Australia’s Top End is on cyclone alert with strong storm winds forecast over the next 24 hours.An official Cyclone Warning was declared around 11am (CST) on Tuesday for all coastal and island communities from Cape Hotham, northeast of Darwin, to Kalumburu in Western Australia.

Authorities say there’s a strong possibility a tropical low pressure system in the Timor Sea will develop into a cyclone on Wednesday or Thursday.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s forecasting operations manager, Todd Smith, says the best estimates are the full brunt of the storm will hit well to the west of Darwin at Wadeye, also known as Port Keats, about 10pm (CST) on Wednesday.

But he reminded everyone in the warning zone, which includes Darwin, to prepare for gale-force winds, which can gust to over 100km/h.

A storm system that brought much colder temperatures and snow flurries to the Front Range is started overnight, according to the Colorado weather forecast. The storm is heading south, taking the possibility of snow away from the metro area.

Is this latest storm moves out Thursday, warmer drier weather returns. Thursday will be sunny in the mid 40s and Friday will be in the mid 50s. 9NEWS Chief Meteorologist Kathy Sabine says we will get into the mid 60s for the weekend.

Kathy says on Wednesday night, a second area of low pressure is approaching southern Colorado.

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY is in effect for the southern mountains through noon Thursday for 4 to 8 inches of snow for portions of the Sawatch Range, La Garita Mountains, Independence Pass, Mt. Elbert, Mt. Massive and North Pass.

A WINTER STORM WARNING will go out Wednesday night through noon Thursday for southern Colorado including the Sangre de Cristo Range and areas including, La Veta Pass, Poncha Pass, Trinidad, Cuchara, Rye and Walsenburg for 10 to 20 inches of snow.

A WINTER STORM WATCH will go out Thursday afternoon through Friday morning for Southeast Colorado counties including Eastern Las Animas and Baca County for 4 to 8 inches of snow and hazardous travel conditions.

The Australian meteorologists say, “In Sydney and parts of the central and south coast are located to be hit by heavy rain and strong winds as a low pressure system increases off the NSW coast”.

Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Jake Phillips said, “A low is forecast to develop within a trough off the east coast, bringing rain to regions east of the Dividing Range late tomorrow and on Thursday”.

Weather zone’s senior meteorologist Brett Dutschke said while such low pressure systems were fairly unpredictable, rainfall of between 50 and 100 millimetres was expected to hit the regions between the central coast and East Gippsland in Victoria during the two days and also in some areas, there is potential for rainfall in excess of 100 millimetres and flash flooding in those areas.

“There is a good chance of gale force winds occurring along that stretch,” Brett Dutschke said.

He said the risk of flash floods had increased because these regions have already had a very wet summer.

“The ground is reasonably saturated and it increases the risk of falling trees.”

On Thursday the National Weather Service Huntsville Forecast Office issued a Hazardous Weather position for all of North Alabama for Friday.

Two rounds of storms are expected to affect the area. The first will bring scattered thunderstorms to the area during the morning hours. A second much stronger cold front that is forecast to move through the region during the late afternoon and evening will follow it. Both systems have the potential to produce severe weather and the public is encouraged to remain weather aware throughout the day.

The main threat from the early morning system is scattered strong to severe storms with brief damaging wind gusts and hail through late morning. An isolated tornado is possible.

The threat for severe thunderstorms and isolated tornadoes increases with the approach of the second system. A line of strong to severe storms is expected to develop along and ahead of the approaching cold front. Like the morning storms, damaging winds and large hail are the major threats along with isolated tornadoes. Locally heavy rainfall is also forecast.

Forecasters believe that tornadoes are more likely in thunderstorms that develop ahead of the cold front or in breaks in the line of storms that will sweep through the region.

Skies Saturday should become mostly sunny with cooler temperatures.

The Winter Storm Warning issued February 28 at 10:03PM MST until March 02 at 11:00 AM by NWS Salt Lake. Major winter storm to impact much of the area. A long duration winter storm is expected to develop across the region Wednesday after noon and evening. A cold front is forecast to cross northern Utah late Wednesday afternoon into Wednesday evening. Reaching Southern Utah Wednesday night.

A period of heavy snow is possible in associated with this front across portions of northern and central Utah. Moist and unstable conditions will continue through much of the day Thursday before another disturbance brings another period of widespread adding snow to the area later Thursday into Friday morning. Winter storm warning remains in effect from 11am Wednesday to 11 am Friday.

Strong hurricanes blew over the D.C. area Friday afternoon, knocking out power to a few thousand homes and businesses.

In a news release, Pepco says it has scheduled extra line personnel and tree trimming crews for the storm and will be watching customer outages Friday evening into Saturday.

A Tornado Watch issued for parts of Virginia and southern Maryland was canceled around 3:30 p.m. ABC7 meteorologist Chris Naille said,” the wind will be the biggest story today with areas along and west of the Blue Ridge where winds will gust up to 60 mph and D.C. and the rest of the WTOP Listening Area could see gusts of 50 to 55 mph.”

Temperatures reached highs in the low-70s on Friday afternoon, but will drop to the mid-30s pushing 40 overnight. Naille says “I believe that winds will remain elevated through the day Saturday with gusts up to 45-plus mph possible, coupled with partly cloudy skies and cooler daytime highs in the mid-40 to near 50 degrees“.

On Sunday, the wind will diminish and the skies will be mostly sunny. Temperatures will be in the upper-40s, climbing back into the 50s on Monday. The unstable, chilly weather is a far cry from the 70 degree temperatures the region enjoyed earlier this week.

Gusty winds ahead of a developing storm system had started in Colorado from the northwest overnight generated wind speeds in excess of 80 mph west of town on Tuesday afternoon. The Colorado weather forecast shows there will be more high winds on Wednesday.

The winds are forecast to increase overnight and Wednesday as the pressure gradient tightens in the morning. Peak gusts to 100 mph are possible along the Front Range foothills and over the northern and central mountains.

Chief Meteorologist Kathy Sabine says that a core of very strong winds from the Pacific Northwest is heading across northern Colorado, the nose of the northern jet will be diving southeast along the foothills creating the perfect scenario for powerful winds on Wednesday.

On Sunday winter storm dumped more than a few inches of snow on a band of southern states of  USA causing accidents on slippery roads and knocking out power to tens of thousands. The storm brought wet snow to parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.

In northern Tennessee, about 20 vehicles were involved in crashes along a three-mile stretch of Interstate 75 near the Kentucky border.National Weather Service meteorologist Nick Fillo in Blacksburg, said 5 to 8 inches of snow had fallen in the Blue Ridge Mountains while about 3 to 6 inches had fallen on Virginia’s Piedmont region.

“This was our first real winter storm,” Fillo said. The storm system was expected to move off the Mid-Atlantic coast on Sunday night, sparing the rest of the Mid-Atlantic as well as the Northeast.

Fillo said,”It’s moving out to sea and a low-pressure system would be coming out of the Rockies this week, bringing snow to the Great Lakes area but not significantly affecting the South”.

Four days of heavy rain in Chile ‘s Atacama Desert have enforced hundreds from their homes as swollen rivers broke their banks and loosened soil gave way to a second landslide in less than a week.

The settlements in the world’s driest desert remain on alert as the usually slow moving rivers furiously churn their way down the highland plateau to the Pacific Ocean.

Some local towns have seen as much as two meters of flooding and some 800 residents have been forced from their homes.

A resident of the town of Toconao, stated that, “It is all ruined, just like you can see. Everything is lost; I have to start all over again”.

A weather bureau has stated that there will be no more tropical cyclone this year (2011).After the deadly storm “Sendong,” no other tropical cyclone is expected to affect the Philippines for the rest of the year, although rains may still prevail over most parts of the country on New Year’s Day, the weather agency said yesterday.

Metro Manila will experience partly cloudy skies with brief light rains. Servando said, “There is a very slim chance of tropical cyclone development in the remaining week of 2011”.

Meanwhile, a low-pressure area spotted in Cotabato City and the tail-end of a cold front will continue to bring rains over portions of the Visayas and Mindanao. A total of 19 cyclones entered the country this year.