Weather of 2008

Major dust storms, hurricanes, cyclones, tornadoes, gales, flooding and rainstorms are also caused by such phenomena to a lesser or greater existent.

A storm (from Proto-Germanic *sturmaz "noise, tumult") is any disturbed state of an astronomical body's atmosphere, especially affecting its surface, and strongly implying severe weather.

A series of moderate to intense low pressure systems affected most of eastern North America particularly the Canadian Maritimes with repeated heavy snow, mixed precipitation, rain and wind.

Several New Year's Eve festivities including Charlottetown's main event as well as the fireworks show in St. John's were cancelled due to weather conditions.

[2][3] A major winter storm event took place across portions of central Europe including Bulgaria, Ukraine, Romania and southwestern Russia as well as areas near the Black Sea.

[9] In southeastern Utah, nine people were killed and 20 injured after a charter bus returning from a ski trip in Telluride, Colorado ran off the road north of Mexican Hat.

The spate of late-month storms pushed Alta, Utah to a monthly total of 178.5 inches (453 cm) of snow, tying its January record first set in 1996.

The weather event had topped local headlines eclipsing a critical government report related to the 2006 Lebanon War and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Winds exceeded locally as much as 120 km/h in some areas while blowing snow shut down many roads near the shorelines of Georgian Bay and Lake Huron.

[37] While it disrupted air travel at various major airports along the path, the storm was responsible for at least 15 deaths across three states and one Canadian province including one in Ontario, four in New York, six in Illinois, three in Texas and one in Oklahoma.

Winds of up to 25 miles per hour (40 km/h) and heavy snowfall rates made for blizzard conditions in some areas, making travel nearly impossible.

Many places throughout northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin were forced to close on February 6, including schools, colleges, churches, health care centers, government buildings, businesses, and shopping malls.

[41] In the Milwaukee area, whiteout conditions forced the temporary closure of General Mitchell International Airport, where half of its flights were canceled for the day.

[42] The National Guard was brought in to assist over 2000 stranded motorists on a 19-mile (31 km) stretch of I-90 between Janesville, WI, and Madison after several semi trailers lost traction and blocked the road.

The storm tore off the roof of a shopping mall in Memphis, trapped college students at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, ignited a gas fire near Nashville, and demolished warehouses in Southaven, Mississippi, in addition to destroying numerous homes.

[45] A panhandle hook winter storm combined with an Alberta clipper crossed the central United States, spreading rain, ice and heavy snow to parts of the upper Midwest and Northeast as well as eastern Canada from southern Manitoba to the Canadian Maritimes.

The ice event may have been blamed for a late-evening incident at the Ottawa International Airport where a Boeing 737 WestJet flight from Calgary slid off an icy runway and ending off into a snowbank.

[46] Generally between 4 and 8 inches (10 and 20 centimetres) of snow fell across the Midwest and portions of Ontario although locally across Wisconsin amounts approached 1 foot (30 cm).

[51] In addition, the speed limit on the New Jersey Turnpike was reduced to 35 mph (56 km/h), and in Greenwich, Connecticut, southbound lanes of Interstate 95 were closed for a couple hours.

[51] A weak Alberta clipper intensified over eastern Canada after dumping about 10–17 cm over Ontario and Quebec and several areas of the Northeastern United States.

[56] Many trees were also bought down in SW British Isles as it passed over with winds at about 100 mph, affecting counties in Ireland, Wales and S. Western England.

The blizzard conditions also forced a one-day delay for a ceremony at CFB Trenton in memory of a Canadian soldier who was killed in Afghanistan.

[76] A major winter storm hit the eastern portions of Quebec during a two-day period bringing heavy snow and winds gusting in excess of 100 km/h across the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Bas-Saint-Laurent and Côte-Nord regions creating blizzard conditions.

[77] The roof of a school gymnasium in Maria, Quebec in the Gaspésie region collapsed under the weight of the heavy snow from the storm and previous snowfall and ice during the winter.

Blizzard conditions during the early morning hours of April 26 shut down parts of the Trans-Canada Highway in southern Manitoba east of Winnipeg where 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 centimetres) fell[93][94][95] While a major tornado outbreak took place across the Central and Southern Plains as well in the lower Mississippi River Valley, the northern fringes of a strong low pressure system delivered a major blizzard across northeastern Wyoming and western South Dakota.

[101] Fifty-four people, including 14 children, died during a sudden snowstorm in eastern Mongolia, after the days before had been warm with temperatures around 25 degrees Celsius (77 °F).

[105] On the morning of August 5, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center began monitoring an area of low pressure embedded in a surface trough 1,200 mi (1,900 km) east southeast of Hilo, Hawaii showed signs of development.

[106] The remaining low pressure zone was last notable on August 14 as it crossed the International Date Line, out of the Central Pacific Hurricane Center's area of responsibility.

In another snow event during the week preceding the main storm about 1,500 motorists were stranded on the Cobequid Pass of Highway 104 in Nova Scotia.

[132] While wintry precipitation was light and more scarce across the Tennessee Valley, a swath of freezing rain developed across the northeast, dumping heavy amounts of ice across most of New England.