A Wild Start for Weather in the New Year
From record Australian heat to Middle Eastern snow, the climate is changing.
(What's up with the weather? Read the September 2012 National Geographic story and see a gallery of extreme weather pictures.)
As much as 8 inches (20 centimeters) of snow fell on Jerusalem (map) last Thursday, closing roads across the city. It was the biggest winter storm there in 20 years. Scores of trees fell from the weight of the snow, snowball fights broke out in the parks, and Israeli President Shimon Peres was photographed building a snowman outside his residence with help from his bodyguards.
In Australia, where a heat wave was smashing records across the country, the national weather agency added two new colors to its maps to handle the possibility of unprecedented temperatures: deep purple
