Earth ChangesS


Snowflake Cold

Severe situation in northern Bulgaria because of snow, floods and strong winds


The Sofia Globe
Mon, 18 Jan 2016 16:11 UTC
Flooding Bulgaria
Flooding Bulgaria
Strong winds in northern Bulgaria, causing blizzards and snow drifts, hampered traffic in northern Bulgaria on January 18, with many roads closed.

Heavy snowfall and rains in several parts of Bulgaria at the weekend led to declarations of states of emergency in some municipalities, as serious winter weather conditions also hit Bulgaria's neighbouring countries Turkey, Greece, Romania and Serbia.

The state of emergency that had been declared at the weekend in Bulgaria's Smolyan municipality was lifted on the morning of January 18 but partial emergencies remained in place in the municipalities of Rudozem, Devin and Dospat.

The head of Bulgaria's Road Infrastructure Agency, Lazar Lazarov, said on the morning of January 18 that roads in western Bulgaria were passable provided that vehicles were prepared for wintry conditions but traffic in north-eastern Bulgaria still had difficulties.

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Snowflake Cold

Bosporus Strait closed to tankers due to heavy snowfall, Turkey

John Morley
Platts
Mon, 18 Jan 2016 15:54 UTC
Winter view to Bosphorus, Istanbul
Winter view to Bosphorus, Istanbul
The Bosporus Strait has closed to tankers Monday afternoon due to heavy snow in the region, local port agents said.

"Authorities have notified [us] that the Bosporus traffic has been closed on January 18 at [4.06 pm local time] due to heavy snowfall," Boutros Maritime and Transport said.

According to local agents, there were seven tankers due to pass through the Bosporus in a northbound direction Monday, and 13 due to pass through going South.

The Bosporus and the Dardanelles together form the only commercially navigable transit route between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.
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Snowflake Cold

Heavy snowfall grounds hundreds of flights in Istanbul, Turkey

dominique soguel
ABC News
Mon, 18 Jan 2016 15:44 UTC
Istanbul's Süleymaniye Mosque
© Sabah / Metin ArabacıThe view of Istanbul's Süleymaniye Mosque from the Galata Bridge that crosses the Golden Horn.
Heavy snowfall has swept northwestern Turkey, grounding hundreds of flights, disrupting ground transport and closing schools in Istanbul.

Turkish Airlines announced the cancellation of 250 international and domestic flights to and from Istanbul's Ataturk and Sabiha Gokcen airports on Monday.

The airline also canceled at least 149 flights scheduled for Tuesday.

The snow began Sunday evening and is expected to continue until Tuesday night, according to Turkey's General Directorate of Meteorology, which also warned of heavy rainfall and a risk of flooding in southern Turkey.
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Fire

Firefighters battle large brush fire in south Wichita; associated with loud, mysterious booms?


kake.com
Sat, 16 Jan 2016 14:02 UTC
Brush fire in south Wichita
© Justin ProvenceBrush fire in south Wichita
Wichita firefighters have contained a large brush fire Saturday afternoon on the city's south side.

Crews were called around 3 p.m. to a fire the area of South Hydraulic and the Kansas Turnpike. Dispatchers said they received several reports that the fire was spreading within a row of evergreen trees near a neighborhood.

Crews were able to keep the flames from spreading to any homes and had the fire under control about 30 minutes later. Firefighters remained on scene through the afternoon.

No injuries have been reported.

There's no word yet on what caused the fire.

Fire Wichita
Fire Wichita

Comment: Interestingly, Witchita experienced mysterious loud explosions on the same day, so perhaps a fragment of an exploding, disintegrating space rock overhead hit the ground and ignited the local vegetation? It does seem highly likely.

See in addition this report: Loud booms, violent home shaking reported in Wichita, Kansas area

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Tornado1

Deadly tornadoes rip through central Florida


The Guardian, UK
Sun, 17 Jan 2016 17:03 UTC
florida tornado damage
© APIn this photo provided by the Sarasota County Government, damage from a storm surrounds a vehicle Jan. 17, 2016, in Sarasota, Florida

Couple killed but son and grandchildren escaped injured after twister destroys home as state officials report damage in other areas

Severe weather sparked a pair of tornadoes that ripped through central Florida before dawn on Sunday, officials said. A couple was killed and their son and four grandchildren were injured when one of the twisters destroyed their mobile home.

"I'm amazed to see anybody got out of this alive," said Manatee County sheriff Brad Steube during a news conference.

Steube said that the victims of the tornado in Duette were asleep in their mobile home when the tornado struck. Steven Wilson, 58, was killed immediately, while his wife, Kate, died from a heart attack after being taken to a hospital.

Their son, also named Steven Wilson, crawled out of the wreckage and helped his four children out of the home. The children are between the ages of six and 10.

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Fire

Brutal cold gripping midwest U.S. to sweep east with snow squalls; 10-20ºF below normal

Kristina Pydnyowski
Accuweather
Sun, 17 Jan 2016 17:43 UTC
Brutal cold gripping the Midwest this weekend will sweep into the East to start the new week, ushered in by snow and localized squalls in the Northeast.

The new arctic blast will be the harshest the Midwest and East has experienced so far this season. According to AccuWeather Chief Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok, "The arctic deep freeze will last two to three days in most places."

Parts of eastern North Dakota, Minnesota and northeastern Iowa will not see temperatures climb above zero until Tuesday, making for a total of 72 hours of subzero readings since the weekend started.

Temperatures will dangerously drop under 10 below zero F Sunday and Monday nights in and around Minnesota with some communities near the Canadian border registering lows under 20 below zero F.

AccuWeather RealFeel temperatures will be life-threatening if people venture out without being properly dressed from the northern Plains to the Ohio Valley.
Cold outbreak
The cold will not be as brutal when the arctic air grips the eastern U.S. early this week, but will still hold temperatures 10-20 degrees below normal Monday into Tuesday.

Subfreezing highs and biting winds will encompass the Northeast and mid-Atlantic both Monday and Tuesday, a stretch the I-95 corridor in the mid-Atlantic has not dealt with yet this winter.
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Snowflake Cold

Winter shows teeth in Greece: Bridge collapses, snow, strong winds and rainfall

Robert Felix
Ice Age Now
Sun, 17 Jan 2016 23:57 UTC
Greece bridge collapse
© thetoc.gr
Bad weather collapses bridge. Snow down to the lowlands, cold, strong winds and rainfall for today, Sunday and Monday.

There was intense snowfall with strong winds in Kozani.


The bad weather collapsed a bridge in Diava Kalambaka.


As transmitted by trikalaola.gr, eyewitnesses of the collapse of the bridge were the Deputy Head of Trikala, Mr. Christos Michalakis and Thessaly Regional Councillor, Mr. Boutinas.

Comment: An ice age cometh:

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Ice Cube

Snownado! A massive snow shaft photographed off the coast of Aberdeen, UK

Ewan Cameron
Evening Express
Sat, 16 Jan 2016 11:18 UTC
Snownado!
© James Cheyne

A massive snow shaft has been photographed off the coast of Aberdeen today.

Reader Ian Cheyne's son James took the picture at around 10am from Hilton Drive.

Initially it was believed the weather phenomenon was a waterspout however it's now thought to be a snow shaft.
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Meteor

Loud booms, violent home shaking reported in Wichita, Kansas area

Shardaa Gray
KSN.com
Sun, 17 Jan 2016 14:40 UTC
Wichita Kansas neighborhood
© Kansas Leadership Center
Sedgwick County emergency dispatchers report receiving numerous reports of explosions from various locations around Wichita Saturday.

Those calls began coming in at 1 p.m. They came from citizens at:
  • 5400 Block of S. Santa Fe
  • 1100 Block of E. 31st Street S.
  • 5100 block of S. Ash
  • 1900 block of E. Pine Bay
Several viewers sent KSN emails saying they heard a loud boom and felt their homes shake. One viewer who lives near Hillside and Mt. Vernon in southeast Wichita said in an email, "At 1:00 p.m. we felt the house shake violently accompanied by a loud bang. Everything looks fine, but we wonder what it was."


A person who lives in Haysville also reported the incident. "Shaking of house loud boom sound around 1 p.m. Forest Ct. in Haysville." A KSN viewer in Derby reported hearing a loud boom followed by the shaking of her house at about 1:02 p.m. A Derby viewer said she spoke with a friend near 47th Street South and Broadway who also heard what sounded like an explosion. Another viewer who lives in the 3300 block of S. Oak St. wrote asking if there had been an earthquake at 1:05 p.m.

It appears the boom was not an earthquake since no earthquakes were recorded in Kansas or Oklahoma by the US Geological Survey at the times the booms were heard. "I was told that we could contact command post about what people heard," says McConnell Airman First Class Christopher Thornbury. "And, they don't have any information on that event. Nobody at the base has knowledge at this time of what it could have been."

Comment: The loud boom and ground shaking is likely from an overhead space rock exploding in our atmosphere. There are more to come! See: Forget About Global Warming: We're One Step From Extinction!

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Windsock

Red sand storm sweeps across Libyan city


RT
Sun, 17 Jan 2016 21:34 UTC
Libya sandstoorm
© ritajfawzi / Instagram
The port city of Tobruk on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast near Egypt has turned red, as a dust storm has smothered the area, according to reports on social media.

Social media users have posted images of the spectacular sight online:

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