© Everton Luís Sparremberger
Earth Changes
A "Snownado" in East Texas
But perhaps nothing was as terrifying as seeing the word "Snownado" come across my Twitter timeline.
In the East Texas town of Gun Barrell City witnesses recorded what looked like a tornado in the middle of the blizzard. The now-dubbed "Snownado" swirled above Cedar Creek Lake for a bit before dissipating.
Here is a video capturing the event that was thankfully uploaded to the Internet:
This image provided by Colorado Avalanche Information Center shows an avalanche that killed an unidentified snowboarder on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2021, near the town of Winter Park in Colorado.
At least 25 people have been killed in avalanches in the United States this year — more than the 23 who died last winter. Typically, 27 people die in avalanches in the U.S. annually.
Avalanche forecasters say they have rarely seen the danger as high as it is now — and it will grow as more snow moves into the Rockies, adding weight and stress on a weak, granular base layer of snow that's susceptible to breaking apart and triggering especially wide slides on steep slopes.
According to police, the accident took place in Firoza's Chak 239.
The police said the children were playing when a landslide struck. They died on the spot. Their bodies have been shifted to a hospital.
The deceased were aged between three and eight years, the law enforcers said.
© Eric Gay/AP Photo
A woman walks through falling snow in San Antonio, Texas, the United States on Sunday, February 14, 2021
A woman walks through falling snow in San Antonio, Texas, the United States on Sunday, February 14, 2021
Here are some of the records that have been broken across the United States by the cold weather as well as some of the more interesting statistics recorded due to the extreme temperatures.
Extreme cold yet a record high
There was a 130-degree spread in temperatures across the US yesterday, from 90 degrees in Florida to 40 below zero in Wisconsin and Minnesota.
And while hundreds of record lows are being set in the central US, Miami hit a record high heat index of 91 on Sunday.
© AA Photo
Municipality crews throw salt on overpasses during snowfall at the Cevizlibağ metrobus station in Istanbul, Turkey, Feb. 14, 2021.
Municipality crews throw salt on overpasses during snowfall at the Cevizlibağ metrobus station in Istanbul, Turkey, Feb. 14, 2021.
By midnight, much of the city was covered in white as the Asian districts of the 15-million megapolis were last to receive heavy snowfall.
The Turkish State Meteorological Service (TSMS) and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality's (IBB) Disaster Coordination Center (AKOM) had previously warned Istanbulites that the snowfall could last for five days with a severe drop in temperatures. Despite the ongoing weekend and nighttime curfews throughout the nation, traffic levels remain high due to decreased public transport ridership over COVID-19.
A blanket of snow covered much of Istanbul on Sunday morning, which weather forecasts say will increase in density throughout the day. Except for brief respites, the snowfall is expected to linger until Thursday.
© Newsweek
"The agency that oversees Texas' electric grid declared an 'energy emergency alert three' early Monday after the grid experienced a systemwide failure," the Weather Channel reported.
The alert turned into rotating outages that are likely to continue through Tuesday morning, according to grid managers.
About 2.5 million people were without power as of 9:00 a.m., the outlet tweeted:
Comment: RT follows up:
"Extreme weather conditions caused many generating units - across fuel types - to trip offline and become unavailable," the company said in a statement, urging energy conservation as the power grid has become more and more strained. Energy use has been at record levels in the state as they, as well as the central US, are facing unusually cold weather.
These rolling blackouts reportedly last anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour.
More than two million homes were reported to be without power in the state on Monday morning, according to poweroutage.us.
The last time rolling outages were implemented in Texas was during a massive storm in February 2011.
Video out of Texas has shown the state blanketed with snow and some roadways dangerously covered in ice. For the first time ever, every county in the state was under a winter storm warning going into Sunday evening.
Road conditions have left many roads impassable and led to numerous crashes, especially on highways. Unlike states that are used to colder weather and heavy snowfall, Texas is facing an unusual emergency as much of the state does not have the resources to handle extreme winter conditions, leaving roads slick and icy, and many homes not insulated enough.
Footage of multiple highway crashes have hit social media with interstate roads either covered in snow or ice. Residents are being urged by local officials to stay home and not travel.
Although temperatures around this time of the year have often averaged - 20 C, Winnipeg dropped down to -38.8 C, which saw it break an 1879 record by 1 C, according to Brian Luzny, an environment Canada Met.
In the meantime, Shoal Lake broke its 1970 record by close to 6 C, while Norway House registered its recent low of - 44 C, which is lower than its last record by 5 C. Essentially, it is the coldest area in the Province. Luzny noted that they are currently breaking records each day.
© SWNS
Locals said they had never seen the river freeze like this before
Locals said they had never seen the river freeze like this before
Temperatures in London dropped to -2C as Storm Darcy - dubbed 'The Beast of the East 2' swept through the country. As a result of the bitter chill from the Baltic, a section of the Thames has frozen over at Teddington, south west London. The extreme freeze meant the UK experienced the coldest February night for 25 years - with temperatures plummeting to below -20C in some parts of the country.
In the capital and the South East, train services have been cancelled and roads left in treacherous conditions.
Comment: See also:
- "Extreme freeze" - Record low February temperatures across the UK
- Winter storm dumps over 9 inches of snow on Boise, Idaho
- Snow and ice blanket US north-west, leaving hundreds of thousands without power - ice-laden trees fall on power lines
- Cold front Medea brings snow to northern Greece
- Russia's capital Moscow hit with the worst snowfall in decades
Comment: Ice, snow, bitter cold hits millions as major storm pummels swaths of U.S.