Earth ChangesS


Ice Cube

Dangerous long-duration ice storm looming for 1000-mile swath of central U.S.

US forecast map
People from Texas to Ohio are bracing for a long-duration ice storm that could turn destructive and cut power to hundreds of thousands from Friday to Sunday.

A shallow layer of cold air in the atmosphere will accompany a storm over the central United States. The storm will produce a swath of freezing rain along a 1,000-mile swath. As the chilled rain falls on cold surfaces, it will freeze into a glaze of ice.

Untreated sidewalks, streets and highways can turn into a skating rink as a layer of clear, smooth ice forms. The heaviest rain can wash away ice-melting compounds as the storm progresses.

Preceding the main ice storm will be a period of freezing rain and sleet that affect travel in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin during Wednesday night. "Travel is likely to be hazardous for hundreds of miles along Interstate 35, I-40 and I-70 in the Central states from Friday to Sunday," according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Rossio.

People traveling across the country may want to consider a more southern route. Where temperatures remain below freezing and rain falls at a heavy rate, the ice will continue to accrue for a few days. Ice of 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch thick can occur over a broad area. The thickness of the ice will become substantial enough to weigh down trees and power lines.

Attention

Earthquake triggers strong eruption at Sinabung volcano on Sumatra, Indonesia

Sinabung volcano
Sinabung volcano
A strong explosion was recorded at Sinabung volcano on January 9, 2016.

It was triggered by a volcanic earthquake that occurred about 8 minutes before.

The powerful explosion occurred at 21:48 pm and sent a column of ash and gas 3km in the air.

There was a volcanic earthquake for 490 seconds when the eruption occurred.

Ashfall was recorded in Berastagi City.

An exclusion zone has been implemented in a radius of 3 km around the volcanic peak.


Sinabung volcano
Sinabung volcano

Attention

Bee-mageddon: Over 10 million pollinators killed from pesticides in Brazil

pesticide distribution
© Medical News Today
An estimated 10 million honey bees were killed over several days in the countryside of São Paulo state, Brazil. The suspected cause of death is reported to be airborne pesticides.

In a matter of days, 136 beehives in the municipality of Porto Ferreira were destroyed. "Not even the queen bees managed to survive," Wanderley Fardin, owner of the affected apiaries, told Xapuri. "The ground is littered with dead bees. Those that are left are flying about with nowhere to go." Fardin said that the pesticides destroyed forty years of work and generated a loss of around one ton of honey and R$250,000 (about $78,000) in financial losses. He will not be able to produce honey at the same levels for at least four years.

The offending pesticides were sprayed on a nearby sugarcane field. The owner of the field, Ferrari Mill, claims that they did not spray their pesticides over the apiary and are not sure what caused the pesticides to migrate. São Paulo's Public Prosecutor's office has announced an investigation and potential litigation against Ferrari Mill. Ferrari Mill has sent bee corpses to a biologist to investigate whether their pesticides are what killed the bees.

Researchers from State University of São Paulo (UNESP) and the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) performed analyses on damaged apiaries around the state and concluded that some 70 percent of mass bee deaths in São Paulo is the result of pesticide misuse. Millions of other mass bee deaths were recorded throughout São Paulo in 2015 and 2016.


Comment: Up to 57 different pesticides and digested pesticide compounds poison honey bees. Bee research has now developed methods to identify 200 different pesticides as well as metabolites (compounds produced as a result of bees digesting the chemicals).


bee chart
© www.oae.co.uk

Comment: Produce needs bees. Bees die from pesticides and people become sick. Produce suffers. Farmers become poorer. Who profits? Pesticide companies, until death cycles put them out of business. Natural balances don't need 'fixing'.


Cloud Precipitation

2 killed by flash flood in South Africa

A woman and a rescue worker drowned after a minibus taxi was trapped in floodwater in Frischgewaagd village in Mpumalanga on Saturday.
© Dolly MthweniA woman and a rescue worker drowned after a minibus taxi was trapped in floodwater in Frischgewaagd village in Mpumalanga on Saturday.
Two people have drowned in the flash floods in Mpumalanga.

NSRI officials at the scene have confirmed that both bodies have been recovered.

The deceased were a woman and a rescue worker, both of whom were swept away by floodwater in Frischgewaagd village near Kwaggafontein in Mpumalanga, police said.

The incident happened amid occasional heavy rain that started in the early hours of Saturday morning, Mpumalanga police spokesman Brigadier Leonard Hlathi told the African News Agency (ANA).

He said that the woman drowned when the minibus taxi she was travelling in was caught in floodwater on the road.


Seismograph

Third shallow earthquake rattles Central New Zealand within a fortnight, magnitude 5.1

Earthquake road
The year 2017 has not been lucky enough for Central New Zealand as the country has been hammered by two earthquakes within a week and today as well, another quake shivered Central New Zealand.

A 5.1 magnitude quake struck Central New Zealand near Seddon this afternoon. As per Geo Net, the epicenter of the quake was 15 km southeast of Seddon and was 11 km under the earth's crust.

The quake shivered the country struck at around 1.19 pm (local timings) this afternoon. The shake was felt as distant as Auckland, however, it was the strongest in Blenheim and Wellington. Other remote areas where the tremors were felt include Hamilton, Taranaki, Westport and Richmond.

Comment: See also these reports of the prior earthquakes: Shallow 5.3 earthquake shakes Central New Zealand

'Severe', shallow magnitude 5.5 earthquake strikes central New Zealand


Snowflake Cold

European rivers and bays freeze, Istanbul paralyzed and record snow hits Greece again

Neretva river frozen over in Croatia
© Denis JerkovicNeretva river frozen over in Croatia
With record cold still covering Eastern Europe, parts of the Mediterranean and Turkey, rivers and waterways across the region have begun to freeze.

More record snow for Greece, this time 6+ inches on the beaches, Istanbul paralyzed from all time snowfall record 3+ feet in one day.


Sources

Snowflake Cold

Interstate 80 remains closed as blizzard dumps 10 feet of snow on Sierra, California

The CHP Turckee office shared this photo of a patrol vehicle parked next to a snow hill along I-80.
© California Highway Patrol The CHP Turckee office shared this photo of a patrol vehicle parked next to a snow hill along I-80.
A section of Interstate 80 was closed all day Tuesday as dangerous blizzard conditions blasted through the Sierra, bringing several more feet of snow, officials said.

The National Weather Service in Reno issued a blizzard warning about 3:50 a.m. for the Greater Lake Tahoe area, including Lake Tahoe, Truckee, Incline Village and the Nevada town of Stateline.

Intense snowfall rates, near zero visibility and swift winds prompted the weather service to issue the fairly uncommon warning, said Scott McGuire, a meteorologist with the agency.

"Right now, it's kind of a life-threatening situation and people should definitely not attempt to travel in the Sierra," McGuire said. "It's very rare for us to issue a blizzard warning. This storm is definitely a notch above a typical winter storm."

Snow on cars
© California Highway Patrol
Snow blocks road
© California Highway Patrol

Snowflake Cold

Record cold in Slovakia as temperature drops to -30.3C

record cold in Slovakia

"An absolute record in the history of measurements available to the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute."

Night from 7th to 8th January, 2017.

The temperature in Dudince fell to -30.3C, an absolute low from start of measuring in 1977.

In Liesek,the thermometer dropped to -30.2 degrees Celsius, the second lowest temperature ever measured in Lieskelovakia.

It was extremely cold all day yesterday, ranging -10 to -20 degrees below normal.

Thanks to Andy S for this link.

Comment: Scientists now warn of new ice age as temperatures plummet -80F in Russia


Snowflake

Arapahoe Basin Ski Area, Colorado closes Tuesday because of avalanche concerns

basin closure
© Dave Camara / Arapahoe Basin Ski Area |
The view of Arapahoe Basin Ski Area from U.S. Highway 6 heading to Loveland Pass earlier this ski season.
Arapahoe Basin Ski Area became the third Colorado resort to close this week when it ended operations at approximately 1 p.m. Tuesday due to significant avalanche worries. The Colorado Department of Transportation had just shut down Loveland Pass and asked that the ski area follow suit.

After 30 inches of new snow in the last 72 hours, including 15 — and counting — by Tuesday morning, A-Basin confirmed that staff began sweeping the area to request that both guests and employees briskly exit the mountain. Summit Stage buses were soon re-routed to assist with vacating the ski area.

"It's definitely a strange day up here in the high county," said Adrienne Saia Isaac, spokeswoman for A-Basin. "No one remembers a situation quite like this one, where we've closed in the middle of the day."

Seismograph

Strong shallow 6.4 magnitude earthquake recorded near Solomon Islands

map epicentre
A strong 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck on Tuesday off the Solomon Islands in South Pacific, the US Geological Survey (USGS) agency warned.

The underwater quake hit 67 miles northwest of Kirakira, the capital of the Makira-Ulawa province, at the depth of 28 miles.
Strong M6.4 earthquake hits near Makira, Solomon Islands https://t.co/gjT48FzGAJ #earthquake #SolomonIslands

— The Watchers (@TheWatchers_) 10 января 2017 г.
​The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) measured the tremor at 6.7 magnitude but said a tsunami was not expected.

The Oceanic island nation is part of the so-called Ring of Fire quake zone. It is a strip of volcanoes and tectonic faults in the Pacific basin and has one of the highest levels of volcanic and seismic activity in the world.