Earth ChangesS


Snowflake Cold

Heavy snowfall leaves thousands of families without power in west Georgia; nearly 40 inches of snow

Snow
Georgia's western part is covered with a thick layer of snow as it has been heavily snowing in that area for the past several days.

Most massive snowfall was detected in the Adjara and Imereti regions, where its depth reached 100 centimeters.

A thick snow layer meant half of families in these two regions left without electricity.

Thousands of families in Adjara's Khulo and Shuakhevi municipalities and Imereti's Chiatura and Sachkhere municipalities remained without power until now. The electricity distribution company said it was unclear when the supply would restore as snow was continuing to fall and some of rural roads were blocked.

Cloud Grey

Strange 'spherical' cloud photographed over Fujisawa, Japan

The cloud reportedly appeared above a train station in Japan
The cloud reportedly appeared above a train station in Japan
Bizarre pictures coming out of Japan last week show what appears to be an oddly spherical cloud hovering over the city of Fujisawa, just south of Tokyo.

According to reports from the photographer, the cloud started to lose its shape as soon as it was photographed, and then rapidly faded into the sky as if it never existed.

"When I looked out of the car window I saw a round ball-shaped cloud. I gazed at the cloud for a while then I rushed to take the photo," Twitter user @pmxpvrtmx (Poppy) told local Japanese news outlet, Rocket News 24.

"When I saw the cloud it was an even more spherical shape, so I regret not taking the photo more quickly."

Cloud Precipitation

Floods wreak havoc on roads in northern Jamaica

Stoplight in Runaway Bay, St Ann.
© Giovanni R. DennisStoplight in Runaway Bay, St Ann.
Heavy rain on 11 December, 2016, caused flooding in parts of the northern parishes of St Ann and St Mary in Jamaica. The worst hit areas were Runaway Bay and Dunbarton in St. Ann, where flood water in some roads well over 1 metre deep.

Roads have been damaged by the force of the flood water, leaving some areas cut off. Images on Social Media showed stretches of road ripped up and cars overturned and submerged in the floods. One vehicle was said to have been dragged 500 metres in the flood water. There are also some reports of damage to homes. However, no injuries or fatalities have been reported.

Flood damaged road in St Ann, Jamaica.
© National Works Agency (NWA) JamaicaFlood damaged road in St Ann, Jamaica.
Car ended up down on the entrance to the beach after it was washed about 500m from Claremont Street.
© Dr DaytonCampbell MPCar ended up down on the entrance to the beach after it was washed about 500m from Claremont Street.

Seismograph

Two earthquakes in two minutes, one of them strong, shake central New Zealand

New Zealand quakes
© GEONETThe upper South Island and lower North Island, particularly the capital Wellington, was where the 4.7 magnitude quake felt the strongest.
Two earthquakes in two minutes, one of them a "strong" 4.7, have shaken central New Zealand on Monday evening.

GeoNet reported a preliminary magnitude 4.1 quake at 6.13pm, 10 km north of Culverden at a depth of 20km.

The second quake, a stronger magnitude 4.7, struck at 6.14pm, 15 km south-east of Seddon at a depth of 15km, GeoNet said.

Initially GeoNet classified the magnitude of the second quake as a 5.0 but this was later downgraded to a smaller, shallower 4.7.

By 6.45pm, more than 3000 people, mostly in the lower North Island and upper South Island, had reported feeling one or both of the quakes.

Attention

Dead humpback whale found on beach in North Truro, Massachusetts

Dead humpback whale on High Head Beach
Dead humpback whale on High Head Beach
An animal welfare group says a dead humpback whale was found on a beach in Massachusetts.

Misty Niemeyer, a necropsy coordinator with the International Fund for Animal Welfare, tells The Cape Cod Times the beached carcass was reported to IFAW on Wednesday by Center for Coastal Studies staff on a boat that was passing by the Atlantic Ocean beach in North Truro.

IFAW experts examined the animal on High Head Beach on Thursday, but couldn't immediately determine a cause of death.

Niemeyer says experts determined the 32-foot-long female humpback— estimated to be about 3 to 7 years old —has likely been dead for at least two days and possibly more than a week.

Source: Associated Press

Tornado2

Rare waterspout filmed over Lake Erie

waterspout
A waterspout on the shores of Lake Erie was captured on video by multiple observers Thursday, Dec. 8.

Meteorologist Reed Timmer, a Grand Rapids native, was one of those who spotted the spinning water funnel near the shores of Lake Erie in New York State.

Timmer took to his Facebook page to share footage with his nearly 1 million followers. He also shared a high resolution YouTube video of the waterspout, which was filmed by Thom Smetana and Aaron Rigsby.


Snowflake Cold

Weather out of whack: North Pole is 25F warmer than Bismarck, North Dakota

north pole warmer than North Dakota ice age
Experts warning its going to be a lot worse next week!

This morning at 9.am UST, Bismarck North Dakota USA recorded a temperature of minus 32.5C, minus 26.5F, which is 25F colder the North Pole which recorded its temperature at minus 17.3C, minus 1F. These kinds of temperatures are brutal and with the blizzard conditions North Dakota has suffered this week it has been truly treacherous.

Brutal cold lingering across the northern Plains thanks to an invasion of Arctic air. On Wednesday night, Dickinson, North Dakota, experienced an AccuWeather Real Feel Temperature of minus 39, while in Casper, Wyoming, the actual temperature plummeted to minus 33. And it will get worse, if you thought it was cold in the US this week well, next week is going to be even colder as the polar vortex returns to North America. Reuter's reports, forecasters are sending chills down some spines with a prediction that much of the northern half of the United States could see frigid weather next week similar to life-threatening lows the polar vortex brought to parts of the country in 2014.

Comment:


Cloud Lightning

Erupting Mexican volcano violently spews lava & hot ash into air

Colima volcano in Mexico
© webcamsdemexicoColima volcano in Mexico
The slowly-erupting Colima volcano in Mexico has spectacularly started spewing lava, sending a huge column of smoke and ash high into the air.

One of the most active volcanoes in North America, the Colima volcano has been slowly erupting since early September. A particularly spectacular eruption in October led to the evacuation of 300 people.

Seismograph

Enormous earthquakes occur on both sides of the Pacific: Experts warn that San Andreas could "unzip all at once"

ring of fire

Why is our planet shaking so violently all of a sudden? There have literally been dozens of significant earthquakes right along the Ring of Fire within the past 30 days, and two giant ones made headlines all over the globe on Thursday. First, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck off the coast of Humboldt County, California, and that was followed later in the day by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in the Solomon Islands. But of course these latest earthquakes are just the latest examples of increased shaking along the outer perimeter of the Pacific Ocean. Experts are not quite sure what to make of all of this shaking, but they are warning that "the Big One" could strike the west coast at literally any time.

Let's start by discussing the historic earthquake that just hit the Solomon Islands. According to the Washington Post, it was originally determined to be a magnitude 8.0 earthquake before being downgraded to a 7.8...
A massive earthquake erupted along a fault line near the Solomon Islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean on Thursday. The quake was originally detected as a magnitude-8 by the U.S. Geological Service, but has since been reduced to a 7.8 on the Moment-Magnitude scale.

It was followed by a 5.5-magnitude quake, and aftershocks continue to roll through.

Bizarro Earth

Kamchatka volcano Shiveluch spews ash 11-km above sea level

Shiveluch volcano
© IVS FEB RAS/Y. DemyanchukShiveluch volcano
A huge ash emission from Shiveluch volcano was registered in the morning on December 10, according to the ministry.

"The height of the ash plume was up to 11,000 meters above sea level. The height of the volcano is 3,200 meters [about 10,500 feet]," the Saturday statement said.

According to the local emergencies authorities, there are no settlements in the path of the ash plume and no Kamchatka residents were affected by the incident.

Comment: See also: Shiveluch volcano spews ash 10.7km above sea level