NEWS: 2006

As 2006 begins, it's mostly cloudy and 38 degrees F at Baltimore's National Weather Service station at BWI Airport. The wind is calm.

It's the beginning of the International Year of Deserts and Desertification, as proclaimed by the United Nations.

Baltimore weather at BWI Airport: Mostly cloudy to cloudy, then partly cloudy; breezy at times from late morning to early afternoon; High temp 48° F; Low temp. 31° F; Precipitation: None.  No snow on the ground.

Ariel Sharon, the Prime Minister of Israel, suffers a stroke and lapses into a coma. (His duties are taken over by his deputy, Ehud Olmert, although Sharon remains in office until April 14, 2006, when Olmert becomes Interim Prime Minister, and then Prime Minister of Israel on May 4, 2006. Sharon did not regain consciousness and died on January 11, 2014.)

Baltimore weather at BWI Airport: Cloudy with light rain, then mostly cloudy, then cloudy; High temp 46° F; Low temp. 38° F; Precipitation: Trace.

Baltimore weather at BWI Airport: Rain; High temp. 49° F; Low temp. 40° F; Precip.: 0.16 inch.

The total precipitation for Baltimore during January 2006 is 3.48 inches, including melted snow and ice, above the normal amount of 3.08 inches.  The average daily high temperature for Baltimore during January 2006 is 51.2 degrees F, well above the normal of 43.2 degrees.  The average daily low temperature for Baltimore during January 2006 is 31.9 degrees F, above the normal of 25.4 degrees.  A trace of snow falls at Baltimore's official weather station at BWI Airport during January 2006, well below the normal amount of 6.4 inches.

Two EF1 tornadoes and one EF2 tornado strike New Orleans (Louisiana) and vicinity. The western suburb of Kenner, Louisiana, is hard-hit, including Louis Armstrong International Airport, which sustains more damage than it received from Hurricane Katrina five months earlier. Damage is $1.785 million.

A new U.S. House majority leader, John Boehner of Ohio, is elected by Republican House members to replace indicted Tom DeLay.

Baltimore gets 9.6 inhes of snow from a storm that continues from the previous day and lasts until about noon. Total snowfall from this storm is about 12 inches.

BWI Airport gets 9.6 inches of snow, the greatest snowfall on one day for BWI Airport in 2006.

The Orioles open their season and defeat the Tampa Bay Rays, 9-6, at Oriole Park in Baltimore.  Melvin Mora, Luis Matos, Jeff Conine, and Miguel Tejada hit home runs for the Orioles.  Nick Markakis makes his Major League debut, playing right field in the ninth inning but not batting. Ramon Hernandez hits 3 singles in 3 at-bats for the Orioles. Rodrigo Lopez is the starting and winning pitcher for the Orioles.

Kenji Johjima of the Seattle Mariners becomes the first Japanese catcher to start a major league game, He also homers for his first hit in the Mariners’ 5-3 loss to Los Angeles at Safeco Field in Seattle, WA.

The Orioles defeat Tampa Bay, 16-6.  Nick Markakis hits his first big-league home run for the Orioles, and Melvin Mora and Jay Gibbons also hit home runs for the O's.  Attendance is 16,083.

The Detroit Tigers defeat the Kansas City Royals, 14-3, as Ivan Rodriguez goes 5-for-5 with a single, homer, three doubles and five RBIs.

Chase Utley of the Philadelphia Phillies singles in the first inning of the Phillies' 8-1 win at St. Louis to extend his hitting streak to 35 games.

Matt Murton ties a major-league record with four doubles in a game, and drives in 5 runs to help the Chicago Cubs win the second game of a doubleheader against the Arizona Diamondbacks, 7-3.

The high temperature in Baltimore reaches 100 degrees F, a tie for the highest temperature ever recorded for Baltimore on any August 3rd (up to this point) since recordkeeping began in 1871. This high temperature ties the 100 degrees F recorded in Baltimore on August 3, 1931.

Banker Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh wins the Nobel Peace Prize for using microcredit to lift people out of poverty.

The low temperature in Baltimore reaches 32 degrees F, a tie for the lowest temperature ever recorded for Baltimore on any October 13th (up to this point) since recordkeeping began in 1871. This low temperature ties the 32 degrees F that was recorded in Baltimore on October 13, 1957, and again on October 13, 1988.

Baltimore weather: Partly cloudy, then clear, then partly cloudy, then clear; breezy form late morning until evening; High temp. 55 degrees F, Low temp 32 degrees F; Precipitation: None.

The low temperature in Baltimore reaches 32 degrees F, the lowest temperature ever recorded for Baltimore on any October 15th (up to this point) since recordkeeping began in 1871.

Baltimore weather: Clear, then partly cloudy, then clear; High temp. 60 degrees F, Low temp 32 degrees F; Precipitation: None.

Authorities charge a Wisconsin man with making a hoax threat against seven football stadiums. He said they would be targeted by terrorists with radiological dirty bombs during the weekend.

OPEC agrees to reduce its output by 1.2 million barrels per day, its first cut for more than two years, to halt falling oil prices

European Union leaders gather in Lahti, Finland, for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A bus in Rewa, India, drives into a lake after possibly experiencing brake failure. A total of fifty-six people die while nine are either rescued or able to swim to shore.

Ethiopia expels two European Union diplomats for allegedly trying to smuggle two fugitives into Kenya. The European Union criticises the expulsions as "totally unacceptable."

The Indian conglomerate Tata Group agrees to buy Anglo-Dutch steel firm Corus in the largest-ever Indian takeover of a foreign company.

The Government of Kazakhstan is building a security fence on its border with Uzbekistan to prevent terrorist attacks in the country.

Solomon Islands police and members of the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) raid the office of Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare in Honiara.

Newly convicted prisoners in the United Kingdom are to be held in police cells rather than prisons, as the nation's prison service faces chronic overcrowding in its jails.

Clare Short, the former British cabinet minister, leaves the Labour Party to sit as an Independent Labour Member of Parliament.

Baltimore weather: Morning rain, then mostly cloudy and windy, High temperature 70 degreees F, Low temperature 47 degrees F, Precipitation: About 0.4 imch.

U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi of California is embraced by Democrats to become Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. (On January 4, 2007, the U.S. House elects her as Speaker, and she becomes the first-ever female Spreaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.)

U.S. Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland is elected U.S. House Majority Leader. (He takes the position on January 4, 2007.)

The total precipitation for Baltimore during December 2006 is 1.88 inches, including melted snow and ice.

Total precipitation for Baltimore in 2006 is 43.24 inches, about one and a half inches above normal.