Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

Pacific Ocean:

Tropical cyclone 07p (Ian), is located approximately 302 nm east-northeast of Suva, Fiji and is tracking east-southeastward at 02 knots. Interaction with the mid-latitude westerlies will lead to a weakening trend which is forecast to begin extra-tropical transition.

Frost Quakes in Canada

Loud booms startled sleeping Canadians last week when bitterly cold temperatures triggered an unusual weather event called frost quakes.

Frost quakes typically strike after a rapid temperature drop, such as the big chill that hit Ontario when the polar vortex swept through on last week. The quick freeze makes ice in the ground swiftly expand and crack, producing thunder-like booms. These "frost quakes" were reported throughout Ontario, with the first complaints of cracks and booms starting on Twitter around 5 p.m. ET on Jan. 2 and peaking about 2 a.m. ET Friday, Jan. 3.

Though frost quakes can shake the ground, their effects are so localized that the tremors are rarely caught on earthquake monitors. Natural Resources Canada did not record any shaking on its seismometer network, said Allison Bent, a seismologist with Earthquakes Canada in Ontario.

NewsBytes:

A wave of extremely cold weather in Nepal has claimed the lives of two persons in Mahottari and Jhapa districts on Wednesday. Dozens of flights from various western Terai districts have been cancelled including the flights from Bhairahawa, Dhangadhi, and Nepalgunj.

Communities across storm-battered England and Wales are braced for yet more flooding misery as another band of heavy rain heads from the Atlantic.