Wet April’s Benefit? Easing MN Drought Conditions

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2013/04/24/wet-aprils-benefit-easing-mn-drought-conditions/

One good thing with the late-season snow?

It’s easing drought conditions.

Just last month, 70 percent of the state was under severe or extreme drought.

And as of last week, only 20 percent of Minnesota is now in severe drought, Minnesota State Climatologist Greg Spoden said.

In addition, no part of the state is currently in the extreme drought category.

Drought classification is based on rainfall deficits, lake and river levels, as well as soil moisture, which can have a significant impact on agriculture.

Spoden said after the incredibly dry summer and fall, soil moisture values were very low. But now the soil moisture situation is improving.

Parts of Missouri still facing drought

http://www.areawidenews.com/story/1962577.html

While much of Missouri was drought-free at the end of March, other parts are still in moderate to severe hydrological drought, said Pat Guinan, climatologist for the University of Missouri Extension Commercial Agriculture Program.

"When you look at regions of Missouri, there are still some very dry parts of the state. In particular, northwestern Missouri," Guinan said. "It's imperative that we get some decent precipitation events over the next several weeks for this region in order to bring surface water supplies to capacity and restore soil moisture."

Missouri has seen several significant precipitation events since the end of January, but the northwestern corner of the state missed out on them, Guinan said. "Climatologically, the winter season is the driest season up in northwest Missouri, and the 2012-13 winter season acted accordingly."

Climate's role in US droughts is under scrutiny

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21829134.600-climates-role-in-us-droughts-is-under-scrutiny.html

CAN the extreme drought that devastated crops across the US Midwest in 2012 be blamed on global warming? Probably not, according to a report from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). But the conclusion has been met with stinging criticism from another leading climate scientist.

The controversy highlights the need for better methods to assess if and how extreme weather events are linked to climate change.

Martin Hoerling of NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, and colleagues investigated why seasonal forecasts failed to predictlast year's drought. They also ran computer simulations to see if a similar drought would have occurred in the absence of human greenhouse gas emissions.

The team did n

Brazil's drought reaches historic levels

http://www.aljazeera.com/weather/2013/04/201341610554334393.html

The worst drought in 50 years is affecting several states in northeast Brazil.

Some of these areas have not seen rain in over a year, while for others, it has been just a few drops since November.

The ongoing drought has been affecting much of northeastern Brazil for several years. It is estimated that upwards of 10 million people have been affected, making it the worst drought since 1963.

The semiarid region of the state of Bahia is the worst hit. More than a million head of cattle have perished, equivalent to half of the region’s cattle herd.

But it’s not only livestock, crops are also suffering from the drought. In northern Minas Gerias approximately 90% of the corn crops have been lost. Cassave flour which is the staple of the Brazilian diet has been badly affected, that prices for this necessity have risen by up to 700%.

While the federal government cannot change the rain situation, it is trying to take a more proactive approach in providing emergency measures for the population. The government is allocating $4.44 billion in federal funds to combat the effects of the drought.

Dubai workers evacuated after earthquake

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/dubai-workers-evacuated-after-earthquake-498241.html

Workers have been evacuated from buildings in Dubai and Abu Dhabi after the second deadly earthquake in the region in eight days.

At least 40 people are dead in Iran and five in Pakistan, with hundreds more casualties also feared, authorities have told local media.

Officials have declared a state of emergency in the region, describing the quake as the worst in 40 years.

All communications in the area have been cut and rescuers and assessment and evaluation teams from the Iranian Red Crescent Society have been dispatched, the Iranian Red Crescent's Mahmoud Mozaffar told state television.

Earthquake: 7.5 quake rocks Sistan-Baluchestan, Iran

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/04/16/298564/75magnitude-quake-kills-40-in-se-iran/

A 7.5 magnitude earthquake has rocked Iran's southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan near the border with Pakistan.

The Iranian Seismological Center (IRSC) said the epicenter of the quake, which occurred at 15:14 local time at a depth of 18 kilometers on Tuesday, was situated 95 kilometers north of the city of Saravan. 

The quake, unprecedented in the past 50 years, prompted officials to declare a state of emergency in the region. 

Assessment and evaluation teams as well as rescue teams from the Iranian Red Crescent Society have been dispatched to the quake-stricken area, which is a sparsely populated rural area between the provincial cities of Saravan and Khash. 

According to local officials, the Tuesday earthquake has caused no casualties in the quake-stricken areas. The Fars News Agency had earlier reported that 40 people had died as a result of the quake. 

The tremor was powerful enough to be felt as far away as New Delhi, India, where it rocked tall buildings. 

It was also felt in the Persian Gulf's littoral states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. 

According to Press TV correspondent, several are feared dead and 100 others injured in Balochistan province of Pakistan near Iran border. 

Quake kills 34, injures 80 in Pakistan, sources say

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/16/world/meast/iran-pakistan-earthquake/index.html?hpt=wo_c2

At least 34 people have died and 80 are injured in Pakistan after a powerful earthquake struck near the country's border with Iran, sources tell CNN.

Army doctors and Frontier Corps paramilitary forces are taking part in rescue efforts in Mashakel, according to a Pakistani official involved in relief efforts.

Officials earlier said that dozens more were injured in both countries.

Akbar Hussain Durrani, home minister of Pakistan's Balochistan province, confirmed that six people had died and more than a dozen were injured in the province's Washuk district.

The quake injured a dozen people in southeastern Iran, authorities said. They were treated at a hospital, the Crisis Management Office of Sistan and Baluchestan province reported. No one was killed, said Reza Arbabi, the office's director.

Deadly landslide hits Indonesia

http://www.aljazeera.com/weather/2013/03/20133269946717538.html

A landslide has been triggered by torrential rainfall on Indonesia’s main island of Java. At least eight people are known to have died with nine others still missing.

Semarang in Central Java had 57mm of rain on Monday, and the heavy rain has been on-going for over three days now. The landslide occurred at the Muka Payung village in Cililin in west Bandung district.

Nine houses were buried when mud gushed down from surrounding hills just after dawn on Monday. Indonesian search and rescue officers and military personnel are still looking for victims according to a disaster official. 

Rescue attempts have been hampered by a lack of equipment. Over 300 policemen, soldiers and residents had to use shovels, hoes and their bare hands to search through the debris for the missing.

Seasonal downpours cause dozens of landslides and flashfloods each year in Indonesia. The country’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency said that 83 people have died from 54 landslides so far this year.

Mauritius battered by tropical downpour

http://www.aljazeera.com/weather/2013/04/201341103219760469.html

A day of mourning has been declared in the Indian Ocean holiday island of Mauritius after at least 10 people were killed as the capital Port Louis was hit by torrential rain on Saturday.

It is thought that many of the victims drowned as water poured into underpasses and underground car parks.

Reports suggest that more than 150mm of rain fell in just an hour and a half. This compares with an average rainfall total for the entire month of 221mm.

Prime Minister Navin Rangoolam placed the blame on climate change, but residents have complained about the lack of any warning in advance of the deluge.

The island is no stranger to torrential rain, experiencing occasional tropical cyclones. Neighbouring Reunion, 214km to the west, holds the record for most rainfall in 24 hours, at over 1,800mm.

The forecast is for mainly dry weather to return to the island.

Europe's record-breaking weather

http://www.aljazeera.com/weather/2013/04/20134212464965420.html

Many parts of Europe have suffered unusual weather over the last few weeks.

For the north, it has been the persistent cold weather which has caused frustration.

In the UK, March 2013 was the coldest since 1962, while in Germany locals shivered through the coldest March since their records began in the 1880s.

The cold weather still prevails across the northern parts of the continent, despite the arrival of a series of weather systems, which have filtered into the Mediterranean and the up into the northeastern parts of Europe.

These systems have already caused problems across the southern parts of Europe. Parts of Spain and Portugal have seen record amounts of rainfall in the last month. The latest weather system over the weekend caused some rivers to burst their banks, flooding towns and roads.

In central Portugal, 60 people had to be evacuated from a campsite after the waters rose, and flooding also caused a bridge to collapse in Spain, killing three people.

A travel advisory issued on April 1, warned that flooding could affect almost all of Spain’s river basins.

The Balkans have also reported flooding, as the heavy rain has combined with water from melting snow. This has caused some of the rivers to burst their banks and inundate homes and farmland.

After triggering flooding in southern Europe, the system then tracked up the east of the continent. As the wet weather slammed into the cold air in the north, it turned wintry and swamped many parts with heavy snow.

In Poland, more than 100,000 people spent the Easter weekend without electricity after heavy snow dragged down powerlines.

Argentina scours flood areas for bodies

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2013/04/20134522133604248.html

Argentine police and soldiers are searching house to house, in creeks and culverts and even in trees for bodies after floods killed at least 57 people in the province and city of Buenos Aires.

As torrential rains stopped and the waters receded, the crisis shifted to guaranteeing public health and safety in this provincial capital of nearly one million people.

Safe drinking water was in short supply on Thursday, and more than 250,000 people were without power, although authorities said most would get their lights back on overnight.

Many people saw everything they owned disappear under water reeking with sewage and fuel that rose nearly two metres high inside some homes.

Wreckage left as waters receded included piles of broken furniture, overturned cars, ruined food and other debris.

The situation caused frustration among locals, with President Cristina Fernandez and other officials being booed at when they tried to talk with victims.

Many yelled "go away" and "you came too late".

"I understand you, I understand you're angry," Kirchner said before she and Governor Daniel Scioli fled in their motorcade from an angry crowd.

Scioli said the death toll had risen to 51 people in and around La Plata, following six deaths in the national capital from flooding two days earlier.

Snow, tornado threat mix in spring weather tango

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/09/us/spring-storms/index.html?iref=allsearch

Wildfires, tornadoes, snow, ice, flooding, all on the same day. Sure, it sounds weird. But it's not, CNN meteorologist Judson Jones said Tuesday.

"It's just spring," he said.

"Blinding snow and 40 degrees below average does not sound like spring in Denver. On the flip side, the 20 degrees above average forecast for New York City feels more like early summer," he said. "But the unexpected is what we expect in spring."

A day after bizarre weather on Monday in which emergency workers northeast of Denver responded to a wildfire, a possible tornado and a blizzard warning -- all within a 50-mile radius -- a storm pouring over the Rockies gave Denver students a rare snow day on Tuesday.

It also caused the cancellation of at least 486 flights at Denver International Airport.

3 killed before storms fizzle

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2013/04/12/3-killed-before-storms-fizzle/?iref=allsearch

A powerful storm that swept across the country will lose its fury Friday and blow out over the Atlantic by day's end, forecasters said.

The weather system stretched from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, and dumped snow in the north central and northeastern United States.

In the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, it poured torrential rain and spawned tornadoes in the Deep South.

The storm took three lives in separate incidents in Missouri, Mississippi and Nebraska.

Winter weather just won't quit

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2013/04/08/winter-weather-just-wont-quit/?iref=allsearch

A "major winter storm" was developing over the western Plains on Monday evening, promising "a plethora of interesting weather conditions," The National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center said.

"Blizzard conditions are likely over parts of Wyoming, Colorado, western Nebraska and western Kansas" beginning late Monday and lasting through much of Tuesday, the weather service said.

The Denver metro area could see as much as a foot of snow, and the foothills and mountains can expect even more than that.

Iran quake kills 37, injures more than 850

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/09/world/meast/iran-earthquake/index.html?hpt=wo_bn8


(CNN) -- A powerful earthquake struck southern Iran on Tuesday, killing at least 37 people but apparently sparing the nearby Bushehr nuclear plant from any damage, Iranian state-run media reported.
At least 850 people were injured, Iran's Press TV said.

The magnitude-6.3 quake was centered about 100 kilometers (63 miles) southeast of the plant, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Press TV, citing Bushehr's governor, said the single-reactor facility was undamaged. The International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran had informed it of the earthquake and said that there was no damage or radioactive release at the facility.

The state-run IRNA news agency cited a plant executive as saying the facility's distance from the epicenter was the reason for the lack of damage.

However, the quake "ruined" the city of Kaki, which is near the epicenter, the state-run IRNA news agency said.

Snowstorm hits Denver as central U.S. braces for wild weather

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-usa-weather-stormbre9380gk-20130409,0,5157802.story

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - A spring snowstorm hit Colorado on Tuesday, canceling flights and closing schools as forecasters warned residents in the middle of the United States to brace for sleet, gusty winds, flash floods and tornadoes.

"A dynamic storm system evolving over the central United States will impact much of the nation with a variety of hazards," the National Weather Service said.

Rain turned to snow overnight in the Denver area, which was forecast to get up to 11 inches of snow, much of it by noon. Temperatures that had been in the low 70s (Fahrenheit) on Monday dropped into the teens on Tuesday.

Airline tracker service FlightAware.com said 175 flights in and out of Denver International Airport had been canceled. Most schools in the Denver area were closed, the Denver Post said.

Moderate to heavy snow and gusty winds were forecast for Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. Just a day earlier in northeast Colorado, four tornado sightings were reported.

Warm weather, rain may turn to snow on Friday

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-chicago-weather-20130408,0,3754982.story

Don't let the newly green grass and popping tulips fool you: It could snow Friday in the Chicago area.

The rain that's ushering springtime colors onto Chicago's landscape combined with a front of cold Canadian air could be just the mix to cause flurries by week's end.

"Once this system, or nuisance, or whatever you want to call it gets kicked out, right now it's looking like Thursday night there's going to be cold air coming in from Canada and it looks like there's going to be some leftover moisture, which could give us snow here on Friday," said Charles Mott, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

There's a 70 percent chance of rain Tuesday morning in Chicago, falling to 60 percent in the afternoon and evening. The Weather Service has also issued a Dense Fog Advisory for areas near Lake Michigan, which will remain in effect through 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Deja Vu: More Snow and Severe Ahead?

http://www.weather.com/news/weather-forecast/next-week-storm-deja-vu-20130412

We are less confident in the potential for snowfall farther to the northeast across the Plains and Upper Midwest. Exactly where and how much snowfall to expect in these regions will be dependent on the exact track of the low-pressure system, which remains highly uncertain. To the right is an early glimpse of our forecast maps for the early to middle part of next week showing a potential swath of snow from Colorado and Wyoming to northern Minnesota.

Regardless of what happens next week, North Dakota and northern Minnesota will see heavy snow from a separate weather system this weekend. This will make flood worries even higher in this region once snow melt finally occurs as we head deeper into spring.

Storm victims thankful to be alive after tornado

http://www.sunherald.com/2013/04/12/4590791/storm-victims-thankful-to-be-alive.html

The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said Thursday's storms caused damage in at least seven Mississippi counties, but some was relatively minor, including downed trees and damaged roofs.

MEMA said in a news release Friday that at least 128 homes were damaged in Kemper and Noxubee counties, with half of these destroyed having major damage. Twelve businesses were damaged or destroyed.

"We're through with all the search and rescue. Everybody's accounted for. Now we have to do the damage assessments and … begin the cleanup process," Rent said.

April is the most active month for tornadoes in Mississippi, Rent said.

Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/2013/04/12/4590791/storm-victims-thankful-to-be-alive.html#storylink=cpy

Deadly tornado hits Mississippi as storm system stretches across East

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/11/17699889-deadly-tornado-hits-mississippi-as-storm-system-stretches-across-east?lite

A destructive and massive storm system draped itself across half the country Thursday, from the Gulf Coast to Canada and with a wingspan from Maine to the Dakotas. At least one person was killed in Mississippi, where a tornado touched down.

Authorities in Kemper County, Miss., along the Alabama state line, reported that the storm also caused several injuries and extensive damage and destroyed at least one steel building.