Earth Changes
The giant wave, believed to be hundreds of miles in width, was captured by a photographer on board the space station and appears particularly visually clear thanks to a beam of sunlight being reflected back to the camera at the exact moment the photo was taken.
The image, captured on January 18, shows a so-called 'internal wave' just to the north of the Caribbean island of Trinidad.
Internal waves are created by different water densities moving over ocean features such as underwater mountains or continental shelves.
The features create internal waves which can grow up to 100 metres in height and span hundreds of miles in width.
They have been reported to affect submarines, oil rigs, underwater cables and even passing aircraft, which can suffer drops in altitude. It is also believed that they have an impact on the planet's climate.
The sinkhole was called in just before 9 a.m. at the old Tower Bank building at 2001 Lincoln Way East in Guilford Township. The building was vacant and no one was injured.
Township Road Superintendent Frank Hobbs said the sinkhole occurred on private property but is within 75 feet of Lincoln Way East, also known as Route 30, which is maintained by the state. PennDOT was called in to evaluate the situation.
Hobbs said the situation has now been handed over to Susquehanna Bank, which currently owns the building. He said the gas and electricity in the building have been shut off.
Roads are emptying out now as drivers heed an order issued by Governor Deval Patrick that all vehicles be parked by 4 p.m. Sideways-blowing snow is adding to the falling darkness.
More than 5,000 power outages have already been reported as winds down tree limbs and wires.
In Marshfield, officials said they expected to ask shorefront residents to evacuate themselves because of concerns about storm-driven tides tonight and Saturday morning.
Meanwhile, in Brazil, it's raining spiders.
Footage posted online yesterday shows thousands of spiders "falling from the sky" in the southern Brazilian town of Santo Antônio da Platina.
"Still do not know what causes such behavior," writes the video's uploader. "We are researching and will post the answer to the question here."
I know exactly what causes such behavior. A little something called the end of the world.
The Minister for Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology, Hon Bradley Tovusia made the declaration following a decision reached by the National Disaster Council on February 7.
More than 1200 residents of the region were left without electricity after heavy snowfall knocked out power lines and substations.
I've never seen such big flakes of snow. They are as big as the coin two euros. Within 24 hours as much snow fell as usual throughout the winter. Snow cover in some places more than five feet, the governor said.
Plows can not keep up with snow removal routes.
Source: WP.PL (In Polish)

A woman walks down a residential street as snow falls in Toronto on Friday, February 8, 2013.
Other vehicles were reported to be stuck in snowbanks, in ditches or blocking lanes after spinning out of control. At the Bayview entrance of the southbound Don Valley Parkway, cars had trouble negotiating the icy in-ramp. The DVP's Bayview off-ramp was reported to be closed because of slippery conditions. On Highway 401, the eastbound collector off-ramp at Allen Road was also closed because of the road conditions.
On the Queen Elizabeth Way, near Fort Erie, a snowplow fell into a ditch and, a few kilometres further north, a salter truck had rolled.
More than 150 highway car collisions had been reported, said Ontario Provincial Police Sergeant Dave Woodford.
There were only minor injuries, mostly from fender benders, he said.
Legendary forecaster Gus Wickstrom of Tompkins, Saskatchewan
Gus, a man of Swedish descent who lived in this prairie province all of his life, was a weather forecaster. He predicted weather conditions six months in advance, yet his technology required no fancy equipment, no high-tech razzle-dazzle. All Gus needed was a barn and a farmhand or two standing by. . .because he predicted the weather by looking at a pig spleen.
Every 6 months or so, Gus slaughtered a pig, and in the frugal way of farm families, he found a way to use everything but the squeal, as they say. Gus closely scrutinized the spleen, using a method he learned from his father and Harold Pearson, a neighbor.
Gus's method
(See image to the right.) Gus divided the spleen into six areas, each representing 1 month. The top of the spleen (closest to the pig's head) shows the current month. The bottom indicates the end of the upcoming six-month period. Where the spleen thickens, a change in the weather is indicated, usually pointing to a cold spell. Where there's a pronounced bulge, expect even more inclement weather. Gus could even read wind and rain into the variations in the spleen.
The satellite image, captured at 9:01 a.m. EST, shows clouds associated with the western frontal system stretching from Canada through the Ohio and Tennessee valleys, into the Gulf of Mexico. The comma-shaped low pressure system located over the Atlantic, east of Virginia, is forecast to merge with the front and create a powerful nor'easter. The National Weather Service expects the merged storm to move northeast and drop between two to three feet of snow in parts of New England.
Two of the Great Lakes have hit their lowest water levels ever recorded, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Tuesday, capping more than a decade of below-normal rain and snowfall and higher temperatures that boost evaporation.
Measurements taken last month show Lake Huron and Lake Michigan have reached their lowest ebb since record keeping began in 1918, and the lakes could set additional records over the next few months, the corps said. The lakes were 29 inches below their long-term average and had declined 17 inches since January 2012.
The other Great Lakes - Superior, Erie and Ontario - were also well below average.
"We're in an extreme situation," said Keith Kompoltowicz, watershed hydrology chief for the corps district office in Detroit.
The low water has caused heavy economic losses by forcing cargo ships to carry lighter loads, leaving boat docks high and dry, and damaging fish-spawning areas. And vegetation has sprung up in newly exposed shoreline bottomlands, a turnoff for hotel customers who prefer sandy beaches.











