Earth ChangesS


Snowflake Cold

Thousands stranded in airports across Europe as big freeze cancels flights forcing passengers to sleep on camp beds

Mario Ledwith and Allan Hall
Daily Mail
Fri, 18 Jan 2013 07:49 UTC
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© APed: Passengers at Munich Airport had to sleep overnight on camp beds supplied by the authorities in Terminal 2 after heavy snowstorms caused hundreds of flights to be cancelled
Thousands of passengers have been left stranded across Europe as snow storms and freezing temperatures have forced airports to shut down. As Britain braces itself for its own travel chaos, hazardous weather has already left transport at a standstill in other European countries.

More than 1,000 unfortunate travellers resembled refugees at Munich airport as they were left no choice but to sleep overnight on camp beds provided by the airport. Heavy snowfalls and ice led to hundreds of flight cancellations at Germany's second-busiest airport.

Across the country, an estimated 20,000 could be left with nowhere to go as planed stayed grounded. With no hotel capacity available near Munich airport, where 300 flights were cancelled, to deal with the stranded passengers, staff struggled as they handed out blankets and soft drinks.
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Bizarro Earth

Hawaii's Mount Kilauea lava lake hits new record high


The Extinction Protocol
Fri, 18 Jan 2013 07:37 UTC
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The orange glow atop Hawaii's Mount Kilauea was a little stronger yesterday (Jan. 15) than it has been in recent weeks. The volcano's lava lake lapped over the inner ledge of its vent, reaching a new high and bring molten rock closer than ever to the floor of Halema'uma'u crater. The level was about 80 feet (25 meters) below the crater floor, the highest level reached since the summit vent blasted open in March 2008, the U.S. Geological Survey reports. The lava lake last surged on Oct. 23, 2012, when the high mark was measured at 100 feet (31 m) below the crater floor. Since fresh lava appeared atop Kilauea in 2008, the lake level has varied from near the crater to out of sight, more than 650 feet (200 m) beneath the crater floor. The lake sits in a vent, which is actually a pipe-like crater within the smaller crater called Halema'uma'u.

And Halema'uma'u is also a crater within a crater - the giant Kilauea caldera, the bowl left behind when the volcano blew its top about 1500 A.D. The USGS also reports that activity is up at Pu'u 'O'o crater, 12 miles (19 kilometers) from the summit in the volcano's East Rift Zone. The crater was awash with lava flows in recent days, and lava overflowed from its northeast lava lake and north spatter cone, the USGS said in a statement. At the coast, oozing flows continues to slowly drop into the ocean. This month marks the 30th anniversary of the eruption at Kilauea's East Rift Zone. The volcano's longest continuous rift zone eruption since the 15th century, the massive upwelling has created more than 500 acres of new land. -OAP
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Bizarro Earth

The Great Awakening? Ten volcanoes awaken in one week


The Extinction Protocol
Fri, 18 Jan 2013 07:32 UTC
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With Kamchatka currently being one of the most volcanically active places on the planet, here is a summary of the current volcanic activity in the past week in the region by the Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team. Lava dome growth and effusion of a viscous lava flow continue at Shiveluch volcano, accompanied by moderate fumarolic activity and incandescence. Satellite imagery showed a thermal anomaly over the volcano all week. Eruption's at four cinder cones producing fluid lava flows on the S part of the fissure on the flank of Tolbachik continues.

A large thermal anomaly on the N part of the fissure was detected on satellite imagery. Gas and ash plumes from Tolbachik rose to heights of 4 KM a.s.l. A lava flow continues to extrude on the east flank of Kizimen volcano, accompanied by incandescence, hot avalanches and strong gas and steam activity.
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Igloo

Mexico's coldest wave in 42 years

Robert Felix
IceAgeNow
Thu, 17 Jan 2013 17:16 UTC
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Snow in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico on 3 January 2013.
This is from an article that appeared in Vanguardia this morning in an inconspicuous spot in the first section. I guess we weren't supposed to see it.
Chihuahua - The arrival of cold front 21 generated temperatures of 13 degrees celsius below zero, as well as road accidents in various municipalities reported by the meteorologist of The State Civil Protection Department (UEPC), Salvador Echevarria Campos.

The UEPC meteorologist reported that 63 of the 67 state municipalities woke up to temperatures below zero degrees celsius, of these, 20 registered between zero and minus six degrees, with the forecast saying that these conditions will continue the same.

Madera and Casas Grandes are the locations with the lowest temperature registering minus 13 and minus 11 degrees, followed by Matachi and Villa Ahumada with minus 10 degrees and as well Temosachic and Bocoyna with minus 9.

Campos emphasizes that the Capital woke up to minus 6 degrees and explains also that the frost will continue, due to a mass of cold air that arrived with Cold Front number 21, which is at the border of Chihuahuan Territory but closures and havoc prevail.

Meanwhile, in the State of Sonora, temperatures registered 14 degrees below zero in the last few hours (and Sonora) has been affected by the most extensive cold wave in the last 42 years.

Caption on photo: 'Suffering. The streets of Nogales, Sonora woke up covered with ice.'
Thanks to Alan Stover for this info, and for the translation.
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Umbrella

Washington tsunami debris: Dock found in Olympic National Park is from Japan


Huffington Post
Thu, 17 Jan 2013 17:19 UTC
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© AP Photo/Olympic National ParkThis Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013 photo provided by Olympic National Park shows a dock that washed ashore on a wilderness beach near Forks, Wash. Crews scraped off more than 400 pounds of organic material, including species native to Japan but not found in the United States.
The dock that washed ashore on a remote Washington beach last month has been confirmed as debris from the March 2011 tsunami in Japan.

The state Marine Debris Task Force says it was identified by the Japanese government through photos that showed a fender serial number. The dock came from the Aomori Prefecture and is similar to the dock that washed ashore last summer at Newport, Ore., also from the tsunami.
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Snowflake

'Rare' red warning for Wales issued by Met Office, up to 30cm of snow expected


BBC News
Thu, 17 Jan 2013 17:14 UTC
Met office map
© Met OfficeMet Office map showing, yellow, amber and red warning areas for heavy snowfall on Friday.
Gritters are out in force after a rare red warning for snow has been issued by the Met Office for parts of Wales.

It applies to the Heads of the Valleys and Brecon Beacons in south Wales but snow is expected across much of Wales.

Red warning areas could see up to 30cm of snow and blizzards. People are warned to avoid non-essential journeys.
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Igloo

Croatia snowfall shatters record set in 1861

Robert Felix
IceAgeNow
Thu, 17 Jan 2013 17:13 UTC
"Just want to inform you about epochal snow event in Croatian capital Zagreb (SE Europe)," says reader Mihael Krstic.

"We have new record snow depth for January set to 68cm (27 inches) beating previous 49cm (19 inches) and all of that in just 24 hours! That's biggest snowfall from 1861.

"More snow is on the way until end of the week!

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Snowflake Cold

Unique snow system headed into Western North Carolina mountains


Citizen-times.com
Thu, 17 Jan 2013 17:06 UTC
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© AP Photo/The Victor Valley Daily Press, James Quig
As the season's first major snowstorm barrels into the Western North Carolina mountains, weather watchers are keeping an eye on the system through Internet tools and weather balloons launched into the air.

This storm is shaping up as the first substantial snowfall in more than two years. Last year, the Asheville Regional Airport set a record with the only winter without a measurable snowfall since the airport opened in the 1960s.

"This isn't our typical system where a cold front comes through," explained Pamela McCown of the Institute for Climate Education at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College.
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Stop

Mysterious dolphin deaths continue in Gulf of Mexico

Kimberly Blair
USA Today
Wed, 16 Jan 2013 16:38 UTC
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© Bruce Graner, Pensacola (Fla.) News JournalDolphins frolic in the wake of a cruise boat just offshore from Fort Pickens State Park in the Gulf of Mexico near Pensacola Beach, Fla.
An unusually high number of dolphin deaths that began three years ago in the northern Gulf of Mexico is continuing though the number of deaths in Florida peaked in 2011.

From February 2010 to Sunday, the bodies of 830 marine mammals, nearly all bottlenose dolphins and a few whales, have been found along the coast from Louisiana to Apalachicola, Fla., according to figures from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Of those, almost 150 dolphins found dead on beaches or in marshes were premature, stillborn or neonatal bottlenose.

In the seven years before 2010, the northern Gulf each year saw an average 63 bottlenose dolphin strandings, incidents where injured or sick marine mammals come ashore.

That the number of dolphin deaths continues to be higher than before 2010 worries Teri Rowles, who heads NOAA's investigation team.

"This is the longest unusual mortality event nationally," she said of the dolphin deaths.
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Cloud Precipitation

One dead, 900 hurt in Japan 'Bomb cyclone' blizzard


Japan Times
Wed, 16 Jan 2013 16:56 UTC
Tokyo snow
© KYODOCommuters walk carefully over snow Tuesday morning near Tokyo's JR Shinbashi Station.
The heavy snow that blanketed eastern Japan over the holiday weekend left one man dead and injured more than 900 others, while Tokyo commuters dealt with slippery streets as they returned to work Tuesday.

A low-pressure system, dubbed a "bomb cyclone" by the local media, dumped 8 cm of snow in nine hours, the heaviest snowfall in the Tokyo region since January 2006, the Meteorological Agency said.
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