An extreme winter rainstorm in New Zealand triggered one of the largest avalanche cycles observed in decades, raising questions about the risk of more hazardous events under climate change.

The nearly 3.5 inches at the city’s official monitoring station was a daily record – the most rain that’s fallen on January 21st ever – and also a monthly record – the most rain that has ever fallen in January.

Heavy snow followed by rain last week damaged homes around town. Shori Heaton awoke on Sunday to find that her woodshed had collapsed under a wet

Extreme weather event Gyda already set 20 new January precipitation records in Norway. Vinjeøra in Trøndelag was closed due to extreme damage. NRK reporter Arne Kristian Gansmo compares the asphalt with "an accordion".

With millions of dollars in damage to a new health clinic and imperiled infrastructure, the borough is requesting help from the National Guard. Yakutat has seen up to 6 feet of snow in recent weeks and a rare cold snap that pushed temperatures below zero.

Concern builds as rain increases weight of snow pack

Department of Transportation crews are battling a thick coating of ice on roads, and the local utility, Golden Valley Electric, continues working to restore electricity to pockets of customers.

The winter storm that dumped snow and freezing rain on the Interior over the holiday weekend also caused the roofs of two buildings in Delta Junction to partially collapse Sunday.

Strong south winds hit 71 miles per hour in St. Michael, Shishmaref had its sea ice blown away and the Nome Airport saw 0.64 inches of precipitation – mostly in the form of rain - last weekend. The storm that hit on Saturday, Dec. 18 and continued all day Sunday brought the total precipitation for December thus far to 2.04 inches.

“This new snow has no name,” said Lars-Anders Kuhmunen, a reindeer herder from Kiruna, Sweden’s northernmost town, near the Norwegian border. “I don’t know what it is. It is like early tjaevi, which normally comes in March. The winters are warmer now and there is rain, making the ground icy. The snow on top is very bad snow and the reindeer can’t dig for their food.”

Because of the changeable weather an ice crust arose on the snow and reindeer could not get food on their own. Reindeer herders fed the main herd with compound feed. The dead reindeer, most likely, have strayed from the main herd.

Rana municipality has been warned that there have been several avalanches in Stormdalen near Skarpneset. This has led to large amounts of water accumulating – potentially triggering a flood.

Locals in the far northern Russian region believe between 60,000-80,000 animals might have died of starvation over the past few months. The tragedy follows the formation of a thick layer of ice across major parts of the Yamal tundra.

Juneau’s urban avalanche forecast describes “extreme” danger Saturday evening. Centennial Hall will open as an emergency shelter at 8 p.m. Saturday.

The warm spell, which is expected to last into the last week of January, is the result of a low-pressure cyclonic system of warm air from the south.

Over the last few years, there has been an increase in the occurrence of hail during the winter and early spring months. This type of weather is very unusual for this area. While our current experiences with hail have been mild, an increase in frequency and severity is cause for concern.

In the very north of the Yamal Peninsula, deer pastures were covered with an ice crust due to heavy frosts after the rains. Monitoring and communication of specialists with reindeer breeders confirmed the fears - ice may provoke deaths of the reindeer herd. Assistance will be provided with feed, but emaciated animals must be slaughtered.

Experts fear the future could be like the record year 2020: Shorter and warmer winters, wetter summers.

In December of 2020 an atmospheric river brought heavy rains on top of a deep snowpack.

Video shows hero climbers manually breaking ice off its cable stays at height of 324m (1,063ft) in Vladivostok.