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Wed, 27 Oct 2021
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'Shook the house, shook the walls': Mysterious explosion heard in Knoxville, Tennessee

Mystery Boom
A mysterious explosion in North Knoxville left hundreds questioning on social media-what caused the boom?

People said they heard and felt it in Powell, Halls and Mascot Tuesday night, but they found no real answers as to its cause.

Neighbors suggested explanations from thunder to earthquakes, but one possibility stuck out more than the rest.

A video surfaced of at least two men who appeared to be behind some type of small explosion. They said they were blowing up a tree stump off Salem Church Road around 6 p.m. Tuesday.


Comment: The area from Powell to Mascot to Halls, Tennessee covers well over a 20-mile radius. We doubt that the sound heard across that area would be caused by a local crew downing a tree with explosives.


Comment: See also:


Snowflake

Stunning satellite image shows lake effect snow over the Great Lakes

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Satellites
© NOAA
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Satellites Twitter account released this image of lake-effect snow and its impact across Michigan, the Great Lakes and the Eastern United States and Canada on Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017. The satellite image was taken Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2017
Chances are, you've seen a satellite photo similar to this one that shows Michigan and the Great Lakes during a snowstorm with lake effect. But the snowfall was especially amplified over the last week in places such as Erie, Pa., which was buried in more than 50 inches of snow over a 30-hour span. As of Wednesday, the area has seen more than 63 inches of snow since Saturday.

On Christmas Day, a stationary snow band off Lake Erie dumped nearly 3 feet of snow on Erie, Pa., more than four times the previous Christmas record and 14 inches more than the city's all-time record that has stood for more than 60 years.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Satellites Twitter account tweeted this image Wednesday that shows just how much of a lake effect the Great Lakes had on snowfall across Michigan, lower Ontario and several Eastern states such as New York and Pennsylvania.

Comment: See also these recent reports from places close to the Great Lakes:


Snowflake Cold

Motorists abandon vehicles, hundreds stranded at airports as snow, ice and heavy winds batter UK

Snow M Gloucestershire December 2017
© Ben Birchall/PA
Snow reduces the M5 to two lanes between junctions 14 and 15 in south Gloucestershire.
Motorists have had to abandon their vehicles in icy conditions in the Lake District and hundreds of passengers have been stranded at airports after their flights were delayed, with the bad weather expected to cause further travel disruption across the UK.

The Met Office issued a yellow warning for ice across large parts of the UK stretching into Thursday morning, and isolated snowfall was expected on higher ground in England, Wales and Scotland.

About 300 people were stuck at Stansted airport late on Wednesday evening while waiting to rebook flights following a series of Ryanair and easyJet flight cancellations caused by the weather, the airport said.

Igloo

Extreme arctic cold continues to grip Canada and northern US

sledding
© AFP Photo/Mark Makela
A homeless man froze to death at a bus stop in Ohio and people in Pennsylvania resorted to a bulldozer to clear snow Wednesday, as an Arctic snap gripped most of Canada and the northern United States.

In Canada, extreme cold warnings were issued for scores of communities across the country, including the heavily-populated provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

In the United States, a homeless man froze to death at a bus stop in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, local media said, quoting police and a homeless charity.

While Toronto reported temperatures of minus 15 C (5 F) and Ottawa minus 25 C, the coldest spot in Canada was minus 42.8 C in Armstrong, Ontario, according to Environment Canada.

Extreme cold warnings are issued "when very cold temperatures or wind chill creates an elevated risk to health such as frost bite and hypothermia," the government agency said.

Snowflake Cold

Siberia, Antarctica warmer than New Hampshire

Hampton Beach
© NH1
Mother Nature is giving New Hampshire more than just the cold shoulder to end 2017, she's giving us the back of her hand.

Thanks to a blast of arctic air, we're bracing for temperatures about 20 degrees colder than normal averages over the next week. In Concord temperatures are expected to dip as low as -11.

Of course this doesn't even factor in the wind chill, which we all know provides an extra slap in the face when we walk out the door each morning.

But how does New Hampshire stack up against some of the coldest places on Earth? Should we really be complaining? The answer is yes.

Here are eight surprising places (as of 3 p.m. Wednesday) that will be warmer than New Hampshire over the next week, according to weather.com:

Comment: See also: US: Christmas brings Northeast blizzard, bitter cold in Midwest


Map

Sumatra's Sinabung volcano has largest eruption since August

Mount Agung
© AP
Mount Agung
A highly active volcano on the Indonesian island of Sumatra erupted again on Wednesday afternoon, sending searing hot clouds of gas and ash as far as 4.6 kilometers down its slopes, the country's volcanology agency said.

The Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation said the major eruption of Mount Sinabung, located in North Sumatra province, occurred at 3:36 p.m. and lasted for 8 minutes. It was its biggest eruption since August.

"Smoke and volcanic ash were spewed from the crater and the ash fell on several villages around Mount Sinabung," it said.

But no casualties were reported, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.


Snowflake

Michigan's Porcupine Mountains digging out after 6 feet of snow

Heavy snowfall has rangers digging out the headquarters at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park
© Michigan DNR
Heavy snowfall has rangers digging out the headquarters at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park
Rangers at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park were busy digging out their headquarters Wednesday.

More than 72 inches of snow have fallen in some areas of the park, and a groomer was headed out to pack down the cross-country trails today.

"Lower elevated areas have 36-60 inches and the higher elevations have 48-72 inches of snow," the park posted on its Facebook page today. "The National Weather Service is calling for additional snow."

The 60,000-acre park in the northwestern Upper Peninsula, along the shores of Lake Superior, is one of the last sprawling tracts of wilderness left in the Midwest.

Snowflake

48-hour snow record broken in Redfield, New York with 62 inches!

Caroyln Yerdon, the NWS observer in Redfield, climbed atop a 15-foot pile of snow on Wednesday to celebrate Redfield's (unofficial) record for the most snow to fall in Oswego County in 48 hours.
© Carolyn Yerdon
Caroyln Yerdon, the NWS observer in Redfield, climbed atop a 15-foot pile of snow on Wednesday to celebrate Redfield's (unofficial) record for the most snow to fall in Oswego County in 48 hours.
Redfield in Oswego County has -- unofficially -- broken the county's 48-hour snow record, according to the weather service's observer in the town.

Over the last two days, 62.2 inches of snow has accumulated in the town of 550 people, said Carolyn Yerdon, the National Weather Service observer.

The record beats the previous Oswego County record of 57 inches in Bennetts Bridge in February 2008, according to the weather service.


Snowflake

Dolomites ski resort in Italy reports 4 feet of snow in 24 hours; huge dumps of 80cms on other European mountains

Arabba in the Italian Dolomites

Arabba in the Italian Dolomites
Arabba in the Italian Dolomites has reported 120cm (four feet) of snowfall in the past 24 hours.

It's the biggest accumulation in a list of hundreds of big totals across Europe with up to 80cm of snow reported in the Pyrenees and the same in the Alps.

The snowfall at Arabba appears to be the biggest snowfall in the region for nearly four years since the village was cut off by snow in early 2014 when a state of emergency was declared when roads were blocked and power cut off.

This is the snow falling last night:

Attention

Dead whale discovered near Port of Long Beach, Califorina

whale
A whale estimated at 20 to 30 feet long was found dead in a shipping channel near the Port of Long Beach Wednesday night.

The whale has been tied to a dock until scientists arrive to investigate the cause of death and determine what type of whale it is. A port spokesperson said this is a rare occurrence and can't recall a whale ever being trapped in shipping traffic.

The whale was discovered by the Coast Guard near Nimitz Road at Pier T and Bert 140 around 6 p.m., Long Beach Fire Dept. spokesperson Brian Fisk said.