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BELGRADE, Serbia — At least 11,000 villagers have been trapped by heavy snow and blizzards in Serbia’s mountains, authorities said Thursday, as the death toll from Eastern Europe’s weeklong deep freeze rose to 123, many of them homeless people. The harshest winter in decades has seen temperatures in some regions dropping to minus 30 C (minus 22 F) and below, and has caused power outages, traffic chaos and the widespread closure of schools, nurseries and airports. The stranded in Serbia are stuck in some 6,500 homes in remote areas that cannot be reached due to icy, snow-clogged roads with banks...

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/bou/?n=bou_winter_briefing Major winter storm coming up thru CO from the Four Corners area. Local depths by Saturday AM could be 2+ feet, with blizzard winds and flying stuff. Check yer batteries, flashlights, beebers. Set aside some fluids and don't BBQ in the house please.

Yes! The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club made their decree Thursday morning in central Pennsylvania: Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, and there'll be six more weeks of winter. The announcement was met with boos from the enormous crowd gathered in Punxsutawney. Folks in the East and elsewhere gave a collective shrug, as temperatures have been unseasonably warm. "But it's the winter we've been having, so that's like spring anyway," said Matt Lauer on TODAY after the news broke. "The daffodils are already in bloom in NW Mississippi," wrote Jackie Barnes Garrett

PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania's famous groundhog Punxsutawney Phil has emerged from his lair and seen his shadow, in the process predicting six more weeks of winter. But, at this rate, that might not be so bad. The groundhog made his "prediction" on Gobbler's Knob. Temperatures were near freezing when he emerged at dawn -- unseasonably warm -- and are forecast to climb into the mid-40s in a winter that's brought little snow and only a few notably cold days to much of the East.

What happens when Hollywood director David Zucker unleashes his wacky humor on the historic Riverside Theater and the renowned Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra? You get a little something we're quite familiar with in Wisconsin: fun. You might remember David Zucker as the director of classics like Airplane! and The Naked Gun. But you might not know that David was born and raised right in Shorewood, Wisconsin! This is David's first Wisconsin project in over 40 years, but he sure hasn't forgotten one thing: Wisconsin is fun in every season. See for yourself! Start planning your Wisconsin vacation with accommodations, attractions, and...

The University of Minnesota sent employees its seasonal celebration guidelines for office activities. The school recommends using "winter celebration" as terminology instead of "holiday party." Also they say to keep decorations, music, and food general, not specific to any religion. The University says the policy mirrors federal guidelines.

Israel's new ambassador to Egypt is expected to depart for Cairo on Monday, the Foreign Ministry announced Saturday evening. But because no secure embassy building yet exists for Israel in the Egyptian capital, Yaakov Amitai will temporarily operate from his residence. Foreign Ministry officials said they have not yet found a new building in which to place the Israeli embassy, which formally was located close to Cairo University, a hotbed of anti-Israeli sentiment. Former Ambassador to Egypt Yitzchak Levanon returned to Israel in September after escaping a mob that stormed the Cairo embassy and completely trashed the facility. The Egyptian...

Electricity shortages could mean chilly winter for some November 12, 2011 People across most of the country should be preparing to bundle up. With many nuclear power plants offline since the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, electric utilities in some regions will likely face difficulties securing enough power this winter. Kansai Electric Power Co., which depends on nuclear power for more than 50 percent of its electricity generation, expects that its supply capacity will be 7.1 percent below peak demand in January and 9.5 percent in February. Similarly, Tohoku Electric Power Co.'s capacity will be 3.4...

Winds near hurricane force of 74 mph were expected to generate seas as high as 25 feet in the northern Bering Sea, forecasters said. The winds were expected to raise sea levels as much as 9 feet in the Norton Sound. Those levels combined with the high waves were expected to cause significant coastal erosion and major flooding. The winds may also push sea ice on shore, adding to the dangers, NWS forecasters said.

There’s been a lot of buzz and conflicting reports over what the BEST data actually says, especially about the last decade... Here’s some media quotes recently about the BEST preliminary data and preliminary results: “‘We see no evidence of it [global warming] having slowed down,’ he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. There was, he added, ‘no levelling off’.” – Dr. Richard Muller In The Sunday Mail Prof Curry said, the project’s research data show there has been no increase in world temperatures since the end of the Nineties: ‘There is no scientific basis for saying that warming hasn’t stopped,’...

The Farmers' Almanac recently issued their outlook for the 2011-2012 winter season and are predicting a wet and wild winter for much of the nation. According to their forecasters, the Farmers' Almanac is predicting a season of "crime and punishment" with lots of unusually cold and stormy conditions. In the northern Plains, northern Rockies, and western Great Lakes, folks can expect frigid cold temperatures while those in the southern and eastern United States will experience above average temperatures. Near normal temperatures are predicted for the Midwest and far western parts of the country.

Protesters prepare to dig in for winterBy EMILY NGO. Special to Newsday Updated: October 8, 2011 11:24 PM The cold is coming -- and they know it. As the Occupy Wall Street protesters head into their fourth week, the camp is preparing to dig in for the long haul. Saturday, thoughts were turning to basic human needs and ways to plan and strategize for the challenges ahead. At Saturday's 9 a.m. coordination meeting, representatives on the numerous task forces dealt with the need for more donations of sleeping bags, ground pads and shoes. Right now there's an oversupply of socks,...

Cute video! What a dog does when it's cold

WGN Postal service may shut down for winter WGN News 3:03 PM CDT, September 5, 2011 Without emergency funding the postal service may have to shut down for the winter. The U.S Postal Service faces a $9 billion dollar deficit. The New York Times reports the agency doesn't have enough money to pay its bills and a $5.5 billion dollar payment is due this month. Possible cost cutting measures include eliminating Saturday delivery, closing up to 3700 post offices and laying off 120,000 workers. A congressional hearing on the matter is set for Tuesday.

IDF Home Front Command chief Maj. Gen. Eyal Eisenberg says the 'Arab Spring' may bring an 'Islamic Winter' - and War. 'Arab Spring' revolutions have destabilized the region and raised the likelihood of war, top general says. "It looks like the Arab Spring, but it can also be a radical Islamic winter," IDF Home Front Command chief Major General Eyal Eisenberg said during a speech at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv on Monday. "This leads us to the conclusion that through a long-term process, the likelihood of an all-out war is increasingly growing," Eisenberg said. "Iran...

For all the talk of this past winter being one for the record books, the reality is much different. While extremely cold conditions gripped some sections of the country at various times during the past few months, the winter of 2010-2011 actually served up temperatures that were just a little cooler than average over the entire contiguous United States. Records from thousands of weather stations across the lower 48 states from December through February show the past season did not even crack the coldest one-third of winters since 1895, when very reliable recordkeeping began.

Between the extreme cold temperatures and a set of punishing snowstorms that repeatedly brought havoc to a good chunk of the eastern United States, it was a tough winter for some. Take Nowata, Okla., for example, where temperatures in February dropped to a record 31 degrees below zero. When December lows dipped to just 31 degrees above zero, Sarasota, Fla., broke a cold-temperature record that had stood for 82 years. And in February, an Arctic blast drove Laramie, Wyo., temperatures down to a bone-chilling minus 61 degrees. In terms of long-term temperature trends, however, just how much did Old Man...

This year's particularly harsh winter has hit northern Minnesota's deer population hard, and the survivors could even be in trouble if spring weather doesn't kick in soon. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says it is finding more and more dead whitetails in the woods, and the agency expects even more to surface over the next two weeks or more. That's because the animals can't find food and become vulnerable to death by natural causes or predators such as wolves, the Mesabi Daily News of Virginia, Minn., reports. Sometimes it's difficult to tell whether a deer died before or after...

Korea Saw Longest Cold Snap in 28 Years Korea experienced the longest cold snap in 28 years this winter, the Korea Meteorological Administration said Tuesday. Temperatures lower than those of average years affected the nation for 38 days over the three-month period. Temperatures from December to February averaged -0.4 degrees Celsius, 1.2 degrees colder than in average years. The average high and low temperatures stood at 5.1 degrees and -5.3 degrees, 1.2 degrees and 1.4 degrees lower than normal. The number of days with a morning low of -10 degrees or colder was 18.6, while for 17.8 days the mercury...

Now, our scientific overlords inform us that if you just pop a few nukes, somewhere far away from where Dr. Genius parks her SUV, it may not be a total suckage field. Nothing quite reverses the Demon Global Warming like a nice, billowing cloud of carbonaceous aerosols...

Give us this day our Daily Weather Alert thread uhh.. and Please keep Daytona dry this week-end. (so far so good today at the Daytona Duels , on SPEED Live now.) Amen.

We already have deer frolicking about in the yard... Shouldn't be long now, kids- lolHang in there!More news/views/humor at Reaganite Republican

WICHITA FALLS — The electric grid operator for Texas is urging consumers and businesses are encouraged to reduce their electricity use during peak demand hours over the next few days from 6 – 9 a.m. and 4 – 8 p.m. to help reduce the risk of electricity emergencies or the need for rotating outages. “The National Weather Service is anticipating severe cold weather statewide this week, as another arctic air mass is expected to reach deep into Texas, dropping temperatures back into the teens and twenties,” said Trip Doggett, CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. "In anticipation of...

A potentially deadly winter storm is making its way eastward across at least one-third of the country this morning, bringing with it a combination of heavy snow, ice and freezing temperatures. In what could be the worst snowstorm the country has seen in more than 40 years, more than a foot of snow may fall on a 2,100-mile stretch from New Mexico to Maine, weather forecasters said. Blizzard warnings are in effect for nine states with the storm expected to significantly affect Oklahoma City, Kansas City, St. Louis, Detroit, Des Moines, Iowa, Chicago and Milwaukee, Wis. Federal Emergency Management Agency...

NEW YORK – Schools closed, governments sent workers home early and planes were grounded Wednesday in an all-too-familiar routine along the East Coast as another snowstorm swept over a region already beaten down by a winter not even half over. ... Millions of people got that oh-no-not-again feeling as the wet and sloppy storm engulfed the Northeast, where snowbanks in some places were already so high that drivers couldn't see around corners. In Washington, D.C., hundreds of thousands of customers lost electricity, as heavy snow toppled power lines.

The Northeast girded itself as a fast-moving storm moved full-force into the region overnight, bringing an icy mix of snow and rain, stranding hundreds of airplane passengers, leaving more than 300,000 customers in and around the nation's capital without power, and making roads treacherous for Thursday morning commuters. Public schools remained closed for a second day Thursday and motorists were warned of dangerous road conditions. In New York's Central Park, 15 inches had fallen by 2 a.m. ET, taking the total for January to 32.3 inches and smashing an 86-year-old record for the month, according to the National Weather Service....

Maybe Al Gore and Ted Turner are right. The insidious thing about this man-made global warming is how it's lulling us all into this false sense of security by dumping snow and ice on us occasionally. I'm sure it'll warm up soon and then Ted can give us a timetable on how long we have until the Earth goes belly-up. I probably should have labeled this as vanity, but with all the tension and heavy discussions of the day, it was fun to play outside with the boys for a few hours :) Enjoy!

Here we go again another storm heading to the East after battering the West Coast.

In October the forecaster privately warned the Government - with whom it has a contract - that Britain was likely to face an extremely cold winter. It kept the prediction secret, however, after facing severe criticism over the accuracy of its long-term forecasts. The Met Office eventually issued a public warning about the early onset of winter a month later, just days before snow and ice covered much of Britain and temperatures plummeted to the lowest on record. Motoring organisations and passenger groups said yesterday that the delay hampered preparations for winter. It has also been disclosed that the BBC...

BRITAIN’S winter is the coldest since 1683 and close to being the chilliest in nearly 1,000 years. Latest figures reveal that the average temperature since December 1 has been a perishing -1C. That makes it the second coldest since records began in 1659.

Time Mag Headline 'Holiday Blizzard: More Signs of Global Warming' By Noel Sheppard Created 12/29/2010 - 9:10am By Noel Sheppard | December 29, 2010 | 09:10 Noel Sheppard's picture In today's "Everything Is Caused By Climate Change" segment, the folks at Time magazine offer a howler destined to start your morning off right with a chuckle: "Holiday Blizzard: More Signs of Global Warming." The contents were even more hysterical: One theory is that a warmer Arctic may actually lead to colder and snowier winters in the northern mid-latitudes. Even as countries like Britain — suffering through the coldest December on...

Scientist: Climate change to intensify winter weather By Andrew Restuccia - 12/29/10 03:01 PM ET This weekend’s massive blizzard in the Northeast has fueled the fire of climate skepticism that's pervasive in many parts of the United States. If we’re still getting major winter storms, skeptics say, how can the planet be warming? E2 Wire put that question to Tom Peterson, chief scientist at the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration’s National Climatic Data Center. Peterson said the latest climate change data indicate increases in global temperature result in more intense weather events, including winter storms. As the planet warms, “frequency...

It seems like a cheap shot for global warming doubters to jump on the first major snow storm of every year to expound on the follies of climate science. But I’m so angry about how politicized climate science has become, and the evidence against the alarmist claims about anthropogenic (man-made) global warming has become so overwhelming, that I thought I should bring some of the latest articles to your attention. Find them at www.mrformansplanet.com

That was the word that the Drudgereport summed up: Monster. The recent snow blizzard that hit the northeastern USA, late Sunday morning into late Monday morning, stranding people going home from Christmas family gatherings by shutting down airports as well as train and bus depots.

A Winter Storm Warning has been issued for all of the Midlands until late Sunday night. We will see some snow during the last few hours of Christmas day and overnight into Sunday morning.

Residents in eastern Pennsylvania are being warned to prepare for a snowstorm that brought a white Christmas to parts of the Midwest and the South and is expected to bear down on the area. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for eastern parts of the state on Saturday, upgrading the storm watch issued earlier in the day. The weather service is now forecasting 8 to 12 inches of snow for Philadelphia and its suburbs during the warning period, which begins at 7 a.m. Sunday

Discussion of the winter weather here in the east.

Western states facing 'all-day onslaught' from massive winter stormBy the CNN Wire Staff December 19, 2010 6:37 p.m. EST (CNN) -- A huge winter storm was affecting the West Coast on Sunday, poised to dump up to 10 feet of snow in some higher elevations, and causing flooding and potential mudslides in lower spots while impacting driving conditions and air travel, forecasters said. A winter storm warning remained in effect through Monday afternoon for California's Sierra Nevada mountains, from Yosemite to Kings Canyon, according to the National Weather Service. "Storm totals of 5 to 10 feet above 7,000 feet are...

Back in September there was an article, in the journal "Pediatrics", about a study that was based on reports from emergency rooms across America from 1997 to 2007.  The study was concerned about the 229,023 reported snow-sledding-related injuries suffered by those aged 19 years and younger. The report pointed out that of those injuries, 78,096 were head related.  Well my friends, the MSM and the leftists across the country are using the report to drive home the point that sled helmets should be mandatory for all children.  So get ready for politicians at city, county, and state levels to...

Five children were killed in a house fire in Citra Monday night. Three brothers -- Joseph Jordan, 15, Austin Jordan, 13, and William Jordan Jr., 8 -- and their two sisters -- Shyanne Jordan, 12, and Trinity Jordan, 6 -- were killed in the fire at 1760 N.E. 182nd Place. Their 21-year-old aunt, Kyla Cole, was severely burned.

Will you have a warm house to come home to this winter? If so, you should consider yourself to be very fortunate. With the United States experiencing the highest levels of long-term unemployment that it has seen since the Great Depression, millions of Americans families are simply out of money. All across America this winter, families are going to be forced to make some heart breaking decisions. For many, the choice will come down to either heating their home or putting food on the table. According to the National Energy Assistance Directors' Association, more than 10 million U.S. households...

This was a tough one to figure out what category this should go in! Well .. Anyway .. I need some advice from an expert on electrical use. Been out of work for over two years now and I am 'squeezing' every dime to survive! Here is my question: I live in a two story, vinyl sided home. I have an electric fireplace downstairs (12.5 amps +120 volts= 1500 watts) and the same upstairs. I also have .. what I think is a 2.5 ton 'Heat Pump'. I have No Clue, (being from Florida) What or how a heat pump...

A super La Nina is developing. Historically, these strong La Nina events drop the Earth’s average temperature around one degree Fahrenheit, and the drop comes quickly. As a result, some of the same places that had record heat this summer may suffer through record cold this winter.La Nina is the lesser-known colder sister of El Nino. La Nina chills the waters of the tropical Pacific Ocean, and in turn cools the entire planet for one to two years or more. This chilling has the potential to bring bone-numbing cold to many parts of the world for this and the following...

Paul, “I was looking at your reviews on your website MovingSnow.Com and was reading the reviews that you were giving. I must admit that you saved me from making a huge mistake. A friend of mine was going to give me his old 22” Sears Craftsman snow blower (it needs work). After reading your review on how much of a piece of crap the thing is; I went out and bought myself a 26” Troy Built 2 stage. Do you have any reviews about this machine?

Following a reasonably benign winter, the Southland region of New Zealand (NZ) has in the past week been hit by “the worst spring storm in living memory” according to the NZ Herald.

As is customary for me, I try to provide an initial winter weather outlook around the first of September, just as we begin to think Fall. Why? It comes from my work experience in the private weather industry where critical planning for the upcoming winter takes place during September and October and that is when the winter outlook is so important. This includes the utility industry with regards to their planning on the amount of natural gas and heating oil will be required to heat our homes to local municipalities, state departments of transportation and the local snow plow operator...

Record Low Average Temperatures Set For Miami Beach, West Palm Beach, Naples Cooler Than Normal Temps, Higher Rainfall Expected In AprilUnless you spent this winter somewhere else, you know it was chilly, at least by South Florida standards. Now, with the data in, the National Weather Service has made it official. The first 3 months of the year were the coldest ever reported in Miami Beach, Naples, and West Palm Beach, and was among the coldest winters ever for Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. That information was included in an analysis of winter weather patterns conducted by the National Weather Service...

From the balmy Arctic, to the open water of the St. Lawrence and snowless western fields, this winter has been the warmest and driest in Canadian record books. Environment Canada scientists report that winter 2009/10 was 4 C above normal, making it the warmest since nationwide records were first kept in 1948. It was also the driest winter on the 63-year record, with precipitation 22 per cent below normal nationally, and down 60 per cent in parts of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario. "It's beyond shocking," David Phillips, a senior climatologist with Environment Canada, said Tuesday. Records have been shattered from...

Met Office figures recorded a December-to-February mean UK temperature of just 1.51C, while the 1971-2000 average is 3.7C After suffering snow, sleet, rain and consistently freezing temperatures, the knowledge that the Met Office has officially recognised winter 2009-10 as the coldest in 31 years brings with it a certain grim satisfaction. Provisional figures from the forecaster show the UK winter ‑ which in forecasting terms lasts from the start of December until the end of February ‑ has been the harshest, in temperature terms, since 1978-79.

PARIS – A violent late winter storm with fierce rain and hurricane-strength winds ripped across western Europe on Sunday, battering France and four other countries, leaving at least 51 people dead. The storm, named Xynthia, was the worst in France since 1999 when 90 people died. Prime Minister Francois Fillon held an emergency cabinet meeting and afterward called the storm a "national catastrophe." Many of the at least 45 victims in France drowned, while others died when hit by parts of buildings or trees and branches that were ripped off by the wind. At least a dozen people were missing...