Cold Blast in the USA but South Africa and Oz Take the Heat by Everton Fox
It has generally been a very mild start to the new year. Mild enough for daffodils and tulips to come out some 5 or 6 weeks early across some parts of the UK. No doubt then that the recent cold snap will have come as shock to such plants. However, having lasted only two days milder conditions are once again prevailing.
On the other side of the Atlantic, cold weather has swept south across a good part of the eastern USA. This led to a frost as far south as the Florida Panhandle. Cross City in northern Florida had an overnight temperature of minus 2 Celsius on Tuesday morning. The average low is nearer 8 Celsius. Further north, La Guadia in New York had a low of minus 11 Celsius. That is 9 degrees below the average.
This is of course good news for the state’s skiing community. Indeed, Upstate New York has had a great winter so far. On Monday, cold air rushing over Lake Ontario and Lake Erie produced as much as 35cm (14 inches) of snow in the ski resorts of western and central New York.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic and in the southern hemisphere, an interior wind led to some very hot weather in Cape Town, South Africa. A high of 32 Celsius (90F) was recorded. The January average is 26 Celsius. In the Northern Cape, it was rain making the headlines with 56mm of rain in 12 hours. This should be a dry time of year here. The average is just 4mm.
Further east, Western Australia has also been rather hot. Learmonth reached 47 Celsius on Tuesday afternoon compared to an average of 38 Celsius. Temperatures were nearer that value in the southeast. The tennis players had to battle against the heat at the Australian Open with temperatures of 38 Celsius. A southerly buster is set to move in over the next few days bringing rather more comfortable conditions with temperatures nearer the mid 20s Celsius.
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