Earth ChangesS


Snowflake Cold

Cold wintry weather engulfs central Europe; up to a metre of snow in mountains

Everton Fox
Al Jazeera
Wed, 19 Apr 2017 14:39 UTC
Snow returned to parts of Germany after the Easter weekend
© EPASnow returned to parts of Germany after the Easter weekend
Spring warmth is on hold across Europe as cold weather brings snow to parts of Germany, Austria and the Balkans.

Parts of central Europe have had a late taste of winter over the last few days.

This comes after a spell of warm weather saw spring blossom burst through in many parts of the continent as the days start to lengthen throughout the northern hemisphere.

Just 10 days ago the temperature in central London touched 25C. Highs were back down around the seasonal average of 13C on Tuesday.

There was a similar contrast in Brussels with a top temperature on 23C on April 9. The high was nearer 10C by Tuesday.

That was actually four degrees below the April of 14C.

The warmth in Belgium prompted the apple and pear blossom to come out around 10 days early this year.

Recent nights have seen the temperature fall close to freezing.

That was actually four degrees below the April of 14C.
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Snowflake Cold

Irregular April snow causes havoc across Hungary

Christian Keszthelyi
Budapest Business Journal
Wed, 19 Apr 2017 14:30 UTC
A car stuck in April snow in District XII.
© Balázs MohaiA car stuck in April snow in District XII.
The middle regions of Hungary are experiencing snow irregular for the season today, causing slight havoc in affected areas, according to reports. Hungarian Police have even suspended an anti-speeding crackdown scheduled for today.

The precipitation brought by today's overcast weather has led to snowfall in the central areas of the country, causing traffic jams on the streets, according to reports. In higher hills in the country, some 50 centimeters of snow cover is expected by the end of the day.

The Hungarian Meteorological Service (OMSZ) has issued yellow and orange warnings for wind and precipitation in the central and western parts of the country. The OMSZ said the current weather is being caused by a cyclone.

Some regions of the country have experienced repeated power outages, according to Hungarian news portal index.hu, while the capital's public transport has also been negatively affected, with some lines seeing delays due to the unexpectedly severe weather.
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Snowflake

Winter makes unexpected return in Romania

Irina Popescu
Romania Inside
Tue, 18 Apr 2017 14:21 UTC
sNOW
The weather will get cold and rainy in Romania these days, with snow returning to the mountain areas. Romanian meteorologists issued alerts for rain in most of the country, as well as orange alerts for snow in the mountain areas.

Moreover, temperatures will drop to negative values in the following nights in most of the country, including the capital Bucharest. Thus, the capital's heat supplier RADET plans to restart the public heating system on Tuesday evening (April 18), according to Agerpres.

On Wednesday, between 04:00 and 18:00, Southwestern Romania and the mountain areas will be under a code yellow for precipitations. While rain will take over Oltenia, Banat, and Western and Northwestern Muntenia, snow will return to the mountains. The quantities of water will exceed 20-25 liters per sqm, but could reach 40 liters per sqm in some areas, according to the meteorologists.
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Snowflake Cold

Spring snow hits Serbia (PHOTOS)


B92
Wed, 19 Apr 2017 14:05 UTC
snow
Snow in Serbia
Tow trucks and trucks with trailers were banned on Mt. Zlatibor overnight due to the snow on the roads, Putevi Srbije (Roads of Serbia) announced.

The public company said on Wednesday morning that the ban had been lifted, but advised drivers to adjust the speed of their vehicles to the conditions on the roads.

Traffic was also suspended during the night on several other roads in western Serbia.

More snow, forming a 10 to 30 centimeter cover, is forecast for Wednesday and Thursday on mountains, and hills above 800 meters above sea level.
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Snowflake Cold

Following spring weather, Slovakia faces record cold and snow


The Slovak Spectator
Tue, 18 Apr 2017 13:51 UTC
Snowfall hit also the Donovaly resort on April 18.
© Ján Krošlák Snowfall hit also the Donovaly resort on April 18
March and the first half of April were warm and mild but during Easter a cold spell began that took temperatures closer to the long term average.

It has also brought ground frost during the nights and snow cover in higher altitude and colder regions.

Starting on April 17, the Slovak Hydrometeorological Office (SHMÚ) issued several warnings, with the weather coming closer to winter than to mid-spring.

Cold air has moved to the territory of Slovakia from northern Europe and from April 19 on, Arctic ice-cold air will be influencing the situation here. It will transform quickly in lower geographical latitudes - under the influence of the overall spring conditions. Still, the temperature drop will not be short term, as the whole of Europe will be flooded with cold air.
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Arrow Down

Massive sinkhole opens up behind retirement home in Pinole, California

Devin Fehely
sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com
Wed, 19 Apr 2017 13:37 UTC
sinkhole
An enormous sinkhole has opened up on a street in Pinole and is threatening a large retirement community.

The wet weather has exacerbated a shifting soil condition behind the Bay Park Retirement Community on the 2600 block of Appian Way

"You could actually stand three people up in the hole," said Bay Park resident Sylvia Gott.

Gott has watched for weeks now as the sinkhole which has swallowed the access road behind the building has grown to about 50 feet wide.

"I'm very concerned about it," said Gott. "I'm glad they brought in the generator so quickly because we've been on generator power basically the whole time."

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Attention

White-nose syndrome takes heavy toll on northern long-eared bats in Missouri

Ida Sophie Winter
The Columbia Missourian
Wed, 12 Apr 2017 13:16 UTC
Northern long-eared bat
© Jeanette BaileyNorthern long-eared bat
A winter survey of Missouri caves found an alarming decline in the population of a bat species once common across the state.

Surveys of more than 300 caves and mines earlier this winter found a total of seven northern long-eared bats, Shelly Colatskie, a cave ecologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation, said.

The species' decline accelerated in the past two years. Surveys of 375 caves and mines in 2015 found 2,684 northern long-eared bats.

Shauna Marquardt, a biologist with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in Columbia, said the bats were absent this winter in numerous caves where they'd been seen before because of white-nose syndrome. The northern long-eared bat is especially vulnerable to the disease that has ravaged bat populations in parts of the United States.

Comment: See also: All but 23 of 10,000 bats in Durham, Pennsylvania bat mine have died

White nose syndrome: the mysterious bat fungus that threatens entire species, everyone else

US: A race to solve mystery of bat-killing fungus

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Black Cat

Mountain lion snatches dog from inside house in Pescadero, California

Kalin Kipling
The Sacramento Bee
Wed, 19 Apr 2017 12:28 UTC
A cougar
© DreamstimeA cougar
A Pescadero family had a very rude awakening early Monday morning when a mountain lion came into their home and took the dog.

A woman reported that she and her child were sleeping in a bedroom with their 15 lb. Portuguese Podengo at the foot of the bed and the dog started barking aggressively at 3 a.m., according to the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office.

They had left the French doors slightly ajar to give the dog outside access, and the woman saw the shadow of an animal enter the room, take the small dog from the bed and leave, deputies reported. Upon searching for the dog with a flashlight, the woman found large wet paw prints at the bedroom's entrance and immediately called 911.

Deputies combing the area found paw prints similar to a mountain lion and notified the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
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Fish

'Blue tide' of countless jellyfish-like creatures wash ashore in Oregon

Jamie Hale
The Oregonian
Tue, 11 Apr 2017 12:18 UTC
Bluish Velella velella sea creatures have washed up by the thousands on Oregon beaches in recent days, including at Seaside and near Fort Stevens.
© Tiffany Boothe / Seaside AquariumBluish Velella velella sea creatures have washed up by the thousands on Oregon beaches in recent days, including at Seaside and near Fort Stevens.
A stroll along the Oregon coast just got a lot more... blue.

Countless jelly-like sea creatures called by-the-wind sailors have once again washed ashore in Oregon, creating what some call a "blue tide" at beaches along the coastline.

Formally known as Velella velella, the tiny gelatinous creatures have a tendency to get stranded in innumerable heaps along the coast, driven ashore by strong summer and spring winds. As the name suggests, by-the-wind sailors utilize clear, triangular sails to travel across the surface of the ocean, drifting where the breeze takes them.

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Black Cat

Leopard wanders into village in India, mauling boy and forest ranger

Dinesh Dubey
Daily Mail
Tue, 18 Apr 2017 20:34 UTC
People scatter as the leopard runs towards a crowd of villagers
People scatter as the leopard runs towards a crowd of villagers
A leopard strayed into a village in India and attacked a boy and a forest ranger before officials were able to tranquillise it and lock it up in a cage.

The boy, Milan Rana, and forest ranger Bijay Khuntia were attacked in Bolangir district in the state of Orissa.

Another man, Satyajit Kundakel, suffered minor injuries when he jumped off the roof of a house in a bid to save himself from the marauding leopard.

After a rescue operation which lasted 12 hours the leopard was captured, caged and taken away.

The animal first appeared in the village in the early hours of Monday morning, when it sneaked inside the house of a villager, Aniruddh Rana.

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