Cold... Cold... COLD...
This has been a tough winter in most places.
There's a series of stories about the world-wide cold bite
that's taking the world by storm this winter... Seems
everyone is enjoying a stronger than average winter, except
us here in the PNW.
As Britain told to expect
snow for 'next 10 days', how is the rest of the world is
coping with this Arctic weather?
When Britain woke up on the
first day of the New Year it was met with freezing cold
temperatures, feet of snow in places and the promise of
travel chaos.
And now, three days into 2010,
forecasters have warned to expect continued snowfall for the
next 10 days - bringing with it added stress for commuters
heading back to work after a festive break and children
returning to school tomorrow.
Yet as Britain
struggles to cope with the freezing weather conditions,
other countries throughout the world are also finding
themselves in the same predicament.
China - Chaos in
Beijing
India - In a country not used to seeing snow,
dense snowfall causes chaos
Russia - Used to snow, but
not -20C !!!
Germany - heavy snow causing difficulty with
the airline industry
Austria - More snow, far colder than
typical
Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1240319/As-Britain-told-expect-snow-10-days-rest-world-coping-Arctic-weather.html#ixzz0bd3YcoQH
Punishing winter weather
buffeted China and South Korea today, with Seoul residents
experiencing the heaviest snowfall in modern history.
Biting cold, ice and snow have paralysed roads and
caused the cancellation of hundreds of flights in north Asia
since the weekend. In China, more than 2.2 million pupils in
Beijing and nearby Tianjin enjoyed a day off as officials
took the rare step of closing thousands of schools.
Temperatures in the Chinese capital are expected to fall to
-18C (-32F) tonight, with predictions they could reach -32C
in the northernmost parts of the country by Wednesday
morning.
In Seoul, a blizzard dumped more than 10in
(25cm) of snow today – the greatest snowfall since Korea
began conducting meteorological surveys in 1937, the state
weather agency said.
Read more:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/04/beijing-south-korea-record-snow
Meanwhile,
back in the USA...
The powerful storm that dumped 1 to 2 feet of snow across
northern New England and has been producing high winds
across the entire Northeast will pull away from the region
through Monday. While snow from the storm lightens up
through tonight, winds will take awhile longer to subside.
As a result, AccuWeather RealFeel® will stay near or below
zero in many places through at least Monday morning.
Lake-effect snow will last several more days across the
Great Lakes region. (Story)
AND
eople across the Midwest already dealing with bitterly
cold weather will face an even more extreme blast of arctic
air this week. This next arctic outbreak will impact a
larger portion of the Plains and Midwest with even lower
actual temperatures and wind chills.
Snow
will also accompany this next wave of cold air. The
Southwest Regional News story has the details on where
significant amounts of snow are possible.
The first
cold blast kicked in New Year's Day. Since Friday,
temperatures have not risen above zero in Fargo, N.D., or
International Falls, Minn. At night, temperatures in these
cities have been plummeting near 30 or 40 below zero!
The High Plains has escaped this fierce arctic blast.
While temperatures only rise to the single digits in Des
Moines today, highs will be in the mid-20s in Great Falls,
Mont., and near 40 in Denver, Colo.
These areas
across the High Plains will not avoid the next shot of
extremely cold air, which will arrive toward the middle of
the week. The cold will even plunge deep into Texas.
MORE:
http://www.accuweather.com/regional-news-story.asp?region=midwestusnews
wow
The Tadpole certainly doesn't fit this! He's just
turned 2, and he's talking up a storm... its been fun,
actually, because its much easier for us to figure out what
he's wanting. He really works hard at annunciation, and
will often repeat a word to make sure he says it right once
we repeat it back to him.
Children
reaching age 3 without being able to say a word
Children are reaching the age
of 3 without being able to say a word, according to a survey
that also found boys are almost twice as likely to struggle
to learn to speak as girls.
The average age for a
baby to speak their first word is 10 to 11 months. However,
a significant minority (4 per cent) of parents reported that
their child said nothing until they were 3.
Toddlers
between the ages of 2 and 3 should be able to use up to 300
words, including adjectives, and be able to link words
together, according to I CAN, the children’s communication
charity. Late speech development can lead to problems, such
as low achievement at school or mental health problems.
The survey of more than 1,000 parents found that a
child’s background was not a factor in how quickly they
learnt to talk. Working parents who put their babies in day
care are just as likely to have a child whose speech
develops late as those who leave their baby in front of the
television.
more:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article6974590.ece
Not very good news
Seems US Treasuries aren't performing very well, which I
guess shouldn't be surprising, seeing how 2.1 trillion in
additional debt was released in the last year...
US Treasuries post worse
performance among sovereign markets
Treasuries were the worst
performing sovereign debt market in 2009 as the U.S. sold
$2.1 trillion of notes and bonds to fund extraordinary
efforts to bolster the economy and financial markets.
Investors in U.S. debt lost 3.5 percent on average
through Dec. 30, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch
indexes, the biggest annual slide since at least 1978. The
10-year Treasury yield reached its highest level in six
months yesterday before a Labor Department report next week
forecast to show payrolls were unchanged in December after
the U.S. economy lost jobs in every month since January
2008.
“The financial system has survived,” said Ray
Remy, head of fixed income in New York at Daiwa Securities
America Inc., one of 18 primary dealers that trade directly
with the Federal Reserve. “Now the market has to deal with
other issues like deficit spending, tremendous issuance, the
weakness in the dollar. How significant is this recovery,
and what happens when you take away some of the government
stimulus.”
The yield on the benchmark 10-year note
climbed to 3.84 percent from 2.21 percent at the end of
2008, according to BGCantor Market Data. The yield touched
3.91 percent yesterday, the highest level since June 11.
Two-year note yields rose to 1.14 percent from 0.76
percent.
‘The Big Gamble’
“I expect Treasury
yields to rise 30 to 40 basis points across the curve in the
first half of next year,” said David Keeble, head of
fixed-income strategy at Calyon in London. “The end of the
of the Fed’s quantitative easing program will hurt the
market. We also have to cope with a lot of supply. It
doesn’t get smaller.”
More:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=awoGuEcrPK2k
Greetings!
