 1895. Texas was hotter, with
records of 98 at Lubbock, 101 at Wichita Falls and 106 at Abilene. Even
Michigan's northern city of Marquette, on the shore of chilly Lake
Superior, has had three days of record highs in the 80s.
*RECORD-BREAKING HEAT BAKED DENVER FOR THREE STRAIGHT DAYS. Denver's
high temperature hit 89 degrees surpassing the old mark of 86 degrees
set in 1936. Alamosa hit 80 degrees =97 up from the 1996 record of 77;
and Pueblo checked in at 94 degrees, eclipsing the 1947 record high of
93.
*RARE AMOEBIC MENINGITIS HITS NEW ZEALAND - LAST CASE IS BELIEVED TO
HAVE OCCURRED AT LEAST 20 YEARS AGO. Health officials warned that the
illness is spread in heated swimming pools.
APRIL 2000:
*NEW ZEALAND'S POHUTU GEYSER HAS BEEN LETTING OFF 70 FOOT HIGH
ERUPTIONS OF STEAM AND WATER NONSTOP FOR 40 DAYS. A similar
performance has not been seen for more than 60 years.
*THE CENTRAL CHINA PROVINCE OF HUBEI HAS BEEN HIT WITH ITS WORST
DROUGHT IN 50 YEARS. Nearly 988,000 acres of grain have been parched in
one of China's
biggest wheat producing areas.
*THE DANJUANGKOU RESERVOIR, ON HUBEI'S HANJIANG RIVER, HAS DROPPED
TO A RECORD LOW LEVEL.
*THE MOST POWERFUL EARTHQUAKE TO HIT ARGENTINA IN 6 YEARS. (5.5
magnitude.)
*THIS IS ALREADY THE WETTEST APRIL ON RECORD IN ENGLAND
and looks like it is going to get worse.
*AFGHANISTAN EXPERIENCING UNPRECEDENTED DROUGHT. The situation
is likely to worsen because the rainy season is ending and the next
rainfall is not expected
until the end of the year.
*THE FIRST THREE MONTHS OF 2000 HAVE BEEN THE WARMEST WINTER ON RECORD.
The data for January through March of this year have shown the highest
temperatures since NOAA
began keeping records 106 years ago.
*THE PERIOD OF JUNE 1999 THROUGH MARCH 2000 HAS BEEN THE WARMEST JUNE
THROUGH MARCH PERIOD IN U.S. HISTORY. The period of June 1999 through
March 2000
has been the warmest June through March period in the nation's history,
beating the record
set in 1990 by one degree. The average temperature between June 1999 and
March 2000 was 47.1 degrees. This warming in temperature could result in
a 20-inch rise in sea level by the year 2100.
*THE PAST DECADE HAS SEEN FAR MORE HURRICANES THAN ANY OTHER PERIOD
THIS CENTURY. In the past five years, there have been 41 hurricanes.
*INDIA'S WESTERN PROVINCE OF GUJARAT HAS BEEN HIT BY THE WORST
DROUGHT IN 100 YEARS. The situation is expected to get worse.
*FLOODING IN HUNGARY REACHES WATER LEVELS THAT OCCUR ONLY ONCE
IN 500 YEARS. Water levels reached more than double the normal level for
April.
*THIS WINTER THE ARCTIC HAS EXPERIENCED ONE OF THE MOST SUBSTANTIAL
OZONE LOSSES AT THIS ALTITUDE EVER RECORDED. 60 percent of the Arctic
ozone layer
some 11 miles above the Earth has vanished over the winter due to record
cold
and continued pollution.
*SOUTH KOREA SUFFERING WITH THE WORST WILDFIRES SINCE THE KOREAN WAR.
- The fires have now also spread into North Korea.
*THE TISZA RIVER IN ROMANIA ROSE ABOVE ALL PREVIOUS RECORD LEVELS.
- The Bodrog River, a tributary to the Tisza, reportedly began flowing
backward at one point during the day due to the immense pressure of the
main river.
*EASTERN HUNGARY IS THREATENED BY THE WORST FLOODING ON RECORD from
heavy rain and melting snow. Computer models show that in the next five
weeks the water table will
reach levels never seen in the country, while dams raised last year to
contain then record levels will
have to be further heightened.
MARCH 2000:
*SEVERE STORMS ARE BECOMING THE NORM IN ONTARIO, CANADA - THE PAST 10
YEARS HAVE INCLUDED SEVEN OF THE WORST FIRE SEASONS ON RECORD.
*BEIJING, CHINA HIT BY THE WORST DUST STORM IN 10 YEARS.
*RECORD SEVERE OUTBREAK OF ANTS AND TERMITES IN SOUTH AFRICA DUE TO
EXCEEDINGLY WET WEATHER. A colony of one to five million of the
voracious termites could
destroy a support beam under a floor in two to three months.
*AN ICEBERG OF RECORD OR NEAR-RECORD SIZE - about twice as big in area
as the state of
Delaware - IS BREAKING OFF FROM ANTARCTICA'S ICE SHELF
*WORST FLOODS EVER TO HIT QWA QWA IN SOUTH AFRICA.
*MALAWI RECEIVED RECORD INCESSANT RAIN, UNPRECEDENTED IN RECENT MEMORY.
*FIRST VOLCANIC ERUPTION IN YEMEN IN LIVING MEMORY
*THE YANGTZE RIVER USED TO FLOOD ROUGHLY ONCE EVERY TWENTY YEARS, NOW
IT FLOODS 9 YEARS OUT OF 10.
*MONGOLIA HAS SUFFERED ITS MOST SEVERE WINTER AND WORST DISASTER IN 30
YEARS.
*LOUISIANA, MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA HAVE SEEN THE DRIEST FEBRUARY IN 106
YEARS.
*MANY PARTS OF THE U.S., PARTICULARLY EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER, ARE
AT
RECORD LOW WATER LEVELS FOR THIS TIME OF THE YEAR. More than half the
country
is under drought conditions.
*A RECORD 25 DAYS OF RAIN DURING FEBRUARY IN SAN FRANCISCO - caused
mudslides
that destroyed 5 homes and threatens numerous others in San Fran and
Oakland.
*5 EARTHQUAKES STRUCK NIGERIA, ASTONISHING SEISMOLOGISTS, AS THERE IS NO
HISTORY OF EARTHQUAKES IN THIS REGION.
*IN ONE AFTERNOON, AREAS OF NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA, RECEIVED 2 YEARS
WORTH OF RAINFALL.
*WARMEST WINTER IN U.S. HISTORY - ALL-TIME RECORD HIGH AVERAGE
TEMPERATURES FOR DECEMBER THROUGH FEBRUARY THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES.
*WESTERN AUSTRALIA'S GASCOYNE RIVER HAS REACHED ITS HIGHEST LEVEL IN 20
YEARS due to heavy rain from ex-tropical cyclone Steve.
*TORRENTIAL RAINS IN ZAMBIA PUSHED WATER LEVELS BEHIND THE KARIBA DAM
TO THE HIGHEST LEVELS EVER SEEN.
*ARIZONA HAS DRIEST WINTER ON RECORD.
*FREAK WINTER STORM SET RECORDS FOR SNOWFALL IN AREAS OF SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA
AND ARIZONA. Low temperatures were one degree shy of breaking the record
for lowest high temperatures.
FEBRUARY 2000:
*WORST FLOODS IN OVER 100 YEARS IN NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA
*WORST FLOODING ON RECORD HIT THE STRICKEN NATION OF MOZAMBIQUE
*MOST RAINY DAYS EVER IN THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY IN SAN FRANCISCO
*GEORGIA HIT BY DEADLIEST TORNADOES IN 50 YEARS.
*BOTSWANA ENDURES WORST FLOODS IN 30 YEARS.
*RECORD LEVELS OF AIR POLLUTION IN MEXICO
*ALASKA HAS ITS WORST SERIES OF AVALANCHES EVER.
*SOUTH AFRICAN RIVERS AT THEIR HIGHEST LEVELS IN 50 YEARS - and its
still raining.
*QUEENSLAND AUSTRALIA HAS WETTEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD, BIGGEST FLOOD IN
50 YEARS, one area got its total annual rainfall in just a weekend - and
its still raining.
*MOZAMBIQUE DEVASTATED BY WORST FLOODS IN 50 YEARS - and its still
raining.
JANUARY 2000:
*LARGEST EARTHQUAKE SINCE 1935 HIT WESTERN NEW YORK AND SOUTHERN ONTARIO
*WARMEST WINTER IN 20 YEARS IN TURKEY could create record water levels.
*HEAVIEST RAINFALL IN MALAYSIA IN A CENTURY.
*BRITAIN FACING THE WORST FLU CRISIS IN A DECADE.
*THE WORST INDONESIAN GRASSHOPPER INVASION SINCE 1968 - has devastated
vast areas of cropland in the province of West Kalimantan on Borneo.
*MOST SEVERE SNOWSTORM IN THE LENGTHY HISTORY OF NORTHWEST CHINA.
*INNER MONGOLIA HAS BEEN HIT BY ITS WORST BLIZZARD IN FOUR DECADES.
*SOME AREAS OF NORTH CAROLINA RECEIVED A NEARLY INCONCEIVABLE 22 INCHES
OF SNOW - THE WORST SNOWFALL SINCE 1893.
*THE SEA AROUND THE ADRIATIC ISLAND OF MURTER HAS FROZEN FOR THE FIRST
TIME IN ALMOST HALF A CENTURY.
*ISRAEL POUNDED WITH ITS HARSHEST WEATHER IN EIGHT YEARS.
*SHANGHAI'S FIRST SNOW THIS WINTER CAUSED TEMPERATURES TO PLUNGE TO THE
LOWEST LEVEL IN 10 YEARS.
1999 -
THE STRONGEST LA NINA IN 50 YEARS.
JANUARY:
*ONE OF THE WORST EARTHQUAKES TO HIT COLUMBIA IN MORE THAN A CENTURY
FEBRUARY:
*WORST AVALANCHES IN 370 YEARS IN SWITZERLAND, AUSTRIA, FRANCE, ITALY --
MORE SNOW THAN ANYONE CAN REMEMBER
*WORST FLOOD THIS CENTURY IN QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA
*THE WORST AVALANCHE IN FRANCE IN OVER A CENTURY
MARCH:
*LARGEST EARTHQUAKE IN INDIA IN ALMOST A CENTURY
*SNOWPACK IN OREGON IS 197 PERCENT OF NORMAL
*WASHINGTON STATE RECEIVES THE OFFICAL WORLD'S RECORD FOR SEASONAL
SNOWFALL - Mount Baker got 95 feet of snow in the winter of 1998-99.)
*STRONGEST WINDS EVER REPORTED IN MAINLAND AUSTRALIA - Cyclone Vance
*WORST DROUGHT IN MORE THAN A DECADE IN CHINA
*SOME OF THE WORST FLOODING IN CHINA ON RECORD (immediately preceding
the current drought)
*SECOND-LARGEST PRAIRIE FIRE ON RECORD IN NEBRASKA
*RAINFALL UP 50% HIGHER THAN NORMAL IN COASTAL CITIES IN ECUADOR
*EXTENSIVE FLOODING, THE WORST IN 40 YEARS IN MOZAMBIQUE
*DEATHS FROM AVALANCHES IN THE SWISS ALPS NEARLY 50% ABOVE THE AVERAGE
FOR THE PREVIOUS 15 YEARS
*ALL-TIME LOW TEMPERATURES IN INDIANA AND CHICAGO
*RECORD SNOWSTORMS HIT NEWFOUNDLAND, BUFFALO AND CHICAGO
APRIL:
*WORST FOREST FIRES TO STRIKE NORTHERN CHINA IN 20 YEARS
*WORST DROUGHT IN IRAQ IN 50 YEARS
*ONE OF THE HARSHEST DROUGHTS IN 60 YEARS IN PALESTINE
*WORST HAILSTORM IN AUSTRALIA IN ALMOST 30 YEARS - 20,000 buildings
damaged
*STRONGEST WINDSTORM IN UTAH IN 15 YEARS
*WORST DROUGHT IN SYRIA IN 26 YEARS
*RECORD NUMBER OF PORPOISE STRANDINGS ON THE EAST COAST OF THE U.S. -
MORE IN ONE MONTH THAN NORMALLY FOUND IN AN ENTIRE YEAR
*THE STRONGEST EARTHQUAKE IN ROMANIA IN NEARLY A DECADE
*NEW YORK HAS SECOND DRIEST APRIL ON RECORD THIS CENTURY.
MAY:
*LARGEST TORNADO IN THE MIDWEST IN OVER 50 YEARS
*LAKE SUPERIOR (the biggest of the Great Lakes and the feeder of the
other four) IS AT ITS LOWEST LEVELS ON RECORD
*FASTEST WIND SPEED EVER RECORDED ON EARTH - 318mph during Oklahoma
tornado
*MOST COSTLY TORNADO IN U.S. HISTORY in Oklahoma and Kansas
*RHINE RIVER AT HIGHEST LEVEL IN 140 YEARS
*WORST DROUGHT IN LIVING MEMORY IN EVERY MEXICAN STATE ALONG THE
2000-MILE BORDER WITH THE U.S.
*COLDEST DAY IN MAY IN 22 YEARS IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA
*WASHINGTON STATE PRECIPITATION 200% OF NORMAL, OREGON 150% OF NORMAL
*VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA'S BIGGEST DAMS ARE AT THEIR LOWEST WATER LEVELS ON
RECORD
*LAKES IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN AUSTRIA ROSE TO RECORD HEIGHTS.
*WORST DROUGHT IN 30 YEARS IN IRAN
*WARMEST MAY IN 116 YEARS IN TASMANIA
JUNE:
*THE RIO GRANDE,the border between Mexico and the U.S.,
NORMALLY UP TO 7 FEET DEEP, HAS DRIED UP COMPLETELY IN SOME STRETCHES.
*RECORD LOW STREAM FLOWS AND LOWEST EVER WATER TABLE for this time of
year IN NEW YORK.
*STRONGEST TORNADO IN 20 YEARS IN NORTH DAKOTA
*RECORD HEAT WAVE ON EAST COAST OF U.S.
*COOLEST AND WETTEST SPRING IN DECADES IN CALIFORNIA
*VOLUME OF WATER ENTERING THE OCCOQUAN RESERVOIR IN MARYLAND IS THE
SMALLEST SINCE RECORD-KEEPING BEGAN 71 YEARS AGO
*COASTAL EROSION THE WORST IN 17 YEARS IN BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA
*WORST DROUGHT IN SPAIN IN 50 YEARS
*LAKE LANIER IN ATLANTA IS AT ITS LOWEST POINT IN A DECADE
*ARIZONA RESERVOIR LEVELS ARE LOWEST THEY'VE BEEN IN 20 YEARS
*WORST DROUGHT IN 30 YEARS IN IRAN
*DRIEST SPRING ON RECORD IN CANADA
A RECORD NUMBER OF HOURS OF SUNLIGHT
*WORST RAINS TO POUND KATHMANDU IN 30 YEARS CAUSING FLOODS AND
LANDSLIDES
*RUSSIA SUFFERING FROM HEAT WAVE OF RECORD LENGTH AND INTENSITY
JULY:
*MOST POWERFUL QUAKE IN 30 YEARS STRIKES THE SEATTLE, OREGON FAULT
*HOTTEST MONTH IN MOSCOW SINCE RUSSIA STARTED KEEPING RECORDS 118 YEARS
AGO.
*SOME OF SICHUAN, CHINA'S MAJOR RIVERS, TRIBUTARIES TO THE YANGTZE, ARE
AT RECORD LEVELS
*BIGGEST SNOWSTORM IN NEW ZEALAND IN 25 YEARS - more than 39 inches
of snowfall in a 24-hour period
*MORE THAN 200,000 FISH HAVE DIED IN MARYLAND'S WORST FISH KILL IN
DECADES. Oxygen depletion caused by the region's drought conditions is
being blamed for the loss.
*HEAVY RAINFALL IN NEPAL BREAKS 30 YEAR RECORD.
*HOTTEST TEMPERATURES SINCE 1882 IN THE UKRAINE (June & July - 35 days
and counting)
*WORST CROP DAMAGE IN OVER 40 YEARS ($3.3 BILLION) IN IRAN FROM LACK OF
RAIN
*WORST FLOODING TO HIT LAS VEGAS IN 15 YEARS - 3 inches in several hours
- YEARLY rainfall is usually 4 inches.
*RECORD TEMPERATURES IN NEW YORK, NEWARK, ATLANTIC CITY AND HARRISBURG
*MASSIVE WINDSTORM DOWNED 25 MILLION TREES ON 340,000 ACRES OF
WILDERNESS IN N. MINNESOTA - UNPRECEDENTED IN 150 YEARS OF
RECORD-KEEPING
*TRIPURA, INDIA RAINFALL IS AT ITS HEAVIEST IN 50 YEARS.
*IN SOME AREAS OF PENNSYLVANIA CROPS ARE TOTALLY DEVASTATED - CONDITIONS
ARE THE DRIEST IN OVER 30 YEARS
*CEDAR RIVER IN IOWA REACHED A RECORD HIGH LEVEL
*LOCUST SWARMS IN RUSSIA THE WORST IN 27 YEARS
*ALL OF THE GREAT LAKES ALONG THE U.S. / CANADIAN BORDER
HAVE NOW RECEDED TO RECORD LOW LEVELS and are expected to continue to
recede until November.
*WORST FISH KILL IN DECADES IN MARYLAND - State biologists say that
algal blooms
in the shallow areas depleted oxygen supplies before the fish could swim
to deeper waters.
*HEAT WAVE ON THE U.S. EAST COAST IS CREATING THE WORST DROUGHT IN 4
DECADES - Meteorologists and hydrologists predicted that if the heat
continues through the first week of August, the drought will surpass the
one that began in 1961 and lasted five years.
*RECORD RAINFALL FOR ANY DAY IN JULY IN PITTSBURGH [3.43 inches] - the
third highest amount of rainfall recorded on any day since record
keeping began in southwestern Pennsylvania in 1870.
*DRIEST 12 MONTHS IN NEW JERSEY IN 33 YEARS.
*HOTTEST MONTH ON RECORD IN NEW YORK
*WORST HEAT WAVE THIS CENTURY IN BEIJING
*LANDSLIDES CAUSE WORST POWER DISRUPTION IN TAIWAN'S HISTORY -
Landslides toppled a key power-transmission tower, blacking out nearly
four-fifths of Taiwan.
AUGUST:
*THE MOST SEVERE FLOODING IN 80 YEARS IN THAILAND
*THE PHILIPPINES SUFFERS ONE OF ITS WORST FLOODS IN YEARS
*THE WORST FLOODING IN VIETNAM IN 47 YEARS
*WORST DROUGHT ON RECORD IN 4 U.S. STATES - Maryland, Delware, New
Jersey and Rhode Island.
*LARGEST TORNADO IN 31 YEARS IN UTAH. First time anyone was ever killed
by a tornado in Utah.
*MOST POWERFUL TREMOR EVER RECORDED IN TURKEY SINCE RECORDS BEGAN
- 12000+ dead - one of the world's most powerful quakes in 20 years.
*ONE OF THE WORST COLD WAVES TO HIT SOUTHERN BRAZIL IN RECENT HISTORY.
*COLDEST SUMMER IN 42 YEARS IN SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
*MANIA, PHILIPPINES WAS HIT BY ITS HEAVIEST RAINFALL IN 25 YEARS.
*PARTS OF SOUTHERN VIETNAM ARE ENDURING THEIR WORST FLOODS IN 47 YEARS.
*HOTTEST AUGUST IN 20 YEARS IN GREECE - their 3rd heatwave of the year
*BIGGEST STORM IN 20 YEARS TO HIT SOUTHERN TEXAS - Hurrican Bret
*WORST FAMINE IN ANGOLA'S HISTORY - triggered by civil war.
SEPTEMBER:
*WORST EARTHQUAKE IN ATHENS IN MORE THAN A CENTURY
*STORM OF THE CENTURY PUMMELED CHINA KILLING AT LEAST 200 and injuring
2600.
*LARGEST NUMBER OF ELK (56) EVER KILLED BY LIGHTNING IN COLORADO - and
by a single bolt.
*UNSEASONAL SNOW AND RAIN ENDED CHILE'S WORST DROUGHT IN A CENTURY.
*WORST OUTBREAK EVER OF E. COLI IN THE U.S.
*THE WORST SCOURING OF NORTH CAROLINA'S COAST IN 20 YEARS - from
Hurricane Dennis.
*RECORD-BREAKING FLASH FLOOD IN NEW BRUNSWICK
- more rain in four hours than the region usually gets during an entire
month.
*WEEK-LONG DOWNPOURS OF RAIN HAVE BEEN INCREASING BY 2.9% PER DECADE
IN THE U.S. SINCE THE 1930s. The recent deluges have been especially
intense
in the Minnesota-Michigan-Wisconsin-Iowa area,
where heavy rains have increased by 4.6 percent per decade.
*HONG KONG SUFFERED WORST STORM IN 16 YEARS FROM TYPHOON YORK.
*NORTH CAROLINA RECEIVED RECORD 13 INCHES OF RAIN
IN 24-HOURS.
*NORTH CAROLINA AND NEW JERSEY SUFFERED WORST FLOODING EVER RECORDED,
CAUSED BY HURRICANE FLOYD.
*WORST EARTHQUAKE ON RECORD IN TAIWAN.
*HEAVIEST RAINS IN THREE DECADES IN NIGERIA
*WORST FLOODING IN 40 YEARS IN MEXICO (September/October)
OCTOBER:
*WETTEST OCTOBER EVER IN MEXICO.
*STRONGEST TYPHOON TO HIT XIAMEN, CHINA IN 46 YEARS.
*SEA OF GALILEE AT LOWEST POINT IN A LEAST A CENTURY - supplies 1/3 of
Israel's water.
*FIRST KNOWN TOXIC RED TIDE ERUPTION TO AFFECT BOTH COASTS
OF FLORIDA AT THE SAME TIME.
*HURRICANE IRENE DROPS 25-YEAR RECORD RAINS ON FLORIDA.
*ONE OF WORST CYCLONES TO HIT INDIA IN RECENT TIMES.
*MYSTERIOUS PATHOGEN HAS KILLED TENS OF THOUSANDS OF LOBSTERS
IN LONG ISLAND SOUND, NEW YORK - THE SOUND'S WORST EPIDEMIC IN A DECADE.
*LARGEST SUNSPOTS IN OVER 50 YEARS.
*WORST FIRE SEASON ON RECORD IN NEVADA - 1.6 million acres burned, an
area
twice the size of Rhode Island. (summer 1999)
*TUNISIA & ALGERIA SUFFER RECORD-SETTING HEATWAVE
- temperatures were the highest the country had experienced during
October since 1967.
*HIGHEST SURF REPORTED IN MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA IN YEARS
*WORST CYCLONE TO HIT INDIA'S BAY OF BENGAL COASTLINE IN THREE DECADES.
NOVEMBER:
*FLOODING IN VIETNAM THE WORST IN THEIR 100 YEARS OF RECORD-KEEPING.
A record of more than 7 feet of rain.
*FLOODING IN NIGERIA'S NIGER DELTA THE WORST IN 30 YEARS.
*FLOODING IN FRANCE THE WORST IN MORE THAN 50 YEARS.
*MAURITIUS, AN INDIAN OCEAN ISLAND OF 1.2 MILLION PEOPLE,
SUFFERING WORST DROUGHT IN 95 YEARS.
*RECORD FLOWS OF RAIN WATER IN NEW ZEALAND
- Lake Wakatipu rose to its highest level this century.
*ISRAEL FACING ITS WORST DROUGHT IN NEARLY A CENTURY
*7.3 EARTHQUAKE IN PACIFIC ISLANDS - strongest ever recorded in the
Vanuatu region.
*FIRST TIME ON RECORD THAT A HURRICANE SEASON BROUGHT FIVE CATEGORY-4
HURRICANES.(July-November)
DECEMBER:
*CONGO RIVER OVERFLOWS CAUSING 'FLOOD OF THE CENTURY'.
*LOW TEMPERATURES IN KUWAIT BREAK ALL EXISTING RECORDS WITH SUBZERO
WEATHER.
*DENMARK AND NORTHERN EUROPE HIT BY WORST WINDSTORM IN RECENT TIMES.
*MOST POWERFUL CYCLONE EVER RECORDED IN AUSTRALIA
*THE 1990'S - THE HOTTEST DECADE IN THE LAST 1000 YEARS.
*IN VENEZUELA TORRENTIAL RAINS CAUSED MASSIVE MUDSLIDES, KILLING TEN
THOUSAND - THE WORST NATURAL CATASTROPHE THERE IN RECORDED HISTORY
*COLUMBIA RAINSTORMS AND FLOODING THE WORST IN 30 YEARS.
*THAILAND RECORDED ITS COLDEST WEATHER IN DECADES
*SOUTH COAST OF BRITAIN HIT BY THE HIGHEST TIDES IN LIVING MEMORY.
*STRONGEST WINDS TO HIT PARIS, FRANCE IN 50 YEARS.
*THE WRECK OF THE TANKER ERIKA CAUSED THE WORST OIL DISASTER EVER
TO HIT EUROPE'S WILDLIFE.
1999 Month by month details
1998 Record-breaking Disasters
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| User: "dreamwalker" |
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| Title: Re: RECORD-BREAKING DISASTERS..It's always something! |
19 Jan 2004 11:15:50 PM |
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"sUSAn B Anthony" <tugbertswife@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:18421-400CA30B-270@storefull-3212.bay.webtv.net...
http://www.angelfire.com/on/predictions/recordbreaking.html
JANUARY 2004:*The coldest day in a decade for some U.S. cities (January
10th).*The worst cyclone in living memor
y
JANUARY 2004:
*The coldest day in a decade for some U.S. cities (January 10th).
*The worst cyclone in living memory has devastated the tiny South
Pacific island of Niue.
*The tiny south-western Queensland, Australia town of Birdsville has
recorded its hottest January day on record.
DECEMBER 2003:
*Heta is the first tropical cyclone to threaten the Pacific archipelago
of Samoa in more than a decade.
*Winnipeg hospitals saw a record number of cases of a "superbug" this
past year.
*Victoria, Australia had one of the hottest Decembers on record.
*The world's most lethal quake in at least 10 years laid waste most of
Bam's mud brick buildings in Iran in seconds.
*The most powerful quake (6.5) to strike California since a 7.1 quake
rocked the desert near Joshua Tree more than four years ago in 1999. The
last one of a similar size in the coastal area was in 1952.
*The first winter cyclone in Southern India in 18 years.
*North Carolina experienced its strongest earthquake in more than a
century.
*The most powerful quake to hit the Taitung area of Taiwan in over the
past 30 years.
*Lapland saw one of its hottest summers this year with temperatures as
high as 30 Celsius. Its weather has become increasingly unpredictable,
with 1999 the coldest winter in the last century when the mercury
plummeted to -51 C.
*Tropical storm Odette is the first recorded tropical storm to brew in
the Caribbean Sea in December. (Hurricane season officially ends Nov.
30.)
NOVEMBER 2003:
*Worst thunderstorm in 100 years in Melbourne, Australia.
*According to the United Kingdom (UK) meteorological office, 2003 has
been one of the driest years on record.
*The biggest known outbreak of hepatitis A in U.S. history has occurred
at a Chi Chi's restaurant near Pittsburgh.
*After 10 days of dramatic activity, the most powerful solar flare ever
seen has exploded on the Sun's surface. The Sun's current spate of
activity is the most dramatic and intense ever witnessed on the Sun's
surface. Powerful solar flares are given an "X" designation. Last week
there were X7 and X10 events that took place back-to-back. There was an
X8 and an X3 event on Sunday. On Monday, there was an X3 flare followed
by smaller ones. Tuesday's flare went off the scale, researchers say it
was well above X20. The major flares have come from sunspot region 486,
now officially the most active solar region in recorded solar
observational history.
*Sunspot activity is the highest in 1,000 years, scientists say. The sun
has been acting unusually lately, with more sunspots recorded since the
1940s, than in the previous millennium.
OCTOBER 2003:
*Victoria, Australia recorded its coolest October in 27 years.
*Three of the biggest sunspot groups to appear in years crossed the
Sun's face and one of them spewed one of the most powerful coronal mass
ejections (CMEs) ever recorded.
*Two raging wildfires in the Los Angeles suburbs merged to form the
biggest conflagration in the region in a generation.
*California's deadliest outbreak of wildfires in more than a decade.
*Vienna, Austria, has its earliest snowfall in more than 60 years.
*It was a freakish summer of record heat and little rain in Iberia.
SEPTEMBER 2003:
*Landslides in September devastated the Pullathomas/ Glengad area of
Erris in Ireland. They rank among the worst natural disasters ever to
befall a west of Ireland community.
*The ozone hole over the South Pole is as large as it has ever been, and
is also lasting longer this year. The thinnest area is the largest every
measured, roughly two thirds of the hole's total size. The hole is also
deeper. This year the hole peaked twice, once in mid-September and again
in late September.
*A meteorite that crashed in eastern India was part of the most
spectacular meteor shower in the country's recent history.
*Hurricane Juan was the worst storm to hit the Nova Scotian peninsula in
decades.
*Afghanistan has suffered through months of the worst sandstorms in
living memory.
*Europe this year experienced its hottest summer for at least 500 years
*Hurricane Isabel is the most powerful storm in four years to menace the
mid-Atlantic coast.
*This was the worst fire season they've had in 50 years in British
Columbia, Canada.
* The hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica has hit record proportions
for this time of year and could get bigger still within the next few
days, possibly breaking the all-time record for size. It was the largest
that it has ever been during August.
*Typhoon Maemi ravaged South Korea with their strongest winds in a
century and most powerful typhoon ever.
*Maemi was the strongest typhoon to hit the Okinawan islands in southern
Japan in 35 years and one of the 10 strongest to hit anywhere in Japan.
*The worst flooding in 20 years in northern China.
*From 1995 through 1999, there were 41 hurricanes in the Atlantic,
Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico, the most on record in a five-year
period.
*The most powerful hurricane to hit Bermuda in 50 years slammed into the
island chain.
*In Costa Rica, the Arenal Volcano spewed lava, rocks and ash in its
strongest eruption in more than two years.
*Dujuan was the strongest typhoon to hit China in a quarter of a
century.
*Worst drought in 40 years in Russia.
AUGUST 2003:
*In the last two decades the Earth's average temperature has been the
highest for about two thousand years. Based on the study of temperature
data from up to 1,000 years ago, the late 20th century has been the
warmest period on record.
*The heat wave that scorched Europe in August was one of the deadliest
hot-weather disasters in a century.
*Italian meteorologists have described this summer as the nation's
hottest in more than 50 years.
*Western and southern Afghanistan have suffered through months of the
worst sandstorms in living memory.
*A massive 7.9 earth tremor hit a sparsely populated part of New
Zealand's South Island. It was the largest earthquake to strike the area
in decades.
*British Columbia has been under a state of emergency since Aug. 2 in
the worst fire season in 50 years.
*Croatia is gripped by its worst drought in 50 years.
* A giant gerbil invansion is the worst rodent disaster to hit the
region of Xinjiang China in 10 years.
*The possibility of major landslides occurring in the area of Kanagawa
Prefecture in Japan is at its highest in recent years.
*French vineyards have begun harvesting grapes a week early because
their sugar content has been increased prematurely by the strong
sunlight.
*Record-high temperatures have been set in numerous cities across
France.
*This year's heat wave is France's worst ever on record.
*Turin endured a frazzling 41.6C, the highest temperature noted in the
north-western Italian city since records began there in 1750.
*Neutstadt, in southern Germany, had a record high temperature overnight
..
*This is the worst heat wave to cover Southern and Eastern Europe in 150
years.
*The United Kingdom recorded its hottest day ever.
*The waters of the Mediterranean Sea have reached their highest
temperatures for 45 years - 32C.
*London overnight set a new heat record at 35.5 degrees Celsius, half a
degree hotter than the highest temperature previously recorded in the
capital on August 3, 1990.
*There were more record temperatures in northern France, where the city
of Lille reached 36.4 degrees, beating the 36.1 degrees recorded in
1959; while the town of Beauvais topped 38.7 degrees, a whole
degree-and-a-half hotter than the 37.2 degrees recorded in 1947.
*Swiss authorities said there were signs that mountain ice caps were
melting at 4,000 metres' altitude, in what a Zurich university professor
called a "really exceptional situation".
*Norway has also seen record-high temperatures.
*Italy's maize crop is expected to be the worst in five years, entirely
due to drought.
*FRANCE RECORDED ITS HIGHEST TEMPERATURES IN MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY.
*THE FRENCH SUMMER HAS BEEN DECLARED THE HOTTEST SINCE WORLD WAR II.
*TEMPERATURES IN SLOVENIA ARE AT THEIR HIGHEST FOR A CENTURY.
*IN GERMANY A RECORD NIGHT-TIME HIGH WAS RECORDED.
*TEMPERATURES IN THE SOUTHERN REGION OF ANDALUCIA, SPAIN HAVE RISEN
ABOVE 40C (104F), WITH SOME TOWNS RECORDING THEIR HIGHEST-EVER
TEMPERATURES.
*AT LEAST ONE MILLION PEOPLE IN SOUTHERN PAKISTAN HAVE BEEN LEFT
MAROONED OR HOMELESS AS A RESULT OF FLOODS CAUSED BY THE WORST MONSOON
RAINS IN A DECADE.
*FIERCE BLAZES SWEEPING ACROSS TWO-THIRDS OF PORTUGAL'S MAINLAND REGIONS
ARE SAID TO BE THE WORST IN LIVING MEMORY. One fire alone last week
destroyed 11,000 hectares, making it the LARGEST INDIVIDUAL FIRE FOR 15
YEARS.
*THIS IS THE DRIEST THEIR FORESTS HAVE EVER BEEN SINCE THEY STARTED
RECORDING THOSE SORTS OF STATISTICS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA.
* THE WORST FIRES IN 50 YEARS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA.
*MONGOLIAN ZUDS (a long dry summer followed by an extremely cold winter)
HAVE NEVER BEFORE BEEN SO BAD AND SO OFTEN. Three years in a row winter
temperatures have plunged dramatically low.
JULY 2003:
*The highest sea level in 100 years was recorded around Japan.
*MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA HAS INSTITUTED THE TOUGHEST WATER-USE RESTRICTIONS
IN 20 YEARS.
*PAKISTAN HIT BY THE WORST FLOODS IN A DECADE.
*WESTERN AND SOUTHERN AFGHANISTAN ARE SUFFERING THROUGH TWO MONTHS OF
THE WORST SANDSTORMS IN LIVING MEMORY.
*EUROPE SUFFERING THE WORST DROUGHT IN YEARS, brought on by a prolonged
heat wave that has kept temperatures well above 86 degrees for weeks. In
Italy, France, Germany, Portugal, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary,
Serbia, Croatia and Romania harvests are expected to be up to 60 percent
below normal yields for some crops.
*CROATIA'S MAJOR RIVERS, THE SAVA, DRAVA, KUPA AND DANUBE, WERE REPORTED
AT THEIR LOWEST LEVELS EVER.
*SERBIA'S MAJOR RIVERS ARE AT THEIR LOWEST LEVELS IN 100 YEARS.
*IN THE DANUBE DELTA, 10 PERCENT OF THE WETLANDS HAVE DRIED UP, while
about 40 percent of the delta's water has evaporated. VOLUME OF THE
DANUBEWAS, at 3,066 cubic yards a second, THE LOWEST IN 160 YEARS.
*IN ITALY WHERE A HEAT WAVE AND ACCOMPANYING DROUGHT HAVE LASTED WEEKS,
THE NATIONAL GRID WAS OVERLOADED BY THE USE OF AIR CONDITIONERS, CASUING
SUMMER BLACKOUTS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OVER 20 YEARS.
*THE PO RIVER, WHICH FEEDS MANY LESSER RIVERS IN NORTHERN ITALY, IS AT
NEAR RECORD LOW LEVELS.
*IN FRANCE WILDFIRE ARE RAGING SIMUTANEOUSLY IN SEVERAL SOUTHERN REGIONS
AND WERE SPREADING AT A PACE UNSEEN SINCE SPECIAL FIRE-FIGHTING SERVICES
WERE CREATED AFTER WORLD WAR II. Southern and eastern France have been
hard hit by drought, without significant rainfall in about two months.
*FAR-EASTERN RUSSIA IS EXPERIENCING ONE OF THE MOST SEVERE FOREST FIRE
SEASONS ON RECORD.
*IMBUDO WAS THE STRONGEST TYPHOON TO HIT CHINA IN YEARS.
*IMBUDO WAS THE STRONGEST TYPHOON TO HIT THE PHILIPPINES IN FIVE YEARS.
*THE WORST FLOODS SINCE 1991 IN CHINA'S HUAI AND CHU RIVER VALLEYS. IN
SOME PLACES WATER LEVELS ARE AT RECORD HIGHS.
*THE BLIZZARD THAT HIT NEW ZEALAND OVER THE WEEKEND OF JULY 5 IS BEING
REPORTED AS THE WORST IN 50 YEARS.
*WORST BLIZZARD IN DECADES IN NEW ZEALAND. North Island's east coast
reported the worst snowfalls in 40 years.
*THE WORLD IS EXPERIENCING RECORD NUMBERS OF EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS,
such as droughts and tornadoes, with global warming the cause. CNN
reports that this represents a clear and alarming trend towards wilder
weather.
*FOR THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE, THE INCREASE IN TEMPERATURE IN THE 20TH
CENTURY WAS LIKELY TO HAVE BEEN THE LARGEST IN ANY CENTURY DURING THE
PAST 1,000 YEARS.
JUNE 2003:
*SWITZERLAND EXPERIENCED ITS HOTTEST JUNE IN AT LEAST 250 YEARS while in
the south of France average temperatures were between 5 and 7 degrees
Celsius (9 to 13 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than the long term average.
England and Wales also experienced their hottest month since 1976.
*THE RIVER PO IN ITALY IS AT A RECORD LOW - 24 FEET BELOW ITS NORMAL
LEVEL. In Venice, rainfall in the first six months of the year was 40%
lower than average.
*RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES IN ITALY IN JUNE.
*TEXAS HAS HAD THE SECOND-DRIEST SPRING IN A CENTURY.
*WORST GRASSHOPPER INFESTATION EVER SEEN IN WESTERN CANADA. It's the
last kick from a drought that devastated crops last year.
*IN IDAHO AND UTAH, DROUGHT HAS LED TO THE WORST INFESTATION OF THE
CROP-EATING MORMON CRICKET IN SIXTY YEARS.
*IN PARTS OF THE EASTERN AND SOUTHERN U.S., IT'S BEEN THE WETTEST SPRING
ON RECORD. And this is one of the worst allergy seasons they've had in
perhaps 50 years.
*WORST DROUGHT IN 40 YEARS IN INDIA.
MAY 2003:
*562 TORNADOES WHICH HIT THE UNITED STATES IN MAY THIS YEAR WAS A RECORD
- far higher than the previous monthly peak of 399 in June 1992.
*GLOBAL AVERAGE LAND AND SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURES IN MAY 2003 WERE THE
SECOND HIGHEST SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1880.
*STRONGEST EARTHQUAKE TO HIT JAPAN IN TWO YEARS.
*THE MOST DEVASTATING EARTHQUAKE TO HIT ALGERIA IN 20 YEARS.
*WORST FLOODING IN SAMOA IN 20 YEARS.
*MANITOBA, CANDA IS EXPERIENCING SCORCHING WILDFIRES AND ONE OF ITS MOST
COMBUSTIBLE SPRINGS EVER.
*SRI LANKA SUFFERED ITS WORST FLOODING IN 50 YEARS.
*RECORD NUMBER OF TORNADOES IN THE U.S. IN THE MONTH OF MAY.
*SOME OF THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL IN MORE THAN A HUNDRED YEARS SWAMPED
PARTS OF THE SOUTHERN U.S.
*THE TENNESSEE RIVER IS AT ITS HIGHEST LEVEL IN FOUR DECADES AFTER DAYS
OF TORRENTIAL RAIN.
*THE CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER IN GEORGIA ROSE TOWARD ITS HIGHEST LEVEL SINCE
AT LEAST 1961.
*CENTRAL ALABAMA SET A RECORD FOR RAINFALL IN A TWO-HOUR PERIOD WITH
NEARLY 11 INCHES FALLING.
*THE MOST DEVASTATING SERIES OF TORNADOES TO EVER STRIKE MISSOURI.
*THE WORST FLOODING IN DECADES HIT ARGENTINA, RECORD FLOOD LEVELS.
*AUSTRALIA SUFFERED ITS WORST-RECORDED ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER WHEN
BRUSHFIRES FUELED BY A SEVERE DROUGHT BLACKENED ALMOST 10% OF THE
COUNTRY DURING THE SUMMER OF 2002/03.
APRIL 2003:
*RECORD-TYING 4.9 EARTHQUAKE STRUCK ALABAMA and was felt in 7 eastern
states.
*THE MOST SEVERE FLOODING FOR SEVERAL DECADES IN ARGENTINA.
*ONE OF THE WORLD'S WETTEST PLACES, IN THE NORTHERN HILLS OF INDIA, IS
SUFFERING FROM A SHORTAGE OF WATER. The area once recorded more than
1,000 inches (2,540 centimetres) of rain in just one year - a global
record. Cherrapunji received less rain in the whole of 2001 - only 363
inches (922 cm) - than it got in just one month in 1861.
*THE EARLIEST ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON IN MEMORY. Ana was the first
storm of 2003 and one of only two tropical or subtropical storms to form
in April since record keeping began.
*WATER TEMPERATURES IN A NEWFOUNDLAND CANADA BAY ARE THE COLDEST
MEASURED IN DECADES and a massive cod kill has occurred there.
MARCH 2003:
*THE AUSTRALIAN TERRITORY OF TASMANIA RECEIVED RECORD-SETTING RAINFALL.
*BRITAIN HAD THE SUNNIEST MARCH IN 40 YEARS. England, Wales, Scotland
and Northern Ireland experienced record-breaking hours of sunshine in
March. the first two months of 2003 were the UK's second sunniest since
records began in 1960.
*DENVER, COLORADO HAD ITS BIGGEST BLIZZARD IN 90 YEARS.
*A FOREST FIRE NEAR THE SOUTH COAST OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA IS BEING
REPORTED AS THE LARGEST IN MEMORY.
*RECORD-SHATTERING COLD TEMPERATURES THREATEN TO FREEZE MASSIVE LAKE
SUPERIOR'S SURFACE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MORE THAN TWO DECADES. Lake
Superior last froze completely in 1979, and this year's ice cover is the
most since 1996-97.
FEBRUARY 2003:
*MOST SEVERE EARTHQUAKE TO HIT XINJIANG CHINA SINCE 1949.
*THE WORST BLIZZARD IN SEVEN YEARS SHUT DOWN MUCH OF THE NORTHEASTERN
U.S.
*SOME OF THE HEAVIEST SNOWFALLS ON RECORD IN THE NORTH EASTERN U.S.
*RECORD-SETTING RAINS FELL OVER SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.
*GREENHOUSE GAS LEVELS IN THE ATMOSPHERE | |
