“Rebecca Farr a meteorologist from New South Wales Bureau of Meteorology, told Daily Mail Australia the ‘scale and duration of the heatwave is unprecedented’.
“Due to the final few days of baking heat January records are set to be broken.
“Ms Farr said: ‘January is on track to be the hottest ever January on record for all of Australia.
“‘New South Wales as a state is also on track to be the warmest on record,’ she said.”
“Hobart is heading for its driest January on record, with less than 1mm of rain falling since the start of the year. The lowest Hobart rainfall recorded in January is 2.8mm in 2008, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, and there is little prospect of rain.”
“The record flooding [in Queensland] damaged the ferry infrastructure and shut down service across the river for several days… Torrential rainfall of nearly 300 mm (12 inches) fell in only 6 hours across the region, leading to the historic flooding. The heaviest rainfall has ended for Cairns and Daintree; however, additional showers and thunderstorms are possible each day this week, hampering recovery efforts and keeping river levels dangerously high.”
“”Unfortunately, the rain [in Bolivia] has wreaked havoc and there are quality standards that we must meet for exports and these climatic conditions definitely do not allow us,” said the president of the Agricultural Chamber of Cochabamba (CAC), Jasmany Medrano. He explained that Argentina is demanding the product, but at the moment it can not be fulfilled with the export.”
“A rare tornado in Havana, Cuba on Sunday night left at least three people dead and more than 170 people injured.”
Video footage of the aftermath:
“Arizona is facing a deadline to become the last of several states in the U.S. West to approve a plan ensuring shared water from the Colorado River doesn’t dry up for millions of farmers, cities, tribes and developers that depend on it.
“The other six states have agreed to plans that recognize a long-running drought, the dwindling supply of water and how they intend to cope with it. Arizona’s plan has broad support but hasn’t been approved by the Legislature…”
“The South and East Coast are expecting rain and snow today as an Arctic front heads east. Trailing this polar front is the coldest air mass seen in the U.S. in decades, and it’s expected to hit the Midwest tonight, into tomorrow…
“Almost three dozen states this morning are under alerts and advisories for winter weather.”
“A weekend deluge set a one-day rainfall record in Fort Myers that topped even 2016’s torrential downpours that caused massive flooding in some of Southwest Florida…
“Hubbard said nearly 3.7 inches of rain fell at Page Field Airport… That’s more rainfall than in any day in January since the weather service started keeping records, which go back more than a century for Fort Myers.”
““Torrential floods from the Najaf desert — the result of recent heavy rainfall — have swept away more than 50 homes in the village of Al-Rahimiya in the province’s southwest region,” Ihab Sheikli, a local civil-defence official, told Anadolu Agency.
“On Sunday, Iraq’s Water Resources Ministry warned the public to brace for inordinately heavy rainfall and accompanying flash floods in the days ahead. Last November, at least 10 people were killed in different parts of Iraq by torrential rains and flooding.”
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190128-dozens-of-homes-swept-away-by-floods-in-iraqs-najaf/
“Students in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Tuesday were forced to take their mid-term exams in flooded classrooms as heavy rains continue to affect the country… Provincial authorities from various parts of the country have recognized the severity of the situation and declared Tuesday to be a public holiday. Iraqi social media users posted videos on Facebook showing elementary school pupils taking their exams in a flooded classroom.”
http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/779bf239-4306-4853-a285-fb36afc248e1
“Heavy rainfall and sandstorms in the Kingdom have led to flooding, school closures and poor visibility, authorities said Monday as they urged people to take precautions during the bout of bad weather.
“Rain hit northern and western parts of Saudi Arabia on Sunday and Monday..
“…sand swept through major population areas to bog down the skyline.”
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1443351/saudi-arabia
“The Wellington suburb of Kelburn [New Zealand] has had its hottest day on record, reaching 30.3C today, following on from yesterday’s record-breaking heat in Richmond.”
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/381221/heatwave-five-days-of-heat-guys-we-re-only-in-day-two
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