Another flooding mega-disaster: Sri Lanka recovers from extreme flooding
At least 43 are dead and thousands still in refugee camps due to extreme flooding in eastern Sri Lanka caused by record monsoon rains. According to the United Nations, the rains in recent weeks in Sri Lanka have been the heaviest in nearly 100 years of record keeping, and the flood that resulted was a 1-in-100 year event, according to The U.N. Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System. Rainfall at Batticaloa, Sri Lanka, during the 42-day period December 1 - January 12 was 1606 mm (63"), which is about how much rain the station usually receives in an entire year (1651 mm, or 65".) Sri Lanka's previous most devastating flooding disaster was the 2004 tsunami, but as The Economist commented, "in terms of the numbers of people displaced and farmland inundated, the floods have been even more devastating than the tsunami of December 2004." Damage estimates start at $500 million, and much of Sri Lanka's agriculture has been severely damaged by the disaster. Also of concern is the large number of land mines from the recent Sri Lanka civil war that may have been unearthed by the floods. Water is also a major concern in the flood-hit area, as fighting between government forces and Tamil Tigers rebels from mid-2007 to May 2009 damaged or destroyed almost all of the water facilities.
Figure 1. A family affected by the 2011 Sri Lanka floods braves the flood waters. Image credit: United Nations.
Sri Lanka is now the fifth nation in the past six month to suffer a flooding disaster unprecedented in its history. As I reported in a previous post, the other four mega-impact floods--the July 2010 Pakistan floods, the December - January Queensland Australia floods, the November 2010 Colombia floods, and the January 2011 Rio de Janeiro floods--were all accompanied by an atmosphere laden with moisture, due, in part, due to sea surface temperatures over nearby ocean areas that were the 2nd or 3rd warmest on record. However, that was not the case for the Sri Lanka floods. Ocean temperatures during December 2010 were 0.2°C below average in the 5x5 degree square of ocean adjoining the island (5N - 10N, 80E - 85E). The floods appear to be due to the normal monsoon rains that typically affect the region this time of year, enhanced by the strong La Niña event occurring in the Eastern Pacific.
Figure 2. Satellite-estimated precipitation over Sri Lanka for January 3 - 9. Up to 18 inches (525 mm) fell over eastern Sri Lanka. Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory.
Jeff Masters
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MINNEAPOLIS - Dangerously cold temperatures are settling over Minnesota with wind chill readings that can cause frostbite to exposed skin in a matter of minutes.
Forecasters say daytime temperatures may not make it above zero in northern Minnesota. Friday morning lows could drop to minus-30 and colder from the Iron Range north.
In International Falls, for example, the overnight low is expected to be around minus-36. Brainerd may see minus-27 and Duluth minus-25.
In the Twin Cities, the low from Thursday night into Friday morning will be around minus-15, with minus-20 readings possible in suburban areas.
The artic air will be escorted by by winds that could produce wind chills as low as minus-30 in the Twin Cities area and minus-50 up north.
"I found the love that I knew I had missed"
you know, I'm really tired of spam getting such a bad reputation... it's quite tasty broiled with some cheddar cheese and ortega chilis....
It was....once.
Toddluck,..........I did thanks.Glad that I am not alone
URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND
330 PM CST THU JAN 20 2011
...EXTREME COLD TEMPERATURES EXPECTED FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST
MINNESOTA...
.HIGH PRESSURE WILL MOVE INTO NORTHWEST MINNESOTA ALLOWING
TEMPERATURES TO RAPIDLY FALL. LOW TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO BE
-30 TO -35 FOR A PROLONGED PERIOD. WINDS MAY INCREASE FRIDAY
MORNING AND PRODUCE HAZARDOUS WIND CHILL VALUES FOR A BRIEF PERIOD
OF TIME.
MNZ005-006-008-009-013>017-022>024-028-032-211500-
/O.NEW.KFGF.EC.W.0001.110121T0300Z-110121T1500Z/
ROSEAU-LAKE OF THE WOODS-EAST MARSHALL-NORTH BELTRAMI-PENNINGTON-
RED LAKE-EAST POLK-NORTH CLEARWATER-SOUTH BELTRAMI-MAHNOMEN-
SOUTH CLEARWATER-HUBBARD-EAST BECKER-WADENA-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ROSEAU...BAUDETTE...NEWFOLDEN...
RED LAKE...THIEF RIVER FALLS...RED LAKE FALLS...FOSSTON...
BAGLEY...BEMIDJI...MAHNOMEN...LAKE ITASCA...PARK RAPIDS...
WOLF LAKE...WADENA
330 PM CST THU JAN 20 2011
...EXTREME COLD WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 9 PM THIS EVENING TO 9 AM
CST FRIDAY...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED AN EXTREME
COLD WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 9 PM THIS EVENING TO 9 AM
CST FRIDAY.
* WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME CALM BY MIDNIGHT ALLOWING
TEMPERATURES TO RAPIDLY FALL.
* TEMPERATURE VALUES OF 30 TO 35 BELOW ZERO ARE EXPECTED DURING
MUCH OF THE OVERNIGHT HOURS.
* WINDS MAY INCREASE FRIDAY MORNING CAUSING HAZARDOUS WIND CHILL
VALUES FOR A BRIEF PERIOD OF TIME.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
AN EXTREME COLD WARNING MEAN THAT DANGEROUSLY LOW TEMPERATURES
ARE EXPECTED FOR A PROLONGED PERIOD OF TIME. FROSTBITE AND
HYPOTHERMIA ARE LIKELY IF EXPOSED TO THESE TEMPERATURES...SO MAKE
SURE A HAT...FACEMASK...AND HEAVY GLOVES OR MITTENS ARE
AVAILABLE.
That is the way of the community. A healthy online community works the same as human antibodies, swarming to oust every bacterial or viral threat. HIPPOCRITT's very first post in this thread--also her very first post as a member, as she signed up yesterday--was as obviously trollish a comment as one could make: silly, loud, unscientific, and intended only to provoke negative responses in others. So the community acted; the "antibodies" swarmed, and that comment was sent into the ether. There was obviously frustration both ways: HIPPOCRITT was frustrated over not getting the response she wanted, while the community was frustrated over yet another long-time troll adopting yet another handle not to add anything to the forum but merely to pull some immature little "prank".
So, yes, again, that's the way of this community--just as it should be.
Dave
Nobody likes him anyways.
People that are just lurking should make up their own mind using research on their own time not by what JFLORIDA posts or anybody that is a "denier" posts. There's only one way to figure something out and it's not by listening to other's.
Well, that's not so true. I may not always agree with JF, but I still like him. :))
I'll have to disagree. I do a lot of self-learning, but I find teachers to be absolutely invaluable.
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