By
Steve Newman - April
9, 1999
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High
Temperature Extreme
 Nawabshah,
Pakistan: 113 degrees Fahrenheit
(top)
Low
Temperature Extreme
 Vostok
(Russia), Antarctica: -100 degrees Fahrenheit
(top)
Eruptions
 A
wide flow of lava continued to snake down the side of Mount Cameroon
Volcano, threatening three nearby towns. The lava was flowing in
a westerly direction at the rate of 3 yards per minute, scorching a
nearby virgin rain forest as it headed toward the communities of Bakingele,
Batoke and Idenau. Villagers were issued gas masks as a precaution against
possible poisonous fumes from the eruption.
Indonesia’s
Anak Krakatau Volcano exploded repeatedly with columns of volcanic gases
and rocks soaring into the sky. Hundreds of outbursts were observed
and visitors were warned to stay at least three miles from its crater.
Mexico’s
Popocatepetl Volcano shot gas and ash into the sky, prompting officials
to issue new warnings of increased volcanic activity. Residents were
advised to close their doors and windows and cover their drinking water
reservoirs after an ash cloud dropped debris over areas surrounding
the “smoking mountain."
(top)
Tornado
Season
 At
least six people were killed and 100 others injured when a tornado struck
northwest Louisiana.
The tornado
flattened a trailer park and ripped through residential areas near the
city of Bossier. The Louisiana twister was only one of a string that
tore across the American Midwest and Deep South.
(top)
Spring
Blizzard
 A
record-breaking spring blizzard dropped more than 30 inches of snow
on Newfoundland’s capital, closing government offices and toppling
power lines. Bus service was halted, the airport was closed, and non-emergency
operations at hospitals and clinics were canceled.
(top)
Drought
Blazes
 At
least 23 people died in north-central China from the worst forest
fires to strike the area since 1979.
Twenty-three
civilians perished while battling the fierce blazes. Lack of water from
a severe drought in the region forced firefighters to try to put out
the fires with spades or felled trees. The blazes were last reported
still out of control and spreading in nearby Wenshui County.
(top)
Lightning
Deaths
 Two
people were killed and nine others injured by lightning during a thunderstorm
over a Kurdish Iranian village in western Iran on Saturday.
The victims,
all from a single Kurdish family, were found in their gardens in Hashmiz,
near Sanandaj, where the lightning struck. Lightning often claims lives
in mountainous regions of Iran which are regularly hit by severe thunderstorms
in the spring.
(top)
Earthquakes
 A
magnitude 6.0 temblor killed at least one person and toppled 15 homes
in the southern Peruvian towns of Molledo and Camana. Landslides
unleashed by the shaking blocked traffic along the Pan American Highway.
Earth
movements were also felt in the Calif.-Mexico border, Northern
California, Vancouver Island, southern Wyoming, central
Turkey, northeastern Iran, northern India, southern
China, southern Japan, Taiwan and Papua New
Guinea.
(top)
Tropical
Storms
 The
second intense tropical cyclone to strike Australia’s northwest
coast within two weeks roared ashore near the already-wrecked communities
of Exmouth and Onslow. Cyclone Gwenda weakened from its former category-five
force before making landfall.
Cyclone
Fredreric was renamed Evring as it passed over the open waters of the
central Indian Ocean.
(top)
Dolphin
Slaughter
 The
number of bottle-nosed dolphins killed in the South Australia
city of Adelaide during the past year rose to four when a baby dolphin
was found stabbed to death on a nearby beach.
Australian
Dolphin Research Foundation scientist Mike Bossley said that the dolphin
was most likely speared as it rode on the bow waves of a boat. "I
have no idea whatsoever why someone would do this," Bossley said.
"You couldn’t see any signs or evidence of the dolphin being caught
in a net. It looks like somebody just wanted to kill a dolphin."
In the past 12 months, three dolphins have been found shot to death
on beaches in Adelaide.
(top)
Additional
Sources: Japan Meteorological Agency, U.S. Climate Analysis Center,
U.S. Earthquake Information Center and the World Meteorological Organization.
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