The weekend was marked by cold sunny days and stunning aurora displays at night, but then the weather took another turn. By Tuesday morning, an east wind was howling and blowing snow sideways. The week started looking like a repeat of the last.
A research vessel, Norseman II, was trapped in unusually dense sea ice for 14 days off the Seward Peninsula coast during a Pacific walrus study, but is now en route to Nome for repairs.
Three weeks in a row, residents of Nome and the Southern Seward Peninsula Coast received winter storm warnings from the National Weather Service. Seven out of the last eight springs have been unusually stormy. This spring alone, since March, there have been eight significant storm days.
A series of winter storms hit Nome with deep snow and high winds, causing school closures, flight cancellations, and significant snow removal challenges.
Puddles on ice, slippery sidewalks and heavy wet snow berms are remnants of a three-day weather event that pummeled Nome and the region. According to UAF Climate Specialist Rick Thoman, “that’s the highest three day total on record for Nome in March in the past 116 years.
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.
Back-to-back winter storms hit Nome and the region with very strong, screaming winds and accompanying blowing snow. While the first storm on Friday seemed just like a warm up, the second storm hit the region with very strong winds that knocked out power in Wales, ripped buildings apart in Golovin and brought water levels up 6.73 feet over normal. The high winds also pushed away ice cover.
A mobile home washed away in severe flooding after Storm Hans hit Hemsedal, Norway, on Tuesday, 8 August. The extreme weather has battered parts of Scandinavia and the Baltics for several days. Rivers have overflown, roads have been damaged and people have been injured by falling branches.
The swelling Tom River in southwestern Siberia has led to a partial dam collapse in the city of Tomsk. This year’s heavy rainfall, combined with abnormally warm spring weather, has led to severe flooding in Russia’s Urals and western Siberia. So far, the floods have submerged around 15,600 homes and 28,000 land plots in 193 Russian towns and cities across 33 regions.
Authorities in Siberia’s republic of Tyva declared a regional state of emergency due to ongoing wildfires exacerbated by prolonged hot and dry weather.
Intense rainfall in Russia's Far East Primorye region caused floods, power outages, and evacuations, with water levels exceeding the norm by eightfold in some areas, following previous flooding caused by tropical storm Khanun.
Northern Afghanistan devastated by flash floods, 315 dead, 1,600 injured. Thousands of homes damaged, livestock lost. Villagers lack essentials.
Fuel shipments normally take place during autumn from departure ports such as Murmansk and Arkhangelsk. However, last fall saw a sudden freeze-up and quickly accumulating sea-ice on the Northern Sea Route, including the Kara Sea. Of the two rescued barges, one contained 7,000 tons of diesel fuel, while the other was loaded with 170 tons of kerosene.
Loaded with up to 38,000 tons of oil, the 245 meter long tanker Shturman Skuratov makes this year's first transit shipment on the Northern Sea Route. Despite major concentrations of sea-ice, the tanker sails without icebreaker assistance.
A localized round of heavy rain has wreaked havoc on the St. Johnsbury, Vermont, area, washing out some roads and damaging homes. This same area was hit hard with flooding just 19 days prior as the remnants of Beryl crossed North America. About two dozen rescues took place during the latest round of flooding and officials warned that the impacts could worsen as creeks rise further or more rain arrives.
Ulaanbaatar's road slipperiness issue is being addressed with ample supplies and workforce, while district governors now oversee local cleaning services and public communication for slippery conditions. From January 5-7, 1,225 people received care for injuries. Over 267 people were injured due to slipping and 47 people received emergency care after falling from sledding.
Local power supplies were cut off, apartment buildings were flooded, cars were seen being washed away and a river overflowed, leading to one civilian death and several injuries.
Over the past 24 hours, nearly 0.95 million houses and 0.72 million livestock were flooded while 0.27 million houses were destroyed and 3,116 kilometres of highways and 149 bridges were washed away.
See photo gallery.
All Topics
All Countries
Any Date
Apply