Earth Changes

Waterspouts popping up on Lake Erie, Ohio

Darcie Loreno
Fox8
Wed, 14 Oct 2015 13:59 UTC

Fox 8 News viewers captured some wild weather scenes Wednesday when waterspouts fired up in Northeast Ohio.

They appeared to be 'non-tornadic' or 'fair-weather' waterspouts.

While it may look like waterspouts are sucking water up out of the water, that's not the case. The funnel-looking phenomenon is actually the product of water droplets formed by condensation.

A waterspout usually lasts less than 20 minutes.

Large sinkhole develops in Union City, California - suddenly fills with water

Cornell Barnard
ABC7 News
Wed, 14 Oct 2015 23:44 UTC

First a sinkhole opened up in the East Bay and then water started mysteriously gushing into the hole, swallowing up part of the street.

The sinkhole developed early Wednesday afternoon on Alvarado Boulevard and New Haven Street in Union City and crews are working to patch up the problem.

It's still unclear why the sinkhole developed. The water was everywhere, bubbling up from the middle of the once busy intersection, creating a lake at Alvarado Boulevard.

"It's a lot of water," said Pooja Sharma, a Union City resident. "It's very scary."

The source of the water remains a mystery. It began when a sinkhole about 10 feet by 12 feet wide, developed around 2 p.m. Wednesday. No one could say how deep the hole was. The intersection was quickly closed to traffic.

Hours later water began filling the sinkhole, overflowing down the street. Crews jackhammered into the asphalt to find a source of the leak, possibly a ruptured water pipe nearby.

Some neighbors worry more sinkholes could develop. "It's crazy. It could happen in our house," said one resident.

Comment: Sinkholes - A Sign of the Times?

Bundle up! Winter-like pattern to bring coldest weather of season to eastern U.S. this weekend

Jason Samenow
Washington Post
Tue, 13 Oct 2015 12:45 UTC

© WeatherBell.com
High altitude weather pattern simulated by GFS model shows big dip in the jet stream sharpening over the East this weekend. ()

A powerful cold front sweeping across the nation Thursday and Friday will deliver the first taste of winter weather to many locations in the eastern U.S. by Saturday.

The high elevations of the Northeast may experience their first flakes of snow Saturday night as low pressure off the coast feeds moisture into the cold air funneling into the region.

© WeatherBell.com
GFS model simulates snowfall in the high elevations of interior New England Saturday night. Some of what’s shown is lake effect snow, some is due to wrap around moisture from low pressure off the coast.

Temperatures by Sunday morning will be 10 to 25 degrees below normal from the Great Lakes to the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

Comment: The wild temperature swings (both hot and cold) that have been recorded in the last decade could be construed as a breakdown of the weather patterns we have become accustomed to. Stay tuned!

Waterspout forms off coast in Bronte Beach, Australia

The Sydney Morning Herald
Wed, 14 Oct 2015 16:02 UTC

Nature has put on a spectacular display for beachgoers and lifeguards at Bronte Beach as converging winds and warming water resulted in a water spout out at sea. The water spout, or funnel, lasted for about 10 minutes, a Waverley Council spokeswoman said.

Water spouts require a specific set of conditions to form, including upward-moving air, warming water and a combination of winds, said Bureau of Meteorology severe weather forecaster Zach Porter. "We had a light offshore wind in the morning, so where that meets the north-easterly sea breeze over the water, it's sort of a convergence area," Mr Porter said.

Daniel Shaw, news editor at FreeNews said he was "lucky to capture this beautiful and rare sight about 20 kilometres off Bronte Beach". "About 10.30am very small funnels appeared from a number of small storm cells," he said. "The conditions were perfect for waterspouts to form.

Sinkhole swallows large stretch of road in San José, Costa Rica

Zach Dyer
The Tico Times
Wed, 14 Oct 2015 20:25 UTC

Like the saying goes: September showers bring October...sinkholes.

The rainy season finally started in earnest in these last few weeks and the arrival of heavy rains has municipal authorities scrambling to address the flooding and sinkholes that have become a seasonal headache for drivers and pedestrians alike. The National Meteorological Institute announced Monday that heavy rains were expected this week and the next for the Central Valley and the Pacific coast.

The latest sinkhole to appear this year was a 6-meter wide, 11-meter deep sinkhole that opened up over the weekend on the street near the Transportes Costarricenses Panameños bus station in Plaza Víquez. City workers started repairing the gaping hole that opened between Avenue 20 and 5th Street on Tuesday.

The Tico Times was not able to reach San José Public Services Director Marco Corrales for comment after several unanswered calls to his cellphone, but the Municipality of San José released a brief statement explaining that the aging sewer infrastructure and the heavy weight of vehicles passing over the high traffic stretch of road all contributed to the hole that opened over the weekend.

News website CRHoy.com reported that it would take between four and six weeks to complete the repairs to the busy road. Corrales told the news website that the sinkhole was on the municipality's list of pending repairs before Mother Nature forced it to the top of the list. Corrales said that the repairs could cost as much as ₡5 million, or roughly $9,400.

Aging infrastructure, lacking maintenance and trash that blocks drains and backs up sewers caused another sight last month. On Sept. 25, a sudden downpour flooded San José's Chinatown when a sewer line backed up.

Sinkholes and flooding are a pain, but there is a silver lining: memes.

Four months of heavy snow predicted for UK; worst winter in half-a-century

Nathan Rao
The Express, UK
Tue, 13 Oct 2015 11:52 UTC

Britain should prepare for the worst winter in half-a-century with advanced weather models now predicting months of heavy snowfall, forecasters warned tonight

Forecasters have issued early warnings to prepare for sub-zero temperatures and blizzard conditions across the entire UK. A perfect storm of ingredients including the most powerful El Nino on record and changes in air pressure over the Arctic threaten horrendous conditions across Britain. A negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation will allow freezing air to pour in from the North Pole. If the cycle continues it will open the gates to the fury of a fully-blown Arctic blast rivalling the record winters of 1962/63 and 1946/47.

Atlantic sea temperatures around the UK have plunged this year meaning any cold weather fronts will be bolstered by the icy waters. Current predictions are also for a negative North Atlantic Oscillation to weaken atmospheric pressure gradient between Iceland and Bermuda. This acts to stifle prevailing westerly winds which in turn forces milder weather southwards over Europe while allowing the cold in from the north.

And a third factor - the Arctic Oscillation - is also threatening to swing into a negative phase bolstering the flow of Arctic air into the UK in a triple-whammy of winter misery. It means heavy and persistent snowfall, Arctic gales and deep snowdrifts threaten to throw the country into chaos from December until MARCH although the earliest snowfall could arrive by early November.

Forecasters are now warning people to prepare for the worst this year with experts fearing thousands could die from the cold. After two mild years they fear the emergency services could be lulled into a false sense of security. Official figures show that even during the winter of 2013/14 which failed to bring any major whiteout, 18,200 excess deaths were recorded. In 2012/13 the Office of National Statistics recorded 31,000 excess deaths with elderly, unwell and vulnerable people hardest hit.

Comment: El Niño has reached strong levels, may eclipse monster El Niño of 1997-1998

Early-season snow will bring central Germany first taste of winter

Kristina Pydynowski
Accuweather
Tue, 13 Oct 2015 09:08 UTC

Snow will bring central Germany an early taste of winter into Wednesday morning.

After a cool Tuesday unfolded, the stage was set for rain to change to snow at night as a storm system dropped southward and pulled down even colder air into Germany.

The snow will fall in between Berlin and Munich, focusing on the corridor from Trier to Frankfurt to Kassel to the mountains along border of the Czech Republic before tapering off Wednesday morning, mixing back with rain in some cases.

Fritzlar should also see snow, marking the earliest such occurrence in October since Oct. 5, 1994, according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Tyler Roys.

As is typical in early (and late) season snowfall events, amounts and impacts will be dependent on both elevation and snowfall intensity. Snow totals at any given location will be greatest on non-paved surfaces than paved surfaces, which retain more of the sun's warmth and are slower to cool.

The snow is expected to accumulate 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 inches) in the colder highest elevations. While some melting will initially occur on the roads, that amount of snow will eventually lead to slippery and slushy travel.

Comment: Ice Age Cometh: Scientists fear 'Day After Tomorrow' climate change

USGS reports 5.9 magnitude quake strikes off Russia's Kuril Islands

RT
Wed, 14 Oct 2015 07:36 UTC

A 5.9-magnitude earthquake has struck the area to the east off Russia's Kuril Islands. Initially the magnitude was reported as 5.6. The quake hit in about 200km from the city of Severo-Kurilsk in the Pacific Ocean.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties from the tremor, which happened at a depth of 34km.

Fata Morgana? Mysterious mirage city appears in clouds over Foshan, China

Strange Sounds
Sat, 10 Oct 2015 00:49 UTC

Can you please explain how these skyscrapers appeared behind the clouds in the sky of Foshan, China?

The project blue beam? Yes look at this mysterious city appearing in the clouds over the city of Foshan in in central Guangdong province, China. What are these skycrapers doing in the sky over Foshan, China?

The mirage was captured on 07 October 2015 and was shared by plenty of local news channels.

Real phenomenon or computer trick?

The following video of the event has no logical explanation:

And here another video this time from Facebook of the same sky phenomenon.

A developed story is to be found in various local newspapers, which likewise is looking for some logical explanation for this unexplained phenomenon.

The NASA Blue Beam Project is a conspiracy theory, invented by the Canadian Serge Monast. It claims that a new age religion with the antichrist at its head will be implemented in four different steps, to alienate people, break human conscience, produce alien and artificial divine appearances to place a new tyrannical world order.

Comment: That's a bit over the top, fella!

Comment: One possibility, discussed and rejected in the above linked article from China, is Fata Morgana; an unusual, complex illusion created by light and layers of warm and cold air in the atmosphere. Interestingly, Fata Morgana is most commonly seen in polar regions, but can be seen over oceans, deserts or lakes on hot days. The videos aren't clear enough to determine if there is a body of water connected to this possible mirage.

With all of the unexplained explosions in China, whether caused by space rocks which would load the atmosphere with dust, or debris from the explosions, the extra particulate matter in the atmosphere might allow for this unusual phenomena.

Strange skys: Spectacular photo of sun dogs, solar halo, circumzenithal arc captured in Croatia sky

Earth Sky
Mon, 12 Oct 2015 17:53 UTC

High above Earth, tiny ice crystals create halos by refracting and reflecting the light of the sun or moon

Zlatko Orbanic in the city of Pula in Croatia sent in this photo, which he shot in September, 2015. It shows a circular 22-degree halo surrounding a setting sun. These ice halos are the result of ice crystals in the upper atmosphere. Within the halo itself, on either side of the sun, you can see two prominent parhelia, also called sun dogs. Also within the halo, above the sun, you'll see a hint of what's called an upper tangent arc. And above that is a circumzenithal arc.

All of these phenomena are considered frequent halos by experts in sky optics. Les Cowley of the great website Atmospheric Optics says:

Halos appear in our skies far more often than do rainbows. They can be seen on average twice a week in Europe and parts of the United States. The 22° radius circular halo and sundogs (parhelia) are the most frequent.

Comment: The increase in atmospheric phenomena like sun dogs and sun halos are likely due to a build up of cosmic material in our atmosphere.

Spectacular Russian rocket launch - more evidence of comet dust loading our atmosphere

New Lt. Governor of Virginia Winsome Sears: "We're going to have safer neighborhoods, safer communities, and our children are going to get a good...

parzival

Bill Gates is going to be the one with the uncertain future,,, * New Lt. Governor of Virginia Winsome Sears: "We're going to have safer...

parzival

The more we hear about adverse affects the more we will merely shrug. It's a catch 22. Is that an asteroid trail in the photo?

sass

Welcome to the new normal. The more sensory exposure we have about such things, the less it is an issue.

sass

more misbehaving phuqqin' jewzskies starring on the sott; speaks for itself

Jibrish

Earth Changes

Waterspouts popping up on Lake Erie, Ohio

Large sinkhole develops in Union City, California - suddenly fills with water

Bundle up! Winter-like pattern to bring coldest weather of season to eastern U.S. this weekend

Waterspout forms off coast in Bronte Beach, Australia

Sinkhole swallows large stretch of road in San José, Costa Rica

Four months of heavy snow predicted for UK; worst winter in half-a-century

Early-season snow will bring central Germany first taste of winter

USGS reports 5.9 magnitude quake strikes off Russia's Kuril Islands

Fata Morgana? Mysterious mirage city appears in clouds over Foshan, China

Strange skys: Spectacular photo of sun dogs, solar halo, circumzenithal arc captured in Croatia sky

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