WXnation Wire: Weather Blog, WX & Space News
                               SINCE FEB. 2003
WX -- Telegraph abbreviation for weather often used with Morse code
The Wire (wīr') -- Name once given to the telegraph

New Year’s Live Webcams: See EarthCam for plenty of live cam coverage from the U.S. and around the world

Top 15 U.S. Weather Stories Of 2004:

I’ve taken the number of page views to WXnation and added in your votes in the poll to the right and have come up with a list of the Top 15 U.S. weather stories for the year:

1. Hurricane Ivan Approaches U.S. Gulf Coast, Makes Landfall Early In The Morning Along U.S. Gulf Coast, At Least 23 Dead In U.S. By Day’s End, 3 Million Without Power (Sept. 15, 16) Blog entry

2. Hurricane Frances Makes Landfall In Bahamas, Florida After Stalling For Most Of Day Offshore, Then Batters Florida All Day (Sept. 3-5) Blog entry

3. Hurricane Charley Makes Landfall At Port Charlotte, Florida As Category 4 Hurricane, Moves NNE Through State (Aug. 13) Blog entry

4. Hurricane Jeanne Makes Landfall In Exact Same Place As Hurricane Frances Three Weeks Earlier (Sept. 25) Blog entry

5. Snow Storm From New Mexico To Great Lakes: Bitter Cold, Heavy Snow; 20 Inches In Parts Of Indiana, 6 Dead (Dec. 22, 23) Blog entry

6. Snow Storm Hits Half of U.S., Kills 52 From KC To NE After -32-Degree F Wind Chill In Boston (Jan. 25-27) Blog entry

7. Hurricane Gaston Soaks Carolinas (Aug. 30) Blog entry

8. Indianapolis-Area Storms, Tornado Warnings Follow Indy 500 Race (May 30) Blog entry

9. Dallas/Fort Worth-Area Flooding (June 9) Blog entry

10. Midwest Tornadoes: Iowa Town Destroyed; 92 In 1 Day Kill 3 (May 22) Blog entry

11. Dallas/Ft. Worth Gets 5 Inches Of Snow (Feb. 14) Blog entry

12. White Christmas In Parts Of South Texas For First Time (Dec. 25) Blog entry

13. Tornado-Ravaged Illinois Town Remembers 8 Killed (May 3) Blog entry

14. Biggest S.C. Snow In 100 Yrs., 20 Inches In N.C. (Feb. 28) Blog entry

15. (Had to include this “space” weather story): Total Lunar Eclipse; Boston Red Sox Break Curse (Oct. 27) Blog entry

New Year’s News: Stormy Weather Creating Anxiety About America’s Party 2005 In Vegas Resource: Las Vegas Weather/Webcam Images

Lastest On Deadly Tsunami: Tsunami Death Toll Soars Over 120,000 | Images/Videos | Additional Coverage From NYTimes.com (Includes great interactives) | Donate | Much more in yesterday’s entry below…

Other Weather News: New Storm Hits Northern California: Heavy rain battered the region Thursday, cutting power to thousands in the San Francisco Bay area and snarling traffic.

Weather Reduces Signal Of Radio Station

Top 5 WXnation.com city weather and webcam pages visited on Thursday: 1. Reno 2. Los Angeles 3. Sacramento 4. San Diego 5. Dallas-Fort Worth … See the top 20 so far this month in the center column of our home page.

Tsunami Updates:

• Tsunami Death Toll Soars To 114,000: Aid efforts encounter chaos
• Fresh Tsunami Warning Sends People Scrambling in India, Sri Lanka
• Scientists: Tsunami Could Hit West Coast
• Tsunami Adds to Belief in Animals’ ‘Sixth Sense’
• Images and Videos
• Current World Quakes List (List also in lower left column of this page)
• Donate
• Much more on the tsunami/earthquake in yesterday’s entry below.

Deadly Storms In West: West Coast Storms Leave 7 Dead, 2 Missing

L.A.: New Storm Nears As South California Recovers From Twister, Flooding, Sinkhole: Weak tornado touches down in Inglewood

San Diego: Wild Weather Wreaks Havoc Around County: 55-mile-per-hour winds knocked down the upper half of KSON’s 460-foot transmitter. The shards of metal landed in a police vehicle impound lot. KSON, one AM station and a low-powered UHF station were knocked off off the air, NBC 7/39 reported.

Northern California: Reprieve From Rain Is Brief As Storms To Continue Through New Year’s: “The roads are going to be a mess,” said Don Noxon, forecaster for the National Weather Service’s Sacramento office.

Storm Brings More Snow To Sierra: Storm sent torrents of water through a storm channel in the lower level of a Las Vegas Strip casino parking structure.

Front Could Dump 2 Feet Of Snow In S.W. Colorado

Weather News: Melting Snow, Rain Bring Flooding Concerns To Indiana: The National Weather Service says the likelihood of flooding depends on how fast the snow melts and how much rain Indiana gets in the next few days.

Deluge Tops List Of Canada’s Top 10 Weather Events

World Of Webcams: Webcast to Show Crowds Streaming in Times Square: For six hours, starting from when the ball lights up on top of One Times Square until 15 minutes after it drops at midnight, viewers will get to choose from three live streams. The initiative is a collaboration among the Times Square Alliance, Countdown Entertainment, Clear Channel Entertainment TV and MSN.

Space News: Quadrantid Meteor Shower Peaks Jan. 3

Space Station Crewmen Lost Weight On Board

Top 5 WXnation.com city weather and webcam pages visited on Wednesday: 1. Los Angeles 2. Reno 3. San Diego 4. Las Vegas 5. Phoenix … See the top 20 so far this month in the center column of our home page.

• Latest Tsunami Stories: Red Cross Fears Tsunami Toll Could Top 100,000: U.N. mobilizes relief; WHO says aftermath may be equally deadly
• Number Of Dead In Massive Quake Tops 76,000
• Deadly Tsunamis Rivals Waves of the Past: The tsunamis that claimed thousands of lives across the Indian Ocean are the deadliest great waves in more than a century and probably in modern history.
• Where Are The Animals?: No Dead Animals Found In Sri Lanka: Wildlife officials in Sri Lanka expressed surprise Wednesday that they found no evidence of large-scale animal deaths from the weekend’s massive tsunami - indicating that animals may have sensed the wave coming and fled to higher ground.
• Cause: Wobble Or The Quake? Was the 9.0 earthquake caused by the Chandler Wobble, or vice versa?
• Satellite Images: Shoreline Before and After Pictures (Opens new window). Also posted on Lost Remote
• How Scientists Watch For Killer Waves: U.S. relies on high-tech network and detailed emergency plans to deal with tsunami threats
• Videos/Images: Dramatic Images Of Tsunami Emerge
• Donate: Donate To International Federation Of Red Cross
• Resources: Very Latest Stories
• Data On 9.0 Quake From USGS
• Giant Circles Seen On Seismic Map
• Live earthquake list in lower left column of this page. Additional earthquake resources are in the right column of our National/International page

Massive Winter Storm In California: Los Angeles: Winter Storm Drenches Southland With Record Rainfall | Storm Crashes Into Southland Again: A powerful Pacific storm unleashed havoc in parts of California again Tuesday, flooding homes, freeways and desert roads and triggering a rockslide that blocked Highway 1 on the Central Coast. Downtown Los Angeles got a record 3.98 inches of rain by Tuesday afternoon, topping the 2.09 inches set on Dec. 28, 1931. Resources: Current Regional Watches/Warnings From NWS | Los Angeles Live Weather/Traffic/Webcam Images

San Diego: Heavy Rain Causes Chaos Around County: Even worse onslaught could come Wednesday. Resources: Current Watches/Warnings From NWS | San Diego Live Weather/Traffic/Webcam Images

San Francisco: Bay Area Endures Wet Weather Woes. Resources: Current Watches/Warnings From NWS | San Francisco Live Weather/Traffic/Webcam Images

Other Weather News: Roads Improve, But Accidents Continue In N.C.: Road conditions improved amid higher temperatures Monday in many areas of eastern North Carolina after more than a half-foot of snow fell in places Sunday, though authorities warned that travel remained tenuous in several places.

Winter Weather Jeopardizes Blood Supply In Central Ohio

Space News: NASA Takes Major Step In Return To Space | Observations Rule Out Asteroid Impact In 2029 | Russians Ready Pay-As-You-Go Space Plan: Agency says NASA will write off space station ‘debt’

Top 5 WXnation.com city weather and webcam pages visited on Tuesday: 1. Los Angeles 2. San Diego 3. Reno 4. New York City 5. Las Vegas … See the top 20 so far this month in the center column of our home page.

63,000+ Dead In Epic Tsunamis: Aid Pours Into Asia As Death Toll Rises To More Than 63,000: WHO says aftermath may be equally deadly

Videos/Images: Several Videos/Images Of Tsunami | Story: U.S. Adds $20M To Tsunami Aid Package

Indonesian Quake Felt In Oklahoma: Vibrations From Indonesian Quake Felt In Oklahoma: Geological survey records shockwaves from massive quake

Jolted Planet’s Rotation?: Quake’s Power Equal To 1 Million Atomic Bombs?: Geologist Kerry Sieh and other scientists said it probably jolted the planet’s rotation. “It causes the planet to wobble a little bit, but it’s not going to turn Earth upside down,” Sieh said.

Did Quake Trim Day Length?

NOAA Reacts Quickly To Indonesian Tsunami

Earthquake Resources:: Seismic Map | Very Latest Stories | For more, see yesterday’s entry below and the live list of most recent quakes in the lower left column of this page

Calif. Winter Storm: Storm Crashes Into Southern California Again: Storm triggers coastal rockslide; Downtown Los Angeles got a record 3.98 inches of rain by Tuesday afternoon, topping the 2.09 inches set on Dec. 28, 1931 … Resources: Current Watches/Warnings | Los Angeles Weather/Webcam Images

Death Toll Nears 24,000 After World’s Largest Quake In 40 Years — Magnitude 9.0 — Triggers Tidal Waves Across South Asia:

• Tsunami Toll Nears 24,000, Expected To Rise (Video of tidal wave inside)
• Millions Left Homeless (Image slideshow inside)
• Quake Moved Island Of Sumatra About 100 Feet To The Southwest
• Red Cross Urges Immediate Aid After Asia Tsunamis
• Donate To International Federation Of Red Cross
• “All the planet is vibrating” from the quake, said Enzo Boschi, the head of Italy’s National Geophysics Institute. Speaking on SKY TG24 TV, Boschi said the quake even disturbed the Earth’s rotation.
• Massive Quakes Difficult To Measure | Quake Sparked by Slipping Geologic Plates
• World’s 5th Most Powerful Since 1900, Strongest Since 9.2 Slammed Alaska In 1964
• Resources: Very latest stories
• Data from USGS
• Giant circles seen on seismic map
• Live earthquake list in lower left column of this page. Additional earthquake resources are in the right column of our National/International page

New Englanders Battle Winter Storm: Storm Causes Power Outages, Delays: Wind warning in effect

It Was All A Hoax: Man Says 17,000 Internet-Controlled Christmas Lights Were Faked … His Site

Top 5 WXnation.com city weather and webcam pages visited on Monday (Rain in L.A. leads the pack): 1. Los Angeles 2. Boston 3. San Diego 4. Norfolk 5. New York City …

Top 5 WXnation.com city weather and webcam pages visited on Sunday: 1. Boston 2. Norfolk 3. Raleigh 4. New York City 5. Columbia, S.C. … See the top 20 so far this month in the center column of our home page.

NOTE: Info on the biggest quake in 40 years, originally posted in this entry, has been moved to Monday’s entry

Tampa Bay Storm: Wintry Weather Slaps Sleeping Bay Area: Wind gusts of up to 61 mph struck the Tampa Bay area Sunday, knocking out power to thousands of residents and spreading debris along sidewalks and roads.

Carolinas Ice Storm: Ice Storm Cuts Power To Thousands In Carolinas

Rare Present … White Christmas In South Texas: From Galveston To Brownsville, South Texans Delight In Rare Snowstorm: Snowbands drop up to 13 inches in parts of southern Brazoria County, according to the National Weather Service, and several other communities record significant amounts. He Saw The Perfect Storm Coming: It’s the first white Christmas in Galveston since the National Weather Service and its ancestors began keeping records in 1871. Resources: Weather/Webcam Images For Houston | Corpus Christi | Brownsville

Louisiana Snow: Icy Blue Bayou: Snow Drifts Across Louisiana

Strange News: UFO Sightings Over Iranian Nuclear Installations: Iranian Air Force orders shoot at sight but admits technical inability

Top 5 WXnation.com city weather and webcam pages visited on Saturday: 1. Corpus Christi 2. Houston 3. New Orleans 4. Brownsville 5. New York City … See the top 20 so far this month in the center column of our home page.

Merry Christmas: Mike Wendland, aka. PC Mike, posts a brief history of Christmas. I wish everyone out there a Merry Christmas! Father John Gremmels, a priest at my church, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, says what he wants to say, and at Friday evening’s Mass, he said he hoped Mel Gibson’s “Passion Of The Christ” DVD was in everyone’s stockings because it didn’t sugarcoat what happened to that baby in the manger. Some actually applauded at the end of his homily when he closed with: “You should live your life in a way so that your priest doesn’t have to lie at your funeral.”

Different Kind Of Season: Pope Celebrates Season Of Hope

Miracle Snow: Snow Flurries Dust Houston, Parts Of East & South Texas: Forecasters said as much as an inch could fall in some locations before it’s over. Snow has already fallen in the Rio Grande Valley, making it the first time since 1895. Resources: Weather/Webcam Images For Houston | Corpus Christi | Brownsville

Images Of Snow Where The West Begins:

As you may have heard, or experienced, parts of North Texas were blanketed with snow earlier this week. Here at WXnation’s headquarters in far north Fort Worth, 2 inches of snow fell Wednesday, and I snapped the pictures below — the two on the left were taken Wednesday and the other two taken Thursday. Click on the images for much larger versions

Oops!: Detroit: Snow Emergency Tickets Issued Prematurely

Alignment Not Seen For 100 Years: Mercury, Mars, Venus in Rare Alignment: Three planets will align over the weekend, giving Iowans a glimpse at something they haven’t seen for at least 100 years, astronomy experts said.

Top 5 WXnation.com city weather and webcam pages visited on Friday: 1. Houston 2. Corpus Christi 3. Buffalo 4. Indianapolis 5. Little Rock … See the top 20 so far this month in the center column of our home page.

Christmas Webcams & Tracking Santa:

Streaming Video Of Rockefeller Christmas Tree In New York City | Direct Link To Video | Live Christmas Webcams (Worldwide) | NORAD’s Track Santa Claus (A big thanks to Mike Wendland’s blog and Al’s Morning Meeting for the last two links)

Winter Storm Update: Winter Storm Buries Nation’s Midsection: The winter storm dumped double-digits of snow from Ohio to Wyoming, the Texas Panhandle to the Great Lakes, disrupting pre-Christmas travel.

Resources:

• Weather Images: Live U.S. Radar | U.S. Radar (Shows snow in blue)
• Current Watches/Warnings/Advisories
• U.S. Snowfall Forecast Map | U.S. Snow Cover Image
• Current Temperatures Map | Current Wind Chill Map
• Interstate Conditions Forecast | FAA Airport Delays
• Weather/Webcam Images & Traffic Conditions: City Pages List

Winter Storm Stories:

• Severe Weather Knocks Out Power At Mall Crammed With Shoppers: A shopping mall is crowded with shoppers two days before Christmas — and the power goes out.
• White Christmas: A Dream Come True In Michigan: 8.8 inches of snow fell on metro Detroit in 12 hours between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, guaranteeing a white Christmas. | Cold Follows Snowstorm That Leaves At Least 5 Dead In Michigan: Southern Michigan’s first big storm of the season left 10 inches of snow at Port Huron, 9.3 inches at Bloomfield Hills and 9 inches at Farmington Hills, New Baltimore and Deerfield, the National Weather Service said.
• Viewers Stay Tuned To Weather On TV, Web: Comprehensive snow coverage by Cincinnati TV stations has been a big hit with housebound viewers and Internet users.
• Minnesota: Northland Feeling Like North Pole: Pre-Christmas wind chills of 40 degrees below zero pose a challenge for mechanical devices and temporarily close Duluth skating rinks and a ski hill.
• Bell Ringers Fight Cold Weather For Charity
• Cold Weather Grips Oklahoma: Temperatures Thursday dipped to 8 in Ponca City in northern Oklahoma, 6 in Gage near the Oklahoma Panhandle, 11 in Tulsa and 14 in Oklahoma City. It was forecast to get even colder before the start of a warming trend on Christmas.
• Toronto Planes, Trains and Automobiles Delayed During Christmas Rush: Hundreds of flights were cancelled or delayed at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport — causing a chain reaction of delays at airports across Canada.
• Frigid Weather Grips Northern, Western Texas

No White Christmas For Some Iowans: Can It Be Christmas With No Snow?

Not All Clear In N.M.: Authorities Prepare For Holiday Traffic, Bad Weather: A winter storm warning is in effect through Friday for central portions of the state, across the eastern plains and down into southeast New Mexico.

Not Cold Everywhere: It may be cold across much of the U.S., but visitor Stephen reminds us that it’s still hot in Hell (although there’s a cool-down on Sunday)

Snow Possible In Unlikely Places: South Texas Snow Would Be First In 100 Years: The arctic front that blew winter into the northern half of Texas headed south Thursday — deep south — hauling freezing temperatures, sleet and possibly the first measurable snowfall in the Rio Grande Valley since 1895.

Snow Hits Florida; Temps To Tumble In Central Fla.: Snow flurries and some sleet is expected Friday night and early Saturday in Florida’s Panhandle and Interstate 10 corridor.

Christmas Likely To Be A Wet One In South Florida

Blind 5-Year-Old Touches Snow For The First Time Through Contest

He’s Gotta Get Thru This: Daniel Bedingfield Relies On Friends: British singer Daniel Bedingfield is relying on the support of friends to get through his depression - as he battles Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

Space News: Look up for a Christmas Moon | Weird moon image posted at SpaceWeather.com | Scientist: Asteroid May Hit Earth in 2029 | Astronomy Picture of the Day: A forward-facing RocketCam (TM) mounted inside the payload fairing of a Delta II rocket captured these dramatic video frames on November 20th — as the Swift satellite observatory journeyed to an orbit 600 kilometers above planet Earth.

Top 5 WXnation.com city weather and webcam pages visited on Thursday: 1. Cincinnati 2. Louisville 3. Toronto 4. Little Rock 5. Indianapolis … See the top 20 so far this month in the center column of our home page.

Latest Winter Storm Stories: Winter Storm Paralyzes Parts Of Midwest; 6 Dead | Blanket Of Snow, Deep Chill Clobbers U.S.: Plains, Midwest battered as travelers leave early for holidays | Midwest Storm Brings Record Snowfall: Scottsburg, Indiana, received 29 inches of snow | Storm Packs Wallop With Snow, Ice, Bitter Cold: Wednesday evening, Weather Channel forecasters expected the snow, sleet and freezing rain to stay west of the Appalachians.

Storm Coverage:

• Detroit: Plane Plows Into Snow Bank At Metro Airport: The flight hit the snow bank sometime after 11 a.m. NWA representative Thomas Becker said 124 passengers were on the plane at the time
• Indiana: It’s A Record! Evansville Gets 19.3 Inches Of Snow In One Day
• Indianapolis: Gov. Declares Disaster Emergency For Portions Of State: North Vernon, Ind. reports 21 inches of snow
• Columbus: Snow Emergencies Remain In Effect: At least 200,000 without electricity Thursday morning
• Cincinnati: Snow Bans Driving, Collapses Roofs, Cuts Power: Storm goes out with a beep, a bang and a breaker
• Louisville: Winter Storm Coats Much Of Kentucky With Snow, Ice
• Ontario: Heavy Ontario Snowfall Spells Misery For Airlines, Joy For Ski Areas

Resources:

• Live U.S. Radar | U.S. Radar (Shows snow in blue)
• Current Watches/Warnings/Advisories
• U.S. Snowfall Forecast Map
• Current Temperatures Map | Current Wind Chill Map
• FAA Airport Delays
• Weather/Webcam Images & Traffic Conditions: City Pages List

World’s Biggest Quake In Nearly 4 Years: Massive 8.1 Quake Hits Off Tasmania … The complete list of recent earthquakes is in the lower left column of this page.

Top 5 WXnation.com city weather and webcam pages visited on Wednesday: 1. Dallas/Fort Worth 2. Louisville 3. Indianapolis 4. Memphis 5. Cincinnati … See the top 20 so far this month in the center column of our home page.