Earth Changes

Strange 'spherical' cloud photographed over Fujisawa, Japan

Science Alert
Mon, 12 Dec 2016 13:46 UTC

The cloud reportedly appeared above a train station in Japan

Bizarre pictures coming out of Japan last week show what appears to be an oddly spherical cloud hovering over the city of Fujisawa, just south of Tokyo.

According to reports from the photographer, the cloud started to lose its shape as soon as it was photographed, and then rapidly faded into the sky as if it never existed.

"When I looked out of the car window I saw a round ball-shaped cloud. I gazed at the cloud for a while then I rushed to take the photo," Twitter user @pmxpvrtmx (Poppy) told local Japanese news outlet, Rocket News 24.

"When I saw the cloud it was an even more spherical shape, so I regret not taking the photo more quickly."

Floods wreak havoc on roads in northern Jamaica

Richard Davies
Floodlist
Mon, 12 Dec 2016 11:49 UTC

Heavy rain on 11 December, 2016, caused flooding in parts of the northern parishes of St Ann and St Mary in Jamaica. The worst hit areas were Runaway Bay and Dunbarton in St. Ann, where flood water in some roads well over 1 metre deep.

Roads have been damaged by the force of the flood water, leaving some areas cut off. Images on Social Media showed stretches of road ripped up and cars overturned and submerged in the floods. One vehicle was said to have been dragged 500 metres in the flood water. There are also some reports of damage to homes. However, no injuries or fatalities have been reported.

© Dr DaytonCampbell MP
Car ended up down on the entrance to the beach after it was washed about 500m from Claremont Street.

Earlier today pic.twitter.com/Tswsqn6cqX
— Dr DaytonCampbell MP (@DaytonCampbell) December 11, 2016

Two earthquakes in two minutes, one of them strong, shake central New Zealand

Stuff.co.nz
Mon, 12 Dec 2016 06:31 UTC

© GEONET
The upper South Island and lower North Island, particularly the capital Wellington, was where the 4.7 magnitude quake felt the strongest.

Two earthquakes in two minutes, one of them a "strong" 4.7, have shaken central New Zealand on Monday evening.

GeoNet reported a preliminary magnitude 4.1 quake at 6.13pm, 10 km north of Culverden at a depth of 20km.

The second quake, a stronger magnitude 4.7, struck at 6.14pm, 15 km south-east of Seddon at a depth of 15km, GeoNet said.

Initially GeoNet classified the magnitude of the second quake as a 5.0 but this was later downgraded to a smaller, shallower 4.7.

By 6.45pm, more than 3000 people, mostly in the lower North Island and upper South Island, had reported feeling one or both of the quakes.

Dead humpback whale found on beach in North Truro, Massachusetts

Boston Herald
Fri, 09 Dec 2016 18:48 UTC

Dead humpback whale on High Head Beach

An animal welfare group says a dead humpback whale was found on a beach in Massachusetts.

Misty Niemeyer, a necropsy coordinator with the International Fund for Animal Welfare, tells The Cape Cod Times the beached carcass was reported to IFAW on Wednesday by Center for Coastal Studies staff on a boat that was passing by the Atlantic Ocean beach in North Truro.

IFAW experts examined the animal on High Head Beach on Thursday, but couldn't immediately determine a cause of death.

Niemeyer says experts determined the 32-foot-long female humpback— estimated to be about 3 to 7 years old —has likely been dead for at least two days and possibly more than a week.

Source: Associated Press

Rare waterspout filmed over Lake Erie

Jessica Shepherd
mlive.com
Thu, 08 Dec 2016 18:36 UTC

A waterspout on the shores of Lake Erie was captured on video by multiple observers Thursday, Dec. 8.

Meteorologist Reed Timmer, a Grand Rapids native, was one of those who spotted the spinning water funnel near the shores of Lake Erie in New York State.

Timmer took to his Facebook page to share footage with his nearly 1 million followers. He also shared a high resolution YouTube video of the waterspout, which was filmed by Thom Smetana and Aaron Rigsby.

Weather out of whack: North Pole is 25F warmer than Bismarck, North Dakota

Gary Walton
The Big Wobble
Sat, 10 Dec 2016 14:08 UTC

north pole warmer than North Dakota ice age

Experts warning its going to be a lot worse next week!

This morning at 9.am UST, Bismarck North Dakota USA recorded a temperature of minus 32.5C, minus 26.5F, which is 25F colder the North Pole which recorded its temperature at minus 17.3C, minus 1F. These kinds of temperatures are brutal and with the blizzard conditions North Dakota has suffered this week it has been truly treacherous.

Brutal cold lingering across the northern Plains thanks to an invasion of Arctic air. On Wednesday night, Dickinson, North Dakota, experienced an AccuWeather Real Feel Temperature of minus 39, while in Casper, Wyoming, the actual temperature plummeted to minus 33. And it will get worse, if you thought it was cold in the US this week well, next week is going to be even colder as the polar vortex returns to North America. Reuter's reports, forecasters are sending chills down some spines with a prediction that much of the northern half of the United States could see frigid weather next week similar to life-threatening lows the polar vortex brought to parts of the country in 2014.

Comment:

Erupting Mexican volcano violently spews lava & hot ash into air

RT
Sun, 11 Dec 2016 03:29 UTC

The slowly-erupting Colima volcano in Mexico has spectacularly started spewing lava, sending a huge column of smoke and ash high into the air.

One of the most active volcanoes in North America, the Colima volcano has been slowly erupting since early September. A particularly spectacular eruption in October led to the evacuation of 300 people.

Enormous earthquakes occur on both sides of the Pacific: Experts warn that San Andreas could "unzip all at once"

Michael Snyder
Activist Post
Fri, 09 Dec 2016 00:00 UTC

Why is our planet shaking so violently all of a sudden? There have literally been dozens of significant earthquakes right along the Ring of Fire within the past 30 days, and two giant ones made headlines all over the globe on Thursday. First, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck off the coast of Humboldt County, California, and that was followed later in the day by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in the Solomon Islands. But of course these latest earthquakes are just the latest examples of increased shaking along the outer perimeter of the Pacific Ocean. Experts are not quite sure what to make of all of this shaking, but they are warning that "the Big One" could strike the west coast at literally any time.

Let's start by discussing the historic earthquake that just hit the Solomon Islands. According to the Washington Post, it was originally determined to be a magnitude 8.0 earthquake before being downgraded to a 7.8...

A massive earthquake erupted along a fault line near the Solomon Islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean on Thursday. The quake was originally detected as a magnitude-8 by the U.S. Geological Service, but has since been reduced to a 7.8 on the Moment-Magnitude scale.

It was followed by a 5.5-magnitude quake, and aftershocks continue to roll through.

Kamchatka volcano Shiveluch spews ash 11-km above sea level

Sputnik
Sat, 10 Dec 2016 10:21 UTC

A huge ash emission from Shiveluch volcano was registered in the morning on December 10, according to the ministry.

"The height of the ash plume was up to 11,000 meters above sea level. The height of the volcano is 3,200 meters [about 10,500 feet]," the Saturday statement said.

According to the local emergencies authorities, there are no settlements in the path of the ash plume and no Kamchatka residents were affected by the incident.

Comment: See also: Shiveluch volcano spews ash 10.7km above sea level

Freezing temperatures, snow, icy rain to hit more than 200 million in the U.S.

RT
Fri, 09 Dec 2016 18:41 UTC

Ready, steady, bundle up! Jack Frost is about to dance across the Northeast with a freezing polar vortex making a dramatic return to the US. Chills, snow and rain are expected to make a landfall over the weekend, likely bringing old classics like slippery roads and flight delays.

Meteorologists predict that the freezing blast will cover midwestern and northeastern states for at least five to seven days. So, getting out extra scarves and gloves might be a good idea.

This year's polar vortex, or a shift in a stratospheric weather system, is already been predicted to be just as bad as the one that developed in January 2014, when record freezing temperatures gripped the US.

"Upper-level atmosphere configuration very similar in scale & magnitude as infamous Jan 2014 #PolarVortex popularized by me and @afreedma,"meteorologist Ryan Maue said on Twitter on Tuesday alongside maps comparing the two weather systems.

More than 200 million Americans are expected to be affected by freezing temperatures, snow and rain, or a mix of both.

Comment: See also: Bitterly cold air to come in waves across US into next week