Earth ChangesS


Snowflake Cold

Coldest temperatures in decades recorded across the Netherlands

Janene Pieters
NL Times.
Wed, 19 Apr 2017 16:11 UTC
Frosty daisy.
© Johan NevenFrosty daisy.
After a mild start to April, it seems the Netherlands has been dropped back into winter. Tuesday night brought frost to large parts of the country, and many places across the Netherlands measured the coldest temperatures in decades, according to Weerplaza.

Heino and Achterhoek had the coldest minimum temps on April 19th since 1991 with temperatures of -3.9 and -3.6 degrees Celsius respectively. Eindhoven measured its coldest April 19th minimum in 38 years with -2.4 degrees. On the ground Heino measured -6.4 degrees and Twente -8.6 degrees - coldest its been on April 19th in 26 years.

Weerplaza expects minimum temperatures tonight to again drop to below freezing, both on the ground and on observable height - about half a meter above the ground. Minimum temperatures will range from -1 to -4 degrees. On the ground temperatures may drop to -8 degrees. Weerplaza expects that tonight will again break some cold records.
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Snowflake Cold

Central Europe shivers as snowfall covers spring blossoms


Euro News
Wed, 19 Apr 2017 14:46 UTC
snow in Slovakia
Snow in Slovakia
A cold spell sweeping across central Europe has brought snow back to some countries including Germany, Poland and Slovakia.

Most of Romania is shivering under sub-zero temperatures and winds exceeding 70 kilometres per hour, and the mountainous regions have been blanketed in snow.

In eastern Ukraine, a white coat, 30 centimetres thick in some areas, has covered the early spring blossoms. In Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city, the weight of the snow pulled down trees and electric supply lines, leaving over a thousand homes without any power.

In Switzerland too, more than 20 centimeters of snow has fallen in two days, and the freezing temperatures are starting to worry farmers and winegrowers alike.

The cold spell could bite until the middle of next week.

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Snowflake Cold

Snow and frost put spring on hold in Switzerland


The Local ch
Thu, 20 Apr 2017 14:31 UTC
Spring in Switzerland 2017
Spring in Switzerland 2017
Winter is experiencing a comeback in Switzerland where temperatures plunged as low as -5 overnight.

Frost was widespread on Thursday morning, causing headaches for farmers and gardeners. It followed snowfalls across much of the country on Wednesday.

In Reconvilier in the canton of Bern a low of -5.8C was measured, with -5.3C recorded in Visp in the Rhone valley, 20 Minuten reported.

It quoted MeteoNews as saying it was the coldest night in the second half of April for 20 years in the Rhone valley.

In the central plateau a wind prevented temperatures from falling quite so low, but they were still around -1 to -4, sinking as low as -5 at above 600 metres altitude, MeteoNews said.
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Attention

Spike in monkey attacks recorded in Singapore

Alysha Chandra
The New Paper
Thu, 20 Apr 2017 13:44 UTC
monkey
Monkey attacks in Segar Road have been so frequent in recent weeks that a clinic there has run out of tetanus vaccine.

This month alone, the My Family Clinic at Block 485, Segar Road, saw eight patients who came in with monkey bites and scratches.

The clinic's staff had to place a sign outside the clinic telling patients to inform them upon registration if they have been bitten or scratched by a monkey.

Clinic staff told The New Paper that this was because the clinic had run out of tetanus vaccine and they would have to direct these patients to a hospital or polyclinic, where stocks of the vaccine are available.

Residents at Segar Road have seen a spike in monkey attacks recently. Holland-Bukit Timah GRC Member of Parliament Liang Eng Hwa told TNP that he had received 10 reports of residents being injured by monkeys in the Segar Road area this year.

The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) said it had received about 160 reports on monkey attacks and nuisance in the Segar area since last October.
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Attention

Whale euthanized following beaching off Sanibel, Florida


nbc-2.com
Wed, 19 Apr 2017 13:31 UTC
beached whale
An NBC2 viewer sent in video of a small whale being rescued off the coast of Sanibel.

In the video, workers can be seen attempting to push the whale out into the water.

Witnesses said the whale washed ashore around noon near the Sanibel lighthouse.

The 8-foot whale was euthanized, according to Officer Brian Norris with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
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Attention

Rare Arctic birds delay migration north from Andhra Pradesh, India

P Oppili
The Times of India
Tue, 18 Apr 2017 12:58 UTC
Red knots
© USFWS/Breese GregRed knots
A rare sighting has been made at Pulicat lake on the city's fringes - birds from as far as the Arctic region - as the migratory season ends.

Over the last month, city-based birders spotted red knots (Calidris canutus), great knots (Calidris tenuirostris), bar-tailed godwits (Limosa lapponica), ruddy turnstones (Areneria interpres), Caspian plovers (Charadrius asiaticus), red necked stints (Calidris ruficollis), dunlins (Calidris alpina), Asian dowitchers (Limnodromus semipalmatus), long-toed stints (Calidris subminuta) and lesser flamingoes (Phoeniconaias minor), Nature Trust founder K V R K Thirunaranan told TOI. The bar-tailed godwit is said to be the longest non-stop flyer, while waders are usually the last to leave tropical regions such as Chennai after the migratory season, he said. Lesser flamingoes usually arrived in mid-April.
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Cloud Precipitation

Hailstorms hammer vineyards, almond orchards in Valencia, Spain


Fresh Fruit Portal
Wed, 19 Apr 2017 12:44 UTC
Hail damage
Just months after torrential rains struck the Valencian orange and persimmon sector, growers from the community's region of Utiel-Requena are now grappling with the effects of hailstorms that hit farms on Tuesday.

In a release, the Valencian Farmers Association (AVA-ASAJA) said damages had been recorded on 10,000 hectares of vineyards, almond orchards and wheat fields in the area.

The group estimates total damages of €11 million (US$11.8 million) from the event.

The most affected zones are Campo Arcís, Los Duques, Las Casas, Los Corrales, Los Pontones and Caudete de las Fuentes.

Comment: See also: Hailstorm damages wheat crop in Punjab, India

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Cloud Precipitation

Flash floods hit areas of Singapore


The Straits Times
Thu, 20 Apr 2017 12:19 UTC
Flash flood at Upper Thomson Road
Flash flood at Upper Thomson Road
Flash floods blanketed several parts of Singapore on Tuesday (April 18) afternoon, with water submerging vehicles up to mid-tyre level.

Water agency PUB said in a tweet at 1.33pm, quoting the National Environment Agency, that heavy rain was expected over the southern and western parts of Singapore from 1.35pm to 2.25pm.

It then warned of high flood risks at various places from 1.35pm to 2.33pm, including Exeter Road and Somerset Road, Cuscaden Road and Tomlinson Road, and Stevens Road and Balmoral Road.

According to a video sent in by Straits Times reader Yap Lip Kee, a car is seen driving through water that is at least up to half its tyres outside the Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre. It stops after a while and bystanders are heard exclaiming: "It's stuck".

A taxi follows behind it soon after and manages to make its way through the water.

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Cloud Precipitation

Second deadly landslide in a month rocks Colombia after a month's worth of rain overnight


Euronews
Thu, 20 Apr 2017 05:39 UTC
landslide in Manizales, Colombia
© APHouses destroyed by a landslide in Manizales, Colombia
A deadly landslide has rocked Colombia for the second time this month, claiming at least 11 lives just weeks after more than 300 were killed in a similar disaster.

Twenty remain missing after the landslide hit several neighbourhoods in Manizales, near the Nevado del Ruiz volcano.

The city is the capital of Caldas province, one of Colombia's main coffee producing regions situated to the west of Bogota.

Another disaster earlier this month claimed more than 300 lives, when flash flooding caused huge mudslides in Mocoa in southern Colombia.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said he was trying to get to the scene, but that airport closures due to bad weather had delayed his journey.

He said he would make his way to the city as soon as the airports reopen.

Mayor of Manizales Octavio Cardona Leon, blamed recent heavy rains for the deadly landslide, saying the city had seen a month's average rainfall in just one night.

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Tornado1

Very rare subtropical depression forms in Atlantic

Alex Sosnowski
AccuWeather
Wed, 19 Apr 2017 13:04 UTC
Subtropical depression in Atlantic
© WTXL
The first subtropical depression of the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season has formed on Wednesday. The system could soon become Subtropical Storm Arlene.

A depression has a cyclonic circular motion with surface winds under 39 mph. A subtropical depression or storm has both tropical and non-tropical characteristics.

Tropical storm formation over the Atlantic basin is very rare during the months of January, February, March and April. There has been only one tropical storm on record during April from 1851 to 2016, according to the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory.

"An area of showers and thunderstorms spinning about 900 miles southwest of the Azores began to take on some tropical characteristics early this week," according to AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski.
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