The global weather activity of 2010 includes major meteorological events in the Earth's atmosphere during the year, including winter storms (blizzards, ice storms, European windstorms), hailstorms, out of season monsoon rain storms, extratropical cyclones, gales, microbursts, flooding, rainstorms, tropical cyclones, and other severe weather events. The thunderstorm season for the Northern Hemisphere began near spring, beginning on March 1, and ended on August 31.
January
January 1–3
Overnight snowfall on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day caused disruption in North East England, affecting roads across Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, County Durham and Teesside. Snow also fell in parts of East Cumbria. In places, the snow fell as deep as 10 centimeters (3.9 in). On January 2, a weather front with a northerly wind brought heavy snow to the northwest of England. Wythenshawe, near Manchester Airport, saw 130 millimeters (5 in) of snow. This affected road transport, particularly in the Greater Manchester area, causing the closure of Snake Pass and poor conditions on the M60, M602 and M66. As a snowstorm entered Scotland, a number of roads across the country were closed, including three junctions of the M9 and the Newbridge Roundabout in Edinburgh. Rail services between Inverness and Central Scotland were also affected by poor weather. Between January 1 and 2, 2010, 50- and 70-year record low temperatures and snowfall hit northern China and Korea. Blizzards also hit Mongolia's Dundgobi province. A heavy storm surge hit northeastern New Brunswick on January 2, leading to over $750,000 in damage in the community of Port Elgin. Heavy record-breaking snow also fell in Moscow in early January 2010 and light snow briefly fell in Greece and Turkey. Possibly more than 200 people died in northern India, mostly in Uttar Pradesh, after a cold snap and accidents in heavy fog around January 2 and 3. Heavy rain fell in parts of southwestern Brazil. The worst affected municipality was Angra dos Reis, about 150 kilometers (93 mi) southwest of the city of Rio de Janeiro. At least 35 people were killed at a resort on Ilha Grande after the hotel was buried under a mudslide. In Rio Grande do Sul, at least seven people were dead and 20 missing after a bridge collapsed due to heavy rains. It was reported to be one of the worst mudslides in Rio de Janeiro's history.
January 4–5 On January 4, heavy rain fell in Brazil. Heavy snow fell in northern China and grounded hundreds of flights on the 4th. Beijing was hit by a blizzard starting the evening of the 2nd, with 70–80% of flights canceled out of Beijing Capital International Airport on January 4. Close to 20 cm of snow fell in the north of the city, and close to 25 cm in Seoul. Schools across the area were closed. Continued snowstorms were forecast for the city of Beijing and the province of Inner Mongolia. It was also predicted on January 7 for snow to reach the provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan and Hubei on January 9 according to China National Radio. One person was killed in Xinjiang Autonomous Region as a result of the storm. Japan's Hokkaido island was hit by heavier snowfall, causing heavy travel disruption and some airport closures. By January 4 about 30 people died from cold-related causes in the last 11 days across Bangladesh as snow and a cold wave swept over the north and center of the nation. Freezing fog also occurred on the 4th in Punjab, India. Some parts of Bangladesh were the hardest hit with temperatures plummeting as low as 6 °C. The New Brunswick villages of Upper Cape and Port Elgin were devastated as a massive hurricane-strength blizzard hit Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island on January 4, causing massive blackouts in its wake. Light snow briefly fell in Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and Palestine and further snow was reported in Niigata, Japan. Heavy rain and severe cold hit southern Bangladesh and Italy. Italy suffered from both heavy rain in the south and heavy snow in the north. On the 4th, the UN issued a Green Alert in Albania as northern rivers swell with melt water In Scotland, Fife Council became the first local authority to confirm that its supply of grit was exhausted on January 4, after it received less than it had ordered from suppliers. Government Ministers denied there was a shortage of grit and salt and insisted there were "very substantial" supplies for Scotland's roads. January 4 saw four villages in Sakhalin lose power as a result of a storm. The 2,000 strong town of Tomari was worst hit. Blizzard struck Sakhalin island, a narrow island in the stormy Sea of Okhotsk, off the coast of Siberia and just 25 miles north of Japan's snowy Hokkaido island. On January 4, many motorways in Shandong were closed and 19 flights canceled in the Yantai International Airport. January 4 saw Seoul's heaviest snowfall since 1937, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. The blizzard dumped 25.8 centimeters (10.2 in) of snow on the town. Avalanches and heavy snow hit the Russian's Sakhalin Island, which was smothered by a snow cyclone and blizzard, the Island's emergency officials said. Civil authorities were put on a major alert in the province of Shandong on January 4 as more snow fell in both Shandong and Beijing. Travel was affected as the snowstorm paralyzed Beijing on January 4, 2010. Inner Mongolia was still in a critical situation as teams battled to clear severe rural snow drifts. 4–8 inches (10–20 centimeters) of snow fell in Beijing on the 5th, in the largest snowfall since 1951. 2,000 weather modification offices in China were used to bomb the skies with silver iodide to induce rain or snow. Schools in Beijing and Tianjin were closed. The capital received the harshest Siberian winds in decades. Temperatures for the 5th were forecast to plunge to −16 °C, a 40-year record low, after a daytime maximum of −8 °C. The head of the Beijing Meteorological Bureau, Guo Hu, linked the blizzard-like conditions of the first week of January to unusual atmospheric patterns caused by global warming. Heavy snow started to fall in Seoul, South Korea and it was reported that a leading North Korean Communist party official had frozen to death in his home in Sepo. On the 4th, many motorways in Shandong were closed and 19 flights were canceled at Yantai International Airport. In Inner Mongolia, 13 trains were delayed that Monday in Hohhot, the regional capital, according to the Hohhot railway authorities.
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