Los Angeles Times - 12/29/12, Ryan Haggerty/Chicago Tribune

Crews try to keep shipping channels open, but the Mississippi's dangerously low water levels already are causing kinks in the supply chain.

Water levels are low along the entire Mississippi River, but the Army Corps of Engineers says the worst stretch is from St. Louis to Cairo, Ill., where the Ohio River flows in. Above, barge traffic on the Ohio River at Cairo. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune / December 20, 2012)

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — Tim Cox was supposed to be steering an 800-foot string of barges through the twists and turns of the Mississippi River last week, moving tons of grain and coal toward the Gulf of Mexico.

Source: The Extinction Protocol - 12/28/12

December 28, 2012 – PHILIPPINES – The death toll from a tropical storm that hit the central Philippines on Christmas Day has risen to 11 with thousands more forced out of their homes by landslides and flooding, officials said Friday. Tropical Storm Wukong has caused new destruction just weeks after Typhoon Bopha hit the south of the country, flattening whole communities and killing more than 1,000 people.

Most of Wukong’s victims died from drowning, while three died when a tree fell onto their home, according to the official disaster monitoring council, which added that two people remained missing. It said that more than 13,000 people were in evacuation centres due to flooding and landslides caused by the latest storm, which affected the islands of Samar, Leyte Cebu and Panay. But regional disaster officer Celeste Milan expressed confidence the death toll would not rise much higher as people had taken precautions, with some having evacuated their homes before the storm hit. “It won’t be like Bopha. This was more just rain. Bopha was a super typhoon. This (Wukong) was just a tropical depression,” Milan said.

NBC New York - 12/28/12, By Storm Team 4 and Brian Thompson

A powerful winter storm blew through the region overnight, thrashing the tri-state area with a combination of intense thunderstorms, whipping winds, sleet and snow that complicated the trek to work Thursday morning and sent Sandy-wrecked Jersey shore neighborhoods scrambling to prevent further flood damage.

Forecasters are also eyeing another storm that could deliver light or moderate bands of snow to the area Saturday afternoon and evening. Most of the tri-state can expect 2 to 4 inches, with possibly higher amounts in Suffolk County and coastal areas.

To watch the video and read the rest of this story, visit nbcnewyork.com.

Weather.com - 12/27/12, AP

GREENVILLE, Ala. -- The state has confirmed the first death in Alabama linked to the severe weather outbreak on Christmas.

Emergency management officials say an 81-year-old man was injured when a tree fell on his home in Georgiana on Tuesday night.

To read the rest of this story, visit Weather.com.

Weather.com - 12/27/12, Chris Dolce

Extreme and exceptional drought, the worst categories on the U.S. Drought Monitor, are on the rise again.

The graphic above from meteorologist Matt Sitkowski at the The Weather Channel shows this with the peak occurring back in August followed by a decline in the fall and now a rising percentage as we close out the year. When just examining the worst category "exceptional drought", the United States will end the year with its highest percentage in this category so far in 2012.

To read the rest of this story, visit Weather.com.