Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

6.1-Magnitude Quake Shakes Southern Siberia

Siberian republic of Khakassia
© RIA Novosti. ShidlovskiySiberian republic of Khakassia
An earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale struck Khakassia, Russian republic in Southern Siberia, local media reported on Thursday.

So far, there are no reports about the casualties and destruction.

The quake occurred at 8:35 a.m. Moscow time (0535 GMT) and its epicenter was 170 km to the south of the city Abakan, in the Western Sayans mountain range, said Siberian branch of Russia's Emergency Ministry.

The quake was also felt in six Siberian regions, including major cities of Barnaul, Krasnoyarsk, Kemerovo and Novosibirsk. All of the regions are over 500 km from the epicenter.

Local media said this is the first major earthquake in Southern Siberia since October 2000.

Cloud Lightning

Sri Lankan floods wreak havoc

The flood situation across Sri Lanka was easing off, but receding waters could reveal hundreds of thousands of acres of paddy fields totally destroyed in the two rounds of flooding in less than a month, officials said on Wednesday. At least 19 persons have been killed and nearly 1.2 millionaffected in several districts in north, central and eastern Sri Lanka in the second round of floods that swept the country in the last seven to ten days.

In the first round of rain and floods in January, more than 40 were killed and at least 1.1 million were impacted.

"The havoc caused by two rounds of flooding in Sri Lanka in January and February have destroyed 576,121 acres of paddy land in all 25 districts in the country. The total paddy cultivated was in 1.82 million acres and the total acres that were destroyed were 31% of the staple rice crop," the official government portal said on Wednesday.

In the district of Matale alone, around 4336 farmers had possibly lost their source of livelihood, latest statistics with the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) revealed.

Paddy and other field crops planted in Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts have completely been lost.

Many of the flooded areas were barely recovering from the January floods when intense rain over three to four days, again inundated fields, washed away homes and roads, triggered landslides and forced lakhs of people to take shelter in makeshift camps.

Igloo

Arkansas braces for another winter storm

Little Rock - A powerful storm system could bring more than a half-foot of snow to Arkansas, marking the fifth episode of severe winter weather in the past month for a state that can go an entire season without receiving major wintry precipitation.

More than 6 inches of snow was expected in western and central Arkansas. National Weather Service meteorologist Tabitha Clarke said beleaguered far northwest Arkansas would escape the worst of the storm.

The highest snow totals are expected to be in the Ouachita Mountains in western and southwestern Arkansas.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Gov. Mike Beebe ordered only essential personnel to report to state offices in Little Rock.

And many school districts have canceled classes for Wednesday.

Snowman

Storm dumps more on snow-weary Wichita

Image
© Bo Rader/The Wichita EagleA Kansas Highway Patrol trooper comes to the aid of a motorist on the off ramp from I-235 to Zoo Boulevard. Numerous cars slid off the ice-covered ramp Tuesday morning with several cars getting stuck. Troopers closed the ramp until salt trucks could treat the road.
Closings, cancellations and accidents piled up with the snow in the Wichita area Tuesday as the latest in a series of winter storms dumped snow on the metropolitan area.

The Wichita public school district was one of several that have canceled classes today. Also canceling classes: Andover, Derby, Goddard, Haysville, Maize, Newton, Rose Hill, Valley Center and the Catholic Diocese of Wichita.

About 4 1/2 inches of snow had fallen at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport by 10 p.m. Tuesday.

National Weather Service meteorologist Eric Schminke said up to 1 1/2 inches more snow was expected overnight before tapering off after 6 a.m. today.

Wichita's parochial schools closed at 2 p.m. Tuesday and all USD 259 after-school and evening activities were canceled as the snow continued to fall.

Tuesday's storm came a week after a winter storm packing high winds, low temperatures and plenty of snow closed schools and made driving miserable for much of last week.

Arrow Down

Record Low Temperatures All Across New Mexico

Image
© UnknownThe doves seem to be having a difficult time coping with the cold.
The villages of Angel Fire and Eagle Nest in Northern New Mexico boasted the coldest temperature in the country at -36 F (-37.7 C) on Thursday morning. Albuquerque set a record low temperature of -7 F (-21.6 C) surpassing the previous low set in 1939. Five other cities set all-time records, Moriarty -34 F, Pecos -31 F, Ruidoso -27, Capitan -22, and Socorro -14. Moriarty is about 40 miles East of Albuquerque on the East side of the Sandia Mountains. Temperature highs around the state ranged from a low of 9 F at Ruidoso to 25 F in Silver City in Southwest New Mexico. I recorded a high of 18 F (-7.7 C) for the day. Winds here were less of a factor than previous days with a high reading of only 9 mph. As a result of the unusually cold temperatures, approximately 32,000 people around the state are still without natural gas as a result of frozen regulators in the pipe line coming out of Texas.

Overnight temperatures moderated somewhat around the state on Friday morning. My home, at the Eastern edge of Albuquerque, recorded a low of 7 F (-13.8 C) this morning. It has now warmed to 33 F (0.5 C), the wind has switched to WSW at 1 to 2 mph, and the sky is clear. All of our major snow drifts have been cleared and we are almost back to normal.

Bizarro Earth

UK: Farmer Devastated as Prize Flock Dies in Freak Weather

Image
A farmer says he is "devastated" after seeing more than 200 of his elite sheep drowned in a flash flood.

It is the second time in just over a year that Eryl Morris has been hit by the River Dee bursting its banks.

The flood, early on Sunday, has cost him many thousands of pounds and the pride of his flock.

Mr Morris was away in Buckinghamshire helping a sheep farming friend when millions of gallons of water poured on to the rich Bangor-on-Dee grazing land he has farmed for more than a decade.

Almost too upset to speak from the south of England yesterday, he said: "I am totally devastated by this - I have lost a hell of a lot sheep."

His wife Glenys said: "It was 12 hours of flash flooding that did the damage and it started about 1am.

"When I heard on the radio that Bala was flooded I knew we were in trouble too.

"The same thing happened to us in November, 2009, but although we lost some sheep then - about 40-50 - it wasn't anything like this.

"Altogether 230 of our sheep have died and another 70 were saved by the fire service and other people who were going out there in canoes I think.

Igloo

Schools Prepare as Record Cold May Follow Snow, Sleet in Dallas-Fort Worth

Image
© Michael Hamtil / StaffA lone pedestrian crosses the snowy, windswept DART tracks on Bryan Street Wednesday morning in downtown Dallas.
The arctic cold that sent temperatures tumbling Wednesday and left streets and highways treacherously slick with sleet and ice will continue Thursday with record low temperatures overnight - in the single digits some places - and more icy road conditions.

From 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., Dallas police responded to more than a dozen accidents on North Central Expressway and LBJ Freeway. Althought most of the exposed freeway roadways are clear, ice remains dangerous underneath bridges and overpasses.

Conditions on highways deteriorated throughout Wednesday as sleet and snow fell - up to 3 inches in McKinney, which was among the hardest-hit spots locally. A winter storm warning is in effect through 6 p.m.

School officials were already making plans for the freezing weather overnight.

Frisco, McKinney and Allen ISDs said they would open on a two-hour delay on Thursday, while other area districts are so far opting to wait until Thursday morning to make a decision.

Southern Methodist University , which had been open during the day, canceled Wednesday night classes at its Dallas and Plano campuses. A decision regarding Thursday will be announced in the morning.

But even though afternoon temperatures will struggle to reach the freezing mark, Thursday should be the end of the brutally cold weather across the Dallas area for the next week to 10 days, forecasters said.

X

Blizzard roars through US's snow-weary midsection

A second powerful blizzard in a week roared through parts of the nation's midsection on Wednesday, whipping up biting winds and dumping a foot of snow in areas still digging out from last week's major storm.

Image
© Associated Press Photo/Salina Journal, Tom DorseyAnn Gaines is caked with snow Tuesday morning Feb. 8, 2011, as she cleans her driveway in Salina, Kan. Between three to four inches of snow fell in the Salina area by mid-morning, with the temperature at 5 degrees.
The storm that rolled into Oklahoma on Tuesday had dropped about a foot of snow by Wednesday morning in Bartlesville, about 50 miles north of Tulsa, and another 9 inches across the state line in Siloam Springs, Ark., said Michael Lacy, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tulsa. He said strong winds created blizzard conditions that limited visibility and made travel hazardous.

Heavy snow was reported in parts of Kansas and Texas, where many school districts cancelled classes in anticipation of yet another round of unusually icy weather.

Question

UK: Government vets investigate five swans' deaths

swan
© Unknown
Government veterinary officers are working to establish how five swans died in the County Down area.

It is understood two more birds are ill. The dead birds' remains were found on private land in the Killyleagh area.

A spokesman for the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (Dard) said the swans had been removed so that post-mortem exams could be carried out.

"This is the second case that has been brought to our attention," he said.

Bizarro Earth

Next Central U.S. Earthquake May Not Strike New Madrid

The most powerful earthquakes known to have hit the central U.S. were the New Madrid quakes of 1811 and 1812. Now, a new study suggests that the next 'Big One' in the region may not occur along the New Madrid fault, but somewhere else.

The new research, published in the journal Lithosphere, examined earthquake records in China. Earthquakes have been recorded and described in China for some 2,000 years, but have never occurred twice in the same place.

"In North China, where large earthquakes occur relatively frequently, not a single one repeated on the same fault segment in the past 2,000 years," said Mian Liu, a professor of geological sciences at University of Missouri and one of the authors of the new study. "So we need to look at the 'big picture' of interacting faults, rather than focusing only on the faults where large earthquakes occurred in the recent past."

Different faults form a web of interacting stresses. A large earthquake on one fault can increase stress on a different fault. Important faults can remain dormant for years then jolt awake in a brief period of violent activity.