Earth ChangesS


Cloud Precipitation

Tractors stuck in mud, planting delayed and crops rot due to heavy rains in most parts of Narok, Kenya

Passengers got stuck at Suswa-Narok Road on friday 9 March 2018 following heavy downpour that paralyzed the movement for more than an hour.
© COLLINS K.LANGATPassengers got stuck at Suswa-Narok Road on friday 9 March 2018 following heavy downpour that paralyzed the movement for more than an hour.
Heavy rains have disrupted planting in most parts of Narok county.

This is because mechanised farming has been rendered impossible.

Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry Narok branch chairman David Mpatiany said the delay in planting may hurt crop production.

"We are happy the rains have come but it is unfortunate that most of the farmers, especially those who practice large-scale farming, can do little in their farms due to the soggy soil," he said.

Mpatiany said farmers will have to wait for the rains to subside so they can plant wheat, maize, barley, beans and sorghum.

Attention

Spring planting in Russia is delayed by weather conditions and snow cover

ploughing
According to the Ag Ministry, 1.9 Ml ha of Russian winter cereals (11.3% out of a total 17.1 Ml) were fertilized by March 16, 2018 against 4.7 Ml ha in 2017, reports UkrAgroConsult.

By the same date, spring planting was completed on 32.3 Th ha (0.1% of the projected area of 53.37 Ml ha). This included 9.4 Th ha in Krasnodar region, 1 Th ha in Chechnya and 0.2 Th ha in Adygea. 456.4 Th ha was already seeded to spring crops by the same date last year.

The start of planting is delayed in some regions of the Southern and North-Caucasian federal districts due to weather conditions and snow cover in single areas.

Snowflake

Heavy snow covers North Dakota to North Carolina with record late March snowfall for many cities

chart
People will be digging out Sunday morning in parts of the central U.S. and mid-Atlantic after more than a foot of snow fell in some areas! Take a look at the area-by-area snow totals from Saturday evening.

Multiple cities saw record snowfall Friday into Saturday for late-March. The snow caused some damage to trees due to the weight, caused near whiteout conditions, and made for difficult travel for people trying to get around during their weekend.

Seismograph

Shallow 6.3-magnitude quake strikes Southeast Indian Ridge

graph
An earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale jolted Southeast Indian Ridge at 19:58:33 GMT on Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The epicenter, with a depth of 10.0 km, was initially determined to be at 45.8299 degrees south latitude and 96.099 degrees east longitude.

Attention

First pyroclastic flow recorded from Shinmoedake volcano eruption in Japan

Kyushu's Mount Shinmoedake
Kyushu's Mount Shinmoedake
The first pyroclastic flow was recorded on March 25 from an explosive eruption on Kyushu's Mount Shinmoedake, which started erupting at the beginning of the month.

The Japan Meteorological Agency announced that a pyroclastic flow was confirmed over a distance of about 800 meters west of the crater, but it did not approach any residential area.

Eruptions began on March 1 with intermittent explosions from the crater, but this was the first recorded pyroclastic flow.

According to the JMA, explosive eruptions were recorded at 7:35 a.m. and 8:45 a.m. on March 25, and smoke and fumes rose to 3,200 meters. The pyroclastic flow was confirmed following the second explosive eruption.


Attention

Dead pilot whale could be species not typically found in Nova Scotia waters

The Marine Animal Response Team says it's believed a pilot whale that washed ashore in Nova Scotia could be a species that's rarely seen in northern waters. se Team
© Marine Animal Response TeamThe Marine Animal Response Team says it's believed a pilot whale that washed ashore in Nova Scotia could be a species that's rarely seen in northern waters.
A pilot whale that washed ashore in Nova Scotia could be a species that's rarely seen in northern waters, the Marine Animal Response Team said Saturday.

Andrew Reid, the team's response co-ordinator, said the 2.7-metre juvenile whale washed ashore outside of Dartmouth, N.S., on the province's eastern shore earlier this month.

Reid said after examining the whale, it was determined that it could be a short-finned pilot whale.

Long-finned pilot whales are common off the coast of Nova Scotia, but short-finned pilot whales tend to favour warmer waters.

"They are more of a southern species," said Reid. "They definitely don't tend to range as far north as Nova Scotia, that we're aware of."

Comment: If it is a short-finned pilot whale that had become completely lost, this would be very interesting in light of the fact that 150 specimens of this specific species recently stranded on the coast of Western Australia. Could it be that something problematic in the environment is causing a drastic impairment in their ability to navigate effectively?

See also: Animal Magnetism: How the magnetic field influences animal navigation

Do solar storms lead to beached whales?

Whales flee from military sonar leading to mass strandings, research shows


Cloud Precipitation

Flood rescues following record rain in California

Overturned car in flooded river in Santa Clarita, California, March 2018.
© Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s StationOverturned car in flooded river in Santa Clarita, California, March 2018.
Emergency services in California carried out several flood rescues after a powerful storm and record rain brought flooding and landslides.

The storm lasted around 3 days and affected areas from Sacramento County to Los Angeles County. The worst of the storm is now thought to be over and many of the flood warnings have been cancelled.

Paso Robles in San Luis Obispo County recorded 1.91 inches (48.54 mm) of rain in 24 hours to 22 March. Storm total rainfall for Paso Robles was 4.26 inches (108.2 mm) as of 17:00 on 22 March.

National Weather Service said that an automated gauge at El Rio (near Oxnard) in Ventura County reported 0.64 inches (16.25 mm) of rain in 1 hour during the evening of 22 March.


Snowflake

Late March winter storm drops 12-16 inches of snow in Northeast Iowa

Iowa snow storm
© Mathew Putney
Those who had packed away their winter coats, shovels, snowblowers and snowmobiles were suddenly unpacking Saturday.

A winter storm dumped more than a foot of snow in parts of Northeast Iowa, including the Cedar Valley, sending drivers, cities and event organizers alike back into winter-weather mode just four days after the official start of spring.

Temperatures in the 50s and emerging perennials earlier this week yielded to thundersnow and blizzard-like conditions Friday night well into Saturday afternoon, bringing the snowplows back and canceling or postponing events from Easter egg hunts to a gun violence protest march.

"Safety is our number one concern, whether you're talking about the right for students to feel safe in their schools or keeping folks off the road when conditions are this bad," said Christopher Schwartz, community organizer for Americans for Democratic Action Iowa, which postponed its March for Our Lives rally in Cedar Falls.

The storm blasted its way through north and Northeast Iowa, with 16 inches of snow falling by 3 p.m. Saturday in parts of Cerro Gordo, Floyd and Mitchell counties, according to the National Weather Service.

A Winter Storm Warning was extended through 7 p.m. Sunday. Most area cities declared snow emergencies.

Comment: Elsewhere in the US this week:

Philadelphia has 2nd snowiest March on record.

In New York City this year marks the fifth consecutive season that at least 30 inches of snow have fallen. The only other recorded time it snowed this much, for this long a period, was back in the 1880s (records begin in the 1869-1870 season).

Record snowfall hit Dulles, doubling the previous record set in 1964, as a FOURTH March Nor'easter dumped 8 inches of snow on Washington, DC leaving thousands of flights cancelled and Federal offices closed.

Almost 16 feet of snow fell in 18 days across California's Sierra Nevada.


Attention

Mayon Volcano emits lava, ash anew in the Philippines

Mayon volcano
Mayon volcano
After days of a generally restive behavior, Mayon Volcano again emitted lava and ash on Friday morning, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.

The agency recorded a lava collapse from 10:39 a.m. to 10:50 a.m.

"The emission may be due to the lava build-up which may have been triggered by possible rainfall in the area," Phivolcs project research officer Jerome de Lima said.

Minimal ash fall was also recorded in the towns of Camalig and Anoling.

Comment: An update on the 25th of March from the The Philippine Star: Mayon lahar threat: 80,000 face evacuation :
More than 80,000 residents around Mayon Volcano may be evacuated due to the threat of lahar, according to the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Bicol.

In a report yesterday, the OCD-Bicol said 25 to 30 milimeters of rain for three hours could mobilize newly extruded volcanic materials while three hours of torrential rains could push old volcanic debris.

OCD-Bicol operations officer Jsar Adornado said more than 25,000 residents of this city face evacuation; 22,556 from Daraga; 8,353 from Tabaco and Camalig, and 5,847 from Guinobatan and Malilipot.

Residents of Sto. Domingo, Ligao and Bacacay are also at risk due to lahar.

Adornado said lahar deposits are in the gullies in Barangay Basud in Sto. Domingo, Quirangay in Camalig and the Sto. Domingo-Legazpi-Daraga-Camalig stretch of the volcano.

Phivolcs resident volcanologist Ed Laguerta said Mayon had extruded around 65 million cubic meters of volcanic materials, of which 13 million cubic meters are potential lahar sediments.

Weather forecaster Michael Francisco said a low-pressure area spotted off Mindanao could develop into a tropical depression and bring rains when it is near the Bicol region on Tuesday.

Cedric Daep, chief of the Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office, said they would issue a lahar advisory depending on the distance and strength of the tropical depression.


"It is not safe yet to make predictions on the impact of this low-pressure area...at this time that it is still outside the (Philippine area of responsibility)," Daep said.

In its latest bulletin, Phivolcs said active river channels and those perennially identified as lahar-prone areas should be avoided during bad weather or when there is heavy and prolonged rainfall.

Mayon remains under Alert Level 3. This means that although the volcano's unrest continues, there is a decreased likelihood of hazardous explosive eruption.



Snowflake

Drone video: Massive, growing snow-dump hill looms over town in Sweden

How to make a mountain out of a snow hill.
© Joacim Eriksson/ScreenshotHow to make a mountain out of a snow hill.
A growing hill at a snow dump site in the town of Sundsvall has wowed local residents and gone viral in Sweden.

Sundsvall, on Sweden's east coast, has had an unusually snowy winter, as The Local has previously reported. Snow ploughs and trucks have been hard at work clearing the snow from the city centre and dumping it on the outskirts of town, creating this "mountain".

Joacim Eriksson shared this incredible drone video of the snow mountain. Watch it below:


Sundsvalls Tidning reports that the hill is made up of 500,000 cubic metres of snow.