So where do you think the above image is from? Perhaps last years snow fall in New England, maybe Colorado or New York?
Try South Africa!
The last time this happened I was three months old.
S. Africans shiver through harsh winter
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Snow. Floods. Icy winds. Maybe even a tornado.
South Africans are facing one of their harshest winters in years, with at least
four deaths blamed on flooding from heavy rain that has caused travel delays in
the south and west of the country.
While north of the equator, much of the United States sweats through
a heat wave, Johannesburg saw flurries Wednesday for the first time in at least
eight years, the national weather service said. Stunned office workers pressed
against windows to savor the spectacle.
Freezing temperatures are not unusual
at higher altitudes during the winter, but heavy snow has fallen in some
interior towns that rarely experience such weather. More snow and gale force
winds were expected Thursday in some areas, Weather SA said.
Torrential rains have caused flooding along the southern coast,
including the town of George in the Western Cape province, where a rain-swollen
river swept a car from a bridge. Police recovered two men and two children who
had been inside the vehicle, but rescuers were looking for a fifth person
believed to have been in the car.
Homes were flooded, sending scores of families to seek shelter at a
community center and school, local authorities said.
Heavy snow, rain and falling rocks closed mountain roads in parts of the
interior, including a border post with Lesotho, according to local news
reports.
The George airport was closed Tuesday, disrupting 24 flights before it
reopened Wednesday morning, airport officials said. Passenger trains in the
Western Cape were running up to 14 hours late, the Spoornet rail company
said.
Meteorologists were investigating whether a severe storm that swept through
the northern town of Dullstroom on Tuesday night was a tornado. At least six
people were injured in the heavy winds and rain, which also ripped roofs off
homes, police said.
and
Rare snowfall across South Africa
JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - Snow fell on South Africa's biggest city Johannesburg
for the first time in 25 years as icy temperatures gripped vast swathes of the
country, the weather office said.
"It (the snow) is by no means freakish but I would certainly classify it as
rare," said Kevin Rae, assistant manager of forecasting at the South African
Weather Service in Pretoria.
Forecasters said snow was reported in the
southern Johannesburg township of Soweto and the posh northern suburb of
Sandton, as well as the nearby towns of Carletonville and
Westonaria.
Johannesburg last had snow on September 11, 1981.
"Sleet has been recorded occasionally since then, but never snow," added
climatologist Tracey Gill.
Bloemfontein, the capital of the central Free State province, got its first
snow in 12 years, receiving 13 centimetres (5.2 inches).
Comparable widespread snow across the country had been recorded only twice
in the past 20 years, in 1981 and 1988, said Rae.
Some welcomed the colder weather, however.
At the Tiffindell ski resort in the southern Drakensberg mountains of the
Eastern Cape province, guests were elated.
"They are very excited," said the resort's chief snow-maker, Johan Smuts.
"It is not every day that you get to see snow fall in Africa."
In warmer weather, Smuts oversees the manufacture of snow for the resort
through a process involving water and air compression.
Tiffindell usually gets about five snowfalls a year, he said, but rarely 25
centimetres in one day, as on Tuesday.
The weather service posted a warning on its website of very cold
temperatures for the southeastern high elevations of the country into
Thursday.
It expected snowfalls to continue over areas of the central Free State, the
Drakensberg and the Eastern Cape, but to have passed by Friday.
In the northern provinces, the snow was expected to clear by Wednesday
afternoon, said Rae.
In my own part of the year we're experienceing the opposite extreme. But don't worry about climate change; it's really only a small detail, pay no attention...
Heat, humidity combine to torture East
By DERRILL HOLLY, Associated Press Writer Thu Aug 3, 2:31 AM ET
WASHINGTON - Record-breaking heat and oppressive humidity made people across the eastern half of the country miserable Wednesday and sent tourists in the nation's capital scrambling for relief in the cool marble halls of Capitol Hill.Others forced to work outdoors guzzled icy drinks to cope with the heat wave that has sent temperatures soaring over 100 across the East and parts of the Midwest.
"This is unbelievable," said Bob Garner, a tourist from Atlanta who retreated with his family into the air-conditioned comfort of the Capitol. "They get the hottest days of the year while we're here."By late afternoon, the temperature at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport had risen to 99, with a heat index of 106. It was even hotter on the steaming pavement downtown. In New York, the temperature rose to 101 at LaGuardia Airport and 96 in Central Park. Philadelphia and Baltimore climbed into the upper 90s.
The National Weather Service posted heat advisories and warnings from Maine to Oklahoma. Forecasters said the heat would linger until Thursday night, when a cool front was expected to bring temperatures down into the 80s.
Thousands who made it through the heat of a day found themselves in the dark Wednesday night after thunderstorms downed trees and power lines in parts of Massachusetts. Most of the power was expected to be restored overnight.
At the Capitol, tourists filled water bottles at drinking fountains and doused themselves. Others drenched their baseball caps before putting them on.At the Library of Congress daycare center, children stayed inside because it was deemed too hot to swim. Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs cut his players a break by pushing back their 4 p.m. practice session to 7 p.m.
"It's unbearable, it's oppressive," said Joy Haber, 44, who canceled a trip from Long Island into Manhattan because of the stifling weather. Her 13-year-old son, Sean, skipped day camp when his bus arrived with a malfunctioning air conditioner.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city was fortunate that no fatalities were linked to the brutal weather. Subway riders were in for a sweltering commute — the temperature was about 111 at a Pennsylvania Station platform.The city's electric utility, Con Edison, set its second record in two days for peak electricity demand, surpassing the level from a day earlier. The Long Island Power Authority also set a record.
The Dixie Chicks postponed their Wednesday night show at the outdoor Jones Beach Theater on Long Island because of the scorching heat.
In Philadelphia, concrete worker Bob Ferguson was building walls 32 feet below street level. "Down in that hole, there's no air," said Ferguson, who wore the mandatory hard hat, long sleeves, long pants and work boots.
Bicycle messenger Gravett Dhuja tried to look at the bright side as he rested near a Capitol Hill office building: "It's been hot, but rain is a lot worse for us."
Authorities in the capital were prepared to go door to door to get people to public cooling centers, said Mark Brown, deputy director of the D.C. Emergency Management Agency. The city also passed out fans to low-income residents and kept its homeless shelters open around the clock.
The same heat wave was blamed for as many as 164 deaths last week in California.
In Kentucky, an 18-month-old boy was found dead Wednesday inside a van about 60 miles northeast of Lexington. The vehicle's doors were locked, and the boy's mother had to break a window to get to the child, authorities said.Norfolk Naval Station in Virginia hoisted black flags at gymnasiums and ports to caution sailors against doing strenuous exercise outdoors.
In Boston, animals at the Franklin Park Zoo were kept cool with sprinklers and frozen treats. The African wild dogs and lions got frozen blood; the primates received frozen fruit juice.
"It's a matter of taste, I guess," zoo President John Linehan said.
Boston authorities awaited autopsy results on a pregnant woman who died Saturday after collapsing at a sweltering Red Sox game. Denise Quickenton, 29, suffered an apparent heart attack after sitting in sunny bleacher seats where the temperature was at least 90 degrees, officials said. She was seven months pregnant, but a medical team was able to deliver her 4-pound infant at a hospital.
Some Washington tourists pressed on with their plans, gulping bottled water and fanning themselves with brochures outside such landmarks such as Union Station and the Washington Monument.
"The humidity is so bad — not like in Spain," said Carlos Mulas, 56, of Madrid, before boarding a tour bus. "But Washington is so beautiful. We expect to enjoy it."
Several members of tourist Gregg Selewski's extended family spent their nights in a recreational vehicle parked at a campground in Greenbelt, Md. They vowed to see everything, despite the heat."This is what we came to do," said Selewski, 13, of Canton, Mich.
