1. S. Korea
Record cold has South Korea telling citizens: wear long johns
By Nissa Rhee, Correspondent / January 24, 2011
Christian Science Monitor
Wear your long johns. That's the message from the South Korean government to citizens this week as record cold weather strains electricity reserves across the country.
The temperature in Seoul hit a decade-low of minus 17.8 degrees C (0 degrees F.) on Sunday, and other parts of Korea are seeing the coldest weather in 96 years. As Koreans turn up their radiators to keep warm, energy usage in the nation has hit record highs. Demand for electricity exceeded 71 gigawatts last week, leaving only 5 percent of the country’s reserves available....
South Korea chaos after 'heaviest' snowfall
BBC News, 14 February 2011
The heaviest snowfall in more than a century on South Korea's east coast is causing widespread chaos.
Hundreds of houses have collapsed under the weight of the snow. One newspaper described it as a snow bomb.
The South Korean government has deployed 12,000 soldiers to rescue stranded residents...
The BBC's Nick Ravenscroft in Seoul says that although winters are colder than anywhere else at its latitude, with frequent frost and snow, this year has been different. January was the coldest since the 1960s.
In Gangwon on the eastern coast, one city recorded 80cm (2.6 feet) of snow in a single day - the heaviest fall in 24 hours since records began there back in 1911...
The Han River in the capital, Seoul, iced over for the first time in years - but the latest snowfalls have left the capital unaffected so far.
2. Japan
Japan: Cold snap 'forced flu-carrying birds south'
AsiaOne News
Tue, Feb 01, 2011
The Yomiuri Shimbun/Asia News Network
A wave of extremely cold weather this winter is a suspected factor behind the ongoing spread of avian flu in Japan, according to ornithologists.
Flocks of migratory birds infected with an avian flu virus may have arrived in parts of the nation after advancing farther south than in an average year, instead of wintering on the Korean Peninsula. Their arrival may have been an attempt to avoid a wave of cold weather in continental Asia that has intensified since the beginning of this year, experts said.
"The spread [of avian flu] may have become even greater as a result of these birds arriving in this nation after migrating through such highly virus-dense areas as Siberia, China and Mongolia," Hiroyoshi Higuchi, a professor of ornithology at the University of Tokyo, said....
3. China
Cold weather, snow hinders travel during Lunar New Year holiday season in China
Winnipeg Free PressBy: The Associated Press
Posted: 01/20/2011 3:54 AM | Last Modified: 01/20/2011 8:52 AM
BEIJING, China - Snow and icy roads are causing travel woes in southern and eastern China ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, which unleashes the world's biggest annual human migration.
Snow and freezing rain at airports in China's eastern cities of Hangzhou and southwestern region of Chongqing stranded hundreds of travellers this week, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Thursday.
Heavy snow and ice hit the regions of eastern, central and southwestern China this week, slowing traffic, delaying flights and shutting off power, the report said. In the southern region of Yunnan, snow and ice shut down power stations in eight cities...
4. Taiwan
More cold weather to arrive after Friday: CWB
February 9, 2011 11:45 pm TWN, The China Post news staff
The Chinese New Year holiday ended Monday, and now the weather is expected to become cold again. According to the Central Weather Bureau's (CWB) report, a strong cold front will arrive Friday, bringing the temperature down to under 10 degrees Celsius in the northern Taiwan. T
he CWB suggests people to grasp the winter sun of the next few days and enjoy the good weather until it turns cold again....
5. Hong Kong
Global warming blamed for unusual cold spell
The Standard
Nishika Patel
Thursday, February 14, 2008
As Hong Kong shivers through its second-longest cold spell since 1885, scientists point to global warming to explain the abnormal cold weather phenomenon worldwide...
Hong Kong yesterday recorded its second- longest cold spell - 21 days. The longest cold period - when temperatures fall below 12 degrees Celsius - lasted 27 days in 1968. This record is expected to remain intact as the thermometer is forecast to register a low of 13 degrees by Sunday.
Hong Kong has also experienced more than 456 hours of cold weather this winter - more than double the 205-hour record in January 2004...
6. Thailand
Death and illness as cold weather embraces nation
By The Nation 2011-01-18
The Public Health Ministry confirmed yesterday that at least two people had died in the cold weather - one in Loei and the other in Chiang Rai.
"Victims in this category are people who died because they lacked warm clothes and lived in areas declared as being hit by a cold spell," Public Health Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said.
In recent days, temperatures have dropped across most of the country.
Influenza, pneumonia, measles, German measles, chickenpox and diarrhoea are usually common in the wake of lower temperatures....
7. Vietnam
23,000 cattle die in freezing weather
Vietnam News
Updated January, 22 2011 09:32:00
HA NOI – The total number of cows and buffaloes frozen to death in Viet Nam has reached 23,000, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's Livestock Breeding Department said yesterday.
The northern mountainous province of Lang Son topped the list with more than 4,000 dead animals, followed by two neighbouring provinces, Cao Bang and Lao Cai.
Minister Cao Duc Phat has instructed provinces from Thua-Thien-Hue northward to establish working teams to instruct in food and shelter measures to help cattle and poultry cope with the chill and hunger.
8. Nepal
Exceptionally cold weather kills 50 in Nepal
01/25/2011 17:07
AsiaNews.It
by Kalpit Parajuli
Kathmandu (AsiaNews) – More than 50 people have died from the extreme cold weather that has swept across the southern regions of Nepal in the past few weeks
Terai is hardest hit with most deaths. Repeated blackouts have cut power to hospitals, factories and airports. Hundreds of schools have been closed to avoid further loss of life. Only Catholic schools have remained open for those who want to go to class despite the bad weather.
According to local doctors, people who fled fighting during the Maoist-led insurgency but still living in tents or makeshift shelters are most at risk...
9. Pakistan
Lahore, Early Morning Rains Intensify Cold Weather
A World News
Monday, February 14, 2011 at 12:43 pm under Pakistan news
Lahore, Early Morning Rains Intensify Cold Weather: The early morning rains in the city dropped the temperatures as the cold weather intensifies. Medical experts’ advice to take extra precautions as the cold weather returns.
According to the Metrological Department of Pakistan rain is expected in different parts of the country. Along with the rains, the temperatures are expected to drop significantly and the cold weather is going to intensify.
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