Earth ChangesS


Ice Cube

Freezing fog causes flight delays at Calgary airport

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© CBC NewsWinter weather has caused several flight delays at the Calgary International Airport.
Canada, Alberta - Freezing fog played havoc with the flight schedule at Calgary International Airport this morning, says Air Canada spokesperson Angela Mah.

Several flights were delayed because of weather.

Now that the fog is lifting, the airline expects all flights will get back on track.

Mah says it's worth checking with your airline carrier to make sure.

Source: CBC News

Boat

Floods threaten Eluru, Vijayawada, India

Eluru floods
© G.N. Rao A farmer at a flooded cotton field at Nelakondapally in Khammam district on Friday
Long after it has crossed the coast, cyclone Nilam continues to make its impact felt as torrential rainfall under its influence threatens to inundate outlying areas of two cities - Vijayawada and Eluru - in Andhra Pradesh.

Vijayawada received 17 cm of rain since Friday evening, constituting nearly 20 per cent of its annual rainfall. This has forced the authorities to suspend train and bus services.

Flood waters entered Vidhyadharapuram, HB Colony and Kabela in Vijayawada. Although the rain had stopped, water did not recede as Budameru, a stream, was discharging 8,000 cusecs of water. Drains in Vijayawada that empty into Budameru were blocked due to silting. Municipal Commissioner G. Bhaskar said that many areas in One Town were inundated as garbage had blocked the drains.

All the 70 gates of Prakasam Barrage across the Krishna were lifted and 49,000 cusecs of water was being discharged in the morning. The flow, however, came down to 29,000 cusecs by noon.

Megaphone

Strange sounds in the sky, Montreal, Canada, 31 October 2012

After Toronto yesterday, the Strange Sounds are now reported in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Strange noises were heard about 20 times from ~11pm to 12:30am, so during the night. People in the neighbourhood also heard them. They seem genuine to me and are similar to Strange Sounds heard in Bloomington, Indiana 2 years ago. Pretty weird and scary!


Bizarro Earth

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.1 - East of Burgos, Philippines

Philippines Quake_021112
© USGS
Event Time
2012-11-02 18:17:33 UTC
2012-11-03 02:17:33 UTC+08:00 at epicenter

Location
9.259°N 126.233°E depth=38.1km (23.7mi)

Nearby Cities
5km (3mi) E of Burgos, Philippines
20km (12mi) N of Tandag, Philippines
70km (43mi) NNE of Lianga, Philippines
75km (47mi) NE of Bayugan, Philippines
822km (511mi) SE of Manila, Philippines

Technical Details

Bizarro Earth

Meteorologist Joe Bastardi blasts Al Gore's claims that global warming caused Hurricane Sandy as "stunningly ignorant or stunningly deceptive"


Wednesday on The O'Reilly Factor, two weather experts debated Al Gore's claims that global warming was to blame for Hurricane Sandy's wrath. Gore said, "The storms are getting stronger. The stronger storms are getting more frequent. And you know, this is the second time in two years that part of Manhattan has been shut down ... But the evidence is now so overwhelming."

Joe Bastardi, chief meteorologist at WeatherBell Analytics calls Gore's claims "stunningly ignorant or stunningly deceptive." According to Bastardi, such storms are nothing new, "In the 1950s 10 major hurricanes ran the eastern seaboard. Six hit the Carolinas northward in two years."

Ice Cube

Powerful nor'easter winter storm bears down on US East Coast

The East Coast is still reeling from the devastation brought on by Superstorm Sandy. But as the mass clear-up begins, forecasters are already warning of a powerful new nor'easter storm front coming in from the Atlantic, bringing 45mph gusts of wind mixed with snow and rain.

The beleaguered coast line is expected to face the storm from Tuesday to Thursday - potentially casting a shadow over Election Day. At least New York City and the surrounding area may escape a beating, as forecasters expect most of the severe weather will hit northern New England - meaning it should land hundreds of miles north from where Sandy reached the continent.
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© AccuweatherNext week's weather: Another storm is likely to hit the East Coast next week - possible on Election Day
However, New York and New Jersey can expect frigid winds and rain as hundreds of thousands remain without power and homeless.

A nor'easter is a powerful storm that thrives on cold air. Severe nor'easters can bring hurricane-force winds and blizzards.

Snowflake Cold

Sub-zero temperatures coupled with early snowfall have killed 14 people in Poland

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Warsaw - Sub-zero temperatures coupled with early snowfall have killed 14 people in Poland over the past week, national police said on Wednesday. "In eight days we've recorded 14 deaths associated with freezing weather in Poland," Krzysztof Hajdas, a spokesperson for police headquarters told AFP.

"The bodies of these people, mostly men, were found in various regions of the country," he said without elaborating.

A weekend cold snap and heavy snowfall across Poland caused chaos on the roads and left about 70 000 people temporarily without electricity in the region surrounding the capital Warsaw. Last winter, over 100 mostly homeless people and alcoholics died of exposure in Poland.

Cloud Precipitation

Bad weather hits British honey production

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Wet, cold summer saw honey yields from hives fall by almost three-quarters, the British Beekeepers Association says

Rain and cold weather this summer saw honey yields from hives fall by almost three-quarters, the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) said today.

The average crop per hive was down 72% compared to 2011, with just 3.6kg (8lb) of honey produced compared to an annual average of 30lb (13.6kg), the annual honey survey by the BBKA revealed.

The survey of 2,712 beekeepers in England, Northern Ireland and Wales found that 88% said this summer's bad weather caused the fall in honey yields.

The cold, wet conditions forced the BBKA to issue a midsummer warning to feed colonies if necessary to avoid starvation.

But in London, which recorded the worst results with just 2.5kg (5.6lb) of honey harvested on average, beekeeping experts said that in addition to the bad weather there was a lack of food for bees in the city.

Cow Skull

Scotland's potato harvest at risk of write-off due to poor weather

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Waterlogged fields in Scotland, 16 October 2012
The struggle continues for our Crop Watch agronomists this week, particularly in Scotland where ware potato crops are at risk of being left in the ground to rot.

SAC senior potato consultant Matthew Smallwod was driving through snow, against the backdrop of growers trying harvest their crops. "It's been a fight between the elements and the grower," he says.

"The elements have won by knockout against growers under contract. Those on the open market are awaiting the judges' decision."

Growers that gambled on late burn-offs of their crops will now be playing cat and mouse with the weather, desperately trying to finish harvest before it is too late.

Bizarro Earth

Earthquake jolts China's Three Gorges Dam

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© chinatourguide.com
An earthquake measuring 3.2 on the Richter scale hit a central China region where the world's biggest water reservoir the Three Gorges Dam is located, though no harm to the structure was reported.

The tremor hit Zigui County of Yichang City in Hubei Province at 3:42 am and its epicentre was located at five km below ground, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.

No casualties were reported though the earthquake was felt across Zigui, state-run Xinhua news agency said.

"The minor earthquake has not affected the Three Gorges Dam, which can endure far stronger earthquakes," Hu Xing'e, vice head of the management bureau of the project with the China Three Gorges Corporation said.

She said that no earthquake-triggered landslides have been reported in the reservoir area and all power generating units and ship locks are working normally.