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Tags: Hurricanes / Weather / Mexico Travel / Travel Warnings / Cruise Travel / → All Tags
Hurricane Ida Is In Your Caribbean, Messing With Your Cruises
You know the cruising season has begun when the hurricanes and tropical storms lay into the Caribbean; it's just a hazard of the peak season. Still, this week we've been watching the progress of Hurricane Ida, which began way down in Central America and worked its way due north, eroding beaches in Cozumel and Grand Cayman before just not being downgraded back to Tropical Storm in advance of landfall in Mississippi.
Most affected by the storm were two inaugural sailings of Carnival ships, the Fantasy and Triumph from new home ports of Mobile, Alabama and New Orleans, respectively. According to CruiseCritic, each voyage is now delayed by a day, turning a 6-nighter into 5 and Triumph's 4-nighter into 3 with no port calls; it's now a "cruise to nowhere."
Tags: Hurricanes / Weather / Mexico Travel / Travel Warnings / Cruise Travel / → All Tags
Hurricane Rick Swatting Cruise Ships Out Of The Way En Route To Baja
If there is something we know about traveling during the late summer thru early fall, it's to buy trip insurance. We're sure some cruisers and Baja vacationers will be finding out the importance of such policies as Hurricane Rick hits Baja Mexico and diverts ships away from holiday ports in order to avoid the 100 mph winds.
Although Rick has already crested in strength and now it peters down to a category 3 hurricane, let us remember that having a category anything storm crash your beach holiday is never positive. Judging the infographic above, Rick is zeroing in on Mexico like a frat boy with fantasies of cheap Patron. With the storm due off the coast from late today through early tomorrow, cruise ships are skipping visits to Mazatlan and possibly even Cabo San Lucas, adding insult to injury for the city that counts on these near-daily cruise ship calls.
Tags: Weather Hell / Sydney Travel / Weather / Travel News / → All Tags
Sydney Duststorm Gives Preview Of Armageddon
With the September equinox upon us, yesterday began talk about the end of the world, and when people in Sydney woke up this morning, a lot of them thought it was true. Massive red dust storms hit the city and made it look like something out of an apocalyptic movie.
Basically, super-strong winds from the west of the country picked up a pile of red dirt from the dry outback in South Australia and western New South Wales and then stormy weather dumped it all on Sydney and surrounding areas; when the sun shone on the dust, everything turned red. Visibility problems stopped the ferries and caused traffic chaos, and many flights were diverted to Brisbane and Melbourne.
Tags: Travel Storms / Celeb Travel / Bahamas Travel / Tropical Storms / Weather / Travel News / → All Tags
Tropical Storm Danny is Forming; Just Misses The Chance to Wipe Out Speidi
Summer storms are really getting around this summer, as another one—Tropical Storm Danny—forms just off of the Bahamas and primes to sweep up the eastern seaboard. Heidi and Spencer, who seem to be perpetually on vacation, unfortunately just missed being affected by the storm, as they splashed on the beach at The Atlantis Nassau around Heidi's lip-synching performance for the Miss Universe pageant.
Danny, which reminds us more of a booger-eating kindergartner than a furiously brewing storm (how about more named like 'Cristobal?'), might have laid off the Bahamas but he will spend this weekend wreaking havoc on the plans of beachgoers along the coast from South Carolina all the way up to Maine.
Tags: Airplane News / Airplane Delays / Volcanoes / Weather / → All Tags
We Can't Imagine A Worse Flight Delay Reason Than Volcanic Eruption
And here we thought cancellation due to regular thunderstorms was already a nightmare, but it turns out that being unable to fly through crowds of volcanic ash tops our list of freaky flight delays reasons.
This is exactly what is happening in Vancouver, as Russia's Sarychev Peak on the remote Kuril Islands started spewing massive clouds of ash and smoke on June 12, and Asia-bound airplanes aren't risking flying through the grit.
Currently affected by the explosive fun of Mother Nature are flights between Vancouver and Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Flights were canceled all the way up until yesterday, and now flights are attempting to adjust routes to avoid the 30-mile large cloud of leftover ash.
If this little rural earth-shaking affects major transpacific travel so much, we can only fear for any major belching from Mount Rainier, seeing as how it's some several hundred years overdue for a cataclysmic explosion. Perhaps airports need to practice for volcano drills?
Related Stories:
· Vancouver To Asia flights cancelled because of volcanic eruption [CBC Canada]
· Volcano delaying Asia flights [Shanghaiist]
· Volcano Travel Coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Gary DeLong]
Tags: Memorial Day Travel / Road Trips / Weather / Terminator Salvation / Movie Travel / → All Tags
Can Memorial Day Kill the Staycation?
Is this the weekend we finally get over the staycation hump? Forecasters say low gas prices (and restless traveler syndrome?) will reignite the great American road trip this summer, with the AAA predicting a 1.5 percent increase in road travel over last year's Memorial Day weekend.
Of course, just when travel might be getting a much-needed boost, that frequent Memorial Day irritant – rain – is back on the horizon to ruin it all. Florida and most of the Gulf Coast will get dumped on this weekend, as will much of the South, Plains, and West. Which is great news for cyborgs, as Christian Bale's Terminator Salvation tries to bump Angels & Demons and Star Trek from the top of the box office.
So how's it looking out there? Is America done with the staycation? Or will the weather forecast keep you home once again this weekend? If you haven't already taken off for the weekend, let us know what your travel plans are in comments below.
Related Stories:
· More Americans hit the road to kick off summer [Reuters]
· A slow moving weather pattern continues [weather.com]
· Memorial Day travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Atwater Village]
Tags: Weather / London Travel / LHR / Public Transportation / Travel Hell / → All Tags
London is Closed for Business
What the Blitz and terrorists have failed to do, the weather has done. London is on its knees today (or at least buried up to its knees) under a whole seven inches of snow.
Three of the five London airports are shut, mainline trains are down, only two of the 11 underground trains are running properly and all 5 million buses have been taken off the roads.
And because of (read: thanks to) that, there’s barely anyone about. Ever diligent, we made it into work this morning, to be confronted with tumbleweed blowing around the office. London Underground staff were using commuter paper Metro to mop up the water this morning, while afternoon paper thelondonpaper* reduced its print run from 500,000 to 150,000 to compensate for the lack of readers about.
Tags: Disasters / Weather / Dangerous Travel / → All Tags
France, Spain Battle Deadly Storms
Deadly 100-mph winds wrecked havoc across Spain and southwestern France this weekend, as the region's strongest winter storm in a decade killed at least 16 people and left both countries struggling to clean up and repair infrastructure.
The storm reached its peak Saturday evening, when thousands of residents in both countries lost power, the Spanish army battled a spreading forest fire in the Valencia region, and at least five people died in three separate avalanches in the French Alps.
The hurricane-strength storm also caused travel nightmares in both countries, closing the airports in Bourdaux and Toulouse, cancelling flights out of Bilbao and shutting down train service between France and Spain.
The storm died down by Sunday evening, with travel returning to normal and both countries focused on recovery efforts.
· Killer Storm Strikes Spain, France; 12 Reported Dead [Bloomberg]
· France and Spain pick up pieces after deadly storm [Reuters]
· Travel storms coverage [Jaunted]
Photo: [Nicholas DARQUE]
Tags: Fall Festivals / Festivals / Weird / Weather / → All Tags
Wooly Worm Travel: Winter Is Coming... Or Is It?
Year after year, that flaky groundhog gets tons of press just for crawling out of his hole and telling us it's still winter. (In February. Real tough prediction there, pal.)
But way before Punxsutawney Phil wakes up, Banner Elk, North Carolina hosts the Wooly Worm Festival, in which a fuzzy black-and-brown worm tells us not just whether, but how long and harsh winter is going to be.
Tags: Summer Travel / Summer-Vacations-with-an-Edge / Weather / Adventure Travel / → All Tags
Summer Vacation with an Edge: Storm Chasing
If you've been paying attention to the news you may have noticed that there's been a sharp increase in the amount of tornadoes in the US this year. Just yesterday, another storm pounded a town near the Canadian border in North Dakota, damaging about 15 homes. Blame it on global climate change, chalk it up to coincidence or do something about it--and go check it out yourself!
Tags: Midwest / Travel Storms / Travel Weather / Weather / → All Tags
Double Check Your Road Maps: Severe Storms Hit Midwest
Mexico wasn't the only place hit by severe summer weather this week. Two storm systems collided in the Midwest sending people all of the way from Colorado to Ohio ducking for cover: Twenty-five people were killed, millions of dollars in roadways were washed out and homes collapsed due to high winds and flooding. Better double check those driving and lodging plans if you're hoping to squeeze in a Matt Gross-style road trip this summer.
In Wisconsin heinous storms resulted in more than $30 million in weather-related damages. Lori Getter the state's Emergency Management spokeswoman told CNN.com:
Mother Nature has been really cruel to our state the last four or five days. For many of these people, they've lost everything.
More rainfall led to heavy flooding after high winds whipped through towns in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Gov. Jim Doyle declared a state of emergency:
It's really awe-inspiring to see how much damage has been done and what this water has done.
The severe weather also hit Oklahoma, parts of Texas, Nebraska and Iowa: proof yet again that some of the biggest storms aren't always tropical.
Related Stories:
· Midwest Flooding coverage [CNN]
· Hurricane Dean Lands in Mexico, Tourists React [Jaunted]
· Hurricane Coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: CNN]
Tags: Weather / Travel Hell / → All Tags
Cookin' Up Storms Near Sydney
Hey, it turns out it ain't all sunshine and days on the beach Down Under. They don't even seem to be having that drought they were complaining about: in fact massive storms are causing chaos on the east coast of Australia, especially in Sydney's state of New South Wales.
The worst hit areas are the Hunter and Central Coast regions north of Sydney. Sadly, at least nine people have died in the storms, mostly when their cars have been washed off roads. A Qantas plan was even struck by lightning on its way into Sydney, but landed safely. If you can change your travel plans, try and avoid this pretty part of Oz for a while, and wait until the sunny days return. Shouldn't be too long--they do call it the lucky country.
Related Stories:
· Australia Travel [Jaunted]
· NSW Floods Gallery [news.com.au]
· Bring on the Sun [Jaunted]
[Photo: Leorex]
