At least 24 highways have been closed in northern China due to heavy snow and blizzards, just in time to stop people from getting home for Lunar New Year celebrations.

More snow and falling temperatures are on their way, Xinhua added.

Unseasonably cold weather and ice storms across central and southern
China in 2008 killed at least 129 people, caused transport chaos and
cut off power and water for millions as people struggled to get home
for Chinese New Year.

Philadelphia has already experienced the snowiest winter in history, and is bracing for even more snow:

More than 70.3-inches of snow fell in Philadelphia so far this season and it’s not even over. . . .

The last record was only set 14 years ago during the Blizzard of 1996 when 65.5 inches fell — 33 inches of which were dumped during that storm. . . .

We also had more stronger winter storms this season than ever. There are only two other seasons — 1960-61 and 1978 — that had more than one storm with 10 or more inches of accumulation since 1888, says Glenn. Neither of those seasons had storms that broke the 20 inch accumulation mark.

Snowfall in Washington D.C. has blown by the previous record set in 1898:

It’s not often we witness a 100-year-plus record fall. Perhaps it’s fitting it went out in such extreme fashion today. As reported here earlier, National Airport’s preliminary (2 p.m.) snow total of 54.9″ for the 2009-2010 winter thus far puts D.C. above the previous high mark of 54.4″ set way back in 1898-1899.

Meanwhile in the southern hemisphere, 32 people have died due to a heatwave in southern Brasil:

According to the Inmet national weather service, recorded temperatures in Rio were well above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees) — and felt more like above 50 degrees.

“The heatwave in Rio is seen as historic. February right now is the hottest month for the past 50 years,” meteorologist Giovanni Dolif told the O Globo daily. . . .

The heatwave made Rio the hottest place on the planet on Tuesday, save for Ada, a town in eastern Ghana, according to data from the World Meteorological Organization.

If we could only come up with ways to artificially enhance El Nino and the gulf stream to spread some of these temperatures out, maybe we could start taking control of the weather. In the meantime, northerners need to bundle up, southerners need to dress light, and everyone needs to suck it up.

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