Earth Changes

Next few weeks to yield several Atlantic tropical storms, hurricanes as busy season continues

Alex Sosnowski
Accuweather
Fri, 26 Aug 2016 04:04 UTC

Following a tropical storm threat in the Bahamas and Florida into this weekend, an uptick in tropical systems will continue for the next six to eight weeks. The potential exists for significant impact on lives and property from the Caribbean to the United States and Canada.

The average peak of the Atlantic hurricane season lies ahead.

With the inhibiting factors of El Niño removed, a busy September and October are likely in terms of the number of tropical storms and hurricanes. El Niño is part of a natural cycle of warm tropical Pacific Ocean water. Generally, when waters of the tropical Pacific are warm, weather patterns cause gouges of disruptive winds and dry air over the Atlantic.

The El Niño/La Niña cycle is in a neutral state and swinging toward a La Niña state, which produces cool tropical Pacific water and generally creates light winds and promotes moist air over the Atlantic.

During an average season, the period from September and into October brings water temperatures near their annual peak, plenty of moist air and little in terms of disruptive winds in the tropics.

"We continue to expect above-average numbers of tropical storms, hurricanes and major hurricanes this season for the Atlantic basin," according to AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski. "This season we expect 14 tropical storms, eight hurricanes and four major hurricanes," Kottlowski said. On average, there are 11 tropical storms, six hurricanes and two major hurricanes each year over the Atlantic basin.

Comment: It looks at though we are in for more wild weather in September and October. See our latest SOTT Earth Changes Summary - July 2016: Extreme Weather, Planetary Upheaval, Meteor Fireballs to get an idea of what may lie ahead.

Another 'rare' circumhorizontal arc seen in Tennessee skies

Ken Weathers
WATE
Tue, 23 Aug 2016 18:18 UTC

Did you happen to notice a strange, horizontal-looking rainbow cloud in the sky on Monday? Many people contacted the WATE 6 On Your Side Storm Team asking about it.

It looked like a rainbow, but we didn't have any rain Monday. These really aren't rainbows. They are called circumhorizontal arcs.

They form by light passing through wispy, high-altitude cirrus clouds. They are rather rare because they are only seen when the sun is very high in the sky, more than 58 degrees above the horizon. Another important factor is that the hexagonal-shaped ice crystals within the high, thin cirrus clouds need to be thick plates with their faces parallel to the ground. So, as you can imagine, this is often a difficult task to get these events to occur at the same time.

When the sun's light enters through a vertical side of this ice crystal and leaves from the bottom face, it refracts, or bends in the same way that light passes through a prism. If the cirrus's crystals are aligned just right, the whole cloud lights up in a spectrum of colors.

Comment: A few days before, another not-so-rare circumhorizontal arc was seen in North Carolina. It appears to be happening more often due in part to atmospheric conditions that include increased particulates in the atmosphere from a rise in volcanic ash, dust and 'meteor dust' left by fireballs exploding in our atmosphere.

Discovery of dead harbor seals alarms beachgoers in New Hampshire

Jason Schreiber
Union Leader
Fri, 26 Aug 2016 10:00 UTC

Harbor seals like this one have been showing up on New Hampshire beaches

The discovery of several dead harbor seals on New Hampshire beaches has alarmed beachgoers, but experts say this is the time of year when young seals that have struggled to survive on their own are likely to die.

Members of the Seacoast Science Center's Marine Mammal Rescue Team have responded to as many as seven dead harbor seals found on beaches in Hampton, North Hampton, Rye and Seabrook over the past week. Three other seals were found alive.

According to Sarah Toupin, assistant Marine Mammal Rescue Team coordinator, the period from late August into October is a time when seal weanlings often wash up on the beaches. Some are deceased while others may be weak and fighting to live.

Most of the seals found within the past week were young.

Dead pygmy whale washes up on Killarney Beach, Australia

Anthony Brady
The Standard
Fri, 26 Aug 2016 09:44 UTC

The dead pygmy right whale calf washed up on Killarney Beach

The legacy of a whale washed up on Killarney Beach on Friday morning will live on.

The dead pygmy right whale calf that washed up on a section of the beach near The Cutting will go to Museum Victoria for research purposes.

Department of environment, land, water and planning (DELWP) senior biodiversity officer Mandy Watson said the two-metre whale was identified from photos as a juvenile male.

"This is a very valuable specimen that Museum Victoria is keen to study and add to its collection for research on the evolution of whales," Ms Watson said.

Tornado outbreak in Indiana and Ohio could be record breaker

Chris Dolce
The Weather Channel
Thu, 25 Aug 2016 07:00 UTC

Red circles show where there was a report of a tornado on Wednesday

Wednesday's tornado outbreak in Indiana and Ohio could rank among the largest tornado days on record for the month of August after a final confirmed number of tornadoes is determined.

Though surveys are ongoing to determine the actual tornado count, there were nearly three dozen reports of tornadoes for the day. That's a large number for August, and they were all confined in a small corridor from central Indiana to northwest Ohio.

As of Thursday early afternoon, seven tornadoes had been confirmed in Indiana by the National Weather Service, including an EF3 in Kokomo, Indiana.

Italian PM declares state of emergency for earthquake area; 4.7 magnitude aftershock strikes near Amatrice

Sky News
Fri, 26 Aug 2016 06:47 UTC

Italy's Prime Minister has declared a state of emergency in the area affected by the earthquake which killed at least 250.

It came as a strong 4.7-magnitude aftershock struck near the worst-hit town of Amatrice on Friday morning.

PM Matteo Renzi has authorised an initial €50m in crisis funding to start the rebuilding process and offered to cancel taxes for those affected.

He also called for a national collective effort - dubbed Italian Homes - to build dwellings for the future that will be safe in the event of other quakes.

The 6.2 magnitude earthquake hit on Wednesday and devastated parts of Lazio, Umbria and Le Marche.

Comment: Italy earthquake: Death toll approaches 250 as rescue operation continues

35 large wildfires blazing across western United States

The Weather Channel
Thu, 25 Aug 2016 12:30 UTC

© Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review via AP
A plane drops a load of fire retardant on the north side of Beacon Hill, Sunday, Aug 21, 2016, in Spokane, Washington.

Nearly three dozen large wildfires are burning across the West, stretching fire crews thin as they work around-the-clock to contain the infernos.

Additionally, firefighters made initial attacks on 112 new blazes to prevent them from spreading. The situation forced the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, to raise the National Preparedness Level to 4 last week, one shy of the highest level.

Still, the wildfires have persisted this week. In Wyoming, a large wildfire has forced the closure of the main connecting road between Yellowstone National Park's southern end and Grand Teton National Park's northern border, according to Reuters.

This closure has been blamed on the Maple fire, which has burned more than 27,000 acres of land and is now less than four miles from the town of West Yellowstone, Montana, Reuters also said. The Maple fire and two other fires, burning in remote areas of Yellowstone National Park, were started by lightning, the report added.

Comment: 2016 is already a year of extreme weather disasters for the United States

3.6 magnitude earthquake recorded in Saint Lucia

SNO Staff
St. Lucia News Online
Thu, 25 Aug 2016 21:53 UTC

The University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre (UWISRC) has confirmed that a 3.6 magnitude earthquake was felt in the North of St. Lucia, at around 1:03 p.m.

It was located at 14.29°N and 61.08°W and had a depth of 29km.

Persons in Rodney Bay and Beausejour felt the tremor.

'Rare' circumhorizontal arc spotted in Greensboro, North Carolina

Grant Gilmore
WFMY News 2
Mon, 22 Aug 2016 23:40 UTC

It might look like rainbow and you might have even heard it called a fire rainbow, but what some people saw in the sky last Friday was a circumhorizontal arc.

A rare sighting that can only be seen in the Triad from March through September a circumhorizontal arc is a phenomenon caused by the sunlight hitting ice crystals just right in the atmosphere. This occurs when sun- or moonlight is refracted in a plate-shaped ice crystal that is suspended in the atmosphere, typically in high cirrus clouds.

The process that causes the circumhorizontal arc is just like the effect of when you shine light into a prism.

In ideal conditions, the arc appears as a large, brightly spectrum-colored band that appears parallel to the horizon located directly below the sun or moon.