Weather

BERLIN -- French fries in Germany could be significantly shorter this year due to the heatwave that has baked Germany and much of Europe this month, the German Farmers' Association (DBV) said on Friday. Hot and dry weather has led to a meager harvest of extra-large potatoes used to produce the ideal-length French fry. "The French fries industry and consumers will have to brace themselves for shorter fries," said spokeswoman Verena Telaar, adding that smaller potatoes mean that fries will probably be 45 millimeters (1.8 inches)

Some of the highs and lows of watching Angels-Yankees Game 1. Say hey Joe Buck, Fox's play-by-play man, welcomed viewers to New York where he said the temperatures were in the mid-40s. Someone get Buck a thermometer. The actual temperature would be nice. Say what? In the top of the fifth, Buck said, "The Angels have to get Chone Figgins figured out. Figgins has to figure out what he's doing with the bat." Figgins was in an 0-for-14 slump at the time. But what the Angels have to figure out isn't Figgins.

Monday I stayed in bed, sick with the flu. A good citizen, I watched the O.J. Simpson trial on television. This did nothing to make me feel better, about anything, in any way. So on Tuesday I ventured into the storm-battered Sierra, prepared to wade into California's second-most favorite conversational topic--the weather. For those who've been unable to break away from The Trial, here is a bulletin: In the world outside Department 103, it rained or snowed straight through most of January.

The mysterious pelican malady that left hundreds of the birds sick and stranded along the Oregon and California coasts this winter was probably caused by a combination of bad weather and fish shortages related to El Niño, state Department of Fish and Game officials said Monday. After ruling out such potential causes as disease or marine toxins, a group of scientists from state and federal agencies, nonprofit groups and Sea World in San Diego concluded that a simple scarcity of pelican prey, such as anchovies and sardines, probably combined with winter storms to produce flocks of hungry, wet, soiled pelicans, dying on beaches or looking for handouts.

Warm weather is known to aggravate multiple sclerosis, increasing the number of lesions that develop in the brain and spinal cord and leading to a flare-up of symptoms such as numbness and fatigue. But a new study shows that warm weather can also impair cognitive function. The study, which will be presented in April at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology , examined 40 people with the disease and 40 healthy people. The researchers, from the Kessler Foundation in West Orange, N.J., found that people with multiple sclerosis scored 70% better on thinking tests during cooler days as compared with warmer days.

PALO ALTO -- It's sunny, yet hardly dry, at Stanford Stadium this afternoon. The tarp was rolled off the field early to take advantage of the sun. However, more rain is expected at 5 p.m., when UCLA and Stanford kick off in the Pac-12 Conference championship game, according to accuweather.com. Rain, hard at times, is predicted to go from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., then start again at 9 p.m. Stanford's field is said not to drain well. Wet conditions would seem to give Stanford the edge.

Irate viewers in Britain prompted the BBC Friday to abandon a new TV weather map that made the south of the country look bigger than the north. In a country famous for obsessing over the weather, viewers had bombarded the public broadcaster's website with complaints about the new graphics. The BBC said it would change the "tilt" of the map to allow viewers to see more of the north of England and Scotland. The newly revised map will make its debut today.