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Fri, 05 Nov 2021
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Cause of sinkhole in Victoria, Australia still a mystery

Sinkhole
© Shepparton News
The mystery sinkhole that appeared in Shepparton last week.
Even after extensive excavation on the site of the mystery sinkhole that appeared in Shepparton last week, the council is stumped as to just what caused it.

Council workers got a closer look at the sinkhole that opened up in Lightfoot St last week to see if recent heavy rain could have been the cause of the mystery hole.

Shire infrastructure director Steve Bowmaker said the excavation created more questions than answers as it was too dry to have been caused by the wet winter.

''I have to say that despite our best efforts, we don't know what the problem is,'' he said.

''It is possible there could have been that void in there for an extended period.''

He said residents in the street were not in any danger of cave-ins, despite the sinkhole extending to 4m deep and a few metres wide.

Stabilisation and resurfacing work will continue on the street next week, although much of the work was already scheduled before the sinkhole opened.

Just as to what caused the sinkhole, Mr Bowmaker said it was possible it was from a wash away many years ago.

''It is something that has developed over a period of years,'' he said.

However, he said residents should soon be driving on one of the best streets in the municipality when construction was finished.

Camera

Rare sun dog appears above Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri

Sun dog in Lake of the Ozarks
© Tony Reahr
An uncommon atmospheric phenomenon shone next to the sun, above the Lake on Tuesday.

As the sun approached the horizon at the end of an uncommonly warm November day, a "sun dog" could be seen. The photo above was taken near Horseshoe Bend.

Sun dogs are also known as "mock suns" or "phantom suns" and are created when sunlight reflects off ice crystals in the atmosphere. They can appear on both sides of the sun, often when it is close to the horizon.

Snowflake Cold

Coldest October on record for Fort St. John, British Columbia

A photo of the record snowfall in Fort St. John on October 1st.
© Twitter @fsjchic
A photo of the record snowfall in Fort St. John on October 1st.
While the snow that fell on Monday night put a slight damper on Halloween across the Peace Region, it also completed the theme of what ended up being the coldest October on record in Fort St. John.

Environment Canada's Ross MacDonald says that starting at around 7:00 p.m. on Monday, and continuing until midday on November 1st, a total of seven centimetres fell at the North Peace Airport weather station. MacDonald says that though the accumulations were not enough to meet Environment Canada's Snowfall Warning of 10 centimetres of accumulation in a 12 hour timeframe, the snow was heavy enough to cause a number of headaches for motorists yesterday morning.

Snowflake Cold

Heavy snowfall brings indications of a cold winter to Eastern Europe

Cold air has been pushing southwards across Eastern Europe and much of northern Asia in recent days
© Maxim Shipenkov/EPA
Cold air has been pushing southwards across Eastern Europe and much of northern Asia in recent days
Signs that polar vortex may be heading south.

It has been an early and quite vicious start to the winter in parts of Eastern Europe. From the Baltic Sea states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia in the west; to Russia's Siberia in the east; and the Caucuses in the south; the end of October and early November have seen marked changes in weather patterns.

Cold air has been pushing southwards across Eastern Europe and much of northern Asia in recent days. Many climatologists believe this is a sign that changes in the polar vortex are likely to lead to a cold winter ahead.


The polar vortex is an area of low pressure, high up in the atmosphere. It is at its most intense during the winter months. There have been signs in recent years that it is beginning to weaken, and predictions for the coming winter suggest it will weaken significantly.

This weakening is likely to be the result of climate change, being linked to the decrease of Arctic sea ice in recent years.

Comment: See also: Animals slaughted due to record snowfall with five times the monthly normal precipitation in Yakutia, Russia

Heavy snowfall in northwestern Iran accompanied by lightning and thunder

Severe winter conditions strike eastern Turkey

Cold snap hits northern China, with some areas experiencing lowest October temperatures on record


Snowflake

Earliest start in 30 years for Sunshine Village ski resort in Alberta due to exceptional amounts of snow

The TeePee Town LX heated high speed chairlift at Sunshine Village
© Postmedia Archives
The TeePee Town LX heated high speed chairlift at Sunshine Village
Sunshine Village Ski and Snowboard Resort is opening for the season to skiers and snowboarders on Thursday, Nov. 3, the first to do so in Canada and the earliest its opened in more than 30 years.

The Wawa, Strawberry, Jackrabbit and Wolverine chairlifts, along with one magic carpet and one 8-passenger gondola will be operational beginning Thursday.

Families and kids can be part of the action as well, as the ski school will be running along with the Tiny Tiger and Kids Kampus programs as well as select on-mountain dining and retail venues.

Exceptional amounts of snow for this time of year has fallen in the alpine. Currently, Sunshine Village has a base of over 69 centimetres of natural snow.

Attention

10 dolphins found dead in Andaman Sea in 2016

Dead dolphin

Dead dolphin
At least 10 dolphins were found dead in the Andaman Sea this year, including one recently in Krabi, Thailand, reports The Star TV.

In Krabi, villagers spotted two dolphins that were washed ashore. However, only one was alive.

A team of veterinarians came to examine the dolphins and found the one-year-old dolphin, that was alive, had sustained injuries most likely caused by cuts from rocks.

The other dolphin, which was found dead, had shark bites.

Most of the dolphins in the Andaman Sea die from being washed ashore. The cause behind this is still a mystery.

Experts are studying to find out the factors.


Question

Canadian military investigating mysterious noise in the Arctic that is scaring off game

An Inuit girl
© Chris Wattie / Reuters
An Inuit girl
In the tiny Arctic hamlet of Igloolik, Nunavut, hunters say a mysterious sound, seemingly coming from the bottom of the sea, is driving wildlife away.

According to the CBC, locals have different theories about its source, and have attributed this "ping" or "hum" to a mining company that has operated nearby, or even to sabotage by Greenpeace. Both entities denied having anything to do with the phenomenon that hunters allege has made an area once teeming with wildlife a bit more barren over the course of the summer.

Although the Arctic has been increasingly opening up to mining operations, tourism, and military exercises, this pinging sound remains unexplained. Without anywhere else to turn, and with no leads on what's causing it, the Office of the Premier of Nunavut called on the Department of National Defence (DND) to investigate in October.

Comment: More from: Canada hunters say mysterious 'pinging' from seabed scares off game
"That's one of the major hunting areas in the summer and winter because it's a polynya," an area of open water surrounded by ice that's abundant with sea mammals, Paul Quassa said. Quassa is a member of the legislative assembly of Igloolik, a hamlet located roughly 120km from the strait.

"And this time around, this summer, there were hardly any [wildlife]. And this became a suspicious thing."

Another local lawmaker, George Qulaut, said he visited the site to investigate the reports. While he didn't hear any sound, he confirmed a lack of wildlife, the report said.

"That passage is a migratory route for bowhead whales, and also bearded seals and ringed seals. There would be so many in that particular area," he said. "This summer there was none."

Qulaut added that he is deaf in one ear and is not good at hearing high-pitched sounds anymore.



Sun

Winter drought forecast for much of United States

US drought map oct 2016
© U.S. Drought Monitor
Drought conditions across the contiguous U.S. as of Oct. 18, 2016.
While the weather catchphrase of recent winters was the shiver-inducing polar vortex, the buzzword for this winter in the U.S. will be drought.

Significant droughts are already in place over nearly 45 percent of the contiguous U.S., with hotspots in California — where the drought is in its sixth year — the Southeast and Northeast. With the renewed possibility of a La Niña emerging in the next couple months, little improvement is expected in most areas; the drought in the Southeast is expected to expand and drought could also emerge in the Southern Plains, according to the most recent seasonal forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"The winter forecast doesn't bode well for [California] and many other areas around the nation currently experiencing drought," Mike Halpert, deputy director of NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, said during a press teleconference.

La Niña is the opposite end of the natural climate seesaw from El Niño; it is characterized by cooler-than-normal ocean waters in the tropical Pacific, while El Niño features warmer-than-normal.

After an exceptionally strong El Niño, conditions in that area of the Pacific have cooled, moving into neutral territory and now "hovering near the La Niña threshold," Halpert said.

Seismograph

3.8 magnitude earthquake hits off Oregon coast

Quake map Astoria, Oregon
© USGS
The U.S. Geological Survey reported an earthquake, potentially 3.8 in magnitude, near Warrenton and Astoria on Nov. 2, 2016. The epicenter was measured about 10 miles from Astoria, according to the survey’s Twitter feed. It shook the ground around 7:52 a.m. at more than 21 miles deep into the ocean floor, according to the survey’s website.
The USGS has confirmed a 3.8 magnitude earthquake off the Oregon coast just before 8 a.m. Wednesday.

Callers told NATU News the quake rattled their homes, shaking items hanging or on shelves and moving things around. Twitter users reported feeling the quake for a radius extending several miles.

According to the USGS mapping tool, the 7:52 a.m. quake was centered near the coast about 10 miles west of Astoria at a depth of around 21 miles.

The USGS intensity map indicates the quake, naturally, was much stronger near its center by the coast, and its effect weakened in areas farther inland.

The quake was not a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake, and instead an isolated event on one of the numerous other faults in Oregon and Washington, USGS officials said.

They added that earthquakes must be magnitude 7.0 or above to create a tsunami.

Comment: The really big one: The next full Cascadia rupture will spell the worst natural disaster in North American history


Cloud Precipitation

Record-breaking 10 inches of rain recorded in Seattle

seattle record rainfall graph
© Kelly Shea/The Seattle Times
In October we got as much rain as we usually get in this month and the next — but November has just begun.

Weather gauges at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport measured a total of 10.05 inches of rain this month, the most ever for October.

The extended forecast for the Seattle area shows a chance of rain every day through Thursday.

The rain total for this month in the Seattle area first surpassed October's record — which was set in 2003 with 8.96 inches — on Saturday.

The heaviest rainfall for the month occurred on Oct. 13, when the city was drenched with 1.75 inches, according to the weather service. An additional 1.36 inches fell the following day.