Friday, December 30, 2005 -

QUAKES -
Largest quakes yesterday -
12/29 -
5.2 BONIN ISLANDS, JAPAN, REGION
5.0 MYANMAR
5.2 NEW BRITAIN

VOLCANOES -
WASHINGTON - Volcano's current growth baffles experts - Mount St. Helens has squeezed out as much hot chunky lava in the past 15 months as the volcano erupted over six years in the 1980s. Even as the volcano pours about a dump truck load of red-hot lava onto its growing new dome every six seconds, scientists still don't know what's causing the eruption. As the solid chunky rocks of lava pour out of an opening inside the volcano, the dome has grown tall spines and then collapsed into a ashy gray mound a number of times since the current eruption began in October 2004. As it grows, collapses and grows, the dome is gradually getting taller. At its current growth rate, the new lava dome could be tall enough to see over the rim of the crater by spring or summer. Fog, rain and clouds have kept scientists from visiting the volcano's crater since Dec. 18.

GUATEMALA - Guatemalan authorities on Wednesday were deciding whether to evacuate people living close to the country's Volcano of Fire after it began spewing ash and fire on Tuesday. The authorities have raised the alarm level to 'Orange'. Volcano specialists said the activity was not unusual and that similar rumblings had been heard for years.

HEAVY RAIN / FLOODING -
INDIANA - December storms spawned hail and lightning, instead of snow. Wednesday morning warmer-than-normal temperatures helped create a series of strong storms that rolled across the area. "We had reports of pea-sized hail in the southeast portion of the county around Clarks Hill." "It surprised us like it surprised everyone else." A "fairly strong upper level low pressure system" was largely to blame. Cold air in the upper atmosphere was working against warmer air closer to the ground, helping to churn up the storms. The temperature reached a balmy 52 degrees in Lafayette early Wednesday afternoon. The warmer than usual weather should continue for the next several days. Rain is expected to arrive around Friday evening or Saturday.

GEORGIA - Hail the size of golf balls and tornados touched down in middle and southern Georgia on Thursday.

CALIFORNIA - A drenching winter storm swelled rivers in northern California to their HIGHEST LEVELS IN SEVEN YEARS, causing power outages and forcing some residents to evacuate. "It's been several years since we've had this widespread flooding and we're not done."
Three significant storms will hit the area over the weekend.

SNOW / COLD -
PAKISTAN - the Meteorological Department Thursday predicted heavy snow for the earthquake affected areas during the next 3 days.
At least 24 people have been killed in north-west Pakistan in an avalanche while digging for gemstones. The deaths are said to have occurred on Thursday in a remote area of Kohistan, where snow has fallen in recent weeks. Kohistan is located some 350km (210 miles) north-east of Peshawar and is close to the region that was hit by the devastating earthquake in October.

FRANCE reported a second death overnight from freezing temperatures as blizzards swept through northern and central Europe, forcing flight cancellations at Prague airport. Across Scandinavia, snowstorms cut power lines and disrupted rail and road traffic, with the situation expected to worsen in some places. Much of the continent was battened down against the harsh weather, the COLDEST DECEMBER IN A DECADE in Britain, where temperatures plunged to -11C in Scotland and northeastern England.

HEAT -
CANADA - About 1,000 people in northern Alberta communities have been cut off from the world after UNUSUALLY WARM weather prompted officials to close the only road through the area. The winter road is usually open from mid-December to mid-March. Temperatures in late December have hovered at or above 0 C, which is 20 to 30 degrees warmer than normal. That is causing some previously frozen sections to melt. Officials couldn't remember a time when the winter road melted so early and so extensively, forcing officials to take the EXTREMELY UNUSUAL step of closing the road at this time of year. "We have had a couple winters where we would have a day or two of above zero, and then it would cool right down. But this stretch has been well over a week now."

ODD -
YEMEN - At least 30 Yemenis were killed in an overnight landslide which hit a village of 270 on a rocky slope near the capital Sanaa, with officials reporting 100 people still missing. 25 out of the village's 31 houses were destroyed and were buried under huge piles of rocks. It was not immediately clear what caused the landslide. Yemen's seismology centre had no word of an earthquake and there were no reports of severe weather.

ALASKA - Poor air quality in the Fairbanks area this week led to an air quality health advisory Wednesday. The air problem likely is due to a common mid-winter weather pattern - a temperature inversion and lack of wind - but the level of particles in the air is NOT COMMON. "People can walk outside and see the poor air quality. We can smell it." "This is UNUSUAL for the winter. We do get elevated values, but this is QUITE UNUSUAL for Fairbanks." Fairbanks' mid-winter weather patterns remain the main culprit. The average daily wind speed during the week stayed below 1 mph. "We call this 'no-flow' - meaning there's just not any wind flowing. We're not getting any kind of wind to mix up the air. It's just staying cold in the valleys and warm in the hills." As a result, the tiny particles of matter from vehicle exhaust, wood-burning stoves and other sources is trapped in the Fairbanks area with nowhere to go. With forecasters calling for little change in the weather, air conditions could stay this way through the week.

Previous Disasters - On this day -
12/30 -
In 1983 - a 7.2 quake struck the Hindu Kush Region. Twelve people killed, 483 injured and extensive damage.
In 1984 - a 5.6 quake struck the India-Bangladesh Border Region. Twenty people killed, about 100 injured, 10,000 homeless and extensive damage.

Unusually High Tides / Freak Waves - updated Fridays.

Thursday, December 29, 2005 -

QUAKES -
Largest quakes yesterday -
12/28 -
5.2 PAKISTAN
5.3 COSTA RICA
5.3 CHILE-BOLIVIA BORDER REGION
5.3 UNIMAK ISLAND, ALASKA

TSUNAMI -
INDIA - Fishermen wonder about new phenomenon following tsunami: Decline in fish catch, appearance of the deadly 'puffers' and a weak 'chakara' phenomenon are developments in the aftermath of the tsunami that have left the fishermen in the coastal areas here puzzled and looking for answers. The fishermen wonder aloud if the tsunami has overturned the internal structure of the ocean. Among the most noticeable phenomenon in the months following the tsunami was the decline in the availability of fish, especially the much sought after varieties like prawns and pomfrets. Another disquieting development has been the sudden appearance of the puffer fish, which destroy fishnet and eat small fish. Fishermen say puffer fish are usually seen in the Indian Ocean and wonder if these have been evacuated to the Arabian Sea coast due to the tsunami. Another major development being attributed to the tsunami is the near disappearance of the annual 'chakara' formation along the Alappuzha coast during the monsoon this year. The 'chakara', which refers to the depositing of piscine-rich mud banks along the backwaters of Ashtamudi and Vembanadu during the monsoon, was absent this year. In another clearly visible change, the sea has withdrawn up to sixty meters from the land in these areas following the tsunami. While no change is seen in the sand banks, the fishermen fear whether the sea will ram onto the land with deadly force.

VOLCANOES -
GUATEMALA - the Volcano of Fire belched more ash and lava yesterday and continued raining debris on nearby villages one day after it began erupting. Nearby residents were in no immediate danger, however, and the volcanic activity was slowing. "The activity began declining from about 4am, but the expulsion of ash and lava and explosions continue. It sounds like a plane engine or a locomotive."

HEAVY RAIN / FLOODING -
ANGOLA - High winds and torrential rains lasting about an hour left three persons killed on Sunday. The FREAK STORM caused widespread damage, particularly to poorly built houses, and uprooted a large number of trees.

CONGO - Torrential rains have caused widespread flooding and mudslides in the northern suburbs of Brazzaville leaving scores of people homeless. The rains on Saturday and Sunday left at least one person dead in the suburb of Simba Pèle. The rainy season, which started in September in Brazzaville and its environs, is not expected to end until January.

JAPAN A FREAK GUST OF WIND appears to have caused a weekend train crash in northern Japan in the kind of incident that is hard to prevent, experts said as the hunt continued for two people still missing. The carriages left the track and ploughed into snow during a blizzard on Sunday. Five bodies have already been recovered, a further 32 were injured. Monitoring equipment at the scene showed wind speeds of no more than 72km per hour. It seemed likely that a sudden gust of wind from below the train while it was crossing a bridge caused the derailment. "You need a complicated system of monitoring localized gusts by, for instance, observing the atmosphere far up in the sky." Strong gusts have caused train derailments before in Japan. Experts believe the wind gust in Sunday's crash was so lethal because of its direction. "Even a train that can withstand side winds of about 108 kilometres per hour can be lifted up by weaker winds if they are blowing from below."

CALIFORNIA - Dam managers are releasing water from Northern California reservoirs to prevent flooding, causing the Sacramento River to rise by nearly 20 feet and the American River to surge by more than 10 feet in the past week. The Sacramento region has an array of reservoirs, levees and bypasses used for flood control, spreading water from the Sacramento River up to three miles wide and 40 miles long in a flow that can outstrip the river's volume five to one.

SNOW / COLD -
EUROPE shivered in the grip of an icy cold snap, with France hardest hit by blizzards that have cut rail and road links and left thousands of motorists stranded in sub-zero temperatures. Snowstorms caused hundreds of train cancellations in Britain and flight disruptions in Germany, Sweden and Portugal, as well as bringing road chaos to Italy, Austria and the Czech Republic. Below-freezing conditions have gripped northern Europe for several days, with night-time temperatures falling as low as -15C in places. More blizzards and strong winds were expected in Sweden, Denmark , Germany and England. In Turkey, where the cold has claimed four lives this week, temperatures plummeted overnight to minus 31 degrees Celsius (minus 24 Fahrenheit), in the eastern mountain area of Agri.

CANADA - Blizzards are expected to pound much of Newfoundland and Labrador, as a major storm that pummeled Quebec and the Maritimes slowly churns to the northeast.
CANADA - Snow safety experts say the unseasonably warm weather has elevated the risk of avalanche in many mountainous areas, both above and below the treeline. Conditions are ripe for a fresh avalanche cycle - a long period of cold weather without snow, followed by a warmer, rainy stretch of weather has created a precarious weak layer of snow, topped by a stronger one.

Previous Disasters - On this day -
12/29 -
In 1973 - a 7.2 quake struck New Hebrides Islands about 2,000 kilometers northeast of Brisbane, Australia.

Unusual Animal Behavior - updated Thursdays.

Wednesday, December 28, 2005 -

QUAKES -
Largest quakes yesterday -
12/27 -
5.0 MARIANA ISLANDS

TIDAL WAVE -
INDIA - At least 20 fishermen were washed away in the Bay of Bengal when a giant wave hit the coast yesterday morning, preliminary reports said. The fishermen were collecting prawn seed near Nali, a remote coastal village, when the tidal wave struck the coast.

HEAVY RAIN / FLOODING -
BRUNEI - Unpredictable weather conditions and heavy downpours of late have resulted in several low-laying areas experiencing flooding.

THAILAND - The Meteorological Department Tuesday predicted more UNSEASONAL RAIN for Bangkok during the next two days, while the first 20 tons of emergency fodder has been shipped to feed cattle deprived of food for over a month due to floods in the southern provinces. The rains which swept Bangkok Monday night were reportedly caused by uncertain weather conditions combined with strong winds from the Andaman Sea. More than 500 cattle have died of drowning, food shortages and sickness since heavy floods submerged the southern provinces for almost two months.

SNOW / COLD -
UTAH - Diverse weather took many parts of Utah by surprise Monday. Fierce winds knocked down trees and worse in Southern Utah. And in Utah County, sudden snow caught drivers and the Utah Highway Patrol off guard. In St. George, it's surprising to have THUNDERSTORMS IN DECEMBER. But one came through just before 3:00 Monday afternoon, with a gust recorded at 97 miles per hour. The temperature dropped 19 degrees in 40 minutes. It seemed that everywhere, the weather was UNUSUAL.

NEVADA - A fast-moving storm swept over the Sierra and across Northern Nevada the day after Christmas, leaving up to 2 feet of snow. Parts of Northern Nevada received an inch or two of snow during the day with Ely reporting one-half mile visibility in an UNUSUAL THUNDER SNOWSTORM.

VIRGINIA - December brings a cold end to a year dominated by warmth. Through Christmas, the month of December is averaging 4.4 degrees below normal in temperature. Anything more than a couple of degrees either way is a significant departure. They had only one day of above-average temperature through the first 22 days of the month. January, which ended up 4.7 degrees above normal, began with 13 of its first 14 days being 11 degrees or more above normal, seven of which were 20 or more degrees above normal with one as much as 30 degrees above normal. That's extreme warmth, and were it not offset by a colder-than-normal second half of January that included seven days 10 or more degrees below normal, it would have easily been their warmest January on record. In 2005, nine of 12 months averaged above normal in temperature, including six months averaging at least 2 degrees above normal. Why the strange temperature pattern in 2005? The early part of the year was dominated by a roaring jet stream out of the Pacific that brought in some extremely unseasonable subtropical air. Summer and fall were controlled alternately by a large dome of high pressure and by a juicy tropical season, the former bringing hot, dry weather and the latter bringing warm, humid weather. That left only spring and now December for the colder stuff to work its way down to them as the jet stream buckled southward. "And that means little or nothing for how things will go in 2006."

FOG -
JAPANESE whalers operating in the Antarctic are fog-bound and unable to hunt whales for the fourth day running.

INDIA - As dense fog plays havoc with flight schedules and pushes thousands of passengers to the brink, the government on Tuesday asked all airlines to train some of their pilots to operate in near-blind conditions. Faced with a crisis situation following severe disruptions due to fog, yesterday private airlines were warned that their flights in and out of Delhi next winter would be scrapped if their pilots were not trained to operate under the new landing system. Heavy fog from December 23 to 25 had left thousands of passengers stranded, with complaints of non-availability of food and basic amenities. In winters, fog disrupts movement of aircraft and terminal buildings get choked. Since December 21 all the conditions were favourable for fog to set in, including low temperatures, sufficient humidity and low wind speed.
NEW DELHI - The city may have barely started recovering from the nightmare of fog, and now it is likely to see some rainfall which may ultimately lead to even more severe fog. Tuesday saw an overcast sky with darkness setting in by 4 pm. The Met department has forecast thundery developments and rain in some areas in the city. Besides rain, today is likely to see some shallow fog too.

THAILAND - Thick fog on Chiang Mai's Doi Inthanon National Park has prompted the park chief to warn inexperienced drivers not to drive up Thailand's tallest mountain.

PAKISTAN - Fog continued to play havoc as it disrupted almost all the domestic and international flights besides delaying arrival and departure of all the upcountry trains in Lahore and other southern parts of the Punjab province. The bad weather also caused road accidents in various parts of the province as the vehicles moved at a low speed. The spell of fog started on December 20.

ITALY - There was fog in most of Northern Italy: Piedmont, Lombardy, the Venice region, Emilia Romagna and even in Liguria. It's also there in the central Apennines, with rain in places, some of it heavy.

UNITED KINGDOM - Hundreds of motorists were brought to a standstill in thick fog on Christmas Eve after a 26-car pile-up on the M62 brought traffic chaos.

IOWA - A combination of thick fog and ice made driving hazardous Tuesday, and caused a 12-car accident. Visibility was less than a quarter-mile in many locations. This morning is also expected to be foggy with the potential for slippery road surfaces, although slightly more wind was likely to make the fog less dense. The dense fog is caused by a temperature inversion in which cold moist air is trapped near the ground with warmer air above. ‘‘When that happens, the atmosphere doesn’t get mixed up very well. We do see it this time of year. November through December is kind of a time where we do get some fog particularly if we do have some snow that puts moisture back into the air when it melts a little." Two weather systems will bring precipitation into Iowa, the earliest on Friday and again on Sunday.

NEW JERSEY - Blinded by heavy rain and thick fog, a pair of Jersey City police officers drove off an open section of the Lincoln Highway Bridge on Christmas night.

CALIFORNIA - Fog, slick roads and a post-Christmas crush of holiday traffic slowed thousands of motorists to a crawl Monday through the most heavily traveled mountain passes in San Bernardino County. "The fog in Cajon Pass is dense, 100 feet to 200 feet visibility." There were numerous car accidents.

MINNESOTA - Christmas brought snow, fog, and mist to the Twin Cities and surrounding areas.

CANADA - there were a number of cancellations and diversions due to dense ground-level fog at Halifax Airport on Christmas. No one was injured when the wing of a WestJet Boeing 737 hit the runway on landing on Christmas evening, but air industry officials are investigating.

Previous Disasters - On this day -
12/28 -
In 1908 - a 7.2 quake struck Messina, Italy. Estimated 70,000 to 100,000 deaths from the earthquake and a tsunami.
In 1973 - a 7.8 quake struck the New Hebrides Islands about 2,000 kilometers northeast of Brisbane, Australia.
In 1974 - a 6.2 quake struck Pakistan. The most destructive earthquake of 1974. 5,300 reported killed, 17,000 injured.
In 1994 - a 7.7 quake struck off the east Coast of Honshu, Japan. Two people were killed, more than 200 injured.

Tuesday, December 27, 2005 -

QUAKES -
Largest quakes yesterday -
12/26 -
5.0 COLOMBIA
5.1 WESTERN IRAN
5.3 WESTERN CAROLINE IS
5.8 BONIN ISLANDS, JAPAN, REGION
5.0 SOUTH OF MARIANA ISLANDS
5.3 NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL CHILE
12/25 -
5.2 SAMOA ISLANDS REGION
5.2 PAKISTAN
5.1 VOLCANO ISLANDS, JAPAN, REGION
12/24 -
5.1 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS
5.3 FIJI ISLANDS REGION
5.0 MID-INDIAN RIDGE
12/23 -
5.8 ECUADOR
5.1 SOUTH OF MARIANA ISLANDS
5.3 CENTRAL MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
5.1 KOMANDORSKY ISLANDS

VOLCANOES -
MEXICO - giant Popocatepetl volcano threw up an ash column almost 2 miles (3 km) high and spat glowing rocks down its snow-clad slopes on Sunday, but nearby towns were not affected. Sunday's activity was the latest in a recent series of disturbances which started Dec. 1. The volcano becomes more active during the cooler Mexican winter months as more ice expands and causes fissures in solidified lava in the crater, allowing smoke, ash or molten lava to spew out.

ALASKA - For the first time since the Augustine Volcano came rumbling back to life last month, scientists have flown a heat-sensitive camera over its summit. The pictures show a previously unknown feature on the summit - a smoldering fumarole, or steam vent. It is venting steam at tremendous pressure. “The hottest temperatures we got were in this new fumarole on the south side of the volcano, with the temperatures in excess of 400 degrees Fahrenheit.” Despite the ominous appearance of the pictures, Augustine is in no imminent danger of erupting. The mountain is still code yellow, which categorizes it as restless. While Augustine is more active now than at any time since its last eruption, in 1986, it is not yet close to an eruption. There would need to be a 10-fold increase in seismic activity for officials to raise the danger level to Code Orange.

HEAVY RAIN / FLOODING -
AUSTRALIA - there will be more storms with hail across central and southern Queensland this afternoon and tonight. Yesterday storms stretching from the New South Wales border to central Queensland lasted more than 11 hours.

ISRAEL - A weekend storm resulted in flooding in many areas of the country. Delays were reported in many areas in the center of the country due to the heavy rains; with an alert declared for fears Nahal Ayalon would rise to flood levels.


PHILIPPINES - Torrential rains brought about by an active low-pressure area that affects Visayas and Mindanao could create flash floods and landslides in Cebu City and the province. The active low-pressure area would result in rain that could cause rivers to overflow and mountain lands to soften, creating a landslide. Cebu had experienced torrential rain the past several days including the whole day during Christmas. Rescue teams are on alert for the return of more rains after floods displaced about 1,000 residents in six barangays in Surigao City over the weekend. Areas in two provinces remain flooded after weeks of bad weather.

VIETNAM - Six people have died and seven others have been injured during six days of flooding in the Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) province of Dac Lac. The heavy rain in the upper reaches of the river has also caused serious flooding in the neighbouring provinces of Dac Nong and Khanh Hoa as well as Da Nang. More than 1,300 ha of newly-transplanted rice, 2,566 ha of corn and thousands of hectares of other subsidiary crops have been inundated. More than 800 houses have been flooded and at least nine swept away. Roads have been cut and landslides have contaminated many reservoirs.

LANDSLIDES -
ZAMBIA shut down its biggest hydro-electric power station on Sunday after a major landslide caused by heavy rains. Heavy rains swept through the Kafue Gorge Lower Hydroelectric Power Project and caused a landslide that could have destroyed the machinery at the project.

VIETNAM - National Highway 1A in Ca Pass, Phu Yen Province re-opened three days after a major landslide closed the route to traffic.

OREGON - A landslide on Highway 101 between Brookings and Gold Beach could mean traffic delays for weeks to come. A chunk of ground about 150 yards long started to break from a hillside just north of Hooskanaden Creek in the late afternoon Thursday. The break took large chunks of two traffic lanes and a smaller part of a third with it. 7.82 inches of rain fell on the South Coast between Sunday and Friday morning, an average of just over 1.5 inches per day.
A slow-moving landslide buried two cars and closed a West Hills street in Portland Friday. No one was in the cars when the slide took place at about 1:30 a.m. Friday morning. A home located above the landslide is also threatened.

SNOW / COLD -
HONG KONG - has had frost in its COLDEST WINTER FOR 20 YEARS. Temperatures fell to just 1.4 degrees Celsius at one hilltop early Friday morning because of wind chill. Hong Kong is sub-tropical, and it is rare for the mercury to fall below 10 degrees.

THAILAND - (this may be a spoof) FREAK SNOWFALL in Phang Nga baffles scientists. Following several weeks of unseasonable weather, Phang Nga locals were surprised to find themselves wading through several inches of fresh snow, bringing business and traffic in the province grinding to a halt. Several local schools were forced to close and dive operations cancelled trips to the Similans because of unconfirmed reports of icebergs. “We’ve been warning the government for years that this might happen soon,” said renowned a climatologist. "There has been a dramatic change in the monsoon patterns of the region, soon we will see them shift to Northwest and Southeast air currents and then it won’t be long before ski resorts take over from the rubber plantations of Phuket.”

UNITED KINGDOM - Motorists are being warned to expect treacherous conditions with heavy snow predicted for much of England. Forecasters say Kent could get the worst of the snow, with up to 10cm expected in some places. Up to two centimetres have already fallen in the south-east, East Anglia, West Yorkshire and the north-east. Snow is expected to continue falling over the next two days. "It's going to stay really cold for the next couple of days with temperatures of between two and four degrees Celsius. The snow will stick around until Friday afternoon when the weather will get a lot milder and a thaw will probably begin."

CANADA - A major storm is whipping Eastern Canada. In southwestern Quebec it hampered efforts to restore power to more than 70,000 homes and business. By late Monday night, the storm had already dumped more than 40 centimetres of snow on parts of Quebec and New Brunswick. Elsewhere in the Atlantic provinces, people were bracing themselves after forecasts predicted they could see as much as 60 cm of snow, 60 millimetres of rain, or wind gusts of more than 100 kilometres per hour.
Snowmobilers, skiers and other outdoor enthusiasts in Saskatchewan are being urged to take extra care, as officials warn that many lakes and rivers have thinner ice than they've seen in years. Many water bodies that are usually safe to cross may now be dangerous because of heavier than normal precipitation earlier in the year. Many lakes – especially around Prince Albert and La Ronge – are higher than normal. It is the first time IN MORE THAN 20 YEARS that sections of some rivers still have flowing water. The volume of water flowing downstream from Lac la Ronge and other waterways is four to five times greater than normal.

AVALANCHES -
RUSSIA - Rescuers on Monday were searching for a border guard who disappeared in an avalanche in the southern Russian republic of Dagestan. The avalanche occurred Sunday in the republic`s Tsuntinsky District. A local resident and one border guard were killed, three guards survived and one guard is still missing. Fierce snowstorms were complicating the rescue operation.

TBILISI, GEORGIA - An avalanche on the treacherous Jvari Pass on the Georgian Military highway claimed the lives of three men over the weekend. The three had been traveling in two Kamaz trucks which were also buried in the snowfall. Due to continuing snowfall and the remaining danger of avalanches, transport has still been blocked over the pass though access to Gudauri remains open.

ARMENIA - Rescuers searched Monday for two hunters who were buried by an avalanche in the mountains of Armenia.

JAPAN - In Fukui, northwestern Japan, a 52-year-old construction worker suffered a broken hip and leg Saturday after being swallowed in an avalanche during a roadside snow removal operation. On Saturday warnings were issued for blizzards and avalanches in northern and central Japan as severe cold winds continue to bring record snowfalls to the region. The Meteorological Agency predicted up to 24 inches of fresh snow in the northern Hokuriku region, parts of which have already had up to nine feet - the HEAVIEST SNOWFALL IN DECADES. Blizzards have swept through the nation since earlier this week, triggering blackouts and injuring hundreds of people in snow-related accidents.

COLORADO - A Colorado Springs teenager was killed in an avalanche Thursday, while snowshoeing with a friend near Georgetown. Fierce winds had quickly whipped up dangerous snowdrifts that were primed to break free and trigger avalanches. The pair had made the prudent decision to leave the area when the weather turned foul, which made the death more tragic. "They had started back. They could tell that things weren't looking good."

CANADA - Recent warm weather, along with strong winds and rain has raised the potential for avalanches across most of the province of British Columbia. On average, avalanches kill 12 people every year in British Columbia.

Previous Disasters - On this day -
12/27 -
In 1989 - a 5.4 quake struck near the Southeast Coast of Australia. Twelve people were killed, more than 100 injured and an estimated 1.1 billion U.S. dollars damage occurred. Believed to be the first earthquake in Australian history that has caused deaths.

Drought, Heat, Water Shortages, Wildfires - updated Tuesdays.

Friday, December 23, 2005 -

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
NO updates December 24, 25 and 26 - UNLESS THERE IS A BIG DISASTER,
like another Christmas-time quake -
(12/26/2003 Bam, Iran & 12/26/2004 Indonesian quake and tsunami.)

QUAKES -
Largest quakes yesterday -
12/22 -
6.0 PACIFIC-ANTARCTIC RIDGE

FRANCE - A small earthquake registering 3.3 on the Richter scale caused a shudder in France’s Alps region overnight but caused no damage nor casualties. The epicentre was around 40km north of the French Riviera city of Nice. Minor quakes are relatively common in southeast France, with around two per year recorded at or above the 3.3 magnitude.

TSUNAMI -
800 tsunami bodies remain unidentified , many never will be. Almost a year on, Australian experts are still on the ground in Thailand dealing with the appalling aftermath of the Indonesian tsunami.
Last December was the second year running that a natural disaster cast a gloom over the festive season. In 2003 an earthquake in the Iranian city of Bam claimed 31,000 lives. The final toll from the tsunami, one of history's biggest natural disasters, is more than 230,000 reported dead and missing. An estimated 1.5 million people are believed to still be displaced. Work is finally under way to install a tsunami early-warning system in the Indian Ocean.

VOLCANOES -
ALASKA - Augustine Volcano had no dramatic increases in seismic activity last week. Compared to the weeks before the March 1986 eruption, the volcano has not shown a level of activity to suggest an imminent eruption.
With Augustine Volcano rumbling, scientists and government officials have finally agreed on what series of events will be necessary to evacuate the the Homer Spit and other low-lying coastal areas in lower Cook Inlet if needed. Because no one lives near Augustine, agencies had to decide how to interpret remote signals from the island before they press the alarm button. The new plan goes into effect once the Alaska Volcano Observatory declares an alert level of orange or red, meaning an eruption is expected or under way (the level is currently yellow, second on the four-level scale). After that, any surface seismic disturbance measuring magnitude 4.5 on the Richter scale will be presumed to indicate the kind of catastrophic landslide that occurred in the 1883 eruption. Chances of a tsunami set off by Augustine are small, but real. The collapse of the island's summit dome into the sea has the potential for generating a wave that should take 60 to 90 minutes to reach Homer, 75 miles distant. There is evidence of 14 major "debris avalanches" at Augustine over the past 2,000 years. The dome appears to have built back up to unstable size again.

CANADA - Vancouver, British Columbia - No equipment to detect seismic activity - a likely precursor to an eruption -is located within 15 kilometres of any Canadian volcano, making it very difficult to predict an impending event. Moreover, just to complete a rapid evaluation of hazards around nine volcanoes where seismic activity does occur would take current staff up to four years to complete. There are mountains aplenty in Western Canada’s winter playground, which falls smack in the middle of something called the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt. Nothing would throw a crimp into the 2010 Winter Olympics in Whistler quite like a volcanic eruption.

TROPICAL STORMS -
No current tropical cyclones.

HEAVY RAIN / FLOODING -
VIETNAM - Floods this week have killed nearly two dozen people in central Vietnam, raising the overall death toll to 69. In the last four days, 22 people have died in six central provinces because of the flooding. Four others are missing. The coffee harvest has been postponed, and next year's crop will likely be affected.

SNOW / COLD -
JAPAN - Heavy snow and strong winds caused havoc in many parts of Japan and South Korea yesterday, leaving hundreds of thousands of homes without electricity, disrupting traffic and even forcing nuclear power plants to shut down. "The weather is not improving, so we cannot get to the sites and make repairs." Some of the HEAVIEST SNOWFALLS ON RECORD FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR have hit Japan since last week, even in some southern prefectures that rarely see snow, but Tokyo has been spared. In northern Niigata, snow had piled up as high as 184cm and more snow is expected in the coming days. In South Korea, snow in the southern and south-western areas claimed at least one life, stranded thousands of motorists and damaged hundreds of greenhouses

INDIA - India's financial capital has been experiencing an UNUSUAL CHILL this winter, with temperatures falling well below normal for the season. A day after the mercury dipped to 11.6 degrees Celsius - the COLDEST DECEMBER DAY IN MUBAI IN THE PAST 56 YEARS - weather conditions remained largely unchanged on Thursday. On Thursday morning, a light mist hung over the coastal city and the minimum temperature recorded was 14 degrees Celsius. Some people could be seen in the early morning wearing sweaters and jackets - a RARE sight in this usually humid city. This is the second consecutive year that Mumbai has seen such a sharp drop in temperatures, and weather department officials said this was a spill-over from the cold wave sweeping across north India. "These conditions will continue for some time, though the mercury may not dip to Wednesday's levels."

OHIO - What's been UNUSUAL so far this winter season is the severe cold. "Up to Dec. 17, it's been the SECOND COLDEST DECEMBER IN THE LAST 100 YEARS. This month, the average temperature is only 32 degrees...Normal temperature for December averages 44 degrees. We haven't hit 40 degrees the whole month." There has also been more snow in Marietta in December, so far, than last year. "We had a bone-dry snow year last year. Already we've had 2.1 inches of snow. We only had 9 inches the whole winter last year." The Old Farmer's Almanac has been correct in its predictions of a colder than normal December. It calls for cold through late January with moderating temperatures in February, followed by a near-normal March.

COLORADO - it’s really cold in Colorado with tons of snow. The city of Fraser, once called the “Icebox of the Nation,’ has seen 44 below. It’s just like the “good, old days” of 30 to 40 years ago. The Winter Park ski area reported 142 inches of snow midway through December, the MOST SNOWFALL SINCE 1983 when a phenomenal streak of 41 straight days of snow was recorded.

ALABAMA - It should be an unpredictable 89 days. The National Weather Service's long-term forecast for the Birmingham area can't get any broader: Cold, seasonable or warm. "There are no climate signals that point in one area for our region." The same unpredictable forecast holds for precipitation. The Old Farmer's Almanac states on its Web site that the Deep South should be "colder than normal from mid-December through January, but the remainder of the winter season will be relatively mild."

U.S. WINTER FORECAST - The folks at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center don’t foresee any significant departure from normal precipitation or temperature in Virginia or North Carolina this winter. NOAA’s forecast for December through February – the three-month period meteorologists consider winter – calls for a warmer than normal season for much of the rest of the nation. As for precipitation, only Hawaii is expected to be wetter than normal, with Florida and southern parts of adjoining states drier. The Farmers’ Almanac predicts a “major storm along the Atlantic coast” for Jan. 20 to 23 and Feb. 8 to 11, bringing “a wintry mix … through the mid-Atlantic states.”

HEAT -
AUSTRALIA - Firefighters are preparing for extreme weather conditions and no fires can be lit in the open, except in Gippsland.

ODD -
MORE BOOMS -
NORTH CAROLINA - Carolina Beach authorities were investigating reports of three loud booms in the area Tuesday. About 4:20 p.m., numerous residents heard a loud boom and some felt the building they were in shake. Officials were unaware of what may have caused the booms, but were looking at causes ranging from a plane flying too low to the ground to an earthquake. The U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Center said it had no record of an earthquake along the North Carolina coast and local police said that there were no scheduled activities in the area that would have caused the booms or the buildings to shake.
Thousands of people reported hearing a series of explosive "booms" all across New Hanover County and in some sections of Brunswick County late Tuesday afternoon. Thoughts of the nuclear power plant exploding, an earthquake or a terrorist strike are just some of the theories that were tossed around after hearing the sounds. Most of the information is pointing towards some type of military exercise. "It was a series of kabooms. It was just like an explosion." "I sort of jerked and almost lost my balance, and I noticed it was lasting longer that the ones we had heard in the past." The weather service reported seeing some military activity about 30 miles off shore at about 4:00 p.m. Tuesday and one viewer in Wrightsville Beach said she saw about nine military jets flying over head, but the Military is not confirming or denying any reports. The continental shelf shifting - an unstable piece of land off shore - is another theory, but geologists say it's very unusual for loud explosive noises to go along with that or an earthquake for that matter.

Previous Disasters - On this day -
12/23 -
In 1906 - a 7.3 quake struck Kodiak Island, Alaska.
In 1972 – a 6.2 earthquake struck Managua, Nicaragua, killing 10,000. $800,000,000 in damages. Hundreds of aftershocks were reported, but only two exceeded magnitude 5, and these occurred within an hour of the main shock.
In 1985 - a 6.9 quake struck the Northwest Territories, Canada.
In 2004 – an 8.1 earthquake shook the ocean floor between Australia and Antarctica, causing buildings to shake in Tasmania, but no injuries were reported.

Unusually High Tides / Freak Waves - updated Fridays.

Thursday, December 22, 2005 -

QUAKES -
Largest quakes yesterday -
12/21 -
6.3 MINAHASSA PENINSULA, SULAWESI
5.0 SOUTH INDIAN OCEAN
5.0 HOKKAIDO, JAPAN, REGION
5.9 SOUTH OF PANAMA
5.0 QINGHAI, CHINA

INDONESIA - An undersea earthquake of magnitude 6.3 rocked parts of eastern Indonesia on Wednesday.

PANAMA - A 6.0 magnitude earthquake occured south of Panama on Wednesday.

ARKANSAS - scientists are not really sure why earthquakes have occurred in the region. This area consists of several layers of soil over very old crystalline rocks — such rocks would have created a fault boundary, but they didn’t separate completely. This has left a weak spot below the surface. The New Madrid fault seems to press together from the west to the east to create earthquakes. There are approximately 200-230 earthquakes in this area each year; however, most are of such a low magnitude that residents do not notice them. The average time period between large quakes on the fault line is about 500 years. The probability of another series of quakes like those that hit in 1811 and 1812, which were estimated to be a magnitude 7.5 to 8.0, occurring in the next 50 years is seven to 10 percent. The probability of a magnitude 6.0 or greater quake in the same time period is about 25 to 40 percent.

TSUNAMI -
WASHINGTON - Seattle is leading the way in tsunami research. Seattle now has what may be the world`s largest tsunami research center, with a goal of forecasting a major tsunami within 10 minutes of its development. So far the scientists have created real-time tsunami simulations that can be run in minutes for San Francisco, Port Los Angeles and Crescent City, California; Hilo, Hawaii; Kodiak, Alaska; Newport and Seaside in Oregon; Neah Bay and Willapa Bay in Washington.

TROPICAL STORMS -
INDIA -Tropical Depression 07B virtually stagnated over the seas 500 km east-southeast of Chennai. A new low-pressure area brewing over the southeast Bay of Bengal is a remnant of Tropical Depression 25W migrating from the tropical western Pacific. The deep depression over the southwest Bay of Bengal was concentrated on 350-km southeast of Chennai Tuesday night but changed its direction towards the northeast and moved towards Myanmar, away from the Indian Coast, Wednesday morning. The new system might tread the path of 07B in a pattern identified with cyclonic circulations developing during December. Research into cyclone behaviour has revealed that 23 per cent of the systems straying outside of the 15 degrees north latitude (passing through Tadipatri in Andhra Pradesh and Hubli-Dharwad in Karnataka) during this time of the year tended to head north-northeast and dissipate over the waters. 07B will become a storm of moderate strength from 5.30 p.m. on Wednesday and could even intensify slightly. It will retain the status until Friday when it will start weakening rapidly. It will reach below tropical storm strength by Saturday evening. The westerly troughs display the same atmosphere dynamics as conventional `lows' but are endowed with much larger amplitudes. What they lack is moisture, but even that is assured once they run into and devour relatively pint-sized tropical systems. A `rain-bearer' payload thus gets added in the bargain and the extra-tropical system will now be able to trigger rains upfront. In fact, every third cyclone in the tropics is invariably impacted by these extra-tropical systems as they traverse the globe from west to east.

SNOW / COLD -
WASHINGTON - The month began with up to a couple inches of snow Dec. 1-2. After that, they had numerous frosty nights and cold foggy days and nights. The below-freezing nights culminated with lows down into the teens on Sunday morning and howling, icy east winds. Compare that with last year when they reported no measurable snow and the mercury didn’t drop below 20 degrees all winter. Another pronounced and UNUSUAL feature of the weather the first half of December was the UNUSUAL lack of precipitation. Through Saturday, precipitation totaled just .64 of an inch, compared to the normal amount through Dec. 17 of 3.95 inches. The average total for December is more than 7 inches. The dry December so far follows slightly above normal rainfall in October and November. They were on track to having perhaps the driest December on record and, had the cold continued, one of the coldest. But a warmup has begun and the Weather Service’s most recent outlook is that it will continue through the end of this year. And with it, the forecast is for rain, rain and more rain.

IDAHO - early-season storms deposited almost 8 feet of snow on Baldy by the first week of December, laying the foundation for a stable backcountry ski season. But three weeks ago, a stubborn high-pressure system crashed the party with frigid, dry air, setting the stage for a dangerous backcountry avalanche scenario that could lurk for weeks, or months, before rearing its ugly head. Avalanche risk is heightened by dry, cold weather. The early-December storm dumped 12 to 16 inches of snow on the Wood River Valley and surrounding peaks. It was followed by strong wind events, which formed dangerous wind slabs in the mid-to-upper elevation areas of the backcountry. Although it is somewhat stable, the snow is "rotten," and the backcountry skiing less than desirable. "It's really weak, rotten snow with lots of rocks and (other hazards). These cold temperatures cause the snowpack to weaken and deteriorate. The snow becomes less cohesive, very granular and sugary - you can't make a snowball." That means that when (hopefully not if) the dry high pressure does break down, allowing storms to spin back into the area, the avalanche dangers could be extreme. "(The snowpack) has got a very weak base, so once we get new snow on top of it, it will be top heavy." The same conditions developed last winter. After a series of massive storms pummeled Sun Valley through the holiday season, a huge high-pressure zone developed over Idaho and the Northwest, where it stubbornly sat for eight weeks. When snows returned in March, the stage had been set for disaster, as the new snow did not bond well to the weak, underlying layer.

ILLINOIS - The solstice signals a warming trend. Wednesday was the lowest positioning of the sun all season. It was also the shortest day of the year, with only nine hours of daylight. Dec. 7 had the area's lowest recorded temperature to date, at 5 degrees below zero. "We were already into winter before the winter solstice came up. We generally use December, January and February as winter instead of Dec. 21 to March 21." This winter is "very cold and on par with December 1989 for most parts of the state." This year's chilly temperatures are attributed to the CHANGE IN THE CIRCULATION PATTERN OF THE WEATHER. "In previous years, the weather moved west to east, but this year, it's coming from the north to south." Central Illinoisans are getting a whiff of Canadian Arctic weather. This weather pattern is "UNUSUAL and unrelenting." The coldest winter weather typically follows in the month after the winter solstice. However, this winter overall was supposed to be warmer than normal, but hasn't been shaping up that way so far. Monday's temperatures were 19 degrees below normal, with a high of 14 degrees and a low of 1 degree. Friday's high is expected to be 42 degrees.

TEXAS - Considering the meteorological marvels of the past 12 months, winter arrived in Houston Wednesday with an uncharacteristic whimper. Winter arrived in normal fashion after months of strange patterns. They expected calm weather on the first official day of winter, as temperatures hit normal for this time of year: just above 60 degrees for the high, and about 40 degrees for the low. Normal holiday weather would be one of the first normal things to happen in the past year. In the past 12 months, Houston has experienced fire and ice, to say nothing of a record-setting hurricane season. "It has been one TRULY STRANGE WEATHER PATTERN." The oddities began Christmas Eve a year ago, when snow fell and gave much of Houston its first white Christmas. The rest of winter was warmer, with January and February ending about 4 degrees higher than usual. Springtime was slightly cooler than normal. Then Galveston recorded its WARMEST SUMMER EVER, with an average temperature of 85.5 degrees from June through August. June was the third-warmest ever for the island and August THE WARMEST EVER. Houston didn't quite reach record temperatures in the summer — the city recorded its 13th-warmest summer since year-round records began being kept in 1889. With just .08 inches of rain, the city experienced ITS DRIEST JUNE. September was worse. Not only did Hurricane Rita menace the Texas area, Mother Nature cranked up the heat. In Houston there were RECORD TEMPERATURES on the three days following Rita's landfall, Sept. 25 to 27. The mercury on those days reached 99, 99 and 100 degrees. The Sept. 27 high of 100 was the latest Houston has ever reached triple digits. Galveston, Houston and College Station all recorded their WARMEST SEPTEMBERS. College Station also had its DRIEST SEPTEMBER EVER. Forecast models predicted the cooler-than-normal December but call for slightly-warmer-than-normal temperatures in January and February. Houston has been colder than normal this winter because more Canadian fronts have reached the city. If the fronts continue, Houston could face a very cold winter.

OKLAHOMA - Fall weather hits record books as arid, warm. This autumn is the seventh driest and ninth warmest, since record-keeping began more than a century ago. Winter began yesterday, ending one of the warmest, driest Oklahoma autumns on record. "Any time...the same year is in the top 10 of both categories - precipitation and temperature - that's pretty RARE and significant." Forecasters predict winter could be just as arid.

HEAT -
AUSTRALIA - Christmas in south-east Queensland is shaping up to be as hot as the roast turkey. Brisbane could expect 38C on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, with temperatures at 39 inland at Ipswich. "It will be quite sultry as well, so not pleasant at all." The Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast were likely to record only slightly cooler temperatures of 35 or 36 degrees. There was the chance of a thunderstorm on the border ranges on Sunday night, but a cool southerly change is not due until Wednesday next week.

Previous Disasters - On this day -
12/22 -
In 856 - a huge quake struck Damghan, Iran. 200,000 deaths.
In 1983 - a 6.4 quake struck Northwest Africa. 443 deaths.

Unusual Animal Behavior - updated Thursdays. NO NEW INFO ADDED THIS WEEK.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005 -

QUAKES -
Largest quakes yesterday -
12/21 -
5.2 SOUTH OF FIJI ISLANDS
5.2 NEAR COAST OF ECUADOR
5.5 WESTERN CAROLINE IS
5.8 WESTERN CAROLINE IS
5.5 TONGA ISLANDS
5.0 NEW IRELAND
5.4 WESTERN HONSHU, JAPAN

INDIA The increase in the number of killer earthquakes in the past decade or so catapulted the seismologists to look for more clues from the records/remnants of past earthquakes. Evidence forthcoming from the Himalayas show that some of the earthquake events that took place in the 10th and 16th centuries may have been much larger than recent events. The stress generated by them is still capable of playing havoc in the Himalayas, foot-hills and important cities of India.

TROPICAL STORMS -
MOZAMBIQUE - November marked the onset of the cyclone season, which lasts until April and peaks in January and February. During the season, cyclones are likely to cause at least localized flooding due to heavy rains. There is also a risk of severe flooding and cyclone damage if the season is very active, which given the current global climate patterns is possible. The Famine Early Warning Systems Network has issued a warning that a food crisis is developing. Normally the major cropping season starts in October in the southern and central provinces, and lasts until March; in the northern areas it begins in November-December and lasts until April. This year the cropping season has set in during November, with much of the planting activity taking place currently.

INDIA - As tropical storm 07B curved back into the high seas off Pondicherry to firmly put itself on a track away to the north-northeast, a fresh alert has been sounded of a new `low' converging over the south-central Bay of Bengal around the weekend. The new system would be a remnant of the tropical storm 25W migrating in from the tropical western Pacific near Vietnam, which has since downgraded into a tropical depression.

HEAVY RAIN / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / HIGH WINDS -
FLORIDA - December marks the beginning of Florida's dry season, when emergency officials are on alert for wild fires. But after Saturday's RECORD 4.62-inch RAINFALL - the HIGHEST ONE-DAY TOTAL EVER RECORDED IN GAINESVILLE IN THE MONTH OF DECEMBER - crews scrambled Monday to drain swollen water basins and fill new potholes. They were just beginning to see the "red flags" of dry conditions that fuel wildfires before the storm, but the wet weather will hold the wildfires off for a while.
Toward the end of last week , a front meandered over Florida and allowed moisture to pool across the state. That prompted a cluster of clouds and cool temperatures that have endured. The cloudiness that has loomed large since last week finally should start clearing on Thursday. How long the front has hovered is UNUSUAL. The mixture of warmer daytime temps with the nighttime cool, wet, air also may bring patchy fog this week. Another cold front could come in from the northwest late this weekend into early next week.

CALIFORNIA - A storm coming from Hawaii is expected to bring waves upwards of 10 feet to parts of coastal Orange County today and early Thursday. Flooding in low-lying areas is possible. Since the highest tides came last week, there is a decreased likelihood of erosion. The storm has intensified, with winds of up to 50 knots and wave heights up to 50 feet about 1,000 miles from the California coast. It's an El Niño-type storm that has picked up tropical moisture to fuel its strength. "The good news is the storm is going to turn north, and the swell from the storm will be very large. We get a few major storms every year, and this is not that out of the norm. It's RARE to get one with a storm getting so close without us getting bad weather." A weak ridge of high pressure over California will likely keep weather conditions favorable along the southern coast.

SPAIN - A landslide buried three lanes of a highway in northern Spain yesterday morning, temporarily trapping a dozen people in their cars and slightly injuring two. The landslide occurred some 31 miles east of the northern Basque city of Bilbao on the A-8 highway when a hillside collapsed and an avalanche of boulders hurtled onto and buried a section of the roadway.

THAILAND - 35 dead, 2,000 trapped by landslide. Rescue teams struggling through mountains of mud unleashed by flooding, caused by two weeks of heavy rain, have found 2,000 people trapped in a village in Yala province without food since a landslide cut them off from the outside world three days earlier. People are starving because their food ran out.

NEW ZEALAND - A massive clean-up is underway in the lower South island after a torrential downpour caused thousands of dollars of damage. The hour-and-a-half long downpour caused flooding of homes and businesses. The deluge was described as monsoon-like.

SNOW / COLD -
TEXAS - Temperatures hovered in the upper 30s Monday, significantly lower than the average high in Texas this time of year. The chilly weather was unexpected and a bit unwelcome Monday, and it was looking to be just as cold Tuesday. The forecast is calling for temperatures to climb significantly midweek and could be in the 60s by Friday.

WILDFIRES -
AUSTRALIA - a bushfire on Sydney's northside is threatening nearby homes and blanketing the area in smoke.

Natural disasters have caused about $US 225 billion in damage in 2005 making this year the COSTLIEST EVER FOR INSURERS especially in the United States. More than half of those insured losses were caused by Hurricane Katrina.

Previous Disasters - On this day -
12/21 -
In 1812 - a 7.1 quake struck Santa Barbara Channel, California.
In 1932 - a 7.2 quake struck Cedar Mountain, Nevada.
In 1967 - a 7.0 quake struck near the Coast of Northern Chile, 1 killed.

Crop Failures, Food Shortages, Fish Die-Off - updated Wednesdays

Tuesday, December 20, 2005 -

QUAKES -
Largest quakes yesterday -
12/19 -
5.2 CARLSBERG RIDGE
5.2 CARLSBERG RIDGE
5.0 CENTRAL MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
5.0 NORTHWESTERN KASHMIR

TSUNAMI -
BANDA ACEH - There's enough tsunami trash in this Indonesian city to make a three-storey-high pile covering 30 football fields. In Sri Lanka, the volume of waste dumped in lagoons and waterways is more than twice what was generated by the September 11 attacks. The environmental devastation in the worst-hit countries is immense, yet experts say it pales in comparison with what humans had already managed to inflict before the giant waves struck on December 26, 2004. In the Maldives, many of the 1,100 islands are uninhabitable because they are covered in trash, and wells that provided drinking water for more than a quarter of the population are contaminated. The tsunami destruction was mostly localised and overall it pales in comparison to years of rampant development and dynamite fishing, experts say. And experts fear rebuilding could contribute to illegal logging, overfishing and unchecked coastal construction.

NEW ZEALAND - Reports show gaps in tsunami response. A year after killer waves swept across the Indian Ocean, New Zealand could also be hit without warning by a tsunami. New Zealand could be hit by a tsunami from Fiji within four hours of a surge, with little or no warning. Such a wave could hit the top of the North Island and spill down the east and west coasts. New Zealand is also vulnerable to tsunamis caused by earthquakes closer to shore, but these hit so quickly that there is little warning.

TROPICAL STORMS -
CYCLONE 07B was 738 nmi SSW of Calcutta, India.
TROPICAL STORM 25W was 220 nmi ESE of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.

THAILAND - Weather authorities delivered more bad news Monday for Thailand's flood-stricken South, forecasting more storms and rain that will impact the already water-logged Southern provinces later in the week. The Meteorological Department warns of more heavy rain and flooding in the South as a new tropical depression enters Gulf of Thailand today or Wednesday.

HEAVY RAIN / FLOODING -
Flooding in southern Thailand , among the worst such disasters in 40 years, has left at least 27 people dead.

MALAYSIA - Flooding in northern Malaysia has left at least five people dead and more than 20,000 people homeless.

AUSTRALIA - A severe thunderstorm hit northern New South Wales on Saturday afternoon. Strong winds, hail and heavy rain caused widespread blackouts, uprooted trees and damaged homes in Casino and rural areas north of Lismore. "I've been around this area all my life, I'm about 60 and I've never seen horizontal rain and horizontal hail like it. We had hailstones banging against the top of the glass right up under the eaves and the amazing thing is that the wind and the rain and the hail all seemed to be coming from different directions so that it was hitting on windows on a number of sides of the house."

CALIFORNIA - An avalanche of power outages, car accidents and flooded highways resulting from the first heavy storm to slam through San Mateo County this season. Seven thousand Peninsula residents lost power to their homes during the biggest cloudburst between 10 am and noon. By Sunday afternoon, 2 1/2 inches of rain had fallen over a 24-hour period.
Thunder, lightning and wind gusts as strong as 71 mph accompanied the powerful storm, which sporadically dumped as much as a half-inch of rain per hour across the region Sunday. Skies will remain cloudy, though probably not rainy, over the Bay Area for the rest of the week. "As far as the wind and rain, this is a typical winter-time storm. The lightning and thunder is a little UNUSUAL." Santa Rosa BROKE A 65-YEAR RECORD FOR THE DAY, receiving 2.3 inches on Sunday alone. A tornado warning issued in Napa County at 9:30 a.m. was lifted without incident 30 minutes later.

MISSISSIPPI - Hurricane Katrina left parts of the Ross Barnett Reservoir vulnerable to massive flooding. Tons of rip rap - the large rocks that line the reservoir - were stripped away during the hurricane. Three months after Katrina, many of the rocks have been replaced but there’s still a lot of damage from the storm.

SNOW / COLD -
CALIFORNIA - A weekend of heavy snow, high winds and warming weather are creating some dangerous conditions in the Sierra. The U.S. Forest Service has issued an avalanche advisory. Widespread avalanche activity was seen on Sunday. They expect the pattern to continue with the new warmer storm hitting the Sierra, the new snow from the weekend storm and strong winds.

FRANCE - A 22 year-old English skier has been seriously injured while off-piste skiing by an avalanche at Tignes. The skier was found in a state of cardiac arrest by an avalanche dog after 30 minutes under the slide. Avalanche risk was 3 (considerable) on a scale of 5.

AUSTRIA - Heavy snowfall in Austria's Alpine regions raised the risk Sunday of avalanches and led the authorities to urge hikers and skiers to avoid the areas deemed most prone to snow slides. Strong winds and snowfall of up to 120 centimeters, or 47 inches, in sections of Styria, a mountainous province in southern Austria, put the avalanche risk there at four on a five-point scale, on which five is the most dangerous stage.

OREGON - Thursday morning mid-valley residents woke to a vista straight out of a New England Christmas card, courtesy of a RARE WEATHER PHENOMENON, fog snow, produced by heavy fog and cold air mingling at ground level. It was a combination of stale, stagnant air and the coldest night they’ve had in nearly two years —19 degrees — that produced the effect. December’s average low temperature of 28.5 degrees is five degrees below average. Rainfall totals this year are 6 inches below normal.

Previous Disasters - On this day -
12/20 -
In 1940 - a 5.5 quake struck near Ossipee Lake, New Hampshire.
In 1942 - a 7.3 quake struck Turkey, 3000 dead.
In 1946 - a 8.4 Tonankai, Japan. 10-foot sea wave along eastern shore of Shikoku and Honshu with very extensive property damage in the same regions. 1,330 deaths.

Drought, Heat, Water Shortages, Wildfires - updated Tuesdays.

Monday, December 19, 2005 -

QUAKES -
Largest quakes yesterday -
12/18 -
5.3 OFF W. CST OF NORTHERN SUMATERA
5.5 SOUTH OF FIJI ISLANDS
5.1 TONGA ISLANDS REGION

SINGAPORE AND MALAYSIA - As the world takes time out to remember the 290,000 victims of the Dec 26 tsunami that hit the region last year, some experts are already issuing a serious warning: Look ahead at what could happen next. In recent interviews, a Thai scientist has warned that the epicentre of the next earthquake would be further north than last year's temblors, which brings the Straits of Malacca and Singapore and Malaysia into range. In 1998, this was the scientist who predicted that Thailand's Phuket island and the surrounding Andaman region was at risk. At that time he was called a "rumour-monger" and a "madman", out to ruin the country's tourism industry. "We can only say, by historical data, that every 50, 80 or 100 years a big earthquake and tsunami will occur. The latest data shows that the epicentre is moving north towards the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and if an earthquake takes place in this area, this would cause greater effects in the Straits of Malacca than what happened last year. If the epicentre continues to move north and a tsunami occurs, the wave will move towards the Straits of Malacca, which is narrow and shallow. This can cause great damage if early preparations are not taken." "There have been 12 tsunamis in the last two centuries and the last big one before Dec 26 last year occurred in the Indian Ocean, created by the explosion of the Krakatoa volcano 122 years ago." Recent studies and data have shown that there is stress building up in the Nicobar Islands area. "I've suggested to the Indonesian government that it should not allow any human habitation on the northern coast of Sumatra as these areas are prone to be hit."

TROPICAL STORMS -
TROPICAL STORM 25W was 318 nmi ESE of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.

CYCLONE 07B was 746 nmi SE of Bombay, India.
INDIA - Cyclone Mala threatens to lash the coast. A deep depression in the Bay of Bengal, that threatened to turn into a cyclone, on Sunday headed towards the coastal regions of Tamil Nadu and southern Andhra Pradesh with widespread rains, and isolated heavy to very heavy rains in north Tamil Nadu. A cyclone alert has been sounded along the coastal regions of Cuddalore district in Tamil Nadu following reports of the depression even as the district administration plans to evacuate over 50,000 people living by the sea. "The sea is very rough here and it has been continuously raining."
SRI LANKA - Rains and heavy winds are to affect Sri Lanka as the depression in the Bay of Bengal is likely to develop into tropical cyclonic weather conditions. The northern and eastern parts of the island are likely to experience strong winds and heavy rains.

MALAYSIA - the Malaysian Meteorological Service has issued a third-degree warning on a possibility of a tropical storm hitting the east coast within the next 24 hours. It also warned that the strong winds of 60-80 kph and rough seas were dangerous for shipping and coastal activities including oil platforms. Meanwhile, floods have displaced 4,313 villagers from 697 families and more are expected to be evacuated to relief centres as water levels were increasing fast.

SNOW / COLD -
INDIANA - Winter officially begins Wednesday but recent weather patterns have left many believing the season began weeks ago. "It does seem a bit UNUSUAL, the amount of snow we've had and how cold it's been. Especially when you take into consideration that winter hasn't even started yet. The area is experiencing its sixth-coldest and -EARLIEST START TO WINTER IN THE PAST 73 YEARS.

NEVADA - A strong winter strong front roared into Northern California overnight, bringing with it heavy rains, high winds, hazardous roadways and flooding in Novato and elsewhere in hard-hit Sonoma County. Rainfall totals from the storm were highest seen yet this winter. Sacramento had surpassed its ALL-TIME RECORD FOR RAIN on Dec. 18 with 1.41 inches - old mark 1.40 in 1955 - by noon. Meanwhile In the Sierra, motorists faced headaches as a potent storm dumped as much as 18 inches of snow in the Sierra and 8 inches in northern Nevada valleys.

SOUTH KOREA - Heavy snowstorms accompanied by strong winds and low temperatures paralyzed commuter train operations in the capital region, froze the Han River and caused damage in western coastal regions. There were power outages, water gauges broke and water supplies were cut off. As Seoul's temperature dropped yesterday morning to minus 14 degrees Celsius (6.8 F), the lowest this year, the Han River froze for the first time this winter, and the EARLIEST SINCE 1965. The cold spell will continue, although slightly milder temperatures are expected for three days starting today. Three pockets of extremely cold air formed above the North Pole in early December. "The pockets' shapes are similar to hats with shades, and one of those shades is covering East Asia. Cold air keeps coming from there, pulling down the temperature on the Korean Peninsula." The cold air, passing across waters west of the peninsula, formed snow clouds, causing heavy snowstorms in the western coastal areas. It has been a while since such cold air was felt in Korea, but the recent weeks' weather was not so unusual. "This is nothing abnormal. It has been like this in the past." The forecast is for January temperatures will be even lower than those of this month.

JAPAN - RECORD SNOWFALL blanketed parts of Japan over the weekend, killing at least nine people and disrupting transport, with the weather agency warning today that more snow was on the way.

AUSTRIA - A continued onslaught of heavy snow fall in Austria's Alpine regions caused at least one avalanche Sunday.

HEAT -
AUSTRALIA - HOTTEST DAY OF THE YEAR in Townsville. "It is RARE that we get temperatures over 35 degrees. This is EXTREME. It is quite UNUSUAL to have these temperatures here on the coast."

Previous Disasters - On this day -
12/19 -
In 1977 - a 5.8 quake struck Iran wiping out several villages. It was the 4th destructive quake to hit Iran that year.
In 1981 - a 7.6 quake struck the Aegean Sea.

Disease - updated Mondays

Sunday, December 18, 2005 -

QUAKES -
Largest quakes yesterday -
12/17 -
5.0 NEAR E. CST KAMCHATKA PEN
5.4 VANUATU ISLANDS
12/16 -
5.4 SOUTH OF KERMADEC ISLANDS
5.9 NEAR E.CST EASTERN HONSHU, JAPAN
5.0 FIJI ISLANDS REGION
5.5 OFF COAST OF CENTRAL AMERICA
5.1 TAIWAN REGION

JAPAN - There appear to be few injuries from a strong earthquake that shook northern Japan early Saturday. So far there are reports of only two people being hurt in the 6.2 magnitude quake. Scientists say the quake was centered deep below the ocean off the coast and was felt in dozens of towns and cities.

CALIFORNIA - A sharp 3.4 magnitude earthquake rattled East Bay residents Friday morning at 10:21 a.m, leaving many closest to its center wondering whether there had been an explosion. A 2.2 aftershock followed at 5:44 p.m. Residents reported hearing a loud booming sound in areas closest to the quake. All reported that they felt a strong shaking sensation; some said their homes shook violently.

PAKISTAN - The October 8 earthquake that flattened much of northern Pakistan has taught a lesson to mountain villagers that conservationists had long failed to instil: the importance of their forests. Despite the harsh lesson, conservationists and government officials are worried that necessity will drive survivors to hack down trees to save themselves from the winter. Landslides were particularly severe on slopes that had been stripped of their cover of pines and Himalayan hardwood trees, while many forested slopes remained intact. “The trees are nails which have griped the mountains and kept them stable.”

TSUNAMI -
AMERICA’S TSUNAMI: ARE WE NEXT? premieres tonight, December 18 at 9 PM (ET/PT) on Discovery Channel. This is an original special revealing new geological evidence from a groundbreaking scientific expedition that confirms the cause of the December 26, 2004 Asian tsunami. Data collected from the expedition shows a striking similarity between the Indian Ocean fault zone and a fault zone lying just miles off the coast of northern California, Oregon and Washington. Some scientists predict a tsunami wave that is three times the height of what the northwest coast of the U.S. is prepared for.

VOLCANOES -
ALASKA - There was another explosion Thursday on Augustine Volcano. That time, scientists believe their own seismic station was damaged.

VANUATU - People displaced by Ambae volcano are threatened by a shortage of fresh water. Thousands of litres of water have already been handed out to the 3-thousand people forced to move to relocation centres by continuing volcanic eruptions and ashfalls.

NEW ZEALAND - scientists say an eruption in Auckland is a matter of when, not if. The good news: that is not likely to be any time soon. Auckland has a big volcanic eruption every 5000 years on average and the last one was Rangitoto, about 600 years ago. Scientists say an eruption is likely to come from a new volcano, rather than a known one such as Rangitoto. It will be at a random location, as the molten rock finds the easiest route to the surface.

TROPICAL STORMS -
CYCLONE 07B was 829 nmi SE of Bombay, India.
INDIA - The deep depression over southwest Bay of Bengal now lay centered at about 450 kms south east of Nagapattinam this morning. It is likely to intensify further and move in a west north westernly direction. Strong winds with speed reaching 50-60kmph are likely off the Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry coast during next 36 hours. A cold wave is sweeping north India.

AUSTRALIA - Catastrophic cyclone chaos feared. Queensland is overdue for a severe cyclone, and the destruction is likely to be catastrophic because of over-building near the coastline, a weather expert has warned. He says Queenslanders have become complacent and have built too close to the ocean because a major cyclone has not hit the state for more than 30 years. A highly destructive cyclone is "almost inevitable" within the next decade. Meanwhile, the World Meteorological Organisation has announced that this is Australia's HOTTEST YEAR ON RECORD. Australia-wide temperatures during the first five months of 2005 were 1.75C above normal, surpassing the previous record by 0.57C.

HEAVY RAIN / FLOODING -
THAILAND - Flooding continues to wreck havoc in the south. Phatthalung faces its MOST SEVERE FLOODING IN 20 YEARS. Three thousand families in the southern province of Phatthalung have been severely affected by the current flood. Ten districts are inundated due to incessant heavy rains together with flash floods flowing from the nearby Bantad mountain range. A rubber plantation was reportedly partially buried in the landslide and collapse of a stone mountainside falling in Sribanpot district, with several hundred rubber trees damaged. A landslide was also reported at the Bantad mountain wildlife centre in Banna sub-district. The weather department warns of continued heavy downpours in the lower south.
Two persons were drowned today while another woman went missing as heavy monsoon rains continued to ravage Thailand's deep South, leading authorities to declared Hat Yai district, a key entertainment area for tourists, as a disaster-zone. Heavy downpours resumed again in Hat Yai and other nearby districts in Songkhla province after midnight and worsened when flash floods from a mountain in Hat Yai overflowed into the district seat along with the water runoff from neighboring Sadao district and floodwaters from the swollen U-Tapao canal. In Yala province, the situation was not better as one woman drowned and another was still missing.
Sixteen districts in the southern province of Songkhla are now affected by severe flooding brought on by continuing monsoon rain, with several thousand households affected. Flooding here is the WORST IN FIVE YEARS, as the main road leading to the district was completely under floodwater and was impassable for vehicles. Heavy downpours of rain accompanied by high tides in Songkhla's coastal districts have worsened the situation, severely affecting some 20,000 persons in 22 villages.
Warnings of high waves, high tides in both the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman sea were issued by the Metereological Department today, while continued cold brought in by weather systems from China keeps Northern residents shivering. Waves 2 - 4 metres high on the Gulf and the Andaman Sea were predicted, as well as high tides between 1 - 2 metres were anticipated in six southern Coastal provinces facing the Gulf. Small trawlers are advised to stay in port due to the high seas. More flash flooding is expected in the vicinity of three Southern mountains where large-scale runoff is anticipated to affect seven provinces.

VIETNAM - Flash floods triggered by prolonged rains in central Vietnam have killed at least 32 people in recent weeks and damaged rice crops. At least eight people remained missing after being washed away by flash floods. Rains which began in late November have inundated more than 30,000 hectares (74,130 acres) of newly-planted rice crops. "The weather is quite abnormal this year, waters in rivers in the central region have started to recede but we expect new rains over the weekend so people should stay alert." Heavy rains also triggered landslides in the central region, damaging roads and disrupting traffic. Prolonged rains in Vietnam's Central Highlands coffee belt have delayed the coffee harvest there and made it difficult for farmers to dry newly-picked coffee cherries.

INDIA - Strange weather: both the southern peninsula and northwest India have been witnessing a strange turn in weather events this season. What were hitherto considered innocuous easterly systems have suddenly packed stormy weather in the peninsula while the incoming mid-latitude westerlies performed indifferently in the plains of northwest India. "We have a situation where a rain-battered Tamil Nadu scurries for cover as the next rain-bearing system approaches, while the unusually dry westerlies have left many a farmer in the northwest wishing if only it had rained a little more. But rains have largely been confined to the higher reaches of the Himalayas." While most of the Rabi lands in the plains in the north are irrigated, a fresh round of precipitation, that the westerlies are known to bring, would have had a beneficial effect on the standing crop. Not only would the rate of growth pick-up, the cost of irrigation could also be brought under control.
Forty-three homeless people were trampled to death today and 42 were injured in a stampede during the distribution of flood relief supplies at a shelter in southern India.

AUSTRALIA - Sydney's train commuters were experiencing major delays after lightning struck signalling equipment on the rail network's northern and central coast lines on Saturday.
A freak storm battered Brisbane around 3pm (AEST) Friday and brought gale force winds, before it moved just as quickly out to sea off Queensland's southeast coast. The severe thunderstorm passed rapidly over Brisbane, downing trees and tearing the roof from a block of units.

PHILIPPINES - A nine-year-old boy died and his stepfather was injured after a landslide hit their residence, due to four days of continuous rain.

SNOW / COLD -
UKRAINE - a cyclone with strong snowstorms and wind hit the whole of the western Ukraine. Some 250 populated localities of western Ukraine were left without electricity supply, because the area was hit by a cyclone with strong snowstorms and wind on Friday night. Strong wind and snowstorm continue to hamper the work of the repair teams. The wind speed in the Carpathian Mountains is about 35 metres per second. Rescue workers forecast snow avalanches in the Carpathians. They urged the people who are spending vacations in tourist centers to refrain from skiing these days.


U.S. - Widespread damage from a deadly ice storm left more than half a million customers still in the dark Friday night in North Carolina, and utility officials said the electricity might not be fully restored in parts of the Carolinas until Tuesday. The storm blew through Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia on Thursday and was blamed for hundreds of traffic accidents and at least four deaths. Ice built up on tree limbs, causing them to snap and pull down power lines.

CANADA - Montreal paralyzed by RECORD SNOWFALL Friday which forced the cancellation of 200 flights at Montreal airport, school closures and caused havoc on roads. More than 41 centimetres (16 inches) of snow fell on Friday. The storm will go down in history as ONE OF THE BIGGEST SNOWFALLS IN A SINGLE DAY in Montreal in December, beating a record of 37.8 centimeters on December 27, 1969. About 2.14 metres (seven feet) of snow usually falls on the city each winter.

INDIA - 30 die in cold wave sweeping north India. Unseasonably cold weather gripped northern India, as meteorologists warned of heavy fog in coming days which every year disrupts road, air and rail traffic. The temperature overnight in Lucknow slid to three degrees Celsius, the mercury was likely to dip further across Uttar Pradesh. Temperatures also fell below minus 3.6 degrees Celsius in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, where tens of thousands of people were made homeless by the October 8 earthquake that ravaged the Himalayan region.

PERU - Last year winter in the Andes was brutal. The indigenous alpaca farmers in Peru's highlands had never seen anything like it. "When the blizzards came they were so strong. The snow fell for a full day and a full night without stopping. It stopped snowing, the skies opened and it was completely clear. Then ice fell from the sky in big shards like glass, and the cold front hit us." The people thought the end of the world had come last winter. The Quechua people, descendants of the Incas, living at altitudes of up to 4,500 metres, are used to harsh weather. But what they call the friaje is a new phenomenon, believed to be driven by climate change. Last year it sent temperatures plummeting to -35C, killed 50 children and left up to 13,000 people suffering from severe bronchitis, pneumonia and hypothermia. The snow killed all vegetation. And the animals on which the communities depend, the hardy Andean camel, the alpaca, died in their thousands. "The temperature shifts here are getting more extreme. Cold winters are followed by hot, dry summers and, recently, electric hail storms. "

ODD -
EASTERN U.S. - Last Friday there was a full rainbow over Provincetown. The air was still. The sea calm. The air strangely warm considering just a few minutes before there was a chilly wind and freezing rain. And then, all hell broke lose. Winds reached hurricane force - at least 74 miles per hour - felling trees and power lines, and knocking out electricity from Provincetown to the Mid Cape. Just a few inches of snow fell, but enough to create whiteout road conditions, causing car accidents. The STRANGE WEATHER drove in whales and dolphins to strand on bayside beaches and caused a host of other calamities that left many scratching their heads in disbelief. "It was a rapidly intensifying coastal low. If you want another name for it, we call it a meteorological bomb." There were confirmed reports of water spouts, pink lightning, wind gusts of up to 100 miles per hour and fish in back yards, even in locations some distance from the ocean. "The fish were most likely dropped there by the spouts or by the significant storm surge." As the storm approached the area, it came into contact with a low pressure system. Two low pressure systems, one from the Great Lakes region and the other from the Gulf of Mexico, combined to form one large block of low pressure that intensified just as it approached Buzzards Bay. The advancing front caused air pressure to drop 19 millibars over a three-hour period. "That is a massive drop in pressure." As the two systems met, they created a calm spot, almost like the center of a hurricane, thus the sunny weather and the rainbow. But then the "correction" started, sparking two hours of fury. "These intensifying lows are common over the North Atlantic" but not over land. Friday’s storm was unlike a classic nor’easter in that it did not originate off Cape Hatteras. Instead, the storm, or at least one part of it, began off the coast of Maryland and intensified very quickly. The thunder and lightning many areas experienced is indicative of "an intense development process". "The only storm that I can remember such thundersnow was the Blizzard of ’78. Both of these storms came very close to having a structure similar to a tropical storm and both deepened very rapidly."

SPAIN - The Atlantic Rowing Race has foul weather, again. ‘It is so INCREDIBLY UNUSUAL to have two low pressure systems over the traditional Atlantic trade wind route at this time of year and in one crossing, let alone in one week...Even MORE UNUSUAL is the boat placed in the northern most sector of the race is receiving the best weather of all the fleet. Traditionally the crews who are further south generally get the better weather as the race unfolds."

OKLAHOMA - Work continued into the night Thursday to plug the apparent source of natural gas that has bubbled to the surface along a Kingfisher County creek for the past week. Gas has been shooting to the surface along a five-mile section of Winter Camp Creek since Dec. 9 and some geysers are within about a mile of the town of Kingfisher. Although the source is unknown, a preliminary investigation revealed that a natural gas well being drilled by Chesapeake Energy Corp. miles away may be to blame for the strange geysers of explosive vapors. A Chesapeake natural gas drilling rig experienced an unusually large flow of gas last week. A company statement said pressure release was expected to begin sometime late Thursday or early Friday through a combination of production to a pipeline and periodic flaring of the gas. Even if the operation is successful, geysers may continue to appear in the area for some time. "It's going to be several days we think before we see any positive benefit. It depends on how charged the zone is with gas."

ILLINOIS - Numerous issues have emerged in the probe of the December 8 overrun of a Southwest Airlines plane which killed a young boy. Weather reports indicate that an enhanced snow band was in the area at the time of the landing. “This apparently is a SOMEWHAT UNUSUAL WEATHER PHENOMENON, as the band swath was only 20mi to 30mi (30km to 50km) wide with snow accumulations of 10in (25cm) right over Midway airport.”

Space Weather / Solar Storms / Meteors - updated Sundays.

Friday, December 16, 2005 -

QUAKES -
Largest quakes yesterday -
12/15 -
5.2 SOUTH OF MARIANA ISLANDS
5.0 SALTA PROVINCE, ARGENTINA
5.3 RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN
5.3 SOUTHERN PERU

Experts disagree about the New Madrid earthquake risk - Three independent analyses of the New Madrid seismic zone centered in Missouri show that the fault line indicates little or no movement. The results contradict a study by scientists at the University of Memphis that made headlines in June when it stated two GPS stations on opposite sides of the Reelfoot fault had moved closer to each other at a rate that rivaled faults in California. One critic of that study said the results were likely a statistical anomaly possibly stemming from an instrumental error.

VOLCANOES -
ALASKA - A sulfurous steam plume, hundreds of miniature earthquakes and a new swath of ash on snowy Augustine Volcano have scientists looking for a possible eruption in the next few months. The volcano hasn't shown such signs since it last erupted in 1986. "It's steaming more vigorously right now than it has at any point since 1986." Seismometers have recorded more than 170 small temblors over the last week, and 74 on Sunday alone. The average for the past 15 years has been about one to two per week. The magnitudes - less than 1 - were still smaller than the bulk of the earthquakes preceding the 1986 eruption. The entire island, located 171 miles southwest of Anchorage, has inflated by as much as one inch as injections of molten rock rise into the mountain from beneath the earth's surface.

OREGON - The swelling bulge on the west flank of the South Sister volcano has slowed to about half its former rate of an inch or so a year and geologists say there are no signs that the uplifted region will erupt in the near future. Scientists have monitored the Central Oregon volcano since 2001, when a comparison of newly acquired satellite measurements showed that a 10-mile-wide chunk of the mountain had risen more than four inches over the preceding four years. A swarm of more than 300 tiny earthquakes struck the area in March 2004, but the bulge has since been quiet. Only five quakes were recorded this year, none with a magnitude greater than 1.5.

HEAVY RAIN / FLOODING / WIND / LANDSLIDES -
SICILY - Severe weather shut down a US military base on the Italian island of Sicily on Wednesday, and flooding threatened to force the evacuation of one housing complex. No injuries have been reported due to the bad weather, which was not predicted, that started about 1 a.m. Sunday and did not let up until Wednesday morning. Additional downpours were possible. During a 20-minute phone interview Wednesday at 4 p.m., for example, the “sky has gone from a blue sky to black as black can be.” More rain was forecast through the night. Roads throughout the region were flooded and closed by Italian officials. “Everything seems to be flooded, there is mud and high waters and it’s very dangerous.”
UPDATE - Floods from weeklong, heavy rainfall resulted in a mandatory evacuation of the Maranai government housing complex at Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily, Italy, Dec. 15, a day after the commanding officer declared a state of emergency at the U.S. base. Continuous heavy rainfall since Dec. 13 has resulted in massive flooding and power outages aboard NAS Sigonella and in surrounding areas, including government housing units in Maranai and Maneo. Six inches to three feet of standing water, mud and sewage has been reported. The base, including the airfield, is closed until further notice. About 500 families were relocated. Personnel have been advised to remain where they are, due to significant damage to many local roads.

THAILAND - Rain-soaked hills in the southern province of Songkhla have been declared high-risk areas after a hillside gave way in a landslide here Thursday leading to the deaths of a father and his son
Renewed flooding in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat claimed more two lives while transport by aircraft, rail, and highway was disrupted on Friday. The current third round of floods in the past two months has resulted in many areas being entirely water-logged, without capacity to absorb any further water. Continuing rain makes the current flood situation much worse than would otherwise be the case. Officials are on alert for possible mudslides in high risk areas in 11 districts. Meanwhile, the two deaths reported Friday raise the number of fatalities caused by floods over the past two months in Nakhon Si Thammarat to 12. The Nakhon Si Thammarat municipality area is inundated. Flat-bottomed boats have been sent to help people in flood-stricken areas. Almost all schools in the provinces are closed until next week.

TEXAS - Quick, heavy rains and strong winds hit Galveston County on Wednesday, causing power outages, street flooding in low-lying areas and damage to at least one historic building on the island. The wind was the major cause of downed lines that caused the loss of power. There were a couple of cases on Pelican Island and in Galveston’s Barton Square where the lightning and rain contributed to the power loss. “The rain itself is not bad, but it gets bad when it’s the wind and the lightning.” Lightning struck and damaged the Bishop’s Palace during Wednesday’s downpour. The loud claps of thunder set off car alarms in the parking garage at the county courthouse. Lightning struck a boiler at Valero’s Texas City refinery, forcing the cutback on a large amount of refining at the facility. No one was hurt when the bolt struck a boiler used to produce steam that is a key part of the oil refining process. Valero had to crank up its flare system to relieve a large amount of pressure following the lightning strike. As of Wednesday night, the refinery was still not back at full capacity.

MISSOURI - A mountaintop reservoir in southeast Missouri used to generate electricity broke open early Wednesday flooding the valley below, washing away cars and homes. A nearby town was evacuated. A 600 foot breach released more than a billion gallons of water, causing major flooding and significant damage to surrounding areas.
ARKANSAS - Officials say despite some simularities between the Missouri dam and ones in Arkansas, a break like this in Arkansas would most likely only be caused by extreme flooding. The biggest threat is too much rain too quickly. Dam officials would have to open the spill-way gates that could cause flooding downstream. Officials are more worried about flood waters than anything else, but are anxious for the report on what went wrong in Missouri.

MICHIGAN - High winds are causing sand to clog the mouth of the Au Train River in Alger County. Residents living along the river are being flooded.

NEW ZEALAND - A tornado-like "micro-burst" ripped trees out of the ground, flooded houses and destroyed a $20,000 crop in just minutes in the central Southland area of Heddon Bush, near Winton, yesterday afternoon. It was probably a micro-burst of wind and hail during a very active thunder storm. The storms were often localised to a few square kilometres and could whip up 160 km/h winds. "It was just so black and dark you couldn't see a thing." Several 100-year-old macrocarpa trees were uprooted, sheds were flung around and one lost its roof.

SNOW / COLD -
SOUTHERN ONTARIO AND QUEBEC, CANADA - on Thursday were struck by a massive snowstorm, cancelling and delaying air travel and gnarling road traffic.
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND - The first major storm of the season in Prince Edward Island has closed schools and made driving difficult as a weather warning continues for the region.

IOWA - The first 15 days of December has brought Waterloo 18 inches of snow. That is more than the last three Decembers combined, and above the 13 inches seen in December of 2000 by this time - 2000 had a record 46 inches that year. "So far we're way ahead of pace, but it could be pretty hard for us to keep up. You never know, though." The heaviest snow amounts fall in surprisingly narrow bands.

NEW YORK - A RECORD-SMASHING COLD SPELL moved into Ithaca and Tompkins County this week, dropping temperatures to below zero. The mercury dipped to minus 11 on the 14th, lowering the record by 10 degrees. It was not the coldest December day ever recorded. That distinction belongs to Dec. 12-13, 1988, when the temperature dropped to minus 19 and minus 17, respectively. However, the cold temperatures being recorded this week are not normal. “This is certainly UNUSUAL for it to be this cold this early."

MINNESOTA - The worst of the biggest snowstorm this winter was mostly over Wednesday night when many parts of Minnesota were under at least 8 inches of wet and heavy snow. There were 16.5 inches in Two Harbors along the North Shore of Lake Superior, and more than 11 inches fell in Duluth. Nearly 8 inches fell in the Twin Cities, while the southwest part of the state got 5 inches. “This isn’t something unusual in any way, nor is it dramatic for what we have seen in the past in terms of early season snowfalls.” However two people died Wednesday morning on Highway 14 near Owatonna when a tractor-trailer lost control on the slippery road and hit a minivan, killing its two occupants.

MICHIGAN, EASTERN UPPER PENINSULA - An approaching winter storm from an UNUSUAL DIRECTION was expected to dump as much as one foot of new snow on portions of the Eastern Upper Peninsula, according to somewhat uncertain forecasts for early Thursday. A frontal boundary located south of a storm system in Minnesota may generate significant snow from Lake Huron, carried on strong southerly and easterly winds. The predicted snow comes on the heels of a RARE south shore lake-effect event Tuesday night that dumped about seven inches in the immediate Cedarville area and lesser amounts on DeTour and Drummond Island.

GLOBAL WARMING-
This year has been the WARMEST ON RECORD IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE. It is the SECOND WARMEST GLOBALLY SINCE THE 1860s, when reliable records began. The warmest was 1998, though the 1998 figure was inflated by strong El Nino conditions. Ocean temperatures recorded in the Northern Hemisphere Atlantic Ocean have also been the HOTTEST ON RECORD. The Northern Hemisphere is warming faster than the south, scientists believe, because a greater proportion of it is land, which responds faster to atmospheric conditions than the ocean. Eight of the 10 warmest years since 1860 have occurred within the last decade.

Previous Disasters - On this day -
In 1811 - a 7.7 quake struck New Madrid, Missouri.
In 1857 - a 7.0 quake struck Southern Italy.
In 1902 - a 6.4 quake struck Turkestan. 4,500 deaths.
In 1920 - an 8.2 quake struck Gansu Province, China, one of the deadliest quakes in history, it killed 200,000.
In 1954 - a 7.3 quake struck Dixie Valley, Nevada.
In 1982 - a 6.9 quake struck the Hindu Kush Region. Four hundred fifty people killed.

Unusually High Tides / Freak Waves - updated Fridays.

Thursday, December 15, 2005 -

QUAKES -
Largest quakes yesterday -
12/14 -
5.1 GUERRERO, MEXICO
5.2 SOUTH INDIAN OCEAN
5.3 NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL CHILE
5.3 WESTERN XIZANG-INDIA BORDER
5.2 VANUATU ISLANDS

AFGHANISTAN - Police and government officials are struggling to assess the level of damage from the powerful 6.7 earthquake that rocked the northern fringe of Afghanistan, but said initial reports indicated it was relatively light. Police said five children died when the roofs of their homes collapsed. At least 19 others were reported injured. 100 - 200 homes have been reported to be damaged and 250 to 300 cattle died.

INDIA - Earthquake felt in New Delhi, the second in two days. A 5.2 magnitude earthquake shook northern India on Wednesday, a day after residents of New Delhi and other areas in the north were shaken by the 6.7 quake centered in the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan.

IRELAND - An earth tremor measuring 2.8 on the Richter Scale, which occurred in the Irish Sea off Bray Head, was felt in parts of Wickow and Wexford early yesterday morning. The tremor took place 30km off shore at a depth of 9km. The tremor happened in the exact same location where other tremors were recorded in 1951 and 1984. Significant structural damage was recorded in the 1984 tremor, which measured 5.4 on the Richter Scale, and the School of Cosmic Physics says there is now a need for a National Seismic Network to monitor tremors off the Irish coast. There now appears to be a seismic event of some significance here every 50 years, and the Government should be taking action and providing resources before something more serious happens.

TSUNAMI -
THAILAND - Tsunami false alarm sparked panic - An engineer installing Thailand's disaster early warning system accidentally sounded alarms on the Andaman Sea coast, causing thousands to run for their lives. A television station showed panicked masses evacuating coastal villages, where 5,400 people died in last year's tsunami. A few accidents and injuries were reported. The early warning system is scheduled to be tested on December 16, ten days ahead of the memorial service for the one-year anniversary of the tsunami.

Nearly a year after the Indonesian tsunami, 1.5 million people are still living in tents, barracks and temporary homes.

VOLCANOES -
VANUATU - Around three thousand people are now being cared for in 15 relocation centres on the coastal fringe of Vanuatu’s Ambae Island, as Mt Manaro continues to erupt. The volcano is continuously emitting steam with periodic explosions tossing out ash. Most of that ash is settling back on the cone which has grown significantly since the eruption began.

ALASKA - Augustine Volcano rumbled with earthquakes and belched sulfurous steam over the past few days, prompting reports of "rotten egg" smells from people in several Kachemak Bay communities. The volcano has been listed as "restless," on yellow alert for about 10 days. It last erupted in 1986. On Monday, scientists flew to the volcano and observed fumaroles, or little steam vents, on the south side of the summit and small amounts of ash on the snow. "It's a lot of steaming and from multiple vents, and no doubt it is putting out sulfur." Something appears to be heating up the volcano's summit, though it's not clear yet whether the cause is a rising slug of magma or hot liquids. "Basically what the volcano is doing right now is drying itself out. Augustine is doing all the things that Augustine does prior to an eruption. Now that doesn't mean that Augustine is going to erupt..."

MEXICO - Yesterday at 22:25 an explosion