2002:
*2002 WAS THE SECOND HOTTEST EVER RECORDED. It continued a warming trend that has set records for the last five years. Only 1998 was warmer.
*COLORADO HAD ITS DRIEST YEAR ON RECORD.
*IN CANADA SUCH A DEVASTATING DROUGHT HASN'T BEEN SEEN SINCE THE DUST BOWLS OF THE 1930's.
*QUEBEC, CANADA, EXPERIENCED ITS WORST FOREST FIRES IN 10 YEARS.
*FOR HALF THE PEOPLE OF CANADA, FROM WINDSOR TO QUEBEC CITY, 2002 WAS THE WARMEST YEAR ON RECORD. It was the kind of weather that occurs once every 200 years.
*Data from the National Climatic Data Center show that last year was Alaska's hottest on record and the past winter was the second-warmest ever recorded. Nearly 98 percent of glaciers and sea ice at Alaska's coast are in a state of melting. That has contributed to a sea level rise of nearly a foot over the last 100 years.

DECEMBER 2002:
*ETHIOPIA SUFFERING A RECORD DROUGHT.
*AUSTRALIA EXPECTS ITS MOST DANGEROUS BUSHFIRE SEASON IN 20 YEARS.
*RECORD SNOWFALL IN NEW ENGLAND.
*OKLAHOMA CITY HAD ITS FIRST WHITE CHRISTMAS IN MORE THAN 25 YEARS.
*BEIJING, CHINA, IS EXPERIENCING ITS LONGEST PERIOD OF SNOW FOR HALF A CENTURY.
*THREE YEARS OF UNUSUALLY HEAVY RAIN HAVE SATURATED THE SUBSOIL AROUND PARIS. Experts say it is only a matter of time before the Seine bursts its banks and spills into underground stations cellars and sewers - as it did almost a century ago.
*VICTORIA AUSTRALIA'S LARGEST BUSHFIRE IN 20 YEARS.
*IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, THIS YEAR WILL COME WITHIN A WHISKER OF BEING THE WARMEST RECORDED FOR WELL OVER A CENTURY.
*RAINFALL RECORDS WERE TOPPLED ACROSS CALIFORNIA. In downtown Los Angeles, a 62-year-old mark was broken when nearly 2 inches fell in 24 hours; in San Francisco, 2.1 inches were recorded, easily breaking the record of 1.36 inches set in 1962. In Nevada, 1.29 inches fell at the Reno airport, doubling the mark set in 1957.
*AUSTRALIAN COTTON FARMERS WILL BRING IN THEIR SMALLEST CROP IN 15 YEARS DUE TO THE DROUGHT.
*MASS LOSS FROM TROPICAL ICE FIELDS NEAR THE WORLD'S HIGHEST CAPITAL, LA PAZ, BOLIVIA, HAS BEEN 10 TIMES GREATER IN THE 1990s THAN IN PREVIOUS DECADES.
*WARMING GOING ON IN THE ARCTIC IS AN UNPRECEDENTED TREND. THEY ARE EXPERIENCING THE MOST RAPID INCREASE IN TEMPERATURE IN RECORDED HISTORY.
*SURFACE MELT ON GREENLAND WAS THE HIGHEST IN RECORDED HISTORY - and extended to elevations previously untouched by melt.
*TOKYO, JAPAN, GOT ITS EARLIEST BLANKET OF SNOW IN A DECADE.
*UTSUNOMIYA, A CITY NORTH OF TOKYO, GOT NEARLY SEVEN INCHES OF SNOW ON DECEMBER 9TH, THE MOST THERE FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER SINCE 1912.
*GREENLAND EXPERIENCING A WARM SPELL UNSEEN SINCE THE 1930s. Satellite data show the greatest area of melt across its mammoth ice sheet in 24 years of measurements occurred this year.
*ACROSS THE ARCTIC OCEAN, THE FLOATING MANTLE OF ICE THAT COVERS IT THROUGHOUT MUCH OF THE YEAR SHRANK TO RECORD LEVELS THIS SUMMER.
*ONE OF THE WORST WINTERS STORMS IN NORTH CAROLINA'S HISTORY.
*ONE OF THE COLDEST SUMMER DAYS ON RECORD IN VICTORIA, ALASKA.
*AUSTRALIA IS IN THE GRIP OF ONE OF THE WORST DROUGHTS IN 100 YEARS.
*IT IS SHAPING UP TO BE ONE OF AUSTRALIA'S WORST BUSHFIRE SEASONS.
*SIDNEY, AUSTRALIA, SUFFERING THE WORST BUSHFIRES IN THE REGION FOR 30 YEARS.

NOVEMBER 2002:
*EL NINO HAS GIVEN THE YUKON RECORD-BREAKING HIGH NOVEMBER TEMPERATURES AND THE THIRD WARMEST NOVEMBER ON RECORD.
*A DRY WINTER AND A WET SUMMER HAVE RAVAGED ITALY'S GRAPEVINES, CAUSING THE WORST HARVEST IN A HALF A CENTURY.
*DROUGHT HAS CAUSED THE WORST FAMINE IN MALAWI, SOUTHERN AFRICA, IN 50 YEARS. The situation is much the same in Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and Zambia.
*THE LARGEST EARTHQUAKE TO HIT ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD THIS YEAR STRUCK ALASKA (magnitude 7.9).
*ONE OF THE LARGEST EARTHQUAKES EVER RECORDED IN THE UNITED STATES - 7.9 IN ALASKA.

OCTOBER 2002:
*THE DRIEST OCTOBER ON RECORD IN VANCOUVER, CANADA.
*5.4 EARTHQUAKE IN CAMPOBASSO, ITALY (136 miles southeast of Rome) WAS THE STRONGEST QUAKE IN ITALY SINCE 1977.
*HURRICANE KENNA WAS THE MOST POWERFUL STORM TO HIT MEXICO'S PACIFIC COAST IN DECADES. Kenna appeared to hit land with the strongest Pacific Coast winds since Hurricane Madeline came ashore near Zihuatanejo in 1976 with 144 mph winds.
*THE ICE FIELDS ATOP MOUNT KILIMANJARO HAVE RETREATED TO THEIR LOWEST SURFACE EXTENT IN THE PAST 12,000 YEARS and could disappear within the next two decades.
*HIGOS WAS ONE OF THE STRONGEST TYPHOONS TO THREATEN TOKYO IN DECADES, SINCE THE END OF WORLD WAR II. Stronger typhoons have struck other parts of Japan, but most do not pass directly over the capital.

SEPTEMBER 2002:
*THE OZONE HOLE OVER THE ANTARCTIC THIS SEPTEMBER WAS THE SMALLEST IN 15 YEARS, and it split in two.
*TYPHOON RUSA KILLED 184 AND WAS THE WORST TYPHOON TO HIT SOUTH KOREA SINCE 1959, , when Typhoon Sarah killed more than 840.
*A 5.6 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE HIT SICILY - THE STRONGEST TO RATTLE THE ISLAND IN 20 YEARS.
*RUSSIA RECORDING THE LOWEST RAINFALL IN A CENTURY AND SMOG THAT IS THE WORST IN 30 YEARS.
*RECORD RAINFALL IN SOUTH KOREA, BATTERED BY TYPHOON RUSA, THE WORST TYPHOON TO HIT THE PENINSULA IN 40 YEARS. Gangneung was one of the areas hit hardest by the typhoon - 3 feet of rain fell within 30 hours, the highest precipitation since weather officials began compiling records in the 1930s.

AUGUST 2002:
*IN CHINA, WATER LEVELS ON THE YANGTZE RIVER HAVE REACHED THEIR HIGHEST LEVELS IN 14 YEARS. The Xiangjiang river is more than 6.5 feet above its flood-warning levels for the first time on record and still rising.
* IN NEW JERSEY, 8 OF THE PAST 12 MONTHS HAVE BEEN THE DRIEST SINCE THE STATE BEGAN KEEPING RECORDS IN 1895. August is also shaping up to be the driest on record.
*FLOODING IN GERMANY IS NOW THE WORST IN THEIR HISTORY.
*THE GREAT SALT LAKE IN UTAH IS AT ITS LOWEST LEVEL SINCE 1980.
*BANGLADESH SUFFERING THEIR WORST FLOODING IN 4 YEARS.
*MANIPUR STATE IN INDIA SUFFERING THEIR WORST FLOODING IN THREE DECADES.
*DREZDEN, GERMANY SUFFERING THEIR WORST FLOODING IN OVER 150 YEARS. In the German state of Saxony authorities declared the worst flooding in the regions history.
*MORE THAN A WEEK OF UNPRECENDENTED FLOODING IN AUSTRIA. The water level of the Danube River is nearing 100-year highs.
*THE CZECH CAPITAL, PRAGUE, SUFFERING THEIR BIGGEST FLOOD IN MORE THAN 175 YEARS.
*INDIA'S WORST DROUGHT IN 14 YEARS.
*OREGON WILDFIRE IS THE LARGEST WILDFIRE IN THE STATE'S HISTORY.
*CHINA SUFFERING ITS WORST FLOODING SINCE 1998, when the flooding was the worst in decades.
*EUROPE SUFFERING SOME OF THEIR WORST FLOODING SINCE RECORDS WERE FIRST KEPT IN 1896.
*WESTERN CANADA'S WHEAT PRODUCTION IS LIKELY TO HIT A 28-YEAR LOW DUE TO DROUGHT CONDITIONS.
*SMOKE FROM PEAT AND FOREST FIRES CAUSED THE THICKEST SMOG IN 30 YEARS IN MOSCOW, RUSSIA.
*SOUTHERN ASIA'S WORST FLOODS IN 4 YEARS.


JULY 2002:
*A 5-DAY STORM DROPPED 15.1 INCHES OF RAIN ON SAN ANTONIO - A RECORD FOR THE MONTH OF JULY.

JUNE 2002:
*IN THREE DAYS SOUTHERN ALBERTA, CANADA, RECEIVED ALMOST A YEAR'S WORTH OF RAIN.
*LARGEST WILDFIRE IN ARIZONA'S HISTORY.
*DROUGHT IN PARTS OF ARIZONA IS THE WORST IT'S BEEN IN 107 YEARS.
*WORST FLOODING IN 60 YEARS IN GEORGIA (near Russia).
*RUSSIA'S MOST DISASTROUS FLOODING IN THE PAST 10 YEARS.
*TWO DAYS OF STORMS DROPPED NEARLY A YEAR'S WORTH OF PRECIPITATION IN NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA. Wild Rice River reached record levels twice. $370 million worth of damage. ONE OF THE WETTEST JUNES ON RECORD.
*ONE OF THE CLOSEST APPROACHES TO EARTH OF AN ASTEROID THE SIZE OF A SOCCER FIELD. Narrowly missed the Earth by 75,000 miles, less than a third of the distance to the moon.
*THE LARGEST WILDFIRE IN COLORADO'S 126-YEAR HISTORY IS BURNING NEAR DENVER.
*ONE OF THE WORST DELUGES IN CHINA'S HISTORY HAS LEFT 500 FEARED DEAD.
*IN 6 HOURS, DROUGHT IN WESTERN MINNESOTA TURNED INTO RECORD FLOOD LEVELS ON THE WILD RICE RIVER, after a storm brought 12 inches of rain.
*FIERCE RAINSTORMS BROUGHT VENICE'S PRECARIOUS WATER LEVELS TO RECORD HIGHS FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. Officials declared a state of emergency in parts of Fruili, where a record 14.5 inches of rain fell in 24 hours.
*CHILE SUFFERED THEIR WORST STORMS IN 100 YEARS - three days of relentless rain caused flooding and landslides that have made 68,000 homeless. There was more rain in just a few days than normally falls in a year, turning a large swath of the South American nation into a disaster zone.


MAY 2002:
*MORE THAN 1030 PEOPLE HAVE DIED IN A HEAT WAVE IN INDIA, THE HIGHEST ONE-WEEK TOLL ON RECORD FOR ANY INDIAN HEAT WAVE. Past heat waves have never killed many more than a few hundred in a week countrywide.
*SICILY SUFFERING THEIR WORST DRY SPELL IN YEARS.

APRIL 2002:
*RECORD COLD IN WASHINGTON.
*THE STRONGEST TORNADO EVER RECORDED IN MARYLAND.
*THREE PEOPLE DIED IN TBILISI IN GEORGIA'S STRONGEST EARTHQUAKE IN 40 YEARS (6.0 magnitude).
*ON APRIL 16TH - 90 U.S. CITIES REACHED RECORD HIGHS - Albany hit 89 degrees, some 32 degrees above the normal high and 1 degree above the previous record set 106 years ago. New York City posted a 92-degree high, breaking the 1896 record for the day of 88. New Jersey's Newark International Airport passed its record of 82 during the morning and kept going to 92. Williamsport, Pa., hit a record 90, as did St. Louis. Other records fell in Pittsburgh, which broke by 1 degree its old record of 85 degrees set in 1896, and Fargo, N.D., which beat by 7 degrees its old mark of 82 set in 1913.
*ECUADOR HAS SEEN MUCH HEAVIER RAINS THAN NORMAL. Ecuador's rainy season normally runs from November until April, but this year the heavy rains are expected to continue through April and into May.
*IN AUSTIN, TEXAS HEAVY SHOWERS BROKE THE PREVIOUS RAINFALL RECORD SET IN 1976. RECORD RAIN IN MOLINE, ILLINOIS also.
*AFGHANISTAN IS AT THE EPICENTER OF THE MOST EXTENSIVE DROUGHT IN THE WORLD. Their 4-year drought is the worst drought to parch this land in a half-century.

MARCH 2002:
*IT HAS BEEN ONE OF THE WARMEST SUMMERS ON RECORD IN ANTARCTICA. An enormous floating ice shelf that has existed since the last Ice Age 12,000 years ago, collapsed this month with staggering speed.
*THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE THUNDERSTORM IN THE HISTORY OF BOLIVIA'S CAPITAL CITY. Rescue workers found more bodies in the rivers, bringing the number of dead to 52.
*THE WORST DIE-OFF OF MONARCH BUTTERFLIES ON RECORD OCCURRED IN THEIR WINTER NESTING GROUNDS IN THE CENTRAL AND WESTERN STATES OF MIXICO AND MICHOACAN. An unusual combination of freezing temperatures, rains, and clear night skies in mid-January killed 150 million to 250 million butterflies - twice the 110 million monarchs previously believed to have wintered here.

FEBRUARY 2002:
*THE FIRST WEEK OF FEBRUARY BROUGHT THE WARMEST WEATHER IN HISTORY FOR THE DATES FOR MANY PARTS OF FRANCE. Paris parks are flowering in February about six weeks early.
*CONGO, AFRICA SUFFERED THE WORST STORMS IN A DECADE.
*IN EUROPE FROM ATHENS TO MOSCOW, A RECORD-BREAKING COLD SNAP IN EARLY JANUARY HAS BEEN FOLLOWED BY THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURES FOR A FEBRUARY 2ND IN OVER A CENTURY.

JANUARY 2002:
*IN VIENNA TEMPERATURES CLIMBED TO 66 DEGREES THE HIGHEST RECORDED FOR JANUARY 29TH SINCE AUSTRIA BEGAN RECORDING TEMPERATURES IN 1872. Meteorologists said that periods of thaw were nothing unusual, but that such a long spate of warm weather in January was exceptional.
*RECORD NUMBERS OF LETHAL JELLYFISH HAVE BEEN FOUND NEAR SHORE IN NORTHERN QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA IN THE LAST TWO MONTHS.
*JAKARTA, INDONESIA EXPERIENCING SOME OF THE WORST FLOODS IN DECADES.
*RECORD WARMTH IN THE LAST TWO MONTHS IN MUCH OF SOUTHERN ONTARIO, CANADA, FROM QUEBEC TO LAKE HURON.
*SNOW BLANKETED CRETE AND SEVERAL OTHER GREEK ISLANDS IN THE WORST WEATHER CONDITIONS IN 50 YEARS.
*FREAK WARM SPELL IN MOSCOW BRINGS TEMPERATURE TO THE HIGHEST LEVEL IN A CENTURY. The thermometer on the 24th showed 39 degrees, the highest on record in Moscow for any Jan. 24. On the 25th, the high was 37 degrees, the highest for Jan. 25 since 1904.
*THE CONGO'S NYIRAGONGO VOLCANO CAUSED AFRICA'S DEADLIEST VOLCANIC ERUPTION IN 25 YEARS.
*SNOW FELL IN ROME FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A DECADE.
*ATLEAST 55 RECORD HIGHS WERE SHATTERED IN BRITISH COLUMBIA ON ONE DAY. It's a crazy winter in Canada. On the Prairies there is no snow. The cherry tree in front of the CBC building in Vancouver is in full bloom.
*A RARE SNOWSTORM SWEPT OVER MANY PARTS OF THE MIDDLE EAST. It was the first significant snowfall in Damascus since 1992. In Jerusalem's walled Old City snow had last fallen two years ago. Such sustained storms had not hit Lebanon in 32 years.
*IN TURKEY, FREAK SNOWSTORMS HAVE CAUSED SOME OF THE WORST CONDITIONS THEY'VE SEEN IN 40 OR 50 YEARS.
*THE COMBINATION OF HIGH TEMPERATURES, STRONG WINDS AND LOW HUMIDITY IN AUSTRALIA IS EXTRAORDINARY AND A ONCE-IN-50 YEARS EVENT. 100 bushfires are still raging out of control.
*TURKEY'S COASTAL PROVINCES SAW SNOW FOR THE FIRST TIME IN NEARLY 10 YEARS.
*THE WAVE OF ARSON, WHICH HAS SEEN 50 BUSHFIRES SET, IS ONE OF THE WORST EVER IN AUSTRALIA.
*POLAND HAS BEEN LABORING THROUGH ONE OF ITS COLDEST WINTERS IN YEARS. The last time they had such a severe winter was 23 years ago.
*IN JAPAN, THE CITY OF NAGOYA CHARTED ITS BIGGEST JANUARY SNOWFALL IN 27 YEARS.


DECEMBER 2001:
*BUFFALO, NEW YORK PARALYZED BY NEARLY 7 FEET OF SNOW - the record-breaking storm lasted 5 days. Among the records set: the 83.5 inches of snow that fell in December makes it the snowiest month in Buffalo's history. 35.4 inches fell in 24 hours making it the second-highest 24-hour total in their history.
*WORST BRUSHFIRES IN AUSTRALIA SINCE 1994.
*STORMS BROUGHT MUDSLIDES TO BRAZIL AND HAVE CAUSED ONE OF THE WORST NATURAL DISASTERS IN RIO DE JANEIRO IN RECENT YEARS. In Petropolis they had one month's average rainfall in just a few hours. It was a record, a deluge.
*PUERTO RICO SUFFERED THE HEAVIEST DECEMBER RAINFALL IN 4 DECADES.
*THE LARGEST EARTHQUAKE IN 50 YEARS IN THE SOUTHERN OCEAN NEAR AUSTRALIA. (7.0 magnitude)
*RECORD HIGHS IN 30 CITIES IN THE U.S. - East of the Mississippi, temperatures over the month of November have often been 25 degrees above normal.

NOVEMBER 2001:
*KENTUCKY AND TENNESSEE SUFFERING SOME OF THEIR WORST SEASONAL WILDFIRE DAMAGE - woodlands are tinder dry from an autumn drought gripping most the of East Coast of the U.S.
*WORST RAINS AND FLOODING IN BRAZIL IN AT LEAST 22 YEARS - some areas hit by the same amount of rain in 2 days that they usually receive in the entire rainy season month of January.
*RECORD-BREAKING RAIN FELL IN AUSTIN AND SAN ANTONIO TEXAS - Up to 13 inches.
*IN VIETNAM TYPHOON LINGLING WAS THE STRONGEST TYPHOON TO HIT VIETNAM IN 15 YEARS.
*DAMAGE FROM HURRICANE MICHELLE NOW RANKS AS THE WORST NATURAL DISASTER IN CUBA IN OVER 100 YEARS.
*THE WORST FLOODING IN AT LEAST TWO DECADES IN ALGERIA.
* THE RESORT ISLAND OF CAMIGUIN IN THE PHILIPPINES SUFFERED ITS WORST DISASTER IN A HALF-CENTURY FROM TROPICAL STORM LINGLING. 135 dead and 300 people missing. (In 1951, Hibok-Hibok volcano erupted, killing 500 people.)

OCTOBER 2001:

*IN CUBA HURRICANE MICHELLE WAS THE WORST STORM TO HIT CUBA SINCE 1944.
*2001 WAS A RECORD YEAR FOR TORNADOES IN MINNESOTA WITH 72, more than the previous two years combined. The previous one-year record was 58 in 1998. The good news is that most of the tornadoes were weak, causing no deaths.
*INDIA - HEAVIEST RAINS IN 40 YEARS.
*WORST FLOODING IN 16 YEARS IN BRAZIL. In Curitiba, the capital of Parana state, rainfall over 12 hours was half the October normal.
*HURRICANE JULIETTE WAS THE MOST DAMAGING HURRICANE IN BAJA CALIFORNIA'S HISTORY. Neighborhoods were devastated; some of them disappeared.

SEPTEMBER 2001:

*IRAN - WORST DROUGHT IN 30 YEARS - Lake Hamoun, the country's largest body of fresh water and one of the largest in the world, is desert now.
*IN TAIWAN TORRENTIAL RAINS UNLEASHED BY TYPHOON NARI SPARKED THE WORST FLODDS EVER IN THER GREATER TAIPEI AREA. Taipei, was hit with record rainfall of 17 inches in a single day. Tropical storms and typhoons frequently hit Taiwan during the summer but they usually sweep over the island in a day. Slow-moving Nari lingered, to become THE LONGEST-LASTING TROPICAL STORM IN RECORDED TAIWAN HISTORY. The amount of rain was incredible, BREAKING ANY ONE-DAY RAINFALL RECORD SINCE OFFICIALS BEGAN KEEPING RECORDS IN 1930. Several cities recorded up to 800mm of rain in a day, about one-third of the average annual rainfall.
*FLOODS IN THE MEKONG RIVER DELTA, IN 6 PROVINCES IN SOUTHERN VIETNAM ARE THE WORST IN 20 YEARS.
*CHICAGO, ILLINOIS HAD THEIR SECOND-WETTEST AUGUST ON RECORD AND THE THIRD-WETTEST OF ANY MONTH.

AUGUST 2001:

*NORTHERN CHINA IS IN THE GRIP OF ITS LONGEST DROUGHT SINCE 1990.
*CAPE TOWN SOUTH AFRICA HAD THE WETTEST WINTER IN 40 YEARS.
*THE WORST FLOODING IN SOUTH AFRICA IN MORE THAN 40 YEARS.
*THIS IS ONE OF THE HOTTEST, DRIEST CANADIAN SUMMERS IN HISTORY - and forest fires are raging across the country.
*TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS IN WASHINGTON D. C. CAUSED THE WORST FLOODING IN DOWNTOWN AREAS IN DECADES.
*THAILAND SUFFERING THE WORST FLASH FLOOD IN 13 YEARS as heavy rains were brought by tropical storm Usagi.
*DEVASTATING STORMS IN IRAN - THE REGION'S WORST FLOODING IN 200 YEARS. May have killed nearly 300 people.
*CANADA REACHED RECORD-BREAKING TEMPERATURES OVER SEVERAL DAYS.
*NORTHEASTERN U.S. REACHED RECORD-BREAKING TEMPERATURES DURING A HEAT WAVE THAT HAS LASTED 5 DAYS.

JULY 2001:

*TAIWAN TYPHOON TORAJI IS THE DEADLIEST IN 40 YEARS. ONE OF THE WORST STORMS TO EVER HIT THE ISLAND OF TAIWAN. It ripped through Taiwan leaving about 200 people dead or missing and causing over $173 million in damage.
*CANADA SUFFERING ONE OF THE DRIEST JULYS ON RECORD.
*SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA SUFFERING IT'S WORST DROUGHT IN ALMOST 100 YEARS.
*FOURTH WETTEST JULY DAY ON RECORD IN PERTH, AUSTRALIA - More than 117 millimetres of rain fell in some Perth suburbs in 24 hours.
*WORST FLOODING IN PARTS OF INDIA IN 50 YEARS.
*THIS IS ONE OF THE SMOGGIEST SUMMERS ON RECORD IN SOUTHERN ONTARIO.

JUNE 2001:

*HEAVIEST DOWNPOUR IN ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN IN 100 YEARS - 24 INCHES. The monsoon season in Pakistan started earlier this year after a prolonged dry spell. The meteorological department has forecast record rains this season.
*CHINA IS SUFFERING ITS WORST DROUGHT IN MORE THAN TWO DECADES.
*IN CHINA, RAINS FROM TYPHOON UTOR CAUSED THE YONGJIANG RIVER TO REACH ITS HIGHEST LEVEL IN 50 YEARS.
*TYPHOON UTOR HAD AN UNUSUALLY LARGE RADIOUS OF 220 MILES, ONE OF THE LARGEST IN 20 YEARS.
*MORE RAIN IN WASHINGTON IN ONE DAY THAN THE REGION USUALLY SEES IN THE ENTIRE MONTH OF JUNE. A third of Washington's cherry crop is estimated to have been destroyed by the freak storm that marched across the Yakima Valley pelting orchards with hailstones as large as nickels.
*7.9 EARTHQUAKE IN PERU IS THE WORST TO HIT THE AREA SINCE 1913.
*DROUGHT IN CHINA IS THE SECOND MOST WIDESPREAD SINCE 1949.
*WORST PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS TO HIT THE FERTILE CENTRAL ASIAN PLAINS IN 40 YEARS. A huge mass, swarms of locusta migratoria are chomping their way through the Central Asian plains, devouring vegetation and crops through swathes of Russia, China and the former Soviet republics.
*NEARLY AN INCH OF RAIN (.99) FELL AT HONOLULU AIRPORT IN 24 HOURS, SETTING A RECORD FOR THE DATE. The last record of .23 of an inch was set in 1978. The record rainfall for the entire month of June was 2.28 inches, set in 1967.

MAY 2001:

*NORTH KOREA - HIT BY UNPRECEDENTD DRY SPELL - this long spell of drought is something rare in the history of meteorological observation. It is believed to happen once in 1,000 years.
*U.S. IS GRIPPED BY ONE OF THE WORST DROUGHTS SINCE THE DUST BOWL OF THE 1930S - hurting farmers, scaring firefighters, and forcing water restrictions from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., to Midland, Texas. In parts of the Southwest, it's so dry the cactuses need watering. The flint-dry conditions now encompass a full one-third of the United States.
*ALBERTA CANADA'S DRIEST SPRING IN 130 YEARS .
*UNPRECEDENTED FLOODING IN RUSSIA. Russia has never had such devastating floods before - a record 30 feet above flood stage on some rivers.
*THIS SPRING HAS BEEN ONE OF THE WORST ALLERGY SEASONS IN RECENT MEMORY - Tree Pollen Set Records in Parts of Northeast U.S.; Great Lakes Also Hit.
*THAILAND SUFFERED FLASH FLOODING WITH THE PROVINCE OF PHRAE EXPERIENCING THE HEAVIEST DOWNPOUR IN THEIR HISTORY. A 6-foot-high torrent swept away more than 800 homes.
*IN ISRAEL UNUSUAL WEATHER CONDITIONS WERE CALLED A ONCE-IN-A-CENTURY PHENOMENON. It had not rained as heavily in May since 1986.
*INDIA SUFFERING ONE OF THE SEVEREST DROUGHTS IN LIVING MEMORY. Out of 32 districts, 31 are facing acute shortage of water. More than 30,000 villages have about a 50 percent deficit in crop yield, jeopardizing the lives of 32 million people.

APRIL 2001:

*WETTEST APRIL ON RECORD IN MINNESOTA. With one week of April left to go Duluth has already set a record for rainfall during April with 7.79 inches, shattering the monthly record of 5.85 inches set in 1894.
*WORST ICE CONDITIONS IN MORE THAN A DECADE OFF THE NORTHEAST COAST OF NEWFOUNDLAND.
*ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL SOLAR FLARES EVER RECORDED erupted near sunspot group 9415, climaxing a two-week spate of X-class flares from that active region. The blast was directed mostly away from Earth. That's a good thing because the flare was nearly as powerful as one in 1989 that triggered the collapse of a power grid in Canada -- no such calamities are expected this time.
*WORST SNOWSTORM IN DECADES IN DENVER, COLORADO.
*WESTERN WASHINGTON FACING ITS MOST POTENT SUMMER WILDFIRE CONDITIONS IN A QUARTER-CENTURY. All along the western slope of the Cascades, this year's drought is baking normally mossy forests into an unusually combustible stew.
*SNOWFALL THIS MONTH IN NEWFOUNDLAND, CANADA BROKE A RECORD SET 119 YEARS AGO.
*THE PICARDY REGION OF FRANCE HAD THEIR WORST FLOODING SINCE 1920.


MARCH 2001:

*THE HOTTEST MARCH WEATHER IN A CENTURY IN THE NORTHERN MEDITERRANEAN. It has created an early fire season in Greece.
*THE BIGGEST SUNSPOT OF THE CURRENT SOLAR CYCLE UNLEASHED THE MOST POWERFUL SOLAR FLARE IN AT LEAST 12 YEARS.
*RUSSIA PREPARING FOR RECORD SPRING FLOODING - exceptionally heavy snowfalls and lower than usual temperatures have locked up massive volumes of water. Weather experts have said THE CONDITIONS ARE THE WORST FOR 70 YEARS. Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Britain and France all suffered serious flooding earlier this year as a result of unusually high rainfalls.
* EARLY SPRING IN WASHINGTON - THE NORTH CASCADES HIGHWAY REOPENED EARLIER THIS YEAR THAN ANY ON RECORD.
*THE 2000-2001 SEASON SO FAR IS SHAPING UP AS THE SECOND DRIEST IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST SINCE OFFICIALS STARTED KEEPING RECORDS. Only 1977 was worse.
*PARTS OF SUDAN FACE A DROUGHT OF UNPRECEDENTED SEVERITY. Dams are dry in the northern provinces of Darfur and Kordofan. PARTS OF THOSE REGIONS ARE SUFFERING THE DRIEST SEASON IN LIVING MEMORY. Water reservoirs for the capital of Darfur, Al Fashir, are empty and a dam in the north of the state, which had still had water during earlier droughts, has run dry.
*THE LARGEST SUNSPOT IN TEN YEARS CROSSED THE SOLAR DISK. The fast-growing spot, called AR9393, covered an area of the Sun equivalent to the total surface area of 13 Earths.
*JAPAN STRUCK BY THEIR DEADLIEST QUAKE IN SIX YEARS.
*MALTA HAD ITS WARMEST MARCH DAY ON RECORD. Malta this year experienced one of its driest winters after having had one of its wettest last year.
*RECORD MARCH RAINFALL IN FRANCE HAS SUBMERGED AREAS UNDER FLOOD WATERS. March rains have reached three times the average level.
*PARTS OF FLORIDA ARE IN THE MIDST OF THE WORST DROUGHT IN MORE THAN A CENTURY OF RECORD-KEEPING. The tinder-dry state is threatened with its most severe wildfire season in decades. In some areas of the state total rainfall last year was the least in the last 100 years.
*THE NOVEMBER 2000 TO JANUARY 2001 PERIOD IS THE SECOND-DRIEST EVER SEEN IN WASHINGTON IN 107 YEARS OF RECORD-KEEPING.
*ISRAEL SUFFERING ITS THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR OF BELOW-AVERAGE RAINFALL. Water in the Sea of Galilee, from which the country draws 40 percent of its drinking water, has receded to one of the lowest levels in years.
*IN EASTERN AUSTRALIA FLOODING IS NOW THE WORST IN HALF A CENTURY.
*RWANDA IS SUFFERING ITS FIRST OUTBREAK OF FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE SINCE 1932. The outbreak was believed to have started last month and the disease was spreading through the country like wildfire. This pandemonium is of such magnitude that five of the country's 11 provinces have been put into quarantine.
*IN THE UKRAINE AND HUNGARY WATER LEVELS ARE THE HIGHEST IN MORE THAN A CENTURY. They are causing less damage than the record floods of 1998 because of dike reinforcement work since then.
*IN PERU VIOLENT STORM-DRIVEN RAINS THREATEN TO SINK FLOATING ISLANDS INHABITED BY HUNDREDS OF INDIANS ON THE 'SACRED' LAKE TITICACA - THE LAKE LEVEL IS THE HIGHEST SICE 1986.
*RECORD SNOWFALLS HAVE HIT MOSCOW AND OTHER RUSSIAN REGIONS OVER THE PAST MONTH.
*PORTUGAL SUFFERING ONE OF ITS WETTEST WINTERS EVER.
*WATER LEVELS IN HUNGARY ARE UNPRECEDENTEDLY HIGH, AN EXTRAORDINARY FLOOD ALERT HAS BEEN ISSUED.
*DROUGHT IN FLORIDA THIS SEVERE ONLY OCCURS ABOUT ONCE EVERY 100 TO 200 YEARS. In some areas of Florida, rainfall is nearly five feet below normal. In Lake County, the lakes are disappearing.


FEBRUARY 2001:

*SEATTLE, WASHINGTON'S WATER TABLE IS THE LOWEST IT'S BEEN IN AT LEAST 30 YEARS because Seattle has experienced two drier-than-normal winters in a row and a dry spring last year.
*SEATTLE, WASHINGTON EXPERIENCED ITS WORST EARTHQUAKE IN 52 YEARS which caused widespread panic, especially in the early moments when office dwellers were jolted side to side and then popped skyward, or worse.
*IN CANADA PEOPLE IN MANITOBA AND SASKATCHEWAN ARE DIGGING OUT FROM ONE OF THE WORST WINTERS ON RECORD. Some areas have seen 200% more snow than normal.
*IN SYRIA THE WORST SANDSTORM IN MORE THAN 40 YEARS HAS RAGED IN THE SYRIAN DESERT FOR TWO DAYS. Over 1,000 sheep have disappeared and routes into cities in the area have been cut off. The storm also caused breathing difficulties for dozens of people.
*MONGOLIA IS HAVING ITS WORST WINTER IN MEMORY WITH NINETY PERCENT OF THE COUNTRY COVERED IN THICK SNOW.
*TURKEY HAS BEEN SUFFERING FROM TWO SUCCESSIVE YEARS OF DROUGHT THAT OFFICIALS SAY IS THE WORST IN 20 YEARS. There is no end to the drought in sight.
*THERE WERE A RECORD NUMBER OF REPORTED SHARK ATTACKS ON PEOPLE WORLDWIDE IN 2000. Seventy-nine unprovoked shark attacks were reported last year, the largest number since the International Shark Attack File began compiling statistics in 1958.

JANUARY 2001:

*IN NORTHERN NEW SOUTH WALES THE CITY OF LISMORE SUFFERED DAMAGE IN THEIR WORST FLOODS IN 12 YEARS.
*NEWFOUNDLAND, CANADA, SUFFERING THROUGH THEIR WORST WINTER ON RECORD - and they've been keeping records for 60 years.
*MONGOLIA SUFFERING SECOND STRAIGHT WINTER OF DISASTER AND THE FIRST TIME ON RECORD THAT THE LAND NORTH OF CHINA HAS HAD SUCH SEVERE COLD WEATHER IN TWO CONSECUTIVE YEARS. The cold spell has kept temperatures hovering as low as 58 degrees below zero. Last year's winter was Mongolia's coldest in 30 years.
*BANGALORE, INDIA SHOOK BY 4.3 TREMOR - TREMORS OF THIS MAGNITUDE HAVE NEVER BEEN RECORDED IN THE HISTORY OF THE CITY.
*INDIA HIT BY 7.9 EARTHQUAKE, IT'S STRONGEST SINCE 1956.
*SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA HEAT WAVE HAS BROKEN A 61 YEAR-OLD RECORD BY SCORING 22 DAYS IN A ROW WITH THE TEMPERATURE ABOVE 44 DEGREES CELSIUS (104 Fahrenheit).
*SIBERIA IS ENDURING ITS WORST WINTER IN AT LEAST THREE DECADES, WITH RECORD-BREAKING COLD TEMPERATURES.
*RUSSIA IS SUFFERING ITS COLDEST WINTER IN 3 DECADES
*FLORIDA FACES ONE OF THE WORST DROUGHTS AND FIRE THREATS THAT THEY'VE EVER HAD. The combination of a nearly three-year drought , one of the worst of the past 100 years, and freezes across the state have left the state in desperately dry conditions ripe for wildfires.
*IN SOUTHWESTERN JAPAN 13 CEENTIMETERS OF SNOW FELL, THE FIRST TIME IT HAS SNOWED THERE FOR 34 YEARS.
*WORST WINTER WEATHER IN 50 YEARS HAS MONGOLIA FACING ITS WORST HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN ITS MODERN HISTORY. Deep snow covering 95 per cent of the vast countryside and people and livestock perishing in minus 50 degree temperatures and 100kmh winds.
*DEVASTATING 7.6 EARTHQUAKE IN EL SALVADOR WAS THE MOST POWERFUL TO STRIKE THERE IN MORE THAN A DECADE. It was the nation's worst natural disaster since 1986.
*SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA SUFFERING ONE OF THEIR HOTTEST DAYS ON RECORD with temperatures topping 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) in some areas.
*WETTEST JANUARY IN 40 YEARS IN KENYA. Heavy rain has been falling on Nairobi for most of this month. Kenya is only just beginning to recover from one of the worst droughts in its history, and substantial rain had not been expected until March.
*NORTH KOREA REPORTED RECORD SNOWFALL AND BITTER COLD.
*RECORD FREEZE IN THE VAST RUSSIAN REGION.
*SEATTLE, WASHINGTON RECEIVED THE HIGHEST TIDE IN 14 YEARS.
*EARTHQUAKE THAT STRUCK KODIAK ISLAND, ALASKA WAS THE MOST POWERFUL U.S. EARTHQUAKE IN MORE THAN A YEAR.
*CALIFORNIA'S WORST STORM IN THREE YEARS KNOCKED DOWN POWER LINES.
*SOUTH KOREA EXPERIENCED ITS HEAVIEST SNOWFALL IN 20 YEARS, up to 33 inches blanketed the mountainous country.
*SNOWFALL THAT IS 10 TIMES HEAVIER IN INNER MONGOLIA THAN IN PREVIOUS YEARS, HAS CRIPPLED THE REGION.
*HEAVIEST SNOWFALL FOR JANUARY IN 65 YEARS IN FUKUSHIMA, NEAR TOKYO, JAPAN.
*COLD WAVE IN RUSSIA SET A 30 YEAR RECORD AS TEMPERATURES PLUNGED AS LOW AS MINUS 70 DEGREES.


*THE WORLD WAS HIT BY A RECORD NUMBER OF NATURAL DISASTERS IN 2000 and global warming and a rising population are likely to make future years even worse. The world's largest reinsurer said the number of natural disasters rose by more than 100 to 850 in 2000. The number of deaths was much lower than in 1999 because less populated areas were affected. 10,000 people died as a result of natural disasters in 2000 compared to 75,000 in 1999. Property damage was put at more than $30 billion.

Year 2000 weird weather highlights for the U.S.:
First, there was the balmy month of January — the warmest ever recorded in the United States. Spring followed with more tepid temperatures, registering as the second warmest on record. Then Mother Nature intervened: severe droughts in the South, heat waves simmering across the South and western United States. States in the Deep South (Florida, Georgia., Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana) experienced the driest May-October ever. Lands in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arizona, Louisiana, and Mississippi were parched under the driest July- Sept. ever on record. By November, torrential rainfall flooded the region during the wettest November ever in the region. Widespread drought led to one of the worst wildfire season in 50 years, consuming more than 7 million acres of forests and grasslands, mostly in Western states. In Pennsylvania and West Virginia, July registered as the coolest on record. In New York, the month was the second coolest in 100 years. The U.S. Atlantic hurricane season was above average for the third straight year in a row with 16 strong to violent tornadoes occurring between March and August. There has been an increase in extremes in the last 100 years.

DECEMBER 2000:
*RECORD RAINFALL IN DECEMBER IN QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA. Much of the area has been isolated by wet season floods for up to six weeks. 2000 was the second wettest year in Australia since 1900.
*A NEW RECORD WAS SET IN 2000 FOR THE HIGHEST ANNUAL RAINFALL RECORDED AT AN AUSTRALIAN WEATHER STATION. Mount Bellenden Ker, 5,100 feet high, recorded 490 inches last year, compared with the previous record of 467 inches set in 1999.
*WARMER TEMPERATURES IN RECENT YEARS HAVE BROUGHT SPRING EVER EARLIER TO THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE - as much as a week sooner than 20 years ago in many .
*COLDEST NOVEMBER-DECEMBER U. S. AVERAGE TEMPERATURE ON RECORD, 33.8 degrees Fahrenheit. This broke the old record of 34.2 set in 1898. It was the coldest November-December on record in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri and the second coldest such two-month period for Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. Heavy snow also accompanied the cold in many areas. The record cold was a sharp change from most of last year, which began with the warmest winter on record.
* A SNOWFALL RECORD WAS SET IN NEWFOUNDLAND, CANADA - by the 3rd week of December 154 centimetres of snow had fallen during the month. That shatters the old record of 151 centimetres set in 1958. The average snowfall amount for a typcial December is about 62 centimetres. And it wasn't over yet. More snow and flurries were in the forecast for the remainder of the week.
*HEAVY RAINS FLOODED MEDIEVAL TOWNS IN THE YOUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MONTENEGRO, THE MOST SINCE 1986.
*ABOUT 28 TORNADOES WERE RECORDED ACROSS ALBERTA, CANADA, THIS PAST SUMMER - A DOZEN MORE THAN AVERAGE AND THE MOST SINCE METEOROLOGISTS BEGAN TRACKING TORNADOES IN 1982.
*POPOCATEPETL VOLCANO OUTSIDE MEXICO CITY SPEWED A FIERY FOUNTAIN OF ASH AND ROCK IN ITS MOST SPECTACULAR ERUPTION IN MORE THAN A MILLENNIUM.
*TORNADOES KILLED 12 PEOPLE IN TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA IN ONE OF THE WORST TRAGEDIES IN THE STATE'S HISTORY.
*THE WORST ELEPHANT INVASION IN NORTHERN NIGERIA IN 35 YEARS. 44 communities have been destroyed along with vast swaths of cropland.
*POPOCATEPETL VOLCANO'S ERUPTION APPEARS TO BE THE LARGEST EMISSION OF MOLTEN ROCK FROM THE PEAK SINCE IT RUMBLED BACK FROM A 70-YEAR PERIOD OF DORMANCY IN 1994.
*MEXICO'S POPOCATEPETL VOLCANO HAS HAD ONE OF ITS MOST ACTIVE WEEKS IN TW0 YEARS, WITH UNPRECEDENTED SEISMIC ACTIVITY INSIDE THE CONE.
*WHILE THIS YEAR'S SOLAR MAXIMUM HAS NOT BEEN AN HISTORICAL WHOPPER, TWO RADIATION STORMS WERE THE THIRD AND FOURTH MOST SEVERE SINCE 1975. And a geomagnetic storm on July 15 was the worst since 1991. Geomagnetic storms arrive later than radiation storms, last longer and fuel the colorful lights known as auroras. High activity is expected for the next two years.
*ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI HIT BY THE HEAVIEST SNOWFALL SINCE 1993.
*IN ENGLAND THE RIVER THAMES WAS AT FLOOD LEVEL WITH THE WATER IN THE TOWN OF READING RECORDING THE HIGHEST LEVELS SINCE 1979.
*SEVERAL FRENCH TOWNS WERE AFFECTED BY A COMBINATION OF RECORD RAINFALLS AND UNUSUALLY HIGH TIDES.
*THE POPOCATEPETL VOLCANO NEAR MEXICO CITY ERUPTED A RECORD NUMBER OF TIMES IN A SINGLE DAY ON DECEMBER 12TH. It registered 200 eruptions, breaking a 1996 record of 180 in a single day. The volcano sounded like "a truck dumping rocks."
*THE LAST THREE WINTERS IN CANADA HAVE BEEN THE WARMEST IN 53 YEARS - 1999 was the fifth mildest in the 53 years.
*ENGLAND'S WEATHERMEN ARE CLAIMING DECEMBER COULD BE THE WARMEST FOR 20 YEARS.
*CYCLONE SAM WAS ONE OF THE STRONGEST CYCLONES EVER TO CROSS AN AUSTRALIAN COAST. It dumped torrential rains over a widespread area and caused significant environmental damage.
*CYPRUS SUFFERED ONE OF THEIR DRIEST NOVEMBERS ON RECORD. They are enduring a 5 year drought.


NOVEMBER:
*NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA SUFFERED ITS WETTEST NOVEMBER ON RECORD - and there were still 10 days left in the month. The inland had received between two and three times its average rainfall, while the worst affected areas had recorded four times their usual levels.
*IN AUSTRALIA NO ONE CAN REMEMBER FLOODWATERS RISING SO HIGH THROUGH THE WINTER GRAIN FIELDS. Winter crops are more dense and yet the floods pushed the water through areas it had never been before. This hasn't happened in history before.
*PARTS OF FLORIDA REMAIN PARCHED FROM THE DRIEST WET SEASON SINCE 1966.
*6.3 EARTHQUAKE IN AZERBAIJAN WAS THE MOST POWERFUL TO HIT THE REGION IN 40 YEARS.
*FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 15 YEARS ANCHORAGE EXPERIENCED A SNOWLESS THANKSGIVING. Unusual storm patterns in the Bering Sea have sent warm air over Alaska's largest city, keeping snow away. There has been only one other Thanksgiving in Anchorage when there was no snow on the ground. This snowless November is approaching a record - In 1986, Anchorage went until November 29 without an inch of season-lasting snow, the longest wait on record. And temperatures this month have been 9 degrees Farenheit over average.
*RAIN WAS STILL FALLING AROUND NEW SOUTH WALES WHEN THE TOWN WAS HIT BY ITS HIGHEST RIVER LEVELS IN THREE DECADES and its third heaviest flooding in the past century.
*IN ITALY MANY FLOODED AREAS HAVE RECEIVED MORE RAINFALL IN THE PAST MONTH THAN IN AN ENTIRE NORMAL YEAR.
*BRITAIN HAS BEEN SUFFERING THE MOST ABNORMAL WEATHER SINCE RAINFALL RECORDS BEGAN MORE THAN 200 YEARS AGO IN 1766.
*AUSTRALIA SAYS THEIR FLOODS ARE THE WORST IN 50 YEARS.
*BUFFALO, NEW YORK EXPERIENCED ITS BIGGEST NOVEMBER SNOWSTORM EVER - 3 inches an hour and a total over 2 feet - they already have half the snow that the city normally expects in a whole season. It was the 3rd most snow in any 24-hour period in their history.
*SWEDEN - WORST FLOODING IN OVER 100 YEARS - many rivers and lakes have reached record levels and are predicted to keep rising for the rest of the year and stay swollen until next spring or summer. And more rain is on the way.
*HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE HAVE DIED IN FLOODS THIS YEAR IN THE SOUTHERN MEKONG DELTA WHCH HAS SUFFERED ITS WORST FLOODS IN DECADES.
*RIVERS FLOWING SOUTH FROM THE NORWEGIAN MOUNTAINS THROUGH WESTERN SWEDEN HAVE RISEN TO RECORD LEVELS.
*TEMPERATURES IN THE U.S. FOR THE 10 MONTHS THROUGH OCTOBER 2000 WERE THE WARMEST ON RECORD SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1895. Regions of the South and the Southeast were also much drier than normal, making it the 24th driest period overall since 1895.
*THE LARGEST EVER OUTBREAK OF MOUNTAIN PINE BEETLE HAS PROMPTED A STATE OF EMERGENCY IN CANADA'S PACIFIC PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. Although half of the beetles are normally killed off by winter cold, two years of mild winters have quadrupled the insects' population. The epidemic has affected vast areas of pine trees.
*SWEDEN SUFFERING RECORD FLOODING IN PARTS OF THE COUNTRY.
*DROUGHT IN YUGOSLAVIA HAS REDUCED THE MAIZE CROP TO ITS LOWEST LEVEL IN 11 YEARS, PUSHING UP PRICES TO 50 YEAR HIGHS.
*THE NATIVE PEOPLE OF THE CANADIAN ARCTIC ARE SEEING SOMETHING UNKNOWN IN THEIR ORAL HISTORY - THUNDER AND LIGHTNING. Electric storms occuring in the upper Arctic are evidence of climate change.
*SO FAR THIS AUTUMN, BRITAIN - WHICH WAS IN DROUGHT 2 YEARS AGO - HAS ENDURED THE WETTEST AUTUMN SINCE RECORDS BEGAN 273 YEARS AGO.
*THE ENGLISH RAT POPULATION HAS SOARED TO ITS HIGHEST LEVELS IN RECENT MEMORY. Reports of rat infestations have risen 18 percent in the past year. Britain is under siege from an emerging breed of rat that is not vulnerable to any present day poisons. Not only have the rodents developed resistances to previously deadly anticoagulants, but they have been learning from other rats to avoid the poisons after witnessing their effects.
*MANITOBA SUFFERED ITS WORST FALL FLOODING IN RECENT MEMORY.
*TEXAS RECEIVED RECORD RAINFALL. Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport collected a record 2.14 inches of rain on November 7, breaking the previous record for the same day of 1.59 inches, which was set in 1957.
*BRITAIN ISSUED A RECORD NUMBER OF SEVERE FLOOD WARNINGS THROUGHOUT WEEKS OF HEAVY RAIN.
*CENTRAL BURUNDI IS EXPERIENCING WHAT SOME SAY IS ITS WORST MALARIA OUTBREAK IN LIVING MEMORY.
*IN ENGLAND THE OUSE RIVER REACHED ITS HIGHEST LEVEL IN 400 YEARS and forecasters warned that more heavy rain was on the way.
* A RECORD-SETTING AMOUNT OF RAIN - MORE THAN 2 FEET - INUNDATED THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS WITHIN A 24 HOUR PERIOD - 26.22 inches of rain fell at the Hilo Airport, breaking the previous 24-hour record of 22.3 inches set in 1979.
*BRITAIN SUFFERING THE WORST FLOODS IN 100 YEARS - THE LATEST STORM WAS THE WORST FOR MORE THAN A DECADE, with the south of the country brought to a virtual standstill as fallen trees and floods shut roads and rail lines. And worse is yet to come.
*TAIWAN HIT BY THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE STORM TO HIT THE ISLAND IN 5 YEARS.

OCTOBER:
*THIS YEAR'S RAINY SEASON IN CAMBODIA HAS BEEN THE WORST SINCE 1996.
*IN SWITZERLAND, AFTER HEAVY RAINS, LAKE MAGGIORE IS AT ITS HIGHEST LEVEL IN 160 YEARS. Storms dumped half the average annual rainfall in just three days.
*ITALY HAD ITS WORST FLOODING SINCE 1994. The Po river hit its highest level in at least a half-century; its height at Piacenza was the highest ever recorded there.
*SOUTHERN ENGLAND RECEIVED WHAT IS NORMALLY 60 DAYS WORTH OF RAIN IN JUST 24 HOURS.
*SOUTHERN ENGLAND SUFFERING WORST FLOODS IN DECADES.
*IN PARTS OF SWITZERLAND MORE RAIN FELL IN 3 DAYS THAN IN A NORMAL ENTIRE MONTH IN OCTOBER.
*EARLY SEASON SNOW BROKE RECORDS IN A NUMBER OF CITIES IN THE NORTHERN U.S. More than one foot of early snowfall blanketed Michigan's Upper Peninsula and parts of northern Wisconsin. snow and ice fell over much of Michigan as well as parts of northern New England.
*RECORD COLD, UNSEASONABLE TEMPERATURES WERE REPORTED FROM MINNESOTA TO FLORIDA ON COLUMBUS DAY. It was the coldest Oct. 9 in more than a century at St. Cloud, Minn., with a low of 16, and Springfield, Ill., where thermometers bottomed out at 25. Previous records for the date in both cities had been established in 1895. Record books also were rewritten in Alabama, where Huntsville dropped to 29, and in Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. Records were tied in New York, Arkansas, New Jersey and Virginia.
*JAPAN SUFFERED ITS STRONGEST EARTHQUAKE IN 5 YEARS - a 7.3 magnitude struck a large region of the southwest, injuring at least 28 people and destroying buildings.
*THE OZONE HOLE OVER THE ANTARCTIC IS THE DEEPEST ON RECORD SINCE SCIENTISTS BEGAN MEASURING THE SEASONAL PHENOMENON 15 YEARS AGO. Near total destruction of the ozone in some layers of the stratosphere has been observed since the middle of September, much earlier than in previous years. Last month, scientists expressed surprise when NASA data from Sept. 3 showed the hole at just under 11 million square miles - the biggest it had ever been. Record-low temperatures in the stratosphere are believed to have helped the expansion of the ozone hole during the southern hemisphere's spring season.
*THIS SUMMER WAS THE SECOND DRIEST IN THE 106 YEARS THAT MONTHLY RAINFALL RECORDS HAVE BEEN KEPT IN ALABAMA.
*THE WORST DROUGHT IN THREE DECADES HAS HIT MORE THAN HALF OF AFGHANISTAN'S 23 MILLION POPULATION, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their villages.
* 6.6 EARTHQUAKE IN TANZANIA, AFRICA IS THE MOST POWERFUL FELT IN THE REGION SINCE 1910.
SEPTEMBER:
*AFTER THE FAILURE OF TWO RAINY SEASONS IN KENYA, WHAT USED TO BE PERMANENT RIVERS, LIKE EWASO NG'RIO, ARE NOW BECOMING SEASONAL FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY.
*WORST FLOODING TO HIT VIETNAM IN 40 YEARS HAS CLAIMED 224 LIVES
. *DAMAGE IN NORTH KOREA CAUSED BY THE HEAVY RAINS BROUGHT ON BY TWO TYPHOONS IN MID-SEPTEMBER AND AT THE END OF AUGUST, WAS REPORTED TO BE THE WORST IN 30 YEARS.
*THE PAST DECADE WAS THE WARMEST FOR 1000 YEARS.
*RECORD LIGHTNING ACCOMPANIED A MASSIVE THUNDERSTORM IN AUSTRIA.
*HEAVIEST DOWNPOUR EVER RECORDED IN JAPAN - 23 inches in Tokai.
*THE WORST FLOODS IN 70 YEARS HAVE SWAMPED VAST AREAS OF THE MEKONG RIVER REGION OF CAMBODIA, LAOS AND VIETNAM - it threatens to drive half a million people or more from their homes in coming days.
*JAPAN ENDURES THEIR WORST TORRENTIAL RAINS IN A LEAST A CENTURY. The rainfall in the region was the highest on record for a 24-hour period since the local observatory began keeping records in 1891.
*CAMBODIA IS FACING ITS WORST FLOODING FOR SEVERAL YEARS AND THE NUMBER OF FLOOD-RELATED DEATHS THIS YEAR COULD BE THE MOST DEVASTATING IN MEMORY, surpassing 1996.
*THE HOLE IN THE OZONE LAYER IS NOW THREE TIMES LARGER THAN THE U.S. - ITS BIGGEST EVER. U.N. weather experts said the hole over the Antarctic is growing earlier in the year than usual.
*RECORD NUMBERS OF BLACK AND BROWN BEARS ARE COMING OUT OF THE MOUNTAINS LOOKING FOR FOOD AND WATER, invading campgrounds, suburbs, and even small towns. Colorado having some of the most severe bear problems that they've had in decades.
*DALLAS HIT 111 DEGREES - AN ALL-TIME HIGH FOR THE DAY AND THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED IN THE CITY IN SEPTEMBER. The previous record was 108, set in 1980.
AUGUST :
*A BRUTAL HEAT WAVE PUMMELED THE GULF COAST IN AUGUST, SETTING 6 RECORD-HIGH TEMPERATURES FOR THE MONTH. Biloxi hit an all time record high 105 degrees.
*MOBILE ALABAMA TIES THEIR RECORD, SET IN 1954, FOR THE MOST 100 DEGREE DAYS IN ONE YEAR (7). Forecasters say more weather records may fall as the heat lingers. For the year, Mobile is 18 inches short of its average precipitation.
*CLIMATE CHANGE UNSEEN SINCE THE ICE AGE IS THREATENING A THIRD OF THE WORLD'S HABITAT.
*INDIA SUFFERING THE WORST FLOODING IN 40 YEARS. Half a year's average rainfall poured down on Hyderabad in one day. Less than three months ago millions of Indians were suffering from one of the worst droughts in the country's history.
*THE GREEK MAINLAND IS SUFFERING SOME OF THE REGION'S WORST FIRES FOR DECADES.
*NORTH TEXAS DROUGHT SURPASSES THE 1934 DUST BOWL YEAR.
*FIRE SEASON IN THE U.S. WEST IS NOW THE WORST IN 95 YEARS.
*WORST HEAT WAVE IN MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY IN CROATIA AND THERE IS NO END IN SIGHT TO THE BLISTERING HEAT. This is the hottest summer since 1950.
*KOSOVO IS EXPERIENCING THE HIGHEST SUSTAINED SUMMER TEMPERATURES SINCE 1946.
*FIRE INDICES ARE APPROACHING ALL-TIME HIGHS IN IDAHO, MONTANA AND OTHER STRICKEN STATES.
*ROMANIA HAS BEEN HIT BY SUCCESSIVE WAVES OF EXTREME TEMPERATURES SINCE JUNE WITH THE LACK OF RAINFALL DRAGGING THE COUNTRY INTO ITS WORST DROUGHT THIS CENTURY.
*CRITICAL DROUGHT CONDITIONS IN THE SOUTHEASTERN U.S. ARE KILLING MORE TREES THAN SEEN IN OVER 34 YEARS - 4 million trees this year versus 1 million in an average year.
*WORST FOREST FIRES IN OVER A DECADE IN THE ARDECHE REGION OF SOUTHERN FRANCE.
*HURRICANE ALBERT BECAME ONE OF THE LONGEST-SURVIVING AUGUST STORMS IN HISTORY.
*NORTHEASTERN U.S. EXPERIENCING ONE OF THE COOLEST, SOGGIEST SUMMERS IN MEMORY. New York City had its coolest July since 1914.
*WILDFIRES IN MONTANA BEING CALLED A 100-YEAR CATASTROPHE.
*THE RESOURCES AVAILABLE FOR FIGHTING IN THE WESTERN U.S. ARE AT A LOW LEVEL THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE.
*HOOLIGAMISM IS BECOMING MORE VIOLENT - IN EUROPE THIS IS THE MOST VIOLENT FOOTBAL SEASON IN RECENT TIMES.
*ARTIC TEMPERATURES IN THE LATE 20TH CENTURY WERE THE WARMEST IN FOUR CENTURIES.
*CENTRAL ASIA IS EXPERIENCING THEIR WORST DROUGHT IN DECADES - crops are failing all over the region.
*WIDESPREAD FLOODING, TRIGGERED BY 3 DAYS OF POUNDING RAIN, IS THE WORST EVER RECORDED IN THE CITY OF DOUALA - 3 million have been forced to leave their homes, some left stranded in tress or on top floors of buildings.
*THE SHEER NUMBER OF FIRES AND THEIR GROWTH ARE PROMPTING U.S. OFFICIALS TO CALL THIS THE WORST FIRE SEASON IN 50 YEARS.
*NEARLY 3.8 MILLION ACRES HAVE BURNED IN THE U.S. THIS SEASON, THE MOST SINCE AT LEAST THE LATE 1980s.
* MORE THAN 18 MILLION CUBIC FEET OF A GLACIER BROKE FREE IN SWITZERLAND IN WHAT HAS BEEN TERMED AN EVENT THAT COULD HAPPEN ONLY ONCE OR TWICE IN A CENTURY - THE LARGEST AMOUNT OF ICE TO BREAK FREE IN THE ENTIRE MOUNTAIN RANGE DURING THE PAST 35 YEARS.
*NORTHEASTERN BRAZIL SUFFERED ITS WORST FLOODING IN 25 YEARS.
*IRAN SUFFERING WORST DROUGHT IN 30 YEARS.
*THIS IS JUST THE START OF THE FIRE SEASON IN THE WESTERN U.S. AND ALREADY 3.5 MILLION ACRES HAVE BURNED - in the record year of 1988 only 2 million acres had burned by this time that year.
*HEATWAVE IN CALIFORNIA CREATING RECORD POWER PLANT DEMAND - A stage-three power emergency was expected to be declared, triggering rolling blackouts across the state.


JULY 2000:
*WORST FIRE IN 10 YEARS IN BAJA CALIFORNIA
*RECORD RAINS IN BRAZIL HAVE TRIGGERED MUDSLIDES - 39 mudslides in one day alone in the city of Recife.
*THE FIRST 6 MONTHS OF 2000 HAVE BEEN THE DRIEST START OF ANY YEAR FOR SECTIONS OF LOUISIANA COAST SINCE RECORDS WERE BEGUN IN 1889.
*THE OZONE HOLE THAT OPENS OVER ANTARACTICA EVERY YEAR HAS BEEN WORSE THAN EVER DURING THE PAST FEW YEARS - RIGHT NOW IT IS AT THE PEAK OF THINNING FOR THE YEAR - AND SCIENTISTS PREDICT IT WILL NOT BEGIN TO REBOUND UNTIL AROUND 2010.
*FOR ONLY THE SECOND TIME IN A CENTURY, JULY HAS COME AND GONE IN NEW YORK WITHOUT THE TEMPERATURE REACHING 90 DEGREES - THIS HAS BEEN ONE OF THE COOLEST JULYS EVER RECORDED THERE - in contrast, the temperature topped 90 on 18 days in July 1999, including nine days when it exceeded 95 and two when it broke the 100-degree mark. .
*WESTERN UNITED STATES SUFFERING THROUGH THE WORST FIRE SEASON IN MORE THAN A DECADE AND THE OUTLOOK CALLS FOR IT TO GET WORSE.
*THE WORST FIRE IN THE HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA'S SEQUOIA NATIONAL FOREST.
*MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA JOLTED BY THE STRONGEST QUAKE IN 68 YEARS (3.2 magnitude).
*UNPRECEDENTED DROUGHT IN IRAN HAS COMPLETELY DRIED UP 3 MAJOR LAKES.
*PARTS OF PAKISTAN ARE SUFFERING THROUGH THE WORST DROUGHT IN THE COUNTRY'S HISTORY.
*THE U.S. PARK SERVICE IS FACING THE WORST FIRE SEASON FOR FOUR YEARS.
*UNUSUALLY HIGH RAINFALL AND FLOODING HAVE HIT SWEDEN.
*THE BOULDER SUNSPOT NUMBER SOARED TO A VALUE OF 401. Experts say that's rare, even near the peak of the solar maximum.
*IN ALABAMA TEMPERATURES REACHED AT LEAST 100 FOR 16 STRAIGHT DAYS, BREAKING THE RECORD OF 13 DAYS IN 1980. A high temperature of 102 broke the old record of 101 set in 1980.
*CHINA FIGHTING BIGGEST LOCUST PLAGUE IN 25 YEARS.
*RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES SET IN FLORIDA. High temperature of 101 broke the old record of 100, set in 1980.
*RECORD HEAVY RAINFALL FELL IN AHMEDABAD - at 375 m.m. in a single day, it was the highest since 415 m.m. rained on July 27, 1927. The whole of Ahmedabad, with a population of more than four million people, has turned into a veritable lake with every inch of the city under knee to chest-deep water.
*LARGEST SOLAR RADIATION STORM SINCE 1989, then a solar storm knocked out the electrical system in all of Quebec and destroyed a large power transformer in New Jersey.
*WORST TORNADO TO HIT ALBERTA IN 13 YEARS.
*THE SUN IN BRITAIN HAS BEEN OUT JUST 2.77 HOURS IN JULY (as of 7/13), SHATTERING THE OLD RECORD SET IN 1944 OF A LITTLE OVER THREE HOURS.
*PARAGUAY SUFFERING WORST WINTER IN A CENTURY - Temperatures fell to 32 degrees Fahrenheit whereas they usually swelter at 113 F for most of the year. "Not only are these the lowest temperatures on record for this country but this is one of the greatest variations from one extreme to another in a non-desert area of the continent."
*GREECE IS FACING THE WORST CONDITIONS FOR FOREST FIRES IN DECADES.
*COPAHUE VOLCANO ON THE BORDER OF CHILE AND ARGENTINA ERUPTED IN ITS WORST ACTIVITY IN 25 YEARS.
*FRANCE SUFFERING ONE OF THE COLDEST SUMMERS IN DECADES.
*ROMANIA SUFFERS WORST DROUGHT IN 100 YEARS.
*HEAT WAVE IN SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE BROKE CENTURY-OLD RECORDS.
*JAPAN HIT WITH THE SECOND HEAVIEST RAINFALL ON RECORD THERE - 3 inches in one hour.
*THE YUGOSLAV CAPITAL OF BELGRADE RECORDED ITS HOTTEST DAY IN A DECADE.
*BALKANS SUFFERING THE WORST DROUGHT TO STRIKE THE REGION IN 50 YEARS.
*BALKANS SUFFERING RECORD CROP LOSSES.

JUNE 2000:
*SEATTLE SUFFERED A BROWN LAYER OF SMOG AS HIGH TEMPERATURES BROKE 13-YEAR-OLD RECORDS.
*SCORCHING TEMPERATURES IN HUNGARY BROKE THE EXISTING 100 YEAR OLD RECORDS.
*CHILE SUFFERS WORST STORMS IN TWO DECADES, LEAVING MUCH OF THE COUNTRY INUNDATED BY FLOODS.
* AN UNPRECEDENTED MASSIVE POISONOUS RED TIDE OF ALGAL BLOOM IN THE EAST CHINA SEA HAS GROWN TO 2700 SQUARE MILES AND IS SIX AND A HALF FEET DEEP IN SOME AREAS.
*WORST FLASH FLOODING IN THE HISTORY OF FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA AND MOORHEAD, MINNESOTA
*6. 6 EARTHQUAKE IN ICELAND IS THE WORST TO HIT THE ISLAND IN ALMOST 90 YEARS.
*7.5 EARTHQUAKE IN AUSTRALIA'S COCOS ISLANDS IS THE LARGEST QUAKE EVER RECORDED IN THAT PART OF THE INDIAN OCEAN.
*FLORIDA SUFFERING THROUGH THE WORST DROUGHT IN ITS RECORDED HISTORY.
*HUGE PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS IN PERU - LARGEST SINCE 1982.
*AVALANCHE CAUSES WORST CLIMBING ACCIDENT IN VENEZUELA'S HISTORY - 5 climbers buried alive.
*CHILE SUFFERS WORST RAINS IN 20 YEARS leaving over 40,000 homeless.
*HEAT BROKE RECORDS THROUGHOUT NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.
*SCOTLAND HIT BY THE WORST JUNE STORMS IN 30 YEARS.
*THE LOW-PRESSURE SYSTEM AFECTING SCOTLAND IS THE LOWEST SINCE RECORDS BEGAN BEING KEPT IN 1871.
*U.S. HAD THE WARMEST SPRING ON RECORD.
*CYPRUS SUFFERS WORST FIRES IN 30 YEARS.
*NEBRASKA WHEAT CROP EXPECTED TO BE THE POOREST IN 50 YEARS DUE TO DROUGHT CONDITIONS.
*GEORGIA FARMERS SUFFERING THE WORST DROUGHT CONDITIONS IN THE STATE'S HISTORY.
*U.S. IS SEEING THE WORST START OF A FIRE SEASON SINCE 1996.
*THIS HAS BEEN THE DRIEST SPRING ALONG FLORIDA'S GULF COAST SINCE AT LEAST 1915 WHEN RECORDS WERE FIRST KEPT. The drought index in some counties there rivals that of Arizona's deserts.
*GEORGIA HAS POSTED THE DRIEST MAY THIS YEAR SINCE 1895. Some streams have run dry and RIVERS ARE AT RECORD LOWS.
*THE SOUTHEASTERN U.S. HAS BEEN IN DROUGHT CONDITIONS FOR NEARLY 3 YEARS, leaving some areas with rainfall deficits of more than 45 inches.
*AFGHANISTAN SUFFERING WORST DROUGHT IN 30 YEARS AND IT IS SPREADING.
*WORST FLOODING IN 30 YEARS IN NORTHERN ENGLAND.
*HEAVIEST RAINS IN 150 YEARS IN GANSU RGION OF CHINA, one of the driest and poorest regions.
*WORST DROUGHT IN 10 YEARS IN THE ENTIRE HALF OF CHINA NORTH OF THE YANGTZE RIVER.
*7.9 EARTHQUAKE IN SINGAPORE ON JUNE 4TH WAS ONE OF THE STRONGEST RECORDED IN INDONESIA IN RECENT YEARS.
*HEAVIEST DOWNPOUR IN TEXAS SINCE 1991.
*ONE OF THE WORST COLD SPELLS IN LIVING MEMORY IN AUSTRALIA. Snow fell less than 60 miles from the city of Melbourne for the first time in 25 years. The bitter cold caused demands for gas and electricity to reach record levels for the third consecutive day.
*WORST FLOODING IN 5 YEARS IN MEXICO CITY.
*WORST FLOODING IN 35 YEARS IN MINNESOTA.
*WORST FIRE SEASON IN 30 YEARS IN THE U.S.

MAY 2000:
*WETTEST MAY ON RECORD IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.
*LOS ALAMOS FIRE WAS THE LARGEST WILDFIRE IN NEW MEXICO'S HISTORY
*CANADA SUFFERING WHAT MAY BE IT'S BIGGEST E. COLI EPIDEMIC EVER and one of the worst outbreaks in North America.
*HEAT WAVE IN SEVERAL WESTERN STATES BROUGHT RECORD TEMPERATURES. A record 117 in Lake Havasu City and 116 in Bullhead City. Twenty cities across New Mexico reached record highs. Albuquerque hit 97 degrees, breaking the 1989 record of 96. In Carlsbad, the temperature soared to 109, shattering the record of 102 set in 1953. In southern Utah, six communities had record highs for the date broken or tied Tuesday. St. George reached 104, topping the record of 102 set in 1984. Moab hit 101, breaking the 1984 record of 98. The temperature in Lancaster, Calif., reached 103 degrees, breaking the 1967 record of 97. Even San Francisco, which usually experiences cool weather well into spring and early summer, experienced record hot weather this week, topping 93 degrees Sunday. That broke the record 86 degrees for the same day in 1886.
*RECORD NUMBER OF 12 MAJOR DUST STORMS HAVE SCOURED NORTHERN CHINA THIS YEAR. Three desert areas are rapidly encroaching on China's capital Beijing, unnerving officials and prompting them to put an emergency campaign in place.
*TEMPERATURES IN KUWAIT HIT A RECORD HIGH OF 115 DEGREES FOR THREE DAYS. A meteorological official predicted that temperatures in July could also exceed the previous record of 126 degrees Fahrenheit recorded in the shade two years ago.
*NEW MEXICO HAS HAD AS MANY ACRES OF FOREST AND GRASSLAND BLACKENED AS IT NORMALLY GETS IN AN ENTIRE YEAR and summer hasn't even arrived.
*RECORD-SETTING RAINFALL OVER PAPUA NEW GUINEA.
*WETTEST RAINY SEASON IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA SINCE RECORD-KEEPING BEGAN IN 1945. Although the rainy season normally ends in April, this year the wet weather could continue until August.
*RECORD RAINFALL IN MINNESOTA - 5 INCHES IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS.
*WORST DROUGHT IN 45 YEARS IN MISSOURI.
*ARGENTINA RAINFALL BY MAY 16TH ALREADY 12.9 INCHES, JUST SHORT OF THE 13.1 THAT FELL IN THE ENTIRE MONTH OF MAY IN 1985 AND SET A RECORD FOR THE CENTURY.
*DRIEST WINTER IN 100 YEARS IN SOUTHWESTERN U.S. AND MISSOURI.
*MANATEES ARE DYING AT A RECORD RATE IN FLORIDA.
*WORST WATER SHORTAGE IN 100 YEARS IN PAKISTAN.
*WORST SWARM OF LOCUSTS IN AUSTRALIA IN 20 YEARS.
*WORST DESTRUCTION IN OVER 30 YEARS IN NIGERIA CAUSED BY FREAK HIGH WINDS WHICH DESTROYED SEVERAL TOWNS AND A WIDE SWATH OF CROPLAND.
*MUCH OF THE EASTERN U.S. SUFFERED A WEEKEND OF RECORD HEAT. Temperatures climbed toward July-like readings. Thermometers peaked at record highs Sunday in several cities, including Detroit at 86; 84 at Bluefield, W.Va.; 89 at Burlington, Vt.; 93 at both Harrisburg, Pa., and New York; and 94 at Concord, N.H., and Newark, N.J. Washington's Dulles International Airport tied its record at 90 degrees. Concord's former record of 91 had been on the books since 1895. Texas was hotter, with records of 98 at Lubbock, 101 at Wichita Falls and 106 at Abilene. Even Michigan's northern city of Marquette, on the shore of chilly Lake Superior, has had three days of record highs in the 80s.
*RECORD-BREAKING HEAT BAKED DENVER FOR THREE STRAIGHT DAYS. Denver's high temperature hit 89 degrees surpassing the old mark of 86 degrees set in 1936. Alamosa hit 80 degrees — up from the 1996 record of 77; and Pueblo checked in at 94 degrees, eclipsing the 1947 record high of 93.
*RARE AMOEBIC MENINGITIS HITS NEW ZEALAND - LAST CASE IS BELIEVED TO HAVE OCCURRED AT LEAST 20 YEARS AGO. Health officials warned that the illness is spread in heated swimming pools.

APRIL 2000:
*NEW ZEALAND'S POHUTU GEYSER HAS BEEN LETTING OFF 70 FOOT HIGH
ERUPTIONS OF STEAM AND WATER NONSTOP FOR 40 DAYS. A similar
performance has not been seen for more than 60 years.
*THE CENTRAL CHINA PROVINCE OF HUBEI HAS BEEN HIT WITH ITS WORST
DROUGHT IN 50 YEARS. Nearly 988,000 acres of grain have been parched in one of China's
biggest wheat producing areas.
*THE DANJUANGKOU RESERVOIR, ON HUBEI'S HANJIANG RIVER, HAS DROPPED
TO A RECORD LOW LEVEL.
*THE MOST POWERFUL EARTHQUAKE TO HIT ARGENTINA IN 6 YEARS. (5.5 magnitude.)
*THIS IS ALREADY THE WETTEST APRIL ON RECORD IN ENGLAND
and looks like it is going to get worse.
*AFGHANISTAN EXPERIENCING UNPRECEDENTED DROUGHT. The situation
is likely to worsen because the rainy season is ending and the next rainfall is not expected
until the end of the year.
*THE FIRST THREE MONTHS OF 2000 HAVE BEEN THE WARMEST WINTER ON RECORD.
The data for January through March of this year have shown the highest temperatures since NOAA
began keeping records 106 years ago.
*THE PERIOD OF JUNE 1999 THROUGH MARCH 2000 HAS BEEN THE WARMEST JUNE
THROUGH MARCH PERIOD IN U.S. HISTORY. The period of June 1999 through March 2000
has been the warmest June through March period in the nation's history, beating the record
set in 1990 by one degree. The average temperature between June 1999 and March 2000 was 47.1 degrees. This warming in temperature could result in a 20-inch rise in sea level by the year 2100.
*THE PAST DECADE HAS SEEN FAR MORE HURRICANES THAN ANY OTHER PERIOD
THIS CENTURY. In the past five years, there have been 41 hurricanes.
*INDIA'S WESTERN PROVINCE OF GUJARAT HAS BEEN HIT BY THE WORST
DROUGHT IN 100 YEARS. The situation is expected to get worse.
*FLOODING IN HUNGARY REACHES WATER LEVELS THAT OCCUR ONLY ONCE
IN 500 YEARS. Water levels reached more than double the normal level for April.
*THIS WINTER THE ARCTIC HAS EXPERIENCED ONE OF THE MOST SUBSTANTIAL
OZONE LOSSES AT THIS ALTITUDE EVER RECORDED. 60 percent of the Arctic ozone layer
some 11 miles above the Earth has vanished over the winter due to record cold
and continued pollution.
*SOUTH KOREA SUFFERING WITH THE WORST WILDFIRES SINCE THE KOREAN WAR.
- The fires have now also spread into North Korea.
*THE TISZA RIVER IN ROMANIA ROSE ABOVE ALL PREVIOUS RECORD LEVELS.
- The Bodrog River, a tributary to the Tisza, reportedly began flowing backward at one point during the day due to the immense pressure of the main river.
*EASTERN HUNGARY IS THREATENED BY THE WORST FLOODING ON RECORD from
heavy rain and melting snow. Computer models show that in the next five weeks the water table will
reach levels never seen in the country, while dams raised last year to contain then record levels will
have to be further heightened.


MARCH 2000:
*SEVERE STORMS ARE BECOMING THE NORM IN ONTARIO, CANADA - THE PAST 10
YEARS HAVE INCLUDED SEVEN OF THE WORST FIRE SEASONS ON RECORD.
*BEIJING, CHINA HIT BY THE WORST DUST STORM IN 10 YEARS.
*RECORD SEVERE OUTBREAK OF ANTS AND TERMITES IN SOUTH AFRICA DUE TO
EXCEEDINGLY WET WEATHER. A colony of one to five million of the voracious termites could
destroy a support beam under a floor in two to three months.
*AN ICEBERG OF RECORD OR NEAR-RECORD SIZE - about twice as big in area as the state of
Delaware - IS BREAKING OFF FROM ANTARCTICA'S ICE SHELF
*WORST FLOODS EVER TO HIT QWA QWA IN SOUTH AFRICA.
*MALAWI RECEIVED RECORD INCESSANT RAIN, UNPRECEDENTED IN RECENT MEMORY.
*FIRST VOLCANIC ERUPTION IN YEMEN IN LIVING MEMORY
*THE YANGTZE RIVER USED TO FLOOD ROUGHLY ONCE EVERY TWENTY YEARS, NOW
IT FLOODS 9 YEARS OUT OF 10.
*MONGOLIA HAS SUFFERED ITS MOST SEVERE WINTER AND WORST DISASTER IN 30 YEARS.
*LOUISIANA, MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA HAVE SEEN THE DRIEST FEBRUARY IN 106 YEARS.
*MANY PARTS OF THE U.S., PARTICULARLY EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER, ARE AT
RECORD LOW WATER LEVELS FOR THIS TIME OF THE YEAR. More than half the country
is under drought conditions.
*A RECORD 25 DAYS OF RAIN DURING FEBRUARY IN SAN FRANCISCO - caused mudslides
that destroyed 5 homes and threatens numerous others in San Fran and Oakland.
*5 EARTHQUAKES STRUCK NIGERIA, ASTONISHING SEISMOLOGISTS, AS THERE IS NO
HISTORY OF EARTHQUAKES IN THIS REGION.
*IN ONE AFTERNOON, AREAS OF NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA, RECEIVED 2 YEARS
WORTH OF RAINFALL.
*WARMEST WINTER IN U.S. HISTORY - ALL-TIME RECORD HIGH AVERAGE TEMPERATURES FOR DECEMBER THROUGH FEBRUARY THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES.
*WESTERN AUSTRALIA'S GASCOYNE RIVER HAS REACHED ITS HIGHEST LEVEL IN 20
YEARS due to heavy rain from ex-tropical cyclone Steve.
*TORRENTIAL RAINS IN ZAMBIA PUSHED WATER LEVELS BEHIND THE KARIBA DAM
TO THE HIGHEST LEVELS EVER SEEN.
*ARIZONA HAS DRIEST WINTER ON RECORD.
*FREAK WINTER STORM SET RECORDS FOR SNOWFALL IN AREAS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
AND ARIZONA. Low temperatures were one degree shy of breaking the record for lowest high temperatures.


FEBRUARY 2000:
*WORST FLOODS IN OVER 100 YEARS IN NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA
*WORST FLOODING ON RECORD HIT THE STRICKEN NATION OF MOZAMBIQUE
*MOST RAINY DAYS EVER IN THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY IN SAN FRANCISCO
*GEORGIA HIT BY DEADLIEST TORNADOES IN 50 YEARS.
*BOTSWANA ENDURES WORST FLOODS IN 30 YEARS.
*RECORD LEVELS OF AIR POLLUTION IN MEXICO
*ALASKA HAS ITS WORST SERIES OF AVALANCHES EVER.
*SOUTH AFRICAN RIVERS AT THEIR HIGHEST LEVELS IN 50 YEARS - and its still raining.
*QUEENSLAND AUSTRALIA HAS WETTEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD, BIGGEST FLOOD IN 50 YEARS, one area got its total annual rainfall in just a weekend - and its still raining.
*MOZAMBIQUE DEVASTATED BY WORST FLOODS IN 50 YEARS - and its still raining.

JANUARY 2000:
*LARGEST EARTHQUAKE SINCE 1935 HIT WESTERN NEW YORK AND SOUTHERN ONTARIO
*WARMEST WINTER IN 20 YEARS IN TURKEY could create record water levels.
*HEAVIEST RAINFALL IN MALAYSIA IN A CENTURY.
*BRITAIN FACING THE WORST FLU CRISIS IN A DECADE.
*THE WORST INDONESIAN GRASSHOPPER INVASION SINCE 1968 - has devastated vast areas of cropland in the province of West Kalimantan on Borneo.
*MOST SEVERE SNOWSTORM IN THE LENGTHY HISTORY OF NORTHWEST CHINA.
*INNER MONGOLIA HAS BEEN HIT BY ITS WORST BLIZZARD IN FOUR DECADES.
*SOME AREAS OF NORTH CAROLINA RECEIVED A NEARLY INCONCEIVABLE 22 INCHES OF SNOW - THE WORST SNOWFALL SINCE 1893.
*THE SEA AROUND THE ADRIATIC ISLAND OF MURTER HAS FROZEN FOR THE FIRST TIME IN ALMOST HALF A CENTURY.
*ISRAEL POUNDED WITH ITS HARSHEST WEATHER IN EIGHT YEARS.
*SHANGHAI'S FIRST SNOW THIS WINTER CAUSED TEMPERATURES TO PLUNGE TO THE LOWEST LEVEL IN 10 YEARS.



1999 -
THE STRONGEST LA NINA IN 50 YEARS.
JANUARY:
*ONE OF THE WORST EARTHQUAKES TO HIT COLUMBIA IN MORE THAN A CENTURY

FEBRUARY:
*WORST AVALANCHES IN 370 YEARS IN SWITZERLAND, AUSTRIA, FRANCE, ITALY -- MORE SNOW THAN ANYONE CAN REMEMBER
*WORST FLOOD THIS CENTURY IN QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA
*THE WORST AVALANCHE IN FRANCE IN OVER A CENTURY

MARCH:
*LARGEST EARTHQUAKE IN INDIA IN ALMOST A CENTURY
*SNOWPACK IN OREGON IS 197 PERCENT OF NORMAL
*WASHINGTON STATE RECEIVES THE OFFICAL WORLD'S RECORD FOR SEASONAL SNOWFALL - Mount Baker got 95 feet of snow in the winter of 1998-99.)
*STRONGEST WINDS EVER REPORTED IN MAINLAND AUSTRALIA - Cyclone Vance
*WORST DROUGHT IN MORE THAN A DECADE IN CHINA
*SOME OF THE WORST FLOODING IN CHINA ON RECORD (immediately preceding the current drought)
*SECOND-LARGEST PRAIRIE FIRE ON RECORD IN NEBRASKA
*RAINFALL UP 50% HIGHER THAN NORMAL IN COASTAL CITIES IN ECUADOR
*EXTENSIVE FLOODING, THE WORST IN 40 YEARS IN MOZAMBIQUE
*DEATHS FROM AVALANCHES IN THE SWISS ALPS NEARLY 50% ABOVE THE AVERAGE FOR THE PREVIOUS 15 YEARS
*ALL-TIME LOW TEMPERATURES IN INDIANA AND CHICAGO
*RECORD SNOWSTORMS HIT NEWFOUNDLAND, BUFFALO AND CHICAGO

APRIL:
*WORST FOREST FIRES TO STRIKE NORTHERN CHINA IN 20 YEARS
*WORST DROUGHT IN IRAQ IN 50 YEARS
*ONE OF THE HARSHEST DROUGHTS IN 60 YEARS IN PALESTINE
*WORST HAILSTORM IN AUSTRALIA IN ALMOST 30 YEARS - 20,000 buildings damaged
*STRONGEST WINDSTORM IN UTAH IN 15 YEARS
*WORST DROUGHT IN SYRIA IN 26 YEARS
*RECORD NUMBER OF PORPOISE STRANDINGS ON THE EAST COAST OF THE U.S. - MORE IN ONE MONTH THAN NORMALLY FOUND IN AN ENTIRE YEAR
*THE STRONGEST EARTHQUAKE IN ROMANIA IN NEARLY A DECADE
*NEW YORK HAS SECOND DRIEST APRIL ON RECORD THIS CENTURY.

MAY:
*LARGEST TORNADO IN THE MIDWEST IN OVER 50 YEARS
*LAKE SUPERIOR (the biggest of the Great Lakes and the feeder of the other four) IS AT ITS LOWEST LEVELS ON RECORD
*FASTEST WIND SPEED EVER RECORDED ON EARTH - 318mph during Oklahoma tornado
*MOST COSTLY TORNADO IN U.S. HISTORY in Oklahoma and Kansas
*RHINE RIVER AT HIGHEST LEVEL IN 140 YEARS
*WORST DROUGHT IN LIVING MEMORY IN EVERY MEXICAN STATE ALONG THE 2000-MILE BORDER WITH THE U.S.
*COLDEST DAY IN MAY IN 22 YEARS IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA
*WASHINGTON STATE PRECIPITATION 200% OF NORMAL, OREGON 150% OF NORMAL
*VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA'S BIGGEST DAMS ARE AT THEIR LOWEST WATER LEVELS ON RECORD
*LAKES IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN AUSTRIA ROSE TO RECORD HEIGHTS.
*WORST DROUGHT IN 30 YEARS IN IRAN
*WARMEST MAY IN 116 YEARS IN TASMANIA

JUNE:
*THE RIO GRANDE,the border between Mexico and the U.S.,
NORMALLY UP TO 7 FEET DEEP, HAS DRIED UP COMPLETELY IN SOME STRETCHES.
*RECORD LOW STREAM FLOWS AND LOWEST EVER WATER TABLE for this time of year IN NEW YORK.
*STRONGEST TORNADO IN 20 YEARS IN NORTH DAKOTA
*RECORD HEAT WAVE ON EAST COAST OF U.S.
*COOLEST AND WETTEST SPRING IN DECADES IN CALIFORNIA
*VOLUME OF WATER ENTERING THE OCCOQUAN RESERVOIR IN MARYLAND IS THE SMALLEST SINCE RECORD-KEEPING BEGAN 71 YEARS AGO
*COASTAL EROSION THE WORST IN 17 YEARS IN BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA
*WORST DROUGHT IN SPAIN IN 50 YEARS
*LAKE LANIER IN ATLANTA IS AT ITS LOWEST POINT IN A DECADE
*ARIZONA RESERVOIR LEVELS ARE LOWEST THEY'VE BEEN IN 20 YEARS
*WORST DROUGHT IN 30 YEARS IN IRAN
*DRIEST SPRING ON RECORD IN CANADA
A RECORD NUMBER OF HOURS OF SUNLIGHT
*WORST RAINS TO POUND KATHMANDU IN 30 YEARS CAUSING FLOODS AND LANDSLIDES
*RUSSIA SUFFERING FROM HEAT WAVE OF RECORD LENGTH AND INTENSITY

JULY:
*MOST POWERFUL QUAKE IN 30 YEARS STRIKES THE SEATTLE, OREGON FAULT
*HOTTEST MONTH IN MOSCOW SINCE RUSSIA STARTED KEEPING RECORDS 118 YEARS AGO.
*SOME OF SICHUAN, CHINA'S MAJOR RIVERS, TRIBUTARIES TO THE YANGTZE, ARE AT RECORD LEVELS
*BIGGEST SNOWSTORM IN NEW ZEALAND IN 25 YEARS - more than 39 inches
of snowfall in a 24-hour period
*MORE THAN 200,000 FISH HAVE DIED IN MARYLAND'S WORST FISH KILL IN DECADES. Oxygen depletion caused by the region's drought conditions is being blamed for the loss.
*HEAVY RAINFALL IN NEPAL BREAKS 30 YEAR RECORD.
*HOTTEST TEMPERATURES SINCE 1882 IN THE UKRAINE (June & July - 35 days and counting)
*WORST CROP DAMAGE IN OVER 40 YEARS ($3.3 BILLION) IN IRAN FROM LACK OF RAIN
*WORST FLOODING TO HIT LAS VEGAS IN 15 YEARS - 3 inches in several hours - YEARLY rainfall is usually 4 inches.
*RECORD TEMPERATURES IN NEW YORK, NEWARK, ATLANTIC CITY AND HARRISBURG
*MASSIVE WINDSTORM DOWNED 25 MILLION TREES ON 340,000 ACRES OF WILDERNESS IN N. MINNESOTA - UNPRECEDENTED IN 150 YEARS OF RECORD-KEEPING
*TRIPURA, INDIA RAINFALL IS AT ITS HEAVIEST IN 50 YEARS.
*IN SOME AREAS OF PENNSYLVANIA CROPS ARE TOTALLY DEVASTATED - CONDITIONS ARE THE DRIEST IN OVER 30 YEARS
*CEDAR RIVER IN IOWA REACHED A RECORD HIGH LEVEL
*LOCUST SWARMS IN RUSSIA THE WORST IN 27 YEARS
*ALL OF THE GREAT LAKES ALONG THE U.S. / CANADIAN BORDER
HAVE NOW RECEDED TO RECORD LOW LEVELS and are expected to continue to recede until November.
*WORST FISH KILL IN DECADES IN MARYLAND - State biologists say that algal blooms
in the shallow areas depleted oxygen supplies before the fish could swim to deeper waters.
*HEAT WAVE ON THE U.S. EAST COAST IS CREATING THE WORST DROUGHT IN 4 DECADES - Meteorologists and hydrologists predicted that if the heat continues through the first week of August, the drought will surpass the one that began in 1961 and lasted five years.
*RECORD RAINFALL FOR ANY DAY IN JULY IN PITTSBURGH [3.43 inches] - the third highest amount of rainfall recorded on any day since record keeping began in southwestern Pennsylvania in 1870.
*DRIEST 12 MONTHS IN NEW JERSEY IN 33 YEARS.
*HOTTEST MONTH ON RECORD IN NEW YORK
*WORST HEAT WAVE THIS CENTURY IN BEIJING
*LANDSLIDES CAUSE WORST POWER DISRUPTION IN TAIWAN'S HISTORY - Landslides toppled a key power-transmission tower, blacking out nearly four-fifths of Taiwan.

AUGUST:
*THE MOST SEVERE FLOODING IN 80 YEARS IN THAILAND
*THE PHILIPPINES SUFFERS ONE OF ITS WORST FLOODS IN YEARS
*THE WORST FLOODING IN VIETNAM IN 47 YEARS
*WORST DROUGHT ON RECORD IN 4 U.S. STATES - Maryland, Delware, New Jersey and Rhode Island.
*LARGEST TORNADO IN 31 YEARS IN UTAH. First time anyone was ever killed by a tornado in Utah.
*MOST POWERFUL TREMOR EVER RECORDED IN TURKEY SINCE RECORDS BEGAN
- 12000+ dead - one of the world's most powerful quakes in 20 years.
*ONE OF THE WORST COLD WAVES TO HIT SOUTHERN BRAZIL IN RECENT HISTORY.
*COLDEST SUMMER IN 42 YEARS IN SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
*MANIA, PHILIPPINES WAS HIT BY ITS HEAVIEST RAINFALL IN 25 YEARS.
*PARTS OF SOUTHERN VIETNAM ARE ENDURING THEIR WORST FLOODS IN 47 YEARS.
*HOTTEST AUGUST IN 20 YEARS IN GREECE - their 3rd heatwave of the year
*BIGGEST STORM IN 20 YEARS TO HIT SOUTHERN TEXAS - Hurrican Bret
*WORST FAMINE IN ANGOLA'S HISTORY - triggered by civil war.

SEPTEMBER:
*WORST EARTHQUAKE IN ATHENS IN MORE THAN A CENTURY
*STORM OF THE CENTURY PUMMELED CHINA KILLING AT LEAST 200 and injuring 2600.
*LARGEST NUMBER OF ELK (56) EVER KILLED BY LIGHTNING IN COLORADO - and by a single bolt.
*UNSEASONAL SNOW AND RAIN ENDED CHILE'S WORST DROUGHT IN A CENTURY.
*WORST OUTBREAK EVER OF E. COLI IN THE U.S.
*THE WORST SCOURING OF NORTH CAROLINA'S COAST IN 20 YEARS - from Hurricane Dennis.
*RECORD-BREAKING FLASH FLOOD IN NEW BRUNSWICK
- more rain in four hours than the region usually gets during an entire month.
*WEEK-LONG DOWNPOURS OF RAIN HAVE BEEN INCREASING BY 2.9% PER DECADE
IN THE U.S. SINCE THE 1930s. The recent deluges have been especially intense
in the Minnesota-Michigan-Wisconsin-Iowa area,
where heavy rains have increased by 4.6 percent per decade.
*HONG KONG SUFFERED WORST STORM IN 16 YEARS FROM TYPHOON YORK.
*NORTH CAROLINA RECEIVED RECORD 13 INCHES OF RAIN
IN 24-HOURS.
*NORTH CAROLINA AND NEW JERSEY SUFFERED WORST FLOODING EVER RECORDED,
CAUSED BY HURRICANE FLOYD.
*WORST EARTHQUAKE ON RECORD IN TAIWAN.
*HEAVIEST RAINS IN THREE DECADES IN NIGERIA
*WORST FLOODING IN 40 YEARS IN MEXICO (September/October)

OCTOBER:
*WETTEST OCTOBER EVER IN MEXICO.
*STRONGEST TYPHOON TO HIT XIAMEN, CHINA IN 46 YEARS.
*SEA OF GALILEE AT LOWEST POINT IN A LEAST A CENTURY - supplies 1/3 of Israel's water.
*FIRST KNOWN TOXIC RED TIDE ERUPTION TO AFFECT BOTH COASTS
OF FLORIDA AT THE SAME TIME.
*HURRICANE IRENE DROPS 25-YEAR RECORD RAINS ON FLORIDA.
*ONE OF WORST CYCLONES TO HIT INDIA IN RECENT TIMES.
*MYSTERIOUS PATHOGEN HAS KILLED TENS OF THOUSANDS OF LOBSTERS
IN LONG ISLAND SOUND, NEW YORK - THE SOUND'S WORST EPIDEMIC IN A DECADE.
*LARGEST SUNSPOTS IN OVER 50 YEARS.
*WORST FIRE SEASON ON RECORD IN NEVADA - 1.6 million acres burned, an area
twice the size of Rhode Island. (summer 1999)
*TUNISIA & ALGERIA SUFFER RECORD-SETTING HEATWAVE
- temperatures were the highest the country had experienced during October since 1967.
*HIGHEST SURF REPORTED IN MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA IN YEARS
*WORST CYCLONE TO HIT INDIA'S BAY OF BENGAL COASTLINE IN THREE DECADES.

NOVEMBER:
*FLOODING IN VIETNAM THE WORST IN THEIR 100 YEARS OF RECORD-KEEPING.
A record of more than 7 feet of rain.
*FLOODING IN NIGERIA'S NIGER DELTA THE WORST IN 30 YEARS.
*FLOODING IN FRANCE THE WORST IN MORE THAN 50 YEARS.
*MAURITIUS, AN INDIAN OCEAN ISLAND OF 1.2 MILLION PEOPLE,
SUFFERING WORST DROUGHT IN 95 YEARS.
*RECORD FLOWS OF RAIN WATER IN NEW ZEALAND
- Lake Wakatipu rose to its highest level this century.
*ISRAEL FACING ITS WORST DROUGHT IN NEARLY A CENTURY
*7.3 EARTHQUAKE IN PACIFIC ISLANDS - strongest ever recorded in the Vanuatu region.
*FIRST TIME ON RECORD THAT A HURRICANE SEASON BROUGHT FIVE CATEGORY-4 HURRICANES.(July-November)

DECEMBER:
*CONGO RIVER OVERFLOWS CAUSING 'FLOOD OF THE CENTURY'.
*LOW TEMPERATURES IN KUWAIT BREAK ALL EXISTING RECORDS WITH SUBZERO WEATHER.
*DENMARK AND NORTHERN EUROPE HIT BY WORST WINDSTORM IN RECENT TIMES.
*MOST POWERFUL CYCLONE EVER RECORDED IN AUSTRALIA
*THE 1990'S - THE HOTTEST DECADE IN THE LAST 1000 YEARS.
*IN VENEZUELA TORRENTIAL RAINS CAUSED MASSIVE MUDSLIDES, KILLING TEN THOUSAND - THE WORST NATURAL CATASTROPHE THERE IN RECORDED HISTORY
*COLUMBIA RAINSTORMS AND FLOODING THE WORST IN 30 YEARS.
*THAILAND RECORDED ITS COLDEST WEATHER IN DECADES
*SOUTH COAST OF BRITAIN HIT BY THE HIGHEST TIDES IN LIVING MEMORY.
*STRONGEST WINDS TO HIT PARIS, FRANCE IN 50 YEARS.
*THE WRECK OF THE TANKER ERIKA CAUSED THE WORST OIL DISASTER EVER
TO HIT EUROPE'S WILDLIFE.


1999 Month by month details

1998 Record-breaking Disasters