GLOBAL WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS

DECEMBER 2007


UNITED STATES
West

Moderate to extreme drought conditions covered much of the western
U.S., while exceptional drought persisted in the southeastern region.
On December 27, 55% of the western U.S., 78% of the Southeast, and 35%
of the contiguous U.S. were in moderate to exceptional drought,
according to the Federal U.S. Drought Monitor

Northwest

During December 1-3, a powerful storm with hurricane force winds
struck the Northwest. The storm brought heavy rain and wind gusts over
160 km/hr (100 mph or 87 knots), with the highest reading being 208 km/
hr (129 mph or 112 knots) at Bay City, OR. The strong winds brought
power lines down and the heavy rain caused widespread flooding and
triggered landslides (BBC News). According to reports, 8 fatalities
were attributed to the storm and about 37,000 homes and businesses
were left without power in Washington, Oregon, and northern
California. President Bush declared a federal disaster to several
counties in Washington and Oregon to provide recovery assistance
(Associated Press).

Plains and Midwest

A severe winter storm affected much of the contiguous U.S. during the
week of the 10th. The massive storm lashed the Midwestern states,
covering Missouri and Oklahoma, the hardest hit, in a layer of thick
ice. According to reports, tree branches and power lines were coated
with 1-2 inches (2.54 - 5 cm) of ice. The icy conditions left more
than 800,000 homes without power and were blamed for about 36
fatalities (AFP/Reuters/BBC News). President Bush declared the state
of Oklahoma in a state of emergency and Governor Henry stated that
this was the worst ice storm in the state's history. The same system
moved towards the Northeast, dumping heavy amounts of snow with Boston
receiving up to 10 inches (25.4 cm) of snow during the evening rush
hour on December 13.
This amount was much more than the city typically see during the
entire
month of December (Reuters).


ASIA
China

Drought conditions worsened in the southeastern region. Moderate to
extreme drought conditions were present across Yunnan, Guizhou,
Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi, and western Fujian. The northern parts of
Guangxi suffered from exceptional drought conditions (Beijing Climate
Center. According to reports, south China is experiencing its worst
drought since 1951, affecting one million people (BBC News).

In Malaysia, heavy rainfall during December 7-12 prompting floods that
affected 20,000 people and claimed 12 lives (Reuters/BBC News).

In Sri Lanka, heavy downpours triggered floods that displace more than
22,600 people, damaging 80 houses and about 162 hectares (400 acres)
of
paddy fields (Reuters).

On December 17, heavy rainfall triggered floods across southern
Thailand which affected thousands of villagers and caused 8 districts
to be declared as disaster zones. The flooding was characterized as
the most severe to struck the region in 10 years (BBC News).

AUSTRALIA

In Australia, heavy rainfall on December 3 triggered flash floods
across
Sydney and Melbourne. In less than half an hour, parts of western
Sydney
received as mush as 21 mm (0.8 inches) of rain (BBC News).


During the first week of December, the islands of Hawaii experienced
gale force winds and heavy rain, with Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa having
blizzard warning, due to a Kona low
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/goo...pl?src=http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kona_low
that hit the islands on the 7th. The storm left about 45,000 people
without power. This storm was described as the worst in recent memory
(BBC News).

TROPICAL

Tropical cyclone Daman developed as a depression in the south Pacific
Ocean on the 4th and intensified into a tropical cyclone on the 5th.
On December 7, Daman reached its peak intensity with maximum sustained
winds of 195 km/hr (120 mph or 105 knots). The severe cyclone spared
Fiji's second largest island Vanua Levu which is densely populated but
pounded the smaller islands. Daman produced heavy rain that caused
floods in the low-lying areas and triggered landslides. The tropical
cyclone downgraded to a depression on the 9th (BBC News).

Tropical storm Olga developed as a sub-tropical storm on the 10th,
after the official end of the Atlantic hurricane season, over the
Virgin islands. Sub-tropical storm Olga moved westward along the
northern coast of Puerto Rico with sustained winds near 75 km/hr (47
mph or 40 knots), producing torrential rainfall in the interior of the
island. During December 10-12, Olga dumped more than 8 inches (203 mm)
of rain on the island. The heavy rain triggered mudslides that killed
one person and left thousands without power (BBC/Reuters). During the
morning of the 11th, Olga began to lose its sub-tropical
characteristics, developing a warm core and transitioning to a
tropical storm that same day. The storm reached its peak intensity of
93 km/hr (58 mph or 50 knots) on the evening of the 11th just before
making landfall in the eastern coast of the Dominican Republic. The
heavy rain produced by Olga caused widespread flooding, including the
overflow of rivers. Rapid accumulation of water in the Tavera Dam,
forced officials to make a drastic decision of releasing the water
from the Dam into the Yaque del Norte River and thus inundating seven
towns (Reuters/Associated Press) since they feared the dam would
collapse and flood Santiago, Dominican Republic's second-largest city.
Olga affected more than 34,000 people, killed 20 people and damaged
nearly 7,000 homes. Haiti reported two fatalities (Associated Press).
According to reports, tropical storm Olga is the 10th named storm to
developed in December since records began in 1851 (BBC News/Associated
Press).

Europe

In Spain, cold conditions were experienced on December 18, prompting a
huge surge on electricity demand, exceeding the previous record set on
27 January 2005 (BBC News).