INTERNATIONAL
DEADLY FLOODS STRIKES MEXICO:
More than a week
after torrential downpours of rain caused flooding and
mudslides in northern Mexico, crews continue to search for
possible survivors. Thirty-six people are confirmed dead
in the wake of the heavy rains which struck the town of Piedras
Negras, located just across the Rio Grande River which runs along
the U.S-Mexican border. More than 2,000 people were forced into
shelters, as their homes were either destroyed or badly damaged.
The entire city was without electrical power for several days. The
flooding rains, which hit last Monday, occurred in one of the
driest parts of Mexico. Officials are calling it some of the
worst flooding to ever strike the country.
CAN A HOLIDAY INN BE FAR BEHIND?
Tourists are
arriving in droves to an unlikely vacation spot:
Antarctica. And this has scientists familiar with the frozen tundra
very concerned. More than 13,000 tourists decided to "chill
out" on the
Antarctic
Peninsula last summer.
This has raised fears over the continent's fragile ecosystem. Very
strict rules have been put in place by the nations which have
research bases there, ranging from wildlife protection measures to
the types of foods that tourists can bring ashore. Scientists
are concerned that tourists will unwittingly introduce diseases
onto the continent, such as the flu. This would be a disaster
to those working in Antarctica on a year-round basis. If a worker
were to become gravely ill, leaving the continent is nearly
impossible during the harsh winter months, when it is very
dangerous for aircraft to take off or land. There is also concern
that there could be harm to the many species of animals, some of
which are just in the process of rebuilding their population after
many years of uncontrolled hunting for fur, which took place from
the late 1800s to the 1960s.
COMPU-WEATHER CASE OF THE WEEK
Too cold for snow
to melt?
Three days after
a storm dropped eight inches of snow across southeastern New York,
a 56-year old man slipped and fell in a shopping center parking
lot in Westchester County. He sustained injuries to his right
hip, right shoulder and head as a result of the accident. The man
stated that he had slipped on a patch of ice which was present in
the parking lot, near a large pile of snow which had been created
by the plowing of the lot three days prior. His attorney obtained
the weather records from the closest observing site to the
shopping center, in hopes that it would clearly show a temperature
profile that would indicate a melt and re-freeze cycle in between
the time the snow ended, and the time that her client slipped. If
it showed that, then it could be stated that snow from the
built-up pile had melted, run-off and then re-froze into an icy
surface. To the dismay of the attorney, the daily temperature
records indicated that it had been very cold in the days following
the storm. Daytime highs were only in the mid 20s, while overnight
lows were in the teens and single digits. So much for the
melt/re-freeze theory. Or so it seemed.
The attorney
called on the expertise of COMPU-WEATHER to help explain how the
ice had developed. The meteorologist assigned to the case did a
complete analysis of the weather from the day of the snowstorm, up
to the time of the accident. Using the same data that the
attorney had looked at, in addition to data from other sources
which indicated the amount of sky cover that was present, the
explanation for the patch of ice slipped right into place. Just
looking at the high and low temperatures was not sufficient in
this particular situation. In the two days after the snow ended,
the sky was clear and sunny all day long. This is a key point, as
snow...and especially freshly fallen snow....will begin to melt in
temperatures as cold as 24 or 25 degrees when direct sunlight is
present. But shortly after sunset, after the effect of direct
sunlight is lost, and when the temperature is cold enough that
melted snow will re-freeze very rapidly, while the remaining snow
on the ground becomes more hard-packed in texture. In addition to
that fact, when snow is made into large piles, a certain amount of
compression takes place due to the weight of the snow. This
causes snow on the bottom of the pile to compress, and under the
right circumstances, to melt to some degree.
The analysis by
COMPU-WEATHER made it very easy to explain how ice could have
formed in that parking lot. With the key point being that 32
degrees is not the "magic number" for snow to melt or water to
freeze. Those two things can and usually do, take place at a
temperature lower than 32. The case never came to trial, as the
information provided by COMPU-WEATHER proved helpful in securing a
favorable settlement. Though not for this particular case, the
insurance company for the shopping center had used the services of
COMPU-WEATHER many times in the past, and thus believed that the
findings were valid and could be trusted.
To read more interesting Cases of the
Week, go
here
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assistance with your weather-related claim, click the link below
or call us at (800) 825-4445.
Request Weather
Information
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