CNN - WeatherFX Blog

Cyclone Nargis update

2008-05-05T13:54:00.001-04:00

I sadly write that the numbers are finally coming in today and the world is now seeing the horrific images in the aftermath of Nargis. Over 15,000 are dead and it is estimated that those numbers are going to continue to rise. This is much more than I ever expected.

As I wrote a few days ago, minimal information had come out of the country the day after the storm made landfall. It only makes me wonder how much or how little information about this storm was disseminated within the country prior to landfall and could that information have helped to reduce the number of fatalities.

Here at the World Weather center we all share in the grief for the innocent lives lost in Myanmar and for the families who have lost everything. If you would like to be involved, there are many organizations that desperately need you help right now to bring aid to Myanmar. A few of those agencies can be found at www.cnn.com/impactyourworld

I think it appropriate to end this blog as I did previously, to continue to stay prepared, informed and involved.

-- From Kevin Corriveau, CNN Senior Weather Producer/Anchor Click here to send your weather iReports or e-mail us at worldweather@cnn.com

Cyclone Nargis

2008-05-03T13:48:00.003-04:00

I write this blog with concern and frustration. Cyclone Nargis made landfall along the southwestern coast of Myanmar with sustained winds of over 210 kph.

This cyclone if compared to a storm in the Atlantic had the strength of a category 4 hurricane.

We’ve all seen what storms like Katrina and Sidr can do with their powerful winds and deadly storm surges.

So here at the CNNI Weather center, my colleagues and I knew a few days in advance that this was going to be a very bad situation.

The storm track would take this powerful cyclone along the very low lying, delta region of southern Myanmar.

When you combine that geography with the circulation of the storm major flooding is almost inevitable.

A storm surge of 3 – 5 meters was also expected to travel well inland with little elevation change to stop its progress. I do hate to sound pessimistic, but many years of experience watching these storms has given me reason to be very concerned for this region.

My frustration comes from the fact that there continues to be media lockdown in this country. Very little information if any is coming out. I did happen to see one article this morning from the Associated Press saying that an official from the country’s meteorology department spoke anonymously to a reporter about the expected deaths and injuries in the city of Yangon and the rest of the country. But so far that has been about it.

When no information comes out, then no one hears or sees the devastation and the need for aid.

-- From Kevin Corriveau, CNN Senior Weather Producer/Anchor Click here to send your weather iReports or e-mail us at worldweather@cnn.com

April Weather FX Blog

2008-04-18T04:44:00.004-04:00

As I write this, I’m sitting on my front porch enjoying a beautiful spring day, the sun is shining, there is a light breeze and rain is forecast for the start of the weekend. Here in the southeast United States, when people pass the time of day chatting about the weather (as we all seem to the world over) the conversation inevitably turns to the continuing drought and when the next good rainfall is expected.

This month on ‘Weather FX’ we look at drought and how it continues to affect so many parts of the world and the impact little or no rainfall has on our lives. For some of us, it’s a matter of conserving water, but as we know only too well, for others, drought can become a matter of life and death.

To film this month’s show we headed up to Lake Lanier, a reservoir in the northern portion of Georgia, which provides drinking water for several million people. By December last year, the continuing drought in the southeast had reached critical status and water levels in the lake set an all time record low. Water restrictions had been in place for several months by this stage, but thankfully since the beginning of 2008, good winter and early spring rains have made some headway, although the levels are still over four meters below the ideal and it is crucial that we see more rain during the next few months.

But what about life in an arid or semi-arid climate? Across regions such as northern Africa, seasonal rains become your lifeline and if they fail to materialize the results can be devastating. And how do you survive in a desert climate?

Rain we can forecast, but drought? Can it be predicted? And what can be done to recover from severe drought?

These are just some of the questions we hope to answer in this month’s show and just like last month, we will also be answering some of the questions you have emailed to us and showing the best of your iReport pictures and video.

Just one last thing before I sign off – are you good at recycling water? I’m not sure you will go to quite the lengths of some….there is recycling and then there is recycling, as you will find out in our ‘Weather FX Files’ on this month’s show…..I’ll say no more and leave you to watch.

-- From CNN International Weather Anchor, Jenny Harrison

Click here to send your weather iReports or e-mail us at worldweather@cnn.com

Stay prepared, informed and involved

2008-04-18T04:41:00.006-04:00

As I was driving into work this morning, I noticed that Centennial Park, which is just across the street from CNN center, was finally reopened to the public. The roads through downtown Atlanta still have detours as workers continue to repair damage and broken windows in the high rise buildings. Why do I mention this? Well a little over 3 weeks ago, Atlanta saw its first ever downtown tornado. This was just one tornado in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I write this because it definitely gave me a different perspective when the natural disaster is in your own back yard. The Atlanta downtown commuters have been inconvenienced for three weeks while repairs have been underway. But I can’t help to think how minimal this inconvenience is compared to the magnitude of the other natural disasters I’ve reported on over the last several years and how life as many people know it will never be the same again.

Years later there are many regions in the world that are still recovering from natural devastation, but are hardly talked about anymore: The victims of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake during a bitterly cold winter, Cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh, the Gulf Coast of the U.S. after Hurricane Katrina, and the many coastal towns and cities around the Andaman Sea affected by the tsunami. This of course is just a small handful of the many that have taken place over the last several years.

World food prices are on the rise which is making it increasingly difficult to bring relief not only to new areas in need, but also to the communities that are on the long road to recovery. As members of the world community, let’s continue to stay prepared, informed and involved.

-- From Kevin Corriveau, CNN Senior Weather Producer/Anchor

Click here to send your weather iReports or e-mail us at worldweather@cnn.com

Welcome to the Weather FX Blog

2008-03-14T12:22:00.009-04:00

Spring to me always signifies the start of something new and fresh, a time to get outdoors after my winter hibernation (I’ve lived in the southeast US too long as the winters here are hardly severe…), so what better time to launch our new show "Weather FX"! Plus, as host of the first show, I was going to be filming outdoors – well, I’m not daft…

First we had to decide our main theme for show one – and believe me, with so many major weather events taking place regularly around the world, it wasn’t an easy decision, but we agreed on La Nina as this particular phenomenon is currently affecting millions of people all around the globe.

La Nina, which comes from the Spanish meaning ‘the little girl’, is very simply, unusually cold ocean temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean – the effects of La Nina are however, anything but simple and that is what we explain in this first show.

Of course we don’t stop there! Ever fancied a behind the scenes tour of exactly what we do at the World Weather Center? Well this first show takes you on that tour, no tickets to buy, no bus to board, but all from the comfort of your armchair …

Then we come to you – weather affects each and every one of us every single day and so our new show simply wouldn’t be complete without hearing from you, so every month we will be answering your weather questions and showing a selection of your iReport pictures and video. Of course we use your input on a regular daily basis, but in the show it’ll be the best of the best! So keep them coming!

And it doesn’t stop there, but I think I should……don’t want to give it all away before you’ve tuned in to watch…..every month we’ll have a new topic and give you an in depth look, but that’s for another time.

Well, in typical Atlanta weather fashion, today is chilly and cloudy after a gloriously hot, sunny day yesterday – when we were out filming….well, I’m not a weather forecaster for nothing…….

-- From CNN International Weather Anchor, Jenny Harrison

Click here to send your weather iReports or e-mail us at worldweather@cnn.com