Thousands of people in the area are waking up without power.
Austin Energy says up to 50 pole fires sparked overnight due to dirt and moisture on equipment, causing power outages for about 4,000 customers.
Experts say the mist in the air Friday morning turned dust on electric Poles to mud, which created the sparks.
There have also been reports of outages for Pedernales Electric customers. Officials ask those customers to call 888-883-3379 to report an outage.
Austin Energy says 16 crews are working to restore power in 32 locations.
Earth Changes
A USDA economist says Americans will be paying more at the grocery store in 2013.
Comment: This economist is talking about higher prices on the order of 3-4% inflation, but we suspect they will go much higher than that once the extensive 2012 crop failures and probable future crop failures translate into retail prices.
© U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced the schedule for removing rock formations in the Mississippi River
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced the schedule for removing rock formations in the Mississippi River
The Waterways Council, which represents shippers and receivers of commodities, said in a message to its members that it received an advisory from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Monday that indicated water levels around Thebes, Ill., could be too low for most vessels to operate by January 3 or 4.
A spokesman for the Army Corps did not immediately return a call for comment about the forecast.
Shippers for months have been watching the stretch of the Mississippi River between St. Louis and Cairo, Ill., which includes Thebes, due to concerns about a potential closure.
A shipping superhighway that carries billions of dollars in grain, coal, steel and other commodities every year from the central United States to the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi is near record-low levels due to the worst U.S. drought since 1956.
© Christopher Furlong /GETTY
St Denys' Church suffers from flooding in the village of Severn Stoke near Worcester
St Denys' Church suffers from flooding in the village of Severn Stoke near Worcester
The year started with hose pipe bans and warnings of drought. It has ended as the wettest in England since records began. The Met Office said yesterday that at 1,095.8 millimetres the average rainfall across England in 2012 had already breached the previous high of 1,093mm in 2000.
With a further deluge expected over the final few days, it is also likely 2012 will be the third wettest in the UK as a whole since records began in 1910, and it still could be the wettest.
The figures came as more flood warnings were issued for the New Year period by the Environment Agency, with major rivers such as the Severn and Thames set to peak in some areas.
© AFP Photo / Jeff Swensen
Residents shovel snow on Mt. Washington after a winter storm blanketed the Midwest with snow.
Residents shovel snow on Mt. Washington after a winter storm blanketed the Midwest with snow.
Since Tuesday, 15 have died in weather-related incidents across the US, including a 1-year-old and a 2-year-old who were killed in a car accident. While many of the victims lost their lives during traffic accidents caused by the rough weather, others were crushed to death by falling trees.
Throughout Indiana, the snowfall ranged from 6 to 12 inches, forcing the state to employ 350 snowplows to clear the roads.
"It's pretty bad. You get a lot of drifting out there. That's what's killing us, mainly," plow driver David White told CNN affiliate WRTV.
© BNTV News
Brockville Police say if you don't have to go out today, stay at home and off the roads.
"The amount of snow that fell is only realized as people are stuck at the end of their driveways. Good Samaritans can be found stopping to help and now their vehicles are hazards on the roadway. Stay at home if you can." said Inspector Scott Fraser today.
Fraser also said that there have been no major accidents that have been reported so far.
And it looks like there's a snowy weekend ahead.
This map from NOAA shows that 65 percent of the USA was covered by snow as of Thursday morning, December 27, 2012.
And it looks like there's a snowy weekend ahead, with snow for New York City, Boston and Philadelphia.
Snow is expected to spread from parts of the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley on Friday to portions of the Northeast on Saturday.
Source: The Weather Channel
© NOAA
And it looks like there's a snowy weekend ahead, with snow for New York City, Boston and Philadelphia.
Snow is expected to spread from parts of the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley on Friday to portions of the Northeast on Saturday.
Source: The Weather Channel
We truly live in an age of deep stupidity and insanity.
The EU believes that they control weather, and they also believe that they want to make it colder.December 26, 2012 Cold Weather Across Europe, Asia Kills Hundreds
Cold weather in the past few days has sadly gone from severe to deadly. While unusually high snowfall has disrupted the travel plans of millions of Americans, freezing temperatures have taken the lives of hundreds of people from Central Europe to South Asia. The BBC reports that in Poland, 49 people have died; in Ukraine, 83; in Russia, 88; and in India, at least 93. The majority of those dead are the elderly and the homeless.
© DunyaNewsTv
© Wally Santana/AP/Press Association Images
- Tokyo Bay cesium even higher than levels reported off Fukushima - Nearly entire sea floor contaminated by 2014
- Tokyo getting 5 times more radioactive fallout than prefectures closer to Fukushima
- Japanese Legal Expert: "Even residents of Tokyo are evacuating" - More and more people fleeing Fukushima
- People from Tokyo area report thyroid cysts and nodules - Japanese doctors laughing at patients
- Japan Scientists: Radiation dose has been "significantly increased" around Tokyo metropolitan area after Fukushima
Comment: Last time we checked, mist and dust don't cause power poles to burst into flames. It would be great to hear more detailed reports, but it sounds like another case of St. Elmo's fire, a plasma phenomenon caused by an electric discharge. The Wiki page on St. Elmo's says it can be generated by thunderstorms or volcanic eruptions, but another possibility is electric discharge from incoming bolides.
Sunday, 9th December 2012: Power poles burst into flames in Texas one day before Fireball sightings