Earth ChangesS


Ice Cube

July snow interrupts summer in three U.S. states

Tom Moore
The Weather Channel
Mon, 11 Jul 2016 09:00 UTC
Lost Trail Pass in Idaho
© Idaho Dept. of TransportationSnow at Lost Trail Pass in Idaho.
A taste of winter weather swept into the northern Rockies Sunday into early Monday where snow was reported in parts of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming.

Monday morning, a light coating of snow could be seen on an Idaho DOT webcam at Lost Trail Pass.

Snow fell at elevations as low as 6,500 feet in the hills around Grangeville, Idaho, on Sunday evening.


Comment: 'It is July, right?': Snow forecast in the northwest U.S. this weekend

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Attention

Tail-less dead humpback whale found on beach in New Zealand

Jamie Small
stuff.co.nz
Mon, 11 Jul 2016 13:47 UTC
Observers stand around the 8.9 metre humpback whale, washed up on Ashburton's Wakanui beach.
© Department of ConservationObservers stand around the 8.9 metre humpback whale, washed up on Ashburton's Wakanui beach.
A humpback whale with missing tail flukes that washed up on Ashburton's Wakanui beach may not have been able to keep up with its pod, experts say.

The 8.9-metre juvenile whale was first spotted in Kaikoura in March.

The whale attracted international media attention earlier this year when it appeared to breach, roll and manoeuvre despite not having an intact tail.

Kaikoura Department of Conservation (DOC) ranger Mike Morrissey said the whale may not have been able to keep up with its pod, although its cause of death was a mystery.

Geraldine DOC biodiversity ranger Steve Harraway said the whale could have died about a week ago before washing ashore.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills 2 children and injures 11 in Kenya

Irissheel Shanzu
Standard Digital
Mon, 11 Jul 2016 13:08 UTC
Lightning
Two children were over the weekend struck dead and 11 injured by lightning.

The Saturday afternoon incident that occurred during a heavy downpour also left a grass-thatched house in ashes.

The lightning also killed a calf that had been sheltered in the house. Kapkanyuk village in Lelan ward, West Pokot County, was plunged into mourning by the death of the two children.

Lelan ward MCA Paul Yaraki said the two boys aged 15 and 13 were sheltering in the house together with the 11 people who suffered injuries.

"A calf was also within the kitchen of the house. Immediately the lightning struck, the whole house went up in flames, burning the two boys and the calf. The rest managed to escape but with injuries," said Mr Yaraki.
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Camera

Shining silver-blue clouds captured over Denmark in night sky photo

Samantha Mathewson
Space.com
Fri, 08 Jul 2016 07:01 UTC
noctilucent clouds
© Ruslan Merzlyakov/RMS photographyElectric-blue "night-shining" clouds can be seen swirling over the skyline of Nykøbing Mors in Denmark on July 1, 2016.
Bright blue-white noctilucent clouds danced over the town of Nykøbing Mors in Denmark just before dawn, just when this spectacular photo was taken.

Night sky photographer Ruslan Merzlyakov captured a series of nightscape images in the early morning of July 1, 2016. With electric-blue clouds swirling overhead, the small town is illuminated and the twinkling lights of the quaint skyline are reflected in the calm waters below.

"The whole horizon over Nykøbing Mors from west to east was filled with silver light and it was very bright!" Merzlyakov wrote in an email to Space.com.

Comment: The fact that the author calls noctilucent clouds common and rare in the same paragraph isn't the strangest thing about their article.

Space.com has previously published an article on the actual cause of these clouds which the author ignores, and it's an ominous cause that those of you who read our 'Fire in the Sky' section will be well aware of:

  • Increased meteor smoke: Noctilucent clouds brightening and spreading south


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Windsock

Super typhoon Nepartak: Six dead in China as tens of thousands flee storm


The Guardian (UK)
Mon, 11 Jul 2016 06:20 UTC
damage in China after super typhoon Nepartak
© Zhang Guojun/APA man walks over the wreckage of houses hit by super typhoon Nepartak in Putian city in Fujian province on Saturday.

Nearly 2,000 homes destroyed as storm brings chaos to China's south-eastern coast after hitting Taiwan

A tropical storm in China has killed six people, with at least eight more missing, reports said, after super typhoon Nepartak lashed Taiwan.

By late Sunday more than 200,000 residents in 10 mainland cities had been temporarily relocated and 1,900 homes destroyed, the official Xinhua news agency said, citing the civil affairs ministry.

Power was cut for hundreds of thousands in the south-eastern province of Fujian, while five airports were closed and hundreds of high-speed train journeys cancelled, the Global Times newspaper reported on Monday.

The economic cost was estimated at 860m yuan ($129m).


Comment: See also:

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Bizarro Earth

Two powerful earthquakes strike off Ecuador's coast


RT
Mon, 11 Jul 2016 03:20 UTC
Ecuador Quake
© USGSA shallow earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 struck Ecuador's north-west coast on Sunday (July 10), said the US Geological Survey.
Two powerful quakes measuring 5.9 and 6.4 struck the coast of Ecuador ten minutes apart, USGS reported.

Both quakes hit an area about 32 kilometers northwest of Rosa Zarate, a town of some 60,000 residents in the Esmeraldas province.

The tremors from the two quakes were felt across a wide area and prompted many people to flee into the streets, according to BNO news. Residents reported power outages in some parts of the province. No reports as to the number of casualties were immediately available.
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Fish

'The Blob' ocean phenomenon eclipses El Niño


RT
Sun, 10 Jul 2016 22:33 UTC
ocean blob
Mike Blake / Reuters
A giant 'blob' of warm ocean water has had a bigger impact on marine ecosystems than El Niño, according to new research.

The previously believed to be dead phenomenon known as 'The Blob' is an estimated 1,000 miles in diameter and 300 feet deep, and lurks off the coast of California.

'The Blob' was first detected in 2013. A mass of water roughly 1 to 4 degrees Celsius (2 to 7 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than its surrounding water. It was credited with causing adverse weather including drought and of affecting marine biology when it fed a toxic algae bloom in the Pacific.

Comment: Additional information on 'The Blob':

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Eye 2

10-foot alligator bites woman in Seminole County, Florida


wftv.com
Sat, 09 Jul 2016 18:16 UTC
10-foot gator killed after biting woman in Florida
10-foot gator killed after biting woman in Florida
A woman was hospitalized Friday afternoon after an alligator bit her arm as she waded in the Econlockhatchee River in the Little Big Econ State Forest near Chuluota, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said.

An alligator measuring nearly 11 feet bit the woman at about 2:30 p.m. as she stood in waist-deep water, wildlife officials said.

Wildlife officials trapped and killed the alligator Friday evening.

The woman, who wasn't publicly identified, is expected to fully recover from her injuries.

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Cloud Grey

Rare undulatus asperatus clouds form over Dorset, UK

Euan McLelland
Daily Mail (UK)
Sun, 10 Jul 2016 13:11 UTC
Undulatus asperatus clouds over Dorset, UK
© CloudySkiesPhotography/BNPSThese extraordinary images show a series of wavelike clouds looming over the south coast. The unique formation, known as Undulatus asperatus, develops when undulation in the atmosphere causes air to move up and down
These extraordinary images show a series of wavelike clouds looming over the south coast.

The unique formation, known as Undulatus asperatus, develops when undulation in the atmosphere causes air to move up and down.

When wind makes contact with the base of low-lying clouds, a striking wavy motion then appears.

Although they appear dark and gloomy, they usually dissipate without a storm following.

The incredible shots, taken on an iPhone, were captured by amateur cloud photographer, Simon Hammond, in locations across Dorset.

The 48-year-old said: 'When I first saw them I thought, 'this is something quite special. It was pure luck that I stumbled across them as I hadn't headed out to take pictures.

'I have seen some examples of this formation but never ones as impressive as these.

'They are rare and in the event that they do appear they tend to be short lived, but these hung around for about five hours.'

The Cloud Appreciation Society are clamouring for the cloud shape to be recognised as an official cloud type by the International Cloud Atlas.

If accepted Undulatus asperatus, which translates to 'roughened wave', would be the first new classification in 65 years.

Comment: Further evidence of our changing atmosphere? See also:

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Cloud Lightning

Rare atmospheric 'crown flash' phenomenon seen above Moscow, Russia

Davisito de Zabedrosky
YouTube
Wed, 06 Jul 2016 16:32 UTC
crown flash over Moscow
© YouTube/Davisito de Zabedrosky (screen capture)
Rare and spectacular phenomenon "Crown Flash" seen and captured in the skies of Moscow , Russia, on July 04, 2016 by Alina Abaeva.

(translated by Google)

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