Jewish & World News

It’s  a name we’ll never forget but one we will thankfully not have to hear about again — as far as storms go. Sandy is being retired from the list of tropical storm names because of the catastrophic damage its massive size and strength caused along the East Coast last year.

In a tribute to last week’s blizzard, a nearly 10-foot snowman continues to stand tall on the corner of 169th Street and Audubon Avenue in Washington Heights. Time and rising temperatures have taken their toll on Frosty who has lost his red scarf, carrot nose, eyes, pail hat and both his arms since he mysteriously appeared Saturday after a winter storm dumped nearly a foot of snow on New York City.

The National Hurricane Center says Superstorm Sandy was the deadliest hurricane to hit the northeastern U.S. in 40 years and the second-costliest in the nation's history. The center released a report Tuesday that attributes 72 deaths in the U.S. directly to Sandy, from Maryland to New Hampshire. That's more than any hurricane to hit the northeastern U.S. since Hurricane Agnes killed 122 people in 1972.

Her timing could have been better, but to her parents, the baby who was born in a Connecticut hospital parking lot in the blizzard is perfect. The Bulletin reports that the baby, Elizabeth Judy, wasn't due until Feb. 23 and was to be delivered at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford.

A New Jersey man struck by lightning during yesterday's powerful storms has died from his injuries, police said Thursday. Sebastian Castillo, 41, of East Rutherford was fishing with his son on a beach in Long Branch yesterday evening when he was struck by lightning.

After last year’s virtual snow shutout, Accuweather predicts southern mid-Atlantic to southern New England will get walloped in the coming winter. In its winter outlook released today, it forecasts above average snowfall for major I-95 cities including Richmond, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York City.

Temperatures are expected to sizzle in New York City for the next three days. A heat advisory is in effect from 1 p.m. Monday until 9 p.m. Tuesday as temperatures are expected to soar into the 90s. Forecasters are calling for heat index values to be in the mid to upper 90s on Monday. On Tuesday, high temperatures mixed with high humidity will make it feel like 100 degrees.

Things were proceeding normally Friday evening as a US Airways flight was leaving the gate at Reagan National Airport to begin its flight to Charleston, S.C. But the temperature reached 100 degrees in Washington on Friday and that apparently softened the airport paving enough to immobilize the airplane. The small vehicle that usually tows planes away from the gate tugged and pulled, but the plane was stuck.

The mainland United States, which was largely recovering Monday from a near-nationwide heat wave, has experienced the warmest 12 months since record-keeping began in 1895, a top government science and weather agency announced Monday. The report from the National Climatic Data Center, which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, does not take into account blistering heat from this month, with 2,116 high temperature marks either broken or tied between July 2 and 8 in communities nationwide. But it does incorporate the warmest March ever recorded as well as extreme heat in June, which also helped make the first six months of 2012 the warmest recorded of any January-June stretch.

Early warm weather has brought disease-carrying mosquitoes to areas of Rockland and Westchester Counties. It’s tricky business trying to tame a tiger — the Asian tiger mosquito, that is. The daytime biting, disease-carrying vector first turned up in Rockland County last summer, and it’s feared that the mild winter spared many eggs.

Researchers have updated HadCRUT - one of the main global temperate records, which dates back to 1850. One of the main changes is the inclusion of more data from the Arctic region, which has experienced one of the greatest levels of warming. The amendments do not change the long-term trend, but the data now lists 2010, rather than 1998, as the warmest year on record.

The late-winter springlike temperatures that have prevailed in much of the U.S. this year may have one very negative side effect. Pests may show up earlier, and in greater numbers. "The mild winter weather could have a ripple effect on pest activity," said Jim Warneke, Southeast division technical services manager for Orkin Pest Control. "Insects stay in a hibernation-like state during the winter since cold temperatures slow down their metabolism and reproduction cycles. But with the season's above-average temperatures, we could have larger numbers of ants, termites, cockroaches and mosquitoes this spring."

The snow on Mount Hermon had not completely melted, yet one look at the beaches in Tel Aviv on Sunday and you'd be sure summer had already arrived. Temperatures soared up to 30 degrees in most areas in the South and Center, and thick dusts and sand that settled heavily in the South decreased visibility and added weight to the high temperatures.

A weekend of heavy rains and snowstorms throughout the country contributed to a 20 centimeter rise in the level of Lake Kinneret, one of Israel's primary sources of drinking water. The Kinneret's water level has risen 30 centimeters since the beginning of the current round of storms last week. Since the beginning of the current storm system, Jerusalem has seen 168 millimeters of rain, Ariel 93, and Tel Aviv 58 millimeters.

Heavy snow fell in the Jerusalem area on Friday, and for the first time in four years, parts of Jerusalem were white with snow. Snow fell in Ramot, Givat Ze’ev and Har Gilo, and three centimeters of snow fall were reported. The Jerusalem municipality, which had prepared for the weather conditions in recent days, was due to clear snow from the streets of Jerusalem on Friday.

Even though spring is still three weeks away, the mild winter has led to some early color on trees and plants at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. NY1's Roger Clark filed the following report. The hellebores have bloomed, as have the yellow aconites -- all just a little bit ahead of themselves in these last weeks of winter. "These are plants that don't really need a long cold dormancy period, so they were cold for a couple of weeks, then it became warm, and they think it's spring," said Brooklyn Botanic Garden Spokesperson Kate Blumm.

As spring weather fills the week ahead, New Yorkers have every right to seasonal confusion: Was that winter? And is it over already? Tuesday will bring conditions in the high 40s, and that will be the coldest day of the week. Starting Wednesday, temperatures will be more fitting to late April than the second half of February, with highs comfortably in the upper 50s and lower 60s. A rain shower or two will pass through the area Friday night, but the big news this week will be the mild temperatures.

Winter weather returned to Israel Thursday morning with heavy snowfall causing the closure of Mount Hermon to visitors and rain falling throughout the country from the North to the Negev. Heavy winds and significant drops in temperature were expected to accompany the rainfall, according to the Israel Meteorological Service. The inclement weather was forecasted to continue throughout the weekend with rain falling mainly in the North on Friday and gusty winds causing sand storms in the South. Saturday was expected to see rain, storms and cold weather from the Negev to the North. Snow will continue to fall over the Hermon, as well as the northern mountains and peaks of the central mountains.

The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee activated its emergency response system in the wake of extreme winter weather in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The system provides additional care to tens of thousands of Jewish elderly, as well as young families. In addition to heating fuel, blankets, warm clothes, jackets and boots, the JDC has been called on to provide additional electric heaters and food to the homebound.