High
Temperature Extreme
Jervois,
Australia: 107 degrees Fahrenheit
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Low
Temperature Extreme
Vostok
(Russia), Antarctica: -67 degrees Fahrenheit
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Volcano
Warnings
Mexican
troops were deployed around the flanks of Popocatepetl Volcano to help with
possible evacuations after a flurry of volcanic activity alarmed local residents.
The soldiers took positions in villages surrounding the 15,600-foot mountain,
located just to the southeast of Mexico City.
In western
Mexico, nearly 500 residents of villages at the foot of the smoking Vulcan
de Fuego were allowed to return home in the state of Colima. The residents
had spent 18 days at improvised shelters, schools and other public buildings.
Increased activity
at Indonesia’s Anak Krakatau Volcano in the Sunda Straits prompted
officials to ban visitors to the popular tourist destination. Also known as
“Child of Krakatoa,” the volcano has been visibly active since early February
with small outbursts followed by volcanic booms that have spewed ash half
a mile into the sky.
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Brazilian
Inundations
The
worst flooding to hit Sao Paulo in five years has claimed 27 lives
and left more than 10,000 others homeless.
Days of torrential
rainstorms hit the metropolis, Brazil’s finance and economic capital, leaving
city streets inundated and virtually impassable. The city’s Favela slums were
the hardest hit areas with hundreds of homes ruined by sporadic mudslides
and flash floods.
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Tropical
Storms
An
area of disturbed weather off the coast of Mozambique developed into
tropical cyclone 23S, but not before unleashing deadly floods in the southern
part of the country. The storm later lost force over the Mozambique Channel.
Cyclone 25S passed
harmlessly over the open waters of the western Indian Ocean.
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Thai
Smoke Hazard
A
thick blanket of smoke covering Thailand’s northern Mae Hong Son province
since the beginning of the year is causing rash and respiratory ailments.
More than 100
local residents have been treated for various rash, allergy and respiratory
maladies due to the brown haze. The smoke is expected to linger into late
March, and officials claim that slash-and-burn farm-clearing methods have
created the problem.
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Oceanic
Drought
The
Pacific island nation of Kiribati declared a state of emergency following
a prolonged drought that has nearly exhausted the country’s underground freshwater
supplies.
The dry weather
has transformed the island nation into a chain of dust bowls, making the former
British protectorate’s estimated 81,000 inhabitants prone to airborne diseases.
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Earthquakes
Panicked
residents in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, rushed out of their homes and
into the streets after a magnitude 4.1 earthquake jolted the city and surrounding
areas. Uganda is one of the most earthquake-prone countries on the African
continent.
Quakes were also
felt in the Aegean Sea, southeast Iran, the southern Philippines,
northern Taiwan, southern and northern points in Japan, Alaska’s
Prince William Sound, the California-Mexico border region and El
Salvador.
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Early
Tornado Season
Three
people were left dead in the wake of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes that
ripped across the southern United States and eastern Cuba.
One tornado destroyed
three houses and damaged 20 others in East Texas. The storms later lashed
Louisiana, Alabama and north Florida. The same squall line also produced a
deadly tornado in eastern Cuba late in the day.
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Sea
Lion Kill
Mexican
officials investigated the mysterious death of 180 sea lions found near the
Gulf of California’s San Jorge Island.
The remains of
the marine mammals were found on February 23 during a routine inspection of
the Gulf’s northern zone. Mexico’s Federal Environmental Protection Agency
has been unable to determine the cause of the deaths after initial autopsies.
The latest incident follows the discovery of several whale carcasses along
Mexico’s Pacific coast during January. In 1996, officials attributed the death
of hundreds of marine mammals in the same area to poisoning from crude oil
and the presence of red tide.
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Additional
Sources: Japan Meteorological Agency, U.S. Climate Analysis Center, U.S. Earthquake
Information Center and the World Meteorological Organization.
