Eurasian Cold Weather News

[senorpepr]

VERY COLD IN UKRAINE

DONETSK, January 21 (Itar-Tass) - More and more cities and villages of Ukraine are left without electricity supply because of bad weather. By Saturday morning their number reached 237, mostly in the Zaporozhye, Nikolayev, Kirovograd, Dnepropetrovsk and Poltava Regions. Repair teams of the regional power-supply services have been working hard for the past two days almost in Arctic conditions.

According to the information of the weather forecasting service, the temperature is now the lowest in the eastern and northeastern parts of Ukraine. The night temperature in the Rovny, Kharkov and Lugansk Regions was 29 to 32 degrees below zero.

The first victims of the frost were registered on Friday. Seven drunken vagabonds died of cold in the Lugansk Region and one in the Vinnitsa Region. Several dozens people were hospitalized with signs of frostbiting in Kharkov, Kiev and other Ukrainian cities.

In Odessa five babies were born in complete darkness, because the maternity home was cut off from electricity supply.

According to weather forecasts, strong frosts will remain in Ukraine for another week.

DEADLY COLD CONTINUES ACROSS RUSSIA

MOSCOW Jan 20, 2006 — Arctic temperatures gripping most of Russia pushed the reported death toll close to 40 on Friday as weather forecasters warned that no major thaw is expected in Moscow before February.

Five people died overnight in the capital, city ambulance service chief Igor Elkis said. The toll in Moscow, locked in a deep freeze since late Monday, is now at least 16 while the nationwide toll is at least 38.

The true figure, however, is likely higher because many regions have not reported cold deaths.

The arctic temperatures have severely taxed parts of the nation's infrastructure, with electricity use surging to record levels as towns and cities struggle to keep indoor temperatures up and Russians turning to supplemental heating sources including electric radiators to keep warm.

The cold wave was even affecting Russia's southern regions which typically see more temperate winter conditions. In the town of Apsheronsk, some 750 miles south of Moscow, three people were killed when a gas canister exploded after it was improperly hooked to the heating system in a private home. And in the Caucasus region of Adeigei, a wood stove fire killed two people who were trying to heat their home.

Overnight temperatures in the region near the Black Sea dropped to 17 degrees below zero.

On Friday, Moscow temperatures were slightly warmer than Thursday, when the mercury hit 24 below, the coldest on that date since 1927. Friday's low was minus 20 degrees. By Monday, the thermometer was expected to reach four below, Moscow weather service spokeswoman Natalya Yershova said.

A weather service official, however, told Ekho Moskvy radio that temperatures in the capital were unlikely to rise above that mark before February.

Forecasters said the winter has been Moscow's coldest in a quarter century.

Russians are used to the cold many live in Arctic areas where such temperatures are normal for winter and frustration and suffering mixed with high spirits or ambivalence.

At a zoo in Lipetsk, south of Moscow, director Alexander Osipov said monkeys would be given wine three times a day "to protect against colds," the RIA-Novosti news agency reported. Rossiya television said a circus sea lion was being treated for pneumonia with brandy body rubs.

MOSCOW, January 21 (Itar-Tass) - The Arctic chill that settled in Russia’s European part early this week is tightening its cold grip causing more deaths and damage across the country. The energy systems are working to full capacity and are hardly coping with excessive loads.

A cold temperature record had been set this week. Never before since 1978 the temperature kept plunging lower than 25 degrees Celsius for three days running.

Though the met offices are refraining from long-term forecasts, some believe the severe frosts in European Russia will last until February.

Roman Vilfand, the head of the Russian Meteorological Office, explained that the cold air was not moving. He said the frosts would weaken slightly in Moscow and the Moscow region during the weekend. The temperature will rise to minus 22-25 degrees Celsius. However, strong winds will decrease the effects of warming. Cold air from northern Asia will gush into European Russia again early next week bringing the temperatures down to 30-35 degrees Celsius.

Bitter frosts have already killed more than a hundred people in Moscow. One hundred sixteen people have died in the 10-million Russian capital this winter, the Political News Agency reports.

Seven people have died of overcooling in Moscow in the past 24 hours, 111 people, of whom 60 were hospitalized, suffered frostbites of various degrees, a Moscow public health service source told Itar-Tass.

In St. Petersburg, Russia’s second largest city, 75 people have suffered from severe frosts, of which 59 were hospitalized.

Two people have died and 16 have received cold injuries in Volgograd where the temperature has dropped to minus 30 degrees Celsius. Eighteen people have been frostbitten in Nizhny Novgorod.

Three people have died and 15 have been rushed to hospital because of minus 30 degrees frosts.

Bitter frosts have claimed 14 lives in Arkhangelsk in the last three days.

Most of the dead were drunk. People suffering from cold injuries are aged largely between 20 and 40. They were not warmly dressed and had no hats or gloves.

A heat main accident has left 43 apartment buildings in Tomilino near Moscow without heat.

An emergency situation has been announced in the city of Balei, the Chita region. An accident at the central water pipeline has brought the work of four city boiler rooms to a halt. They used to supply heat to 69 orphanages, four children’s homes and two schools. Almost three thousand people were left without warmth. Classes in many schools have been cancelled.

However, most Russians are in good mood and don’t lose their sense of humor.

UN MEETING POSTPONED DUE TO BAD WEATHER

SUKHUMI, January 21 (Itar-Tass) - The Georgian delegation failed to come on Saturday to the office of the U.N. mission in the Gali District, where a Georgian-Abkhazian meeting was planned to be held, because of bad weather. It has been postponed till January 24, Sergei Shamba, foreign minister of the self-proclaimed Republic of Abkhazia, told Itar-Tass.

Sergei Shamba and Georgy Khaindrava, Georgian minister for the settlement of conflicts, were expected to discuss some security problems and the problem of chicken flu with the mediation of the U.N. mission and the CIS Collective Peacekeeping Force in the zone of the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict.

A snowfall, the first this winter, took place in Abkhazia on Saturday. The air temperature is minus one degree Centigrade.

Heavy snowfall covers Tokyo

The heaviest snowfall in five years is blanketing the greater Tokyo region, causing injuries and disrupting transportation.

The Otemachi financial district of downtown Tokyo has received six centimeters of snow, while 10 centimeters of snow covers neighboring Yokohama city.

The Japan Meteorological Agency expects as much as five more centimeters of snow to fall in Otemachi by 9:00pm local time, making it the heaviest snow fall since January 27, 2001, when the area saw eight centimeters of snow.

"Today's snow is wet, so it might not stay on the ground to accumulate. But certainly it is a heavy snow fall," said an agency official.

At least 45 people have suffered broken bones and bruises from slipping over in snow in the Kanto region of eastern Japan.

The snow has also caused the cancellation of at least 82 domestic flights departing or arriving at Haneda airport in Tokyo.

Major train lines are also experiencing delays, with the Shinkansen bullet train service delayed for up to 10 minutes.

The meteorological agency has issued heavy snow warnings for most of Japan through Saturday evening, with many areas facing the Sea of Japan also receiving avalanche warnings.

The coastal regions have experienced Japan's deadliest winter in more than two decades, with at least 102 deaths recorded by Tuesday, many of them crushed by snow or falling from buildings while clearing snow on roofs.

Most of the dead have been elderly people.

It has been the highest death toll since 1983-1984 when 131 people died in snow-related incidents.

[senorpepr]

Avalanche kills 9 in Turkey

An avalanche killed nine and injured 17 passengers in a coach traveling between the eastern Turkish cities of Bitlis and Diyarbakir.

Eastern Turkey was hit by heavy snowfall in recent weeks as big cities like Istanbul in the west prepares for a wave of cold weather from the north.

Roads connecting small villages to the cities are closed in mountainous eastern Turkey for several weeks during the region's harsh winter and coaches are the main form of transportation between the cities.

[senorpepr]

More deaths in eastern Europe's big freeze

Much of northern and eastern Europe remains in the grip of bitterly cold weather as an Arctic freeze claimed victims from Lithuania to Turkey.

At least 17 weather-related deaths were reported over the weekend.

Moscow's death toll from Siberian temperatures jumped to at least 79 after three more people froze to death overnight on Saturday local time.

Another 20 were hospitalized with hypothermia, the Interfax news agency says.

Temperatures in the Russian capital eased slightly to about minus 18 Celsius degrees, after reaching as low as minus 23 degrees overnight.

In Estonia, where temperatures fell to minus 26 degrees in the southeastern part of the Baltic nation, several fires were caused by overheating, killing two people.

Fire engines from the Soviet era had to be taken out of mothballs as they were more effective in resisting the icy temperatures.

Two more people died from cold in Lithuania over the weekend, bringing the total to eight and about 100 fires were caused by faulty heaters.

Three elderly people also died in Ukraine, raising the total to 21 deaths since temperatures dropped at the start of last week.

Five deaths from hypothermia were reported in neighboring Poland, where rail and road traffic was seriously disrupted Sunday, bringing the total of people to have died from the cold since October to 127

In Turkey, a man died of exposure after walking in snow-covered mountains in the north of the country, the Anatolia news agency says.

In eastern Germany, a man died in a pile-up caused by black ice.

Across the northern swathe of Europe, from Russia across the Baltics to the Scandinavian states, authorities sought to keep energy supplies running, road and rail traffic circulating and health authorities alerted in the midst of the extreme conditions.

In the Moscow region, authorities resolved a number of cases of failed heat supplies to homes and traffic problems caused by heavy snowfall, news reports say, while regions struggled to keep ageing heating systems operational.

Forecasters there say temperatures will fall on Monday to minus 24 degrees but would rise later in the week to minus 12 degrees on Thursday.

MOSCOW. Jan 23 (Interfax) - Seven more people died in Moscow during the weekend of hypothermia bringing the death toll to 135 since the end of October, a source in the city's ambulance service told Interfax on Monday.

Thirty-one more people were hospitalized during the weekend as a result of exposure to severe frost.

Twelve thousand residents of Podolsk, Moscow region, have been left without heating after a pipe ruptured, the press service of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry told Interfax on Monday.

"An accident occurred between a boiler house and the Parkovy residential area at 9:45 a.m., which stopped heating supplies to 26 nine-storey houses," the press service said.

[senorpepr]

FRIGID CASPIAN SEA REGION

BAKU, January 24 (Itar-Tass) - Subzero temperatures have come to Baku for the first time over the past six years. Snow has covered the entire country.

According to the weather center of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, the mercury dropped down to minus eight degrees Centigrade in the Azerbaijan capital last night. It will be a bit warmer at daytime. According to forecasts of weathermen, average temperatures till the end of January will be three-four degrees below the annual average.

The frosty weather and snow created a lot of problems for residents of the southern city who are not accustomed to cold weather. Motorists were the first to feel the nuisance: it was difficult for them to reach their places of destination on icy roads. Kilometers-long jams built up on some thoroughfares, especially those linking Baku with suburbs. There were dozens of minor collisions. Since some residential areas in the capital have no central heating, people use electric heaters, which results in overloading power grids.

A special meeting of the Azerbaijan parliament, which was scheduled for this Tuesday and was supposed to form a new composition of the Central Election Commission of the country, was cancelled over the foul weather.

This notwithstanding, the cold weather did not make any adjustments in the program of the official visit to Azerbaijan by Russian vice-premier and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov. He visited on Tuesday the grave of Azerbaijan national leader Geidar Aliev in the Alley of Honorary Burial Places in the mountainous part of Baku and expressed his idea of settling the Karabakh conflict in an interview with reporters.

Opening the meeting with Azerbaijan Defense Minister Safar Abiev, Russian Defense Minister Ivanov made a joke in connection with the cold spell in Baku: “We can share with you not only weapons, but also weather.”

[kenl01]

Russia's new cold war: -96 degrees F.


http://abcnews.go.com/International/CSM ... id=1534058

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti ... 40382/1009



By Fred Weir

It has to be awfully cold before most Russian men will abandon their traditional machismo and lower the earflaps of their fur hats. Normally that pegs one as a wimp - or a foreigner. (Though Canadian, I've long-since adopted Russian ways and watch the other guys on the street before deciding whether to lower my earflaps.)

But it's been strictly flaps-down weather for over a week, as a relentless Arctic deep freeze strains the country's patience - and its sagging infrastructure. Moscow has endured bone-chilling temperatures, hovering between 4 and 29 degrees below zero F. for the past eight days, with another wave of frigid air in the offing.

Meteorologists recall that thermometers plunged slightly further, to 36 degrees below zero F., during a bitter 1979 cold snap. But no one can remember anytime when it was this cold for this long.

"We get a cold snap like this maybe once in 50 years. This isn't normal," says Nadezhda Satina, a leading specialist at the Moscow Weather Bureau, which has been deluged with calls from anxious Muscovites all week.

But despite their concern, Russians are proud of their winters, which have helped to defeat invaders from Napoleon to Hitler. So when the mercury nose-dived last week, the nation's traditional display of bravado went into high gear.

Thousands came out to mark the Orthodox holiday of Epiphany last week with the famous rite of plunging three times into icy waters and crossing themselves to affirm their faith. At Bezdonnoye Lake, in northern Moscow, the dippers included dozens of shivering politicians who vied for the attention of TV cameras.

Ultranationalist leader Vladimir Zhironovsky, wearing a floral-patterned bathing suit, emerged from his dive with frosty hair and flung a taunt at the outside world: "The reason Americans and western Europeans don't understand Russians is because they don't commune with nature like this."

But Mr. Zhirinovsky also implicitly acknowledged that much of the country's Soviet-era infrastructure had seen better days, instructing his chilled compatriots to turn off their refrigerators. Men should stop using electric razors and women forgo their daily TV soap operas, he added. And, oh yes, everyone should eat more high-calorie ice cream to stay warm, particularly the popular Zhirik brand - in which Zhirinovsky reputedly has a business interest.

But many Russians are resorting to a more traditional ritual to stay warm: drinking a few shots of vodka. Sales of alcoholic beverages soared by 30 percent over the past week, according to the Moscow-based National Alcohol Association. And in the town of Yaroslavl, about 180 miles north of Moscow, an elephant went berserk and ripped his cage apart after zookeepers fed it a bucket of vodka in an attempt to help it feel warmer.

Moscow shops report a huge surge in the sale of valenky, the toasty warm Russian peasant boots made of felt that have long been spurned as unfashionable. "People come in, buy valenky, put them on and leave the shop," says Viktoria Dubrovik, director of the Bitsa clothing shop in Moscow.

Of course, it's all relative. The coldest temperature ever recorded in Moscow, according to the city's weather bureau, was 47 degrees below zero F.in 1940. For Russians in the country's vast Asian landmass, Siberia, that's a typical winter's day. Thermometers in the northern Siberian city of Yakutsk hit a numbing 96 degrees below zero F. last week.

Still, international crises such as Iran's nuclear gambit and Palestinian elections have dropped from sight as Russian TV scrambles to cover the fallout, some of it grim, from the pokholodaniya, or freeze.

The cold has killed more than 150 people this winter, about a third of them in the past week. In several Russian towns, central heating systems - once the pride of Soviet engineering - have been knocked out by burst pipes, leaving tens of thousands without heat in their homes.

Fires have multiplied in Moscow apartment buildings, due to overuse of electric heaters, makeshift fireplaces, and gas stoves left unattended, says Yury Nernashev, head of the State Fire Prevention Center.

And Monday the electricity monopoly Unified Energy Systems imposed power cuts on hundreds of factories and businesses as electricity usage soared beyond the grid's capacity. As voltages plunge, lights dim, TV screens flicker, and microwave ovens simply stop working.

But even if household freezers fail, at least that Zhirik ice cream won't melt anytime soon.

[P.K.]

I'm a bit further west than these events but it dropped to -4.6C here last night.

[kenl01]

Arctic cold sweeps into southern Europe


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11024275/from/RSS/

ATHENS - Freezing weather has killed scores of people in eastern Europe and snowstorms forced the closure of the Acropolis in Athens and blanketed parts of Sicily and Turkey on Wednesday as the Arctic air pushed south.

Ukraine said 66 people had died there since the freeze set in last week. Neighboring Russia has asked it to restrict gas usage as demand has rocketed during the coldest winter in a generation in the region.

The Romanian Health Ministry said extremely low temperatures in the country had caused 27 deaths in the past three days.

In a statement it said the victims, ranging in age between 33 and 86, died of heart attacks and hypothermia caused by temperatures of about -4 degrees Fahrenheit. Seven of them were homeless.

Ten people froze to death or died of burns while trying to keep warm in the Czech Republic in recent days after temperatures fell -22 F, media said.

Police said another 14 people have died of exposure in Poland over the past 24 hours.

The bitter cold has spread to the far south of Europe, regions which normally enjoy milder winters.

36 hours of snow in Greece
In Greece, more than 400 villages and towns were cut off after 36 hours of continuous snowfall and hundreds of snow-clearing vehicles struggled to keep main routes open.

Ports across the country stayed shut as icy gale-force winds swept across the Aegean, casting a carpet of snow over the islands.

A Cambodia-flagged cargo ship sank in the northern Aegean amid a snowstorm on Tuesday, the Merchant Marine Ministry said. All but two of the 16 mainly Turkish crew were rescued by the coastguard and rescuers were search for the missing.

Athenians also enjoyed the rare sight of the Acropolis under a covering of snow. One of the world’s most visited monuments, its marble temples were closed to the public for a second day.

In Turkey, Education Minister Huseyin Celik said the country’s schools, due to resume classes after a mid-year break next week, would remain closed until Feb. 6 because of the freezing weather.

Much of Turkey, including Ankara and Istanbul, was covered in snow while shipping was halted on the Bosphorus because of hazardous conditions.

Bulgarian officials said the country’s two main ports of Varna and Bourgas on the Black Sea had been closed because of high winds and heavy seas.

Bulgarian media reported that three people had died of exposure since the cold spell began on Tuesday.

Snow in Sicily
Italy was also suffering from the cold snap, with the thermometer falling to -31 F in mountains in the northeast. At the other end of the country, heavy snow swept parts of the Mediterranean island of Sicily early on Wednesday.

Newspapers reported that two people died of exposure near Imola in the north of the country, while cities around Italy opened metro stations and railway waiting rooms overnight to provide shelter for the homeless.

The harsh winter has led to a surge in demand for gas as Italians try to keep their homes warm, forcing the government to introduce emergency measures to preserve dwindling gas stocks.

The famous canals in the Dutch city of Amsterdam froze briefly and television news showed footage of commuters on bicycles skidding on black ice, which also caused hundreds of car accidents, ANP news agency reported.

[Extremeweatherguy]

crazy weather in europe and asia! I am just worried that we in the U.S. may be dealing with the same situations soon. I mean the air is already moving into Alaska and Canada...it is just a matter of time...

[kenl01]

crazy weather in europe and asia! I am just worried that we in the U.S. may be dealing with the same situations soon. I mean the air is already moving into Alaska and Canada...it is just a matter of time...

Absolutely ! Many models are already hinting on a colder pattern the first full week of February. The process will take time to fully evolve, but the change to colder weather in the US seems inevitable.

[Brent]

My uncle got stuck over in Austria another day due to the extreme cold. He said it's so cold the subway tracks are cracking...

It's currently 12 degrees with a wind chill of -3.

[P.K.]

12:00GMT synops:

[Matt-hurricanewatcher]

They said when the Gulf stream slows or stops Europe will get colder...Maybe thats whats going on.

[kenl01]

Snow-covered Roof in Poland Collapses: Seven Confirmed Deaths, 500 Still Trapped

Death Toll Rises to Sixty Six - 29 Jan 06 - With temperatures dipping as low as minus 25C
(minus 13F), few - if any - more survivors are expected. (See article below.)

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story. ... loc=NW_1-T




Migratory Birds Leaving Ukraine to Escape Snow -25 Jan 06 - Severe cold and snow in Ukraine's southern Crimea peninsula has prompted migratory birds to leave for Turkey, increasing the risk of new domestic outbreaks of bird flu, Ukraine's Agriculture Ministry said on Tuesday. Bird flu, which has killed four people in Turkey so far, continues to be a serious
concern, with the wild migratory birds believed to be the main infectors of Turkish poultry.
http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/arti ... wsid=34019

[bob rulz]

They said when the Gulf stream slows or stops Europe will get colder...Maybe thats whats going on.

From what I heard, the cold winter in Eurasia is pretty much just the atmosphere accounting for the extremely warm winter in the U.S. (and Canada).

[kenl01]

Rare snow storm in Portugal

http://onlyidol.com/index.php/2006/01/2 ... -portugal/


Today an uncommon snow storm covered much of Portugal. Apart from mountainous regions, snow is usually a rare vision in this south European country because flat terrain and a Mediterranean climate. However, January 2006 saw a cold wave sweeping across Europe, and since early morning snow fell in seaside towns like Figueira da Foz, in central Portugal, and the storm reached record south locations such as Algarve.

Lisbon, the Portuguese capital, received snow for the first time in 52 years. Other towns with a record snowfall were Leiria, Santarém, Évora, Setúbal, Portalegre, Sesimbra, Palmela, Fátima, Pombal, Abrantes, Torres Novas and Ourém.

Highways and roads were closed in much of central and south Portugal. In Montejunto, one hundred people were evacuated from their vehicles. The storm caused electricity to be cut in Elvas and other parts of the Alentejo region. A number of car accidents and fallen trees were reported to have only resulted in minor injuries. In Lisbon, the city government demanded subway stations to remain open overnight, so that homeless people could find shelter.

At 1500 GMT, phone companies saw a record level of calls and text messages due to surprised people contacting and warning each other.

[kenl01]

11,000 Turkish villages cut off by snow

http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/arti ... wsid=34175

Hungry wolves prowl the streets - 27 Jan 06 –
Some 11,000 small villages and enclaves have been cut off from road transport and several hundred are without electricity or telephone services, as heavy snow and cold winds keep a tight grip on Turkey.

Hungry wolves failing to find food in the mountains have reportedly started prowling the streets of Gevaç in Van province. (This sounds almost medieval, doesn’t it?) People said they were worried
about three separate wolf sightings; most made sure they were at home before darkness set in. They said if officials left some food in areas far from residential neighborhoods, the wolves would not bother
people.

As snow continued to fall on Istanbul , roads leading to several suburbs on the European side of the Bosporus, which cuts through Istanbul , were blocked. In parts of Istanbul , snow depth had reached
28 cm. Some 3,000 municipal employees worked round the clock to clean up the snow. The Turkish Red Crescent provided food and blankets to around 1,200 people who remained in their cars.

Snowfall was continuing in the Beylikdüzü, Bakırköy, Eminönü and Boğaz regions of the city on Thursday, with officials warning that the precipitation would be followed by ice.

Severe storms in the Marmara Sea are preventing ships from entering the region, with one ship sinking in Şile.

In Ankara , the country's capital, the mayor said that if natural gas were disrupted (a real fear), residents would be left without any heating fuel.

Officials are forecasting more freezing weather.

[kenl01]

Cold and Snow in Spain - 30 Jan 06 - For the third day yesterday, Spain remained under the icy grip of winter. Utiel recorded the coldest temperature in 35 years, 17ºC.
Many roads were covered with snow or ice; schools were closed in Alcoy due to the snow; ice on the runways at Manises disrupted flights, and Montgo Mountain in Javea had a considerable amount of snow
on its peak.
http://www.thinkspain.com/news-spain/10439



Bitter cold kills 589 in Ukraine - 03 Feb 06 - Some 589 people have died after bitterly cold weather swept through the Ukraine over a 15-day period. The heating system in the city of Alchevsk
failed on January 22, leaving hundreds of buildings, including schools and hospitals, without heat. The Emergency Situations Ministry said the breakdown was primarily the result of long-term neglect of
Alchevsk's heating pipes. "About 70 percent of Ukraine's heating system is worn out and needs to be renovated, while about a quarter of it is in critical condition and must be replaced immediately," the
2 February issue of the "Kyiv Post" quoted Vasyl Kvashuk from the Emergency Situations Ministry as saying. Gas consumption in the Ukraine has increased dramatically as the inefficient heating systems have failed to cope with the conditions.

[kenl01]

6 Feb 06
Polish and Ukrainian authorities revised upwards the human toll from the freezing weather that has gripped eastern Europe as temperatures plummeted yet again. As of mid-January, 738 people had
succumbed to the intense cold, the Ukrainian health ministry said.
In Poland, the cold has 233 people since October. "Last week alone, 19 people died of cold. That's an exceptionally high number," said police spokeswoman Grazyna Puchalska. "The toll has already exceeded the total number of deaths from cold last winter, when 190 people died.
And winter is not over yet," she added.

Temperatures plunged to -26C (-15F) in northeastern Poland at the weekend, while the chill returned to the Ukraine with the mercury slipping below -31C (-24F) in the northern Sumy region.
Parts of Russia were even colder. In Kamchatka, temperatures fell to -47C (-52 F), while temperatures in parts of the Magadan province reached -52C (-61F).

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Europ ... emperature s_Dip_Again.html



Record Low Temperatures in Greece - 8 Feb 06 - The temperature dropped to a record low -25C in Ohiro, northern Greece overnight. Large parts of the national road network are covered with ice, and lakes and rivers are frozen. Some of the lowest temperatures this winter were recorded in most of the prefectures in central and western Macedonia. In Florina, northwest Greece, where temperatures plunged to -18C, the snow is more than 50cm deep. In Meliti, the temperature dropped to -24C.
In Kastoria, northwest Greece, the lake is still frozen and the thermometer dropped to -17C. At the same time, Kozani reported-13C, Veria -11C, Serres -8C and Thessaloniki -6C.
http://www.mpa.gr/article.html?doc_id=566307

[kenl01]

Record Snowfall in Austria - 12 Feb 06 - An Austrian man died as teams struggled to clear snow from roofs after record snowfalls, local authorities said. Some 20,000 people - including 14,000 firefighters and 2,600 troops - were mobilized nationwide after up to three feet (90 cm) of fresh snowfall.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/na/060212 ... 3qpad.html


State of Emergency Declared in Germany after Heavy Snowfall - 10 Feb 06 - Having already endured the heaviest snowfall in a decade, and with up to three feet (one meter) of new snow is expected within hours, officials in southern Germany have issued a state of emergency.
Firefighters, army personnel and volunteers are working frantically around the clock to remove tons of snow from roof in all of Bavaria.
Walter Preis, who is supervising snow clearance work in the region of Passau, said he has never seen anything like this before. "This situation is really exceptional," he said. "We always have a lot snow here, but this year it's been snowing non-stop since mid November and that is why massive layers of snow have built up."
Several roofs have collapsed under heavy snow during the past weeks, killing 16 people. Hundreds of school children in the town of Kopfing, however, were lucky. They got a warning shortly before the roof of their school collapsed, and the school was immediately evacuated.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,214 ... 32,00.html

[kenl01]

Thousands Trapped by Record Snowfall in Europe - 6 Mar 06

Heavy blizzards swept through Western Europe over the weekend,
killing at least seventeen. Some regions in Germany , France , Switzerland and Italy saw the heaviest March snowfalls in nearly three decades. Several thousand travelers returning from ski holidays in southern Germany and France were trapped on the roads as record snowfalls slowly buried their cars.

The Red Cross provided emergency shelters in Germany and France, where some 2,600 tourists were housed in the town hall in Bourg-Saint-Maurice in the French Alps after snow made travel impossible. Even so, many had to spend the night in their vehicles.

Train traffic in southern Germany was virtually shut down, and Frankfurt
International Airport experienced one of its worst weekends in decades.
http://www.upi.com/InternationalIntelli ... 0418-1990r