Earth ChangesS


Snowflake Cold

"Winterlike" storm breaks 100 year cold and snow records over US Mid West

Maura Kelly
AccuWeather
Fri, 01 Nov 2019 18:37 UTC
Mukwonago
© ABC News OneIn Mukwonago, Wisconsin, the early snowfall caused issues for drivers on the roads.
In Mukwonago, a suburb of Milwaukee, Halloween looked more like mid-winter on Thursday, and many residents struggled to get through the day.

An intensifying winterlike storm dumped disruptive snowfall across parts of the Midwest on Halloween -- and many cities smashed record snowfall amounts for the holiday. The late-month storm pushed October totals to rank among the top five snowiest on record in many locations.

The heaviest snow, up to 6 to 9 inches, buried communities from southern Wisconsin to northern parts of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Hundreds of flights were delayed and canceled across the region on Thursday, and roadway conditions deteriorated as the afternoon hours wore on and snowfall rates increased.
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Cloud Lightning

Best of the Web: Whoa! Lightning strike leaves 15-FOOT HOLE at gas station in Fort Worth, Texas


Strange Sounds
Wed, 30 Oct 2019 18:08 UTC

Comment: Until this happened in Texas yesterday, this wasn't known to have been physically possible...


lightning hole
A powerful lightning strike left a huge hole in a Fort Worth parking lot just after 6 a.m. on Shadydell Drive and Boat Club Road on October 30, 2019.

The parking lot, shared by a Chevron gas station and a strip center now has a 15 feet wide and 3 feet deep hole. I have never heard of such events. Pretty powerful lightning, isn't it?
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Snowflake

Snowy October in the Rockies with well above average snow falls - up to 1.2 metres (almost 4 feet)


Mountain Watch
Fri, 01 Nov 2019 20:04 UTC
Brighton, Utah two days ago.
Brighton, Utah two days ago on Oct 30th
It has been a good month for early season snow falls in the Rocky Mountains with resorts in Colorado, Utah and Alberta, Canada reporting snow totals up to 1.2 metres thanks to regular storms over the past few weeks.

The month finished with a bang with solid snow falls and cold temps combining to produce quality mid-winter powder over the past few days. However, with only a handful of resorts open, keen skiers were heading into the backcountry to enjoy it, but early season avalanche danger was a risk.

Two storms moved through earlier this week with Montana seeing the most snow, Bridger Bowl receiving 35.5cms on Tuesday night. Big Sky didn't miss out with another 28cms this week, taking the October total to 129.5cms, the resort's third snowiest October in 20 years.

In Utah, the resorts around Little Cottonwood Canyon enjoyed over 30cms in the past three days and Brighton and Alta are looking more like mid-January, with both scheduled to open on November 23.

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Attention

The Big Switch

Tony Heller
YouTube
Thu, 31 Oct 2019 19:12 UTC
ice age
In this video I document the remarkably rapid transition from the global cooling scare to the global warming scare during the early 1980s, and how the climate science community has tried to cover it up.

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Binoculars

Yellow-browed warbler from Asia found in Markleeville, California - first ever record for lower 48 states

Kurt Hildebrand
Record Courier
Thu, 31 Oct 2019 18:39 UTC
The first confirmed sighting of a yellow-browed warbler in the lower 48 was found by Todd Easterla in Markleeville on Oct. 25.
© Todd EasterlaThe first confirmed sighting of a yellow-browed warbler in the lower 48 was found by Todd Easterla in Markleeville on Oct. 25.
People with binoculars and cameras flocked to Markleeville last week after a confirmed sighting of a rare bird near the Alpine County Courthouse.

El Dorado Hills resident and birder Todd Easterla said he was making his rounds looking for birds for his county list when he hit the jackpot.

"I wasn't expecting it," he said. "I went up there hoping to find some water birds, like loons, at the little lakes up there, but I wasn't expecting to find a little passerine, especially one from Siberia."

He said the warbler was his 260th bird that wasn't introduced by humans.

"It was around 4:30 p.m.," he said. "It gets dark up there by 5 and I was panicking because I needed to get a photo of it for the rare birds record committee."
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Snowflake

Early snowfall puts harvest on hold for Tri-State farmers

Kara Biernat
wgem.com
Thu, 31 Oct 2019 18:20 UTC
snow
Tri-State farmers are taking another hit.

Farmers said the recent wet weather already makes for a tough harvest and Thursday's early snowfall is not making things any easier.

Soybean fields covered in snow are something farmers said they never expect to see in October. This is just the latest blow to area farmers, as they said it has already been a very difficult year.

They said at this point, they're just trying to finish up and move onto next year.
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Attention

North Japan man left blind after suspected bear attack outside home


The Mainichi
Fri, 01 Nov 2019 14:01 UTC
print
A 46-year-old dispatch worker in this northern Japan city was seriously injured in an apparent bear attack outside of his home on Oct. 31, police said.

Among his injuries, the man suffered fractures to bones in his head, and was blinded in both eyes. Akita Prefectural Police's Akita-Higashi Police Station is warning residents to remain vigilant in the wake of the attack.

According to police investigators, the eastern side of the man's home faces a mountain forest. They said the man had arrived home and just stepped off his bicycle when an apparent black animal suddenly emerged from the shadows of where he parked his bike and mauled him.
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Fire

Hundreds of koalas feared dead as lightning sparks wildfire in Australia

Emily Mee
Sky News
Wed, 30 Oct 2019 13:40 UTC
Conservationists fear hundreds of koalas have perished in wildfires
© Rob Griffith/APConservationists fear hundreds of koalas have perished in wildfires that have razed prime habitat on Australia’s east coast.
Hundreds of koalas are feared dead after wildfires ravaged Australia's east coast.

Some 2,000 hectares of land were burned through in the blaze, around two-thirds of which was koala habitat.

The fire was started by a lightning strike on Friday near Port Macquarie, New South Wales.

Sue Ashton, who runs Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, said there was little optimism about the consequences of the fire.

"If we look at a 50% survival rate, that's around 350 koalas and that's absolutely devastating," she said.

"We're hoping it's not as bad as that, but because of the intensity of the fire and the way koalas behave during fire, we're not holding out too much hope."

She said the search for survivors would begin on Thursday.
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Snowflake

First snow falls on Sljeme in Croatia


Croatia Week
Thu, 31 Oct 2019 20:40 UTC
snow
© Skijalište Sljeme
After above average temperatures for most of October in the Croatian capital Zagreb, and an October record recorded on Sljeme, there has been a big drop with snow falling on Medvednica mountain this morning.

According to data from the DHMZ weather station at Puntijarka, 4 cm of snow fell on Thursday on the Sljeme peak. With temperatures hovering around 0 °C and snow on the ground, there was a real winter look to Sljeme which was covered in warm sunshine just days ago.

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Snowflake Cold

US braces for arctic blast as Chicago gets earliest snowfall in 30 years, temperatures set to drop 30 degrees

Lauren Edmonds
Daily Mail
Thu, 31 Oct 2019 20:15 UTC
Several areas in Illinois have decided to reschedule Halloween trick-or-treating to this Saturday because of the cold weather and snow
Several areas in Illinois have decided to reschedule Halloween trick-or-treating to this Saturday because of the cold weather and snow
Storms are raging across the central United States from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes ahead of an arctic blast that could bring record shattering cold to the South.

Strong winds have brought down trees and power lines from Tennessee to North Dakota after tropical Storm Olga swept in from the Gulf Coast.

Forecasters say the severe storms could now hit states from Alabama to New England.

And in just a few hours, temperatures are expected to drop as much as 30 degrees as a cold front blows in from Canada.

A freeze warning has been issued for several states across the country, including Texas, regions in California, the Carolinas and Georgia.

Many of those areas will see temperatures dip into the 20s and 20s starting Thursday and continue on into Friday.

Chicago has already seen it earliest snow fall in 30 years and temperatures below zero are being registered in the Rockies and Great Basin.

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