Fires, Typhoons And Dust: What The Rest Of The World Is Dealing With

It's gradually turning cooler but the weather remains relatively sane here in Vermont, and for most of the United States for that matter on this Friday.

Thick smoke hangs over Sydney, Australia, this week
as massive bushfires destroy homes in the area.  

Things remain crazy in the weather department elsewhere in the world, however.

In Australia, summer came early this year, with record heat in September and so far in October.

They're getting the kind of weather they usually get in January, which is the height of summer in the southern atmosphere.

Already, this is spelling disaster.

Huge wildfires erupted the past couple of days around Sydney.  Many houses have already been destroyed. If they're getting conditions like this now, I worry about how bad things will get come December, January and February.

Here's a video showing how bad it's gotten:


Meanwhile, in Japan, the problem is not too little water, but way too much. A typhoon named Wipha swept through much of Japan the other day, dropping as much as 33 inches of rain in a day. (For perspective, it normally takes about a year for 33 inches of rain to accumulate in Burlington, Vermont.)

The resulting floods and mudslides killed at least a dozen people  in Japan and many more are missing.

The news keeps getting worse for Japan. Another typhoon, Francisco, is now threatening Japan.

Here's some footage of Typhoon Wipha havoc:

Things aren't so great in South America, either. Here's a scary dust storm this week in Cordoba, Argentina.