Earth Changes

Rare green flash snapped above clouds in California

Space Weather
Sat, 04 May 2019 12:00 UTC

© Thom Peck
The Sun setting, but above true horizon due to the hills between us and the Pacific 20 mile away. The incoming marine layer doing some optical aid, I suspect. The green flash was not naked eye, or at least we didnt see it.
Canon t6i at f/13, 1/2000 second 250mm, ISO 200

For seaside photographers, nothing beats a green flash--that sudden pulse of verdant light at sunset as the sun vanishes beneath the ocean waves. Thom Peck of Poway CA was near the Pacific Ocean on May 4th when he captured a green flash. But it didn't come from the ocean waves. It came from the top of a cloud:

This is a rare 'cloud-top' green flash, sometimes seen as the sun's rays graze a distant cloud bank. They are not well understood. Ordinary green flashes require a temperature inversion layer near the sea surface. Similar inversions may sometimes occur at the top of marine stratus clouds.

"The green flash was not naked eye--or at least we didn't see it," says Peck. "But we photographed it easily enough using my Canon T6i digital camera." Photo settings may be found here.

Comment: Rare and yet, apparently, like many unusual phenomena, increasingly common:

Also check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Earth changes in an electric universe: Is climate change really man-made?

Record coldest ever May day set in Denmark and snowfall reported around the country

Ben Hamilton
CPH Post
Mon, 06 May 2019 18:39 UTC

It was frosty enough in Copenhagen during the Occupation in World War II, but did you know that the coldest ever May day recorded in the Danish capital was in 1941?

Something was clearly up with the weather that year, which makes Hitler's decision to launch Operation Barbarossa a month later all the more baffling.

You weren't hallucinating

Well, we can now scratch May 1941 from the record books because on Saturday morning a new record low of 0.8 degrees was set in Frederiksberg.

The frosty beginning to the day that many woke up to followed a night that included hail, sleet and even snow - no, you weren't hallucinating!

May snowfall in Luxembourg

RTL Today
Sat, 04 May 2019 17:40 UTC

As predicted, some places did indeed see snow on Friday night/Saturday morning.

We already have our first snow photo, sent to us from Lieler.

Gritting vehicles have already preparing the motorways since early on Saturday morning.

Many people have already changed over their tyres from winter to summer ones, so be careful if you're travelling by car: especially around Oeslinger hills.

Pretty impressive snowfall in Fëschbech bei Klierf, Luxembourg this morning, May 5th! Video: Mike Weiler / Meteo Boulaide pic.twitter.com/aJMRozBpkj
— severe-weather.EU (@severeweatherEU) May 5, 2019

Springtime snow covers Belgium

Sky News
Sat, 04 May 2019 19:43 UTC

It is a chilly bank holiday weekend in Belgium, with unseasonable snow coating part of the country.

What's happened to summer? Asking for Sweden

The Local (Sweden)
Mon, 06 May 2019 11:20 UTC

From the sunniest April since records began to chilly temperatures and snow. What happened to summer and when will it return?

Southern Sweden is usually basking in temperatures of around 15C this time of the year, according to national weather agency SMHI. But this week the mercury seems to refuse to edge above 5-10C.

"The meteorological summer has stopped," said SMHI meteorologist Jon Jörpeland, referring to Sweden's definition of summer, an average temperature of above 10C on five consecutive days.

Some parts of southern Sweden even saw snow fall and stick on the ground last week, which is rare in May.

Unusual orange algae bloom and mass fish die off at Kent coast, UK

Sean Doherty
Kent Online
Sat, 04 May 2019 09:18 UTC

Orange algae bloom, Kent

The Environment Agency has confirmed what caused an orange substance to appear in the sea around Thanet and Whitstable.

The substance, which has started to stain the groynes at Eastcliff, was reported to Port Control, after being discovered earlier this week.

On Thursday (May 2), dozens of fish washed up on the shore, though this was not stated to be linked to the substance, and the council has recommended keeping dogs on leads and away from going near the water.

Comment: A mass fish die off followed by a 'naturally occurring algae'. Although one would expect that if this was normal for the region it wouldn't be such a surprise to the newspapers nor the port authority. It's worth noting that just 2 days later there was an unusual M2.5 earthquake that occurred further inland in Surrey, in an area of fracking exploration.

See also:

Record May snowfall in some parts of Switzerland

Swissinfo.ch
Sun, 05 May 2019 19:10 UTC

Areas of Switzerland saw record snowfall for the month of May overnight from Saturday into Sunday. Most snow fell in the central and eastern alpine regions, but the most dramatic records were observed in lower-lying Bern and St Gallen.

The Swiss capital of Bern woke up to four centimetres of fresh snow on Sunday morning. The previous record for the month was one centimetre in 1945.

The eastern city of St Gallen saw 19 centimetres of snow, up from the 12 centimetres recorded on May 7, 1957, according to the Swiss meteorological service MeteoSwiss.

Winter returns to France, with snow and ice on the Côte d'Azur

Nicholas Wells
Euronews
Sun, 05 May 2019 18:36 UTC

Parts of the French Riviera resembled a ski resort at the weekend as a cold front brought ice and snow to the Côte D'Azur.

After basking in sun over Easter, toboggans and road gritters were seen on the streets of Antibes.

The story was the same across much of France, with snow and wind gusts up to 130 km/h in the Rhône Valley.

The French weather service issued a warning for dangerous driving conditions.

Historic Mississippi River flooding could extend into June, experts warn

Elizabeth Weise
USA Today
Sat, 04 May 2019 12:34 UTC

Flooding along the Mississippi river could persist through the end of the month and even into June as relentless rains continue to saturate the Midwest, forecasters say.

"We have points in Iowa and Illinois that have been in flood stage for over 30 days, which hasn't occurred since we started keeping records — and some of them go back 150 years," said Patrick Burke a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.

At least four people have died in the flooding, which has closed hundreds of roads, stopped vessel traffic along parts of the Mississippi River and inundated multiple towns, including major flooding in Davenport, Iowa, and Rock Island, Illinois.

Comment: Trouble could be brewing for farmers in the US Corn Belt because of continuing wet weather

Huge swarm of locusts sweeps through Saudi Arabia

Liz Perkins
Daily Mail
Wed, 01 May 2019 20:09 UTC

Skies start to darken: Swarms of the biblical bugs have arrived due to unusual heavy rain

Saudi Arabia is being plagued by a huge outbreak of locusts which is sweeping the country.

Darkened skies and layers upon layers of the insects were discovered on trees as masses of the bugs arrived along the Red Sea and invaded the country from Sudan and Eritrea.

Egypt has also been struck by large numbers of locusts, with 80 million in a swarm there could be devastating consequences for food supplies.

Experts have warned crops will be put at risk from the legions of bugs flooding Najran at the weekend.

Unusually heavy rainfall in the region led to the deluge of biblical bugs arriving in the country in mid-January with even more coming in a week later.