High temperatures have been baking Nevada, Arizona and parts of California, where thermometer hit 126 in Death Valley. Meanwhile, storms are rolling through the mid-Atlantic. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
Las Vegas - A high pressure system hanging over the West this weekend is expected to bring temperatures extreme even in a region used to baking during the summer.
Notoriously hot Death Valley's forecast could touch 129 degrees, not far off the world-record high of 134 logged there July 10, 1913. The National Weather Service called for 118 in Phoenix, and 117 in Las Vegas on Sunday - a mark reached only twice in Sin City.
"It's brutal out there," said Leslie Carmine, spokeswoman for Catholic Charities, which runs a daytime shelter in Las Vegas to draw homeless people out of the dangerous heat and equip them with sunscreen and bottled water.
While the Southwest boasts the most shocking temperatures, the heat wave is driving up the mercury all over the West. Western Washington - better known for rainy coffee shop weather - should break the 90s early next week, according to the weather service.
Dry southern Utah is forecast to reach higher than 110 degrees, and northern Utah - which markets "the greatest snow on Earth" - is also expected to see triple digits.
The heat wave is "a huge one," National Weather Service specialist Stuart Seto said. "We haven't seen one like this for several years, probably the mid- to late 2000s."
Earth Changes
Volcanic eruptions rage in Alaska: Geologist, "for some reason we can't explain, activity picked up"
According to scientists at the federal-state Alaska Volcano Observatory, the latest phase of Alaska volcano eruptions started late on Monday and continued through the night into Tuesday. The blasts emanate from the crater of a 8,261 foot volcano. Tina Neal, an geologist at the observatory said, "For some reason we can't explain, it picked up in intensity and vigor.' In May, Alaska volcano eruptions sent a smaller ash cloud 15,000 feet into the air. The ash was visible for miles. Residents were worried that it would damage power generators. The ash plume has so far topped of at an altitude of 28,000 feet, which is too low in the air to affect major air traffic, but high enough that small planes have to fly around it.
Energy shift? Popocatépetl volcano growing more violent, Philippine volcano shaken by 15 earthquakes
A Supermoon, a geomagnetic storm from a CME, and the advent of the summer solstice- did these forces create a energy shift in planetary processes within Earth’s interior? Volcanoes across the planet have suddenly become more agitated.
Seismic activity has picked up, suggesting that the volcano could be headed for more vigorous activity soon. SO2 emissions on NOAA recent satellite data have been relatively high as well. A magnitude 3.6 volcanic quake occurred on Tuesday night 23:57 local time and was located SE of the crater at 2 km depth. Over 3 hours of low frequency and short amplitude tremor were recorded. An earthquake swarms occurred yesterday as well and another one seems to have started an hour ago. The rate of small to moderate steam and ash explosions was reported to about 2 per hour during yesterday, with ash plumes reaching up to 1-2 km height above the crater. Ashfall has been reported at Tepetlixpa and Ecatzingo. On 25 June, with the support of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Navy of México, a reconnaissance flight over Popocatepetl´s crater was carried out. It could be observed that the inner crater has grown to 250 m in diameter and 60 m depth, as a result of the explosions of recent days. No other changes could be seen. (CENAPRED) - Volcano Discovery
City road crews are working around the clock backfilling massive sinkholes left in the flood's wake. Torrential flooding that swallowed the city core is to blame for causing 70 crater-sized holes in roads and pathways, but just as quickly as crews can fill them, they're cropping up.
"Over the next few months we'll probably see recurring sinkholes in the downtown and Beltline area," said Bruce Burrell, director of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency.
On Tuesday, crews repaired a large sinkhole on the 5th Avenue flyover that was caused by groundwater.
Eroding pathways and roads near the river are posing another potentially deadly hazard for those who may venture too close, Mayor Naheed Nenshi warned.
"We'll fix them when we find them, given the ground conditions there will be more," he said.
"Over the next few months we'll probably see recurring sinkholes in the downtown and Beltline area," said Bruce Burrell, director of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency.
© Jeff McIntosh/ The Canadian Press
A road crew foreman surveys the washed-out lanes of northbound Macleod Trail on Monday.
A road crew foreman surveys the washed-out lanes of northbound Macleod Trail on Monday.
On Tuesday, crews repaired a large sinkhole on the 5th Avenue flyover that was caused by groundwater.
Eroding pathways and roads near the river are posing another potentially deadly hazard for those who may venture too close, Mayor Naheed Nenshi warned.
"We'll fix them when we find them, given the ground conditions there will be more," he said.
Heavy rain and floods earlier this week caused the sinkholes, which popped up all over the city.
Calgary has also sprouted as many as 70 sinkholes, according to the Calgary Herald.
Check out some of the craziest sinkhole photos in the gallery.
A wet winter and cold, late spring have affected both flora and fauna - and gardens. How long will the summer last?
One week past midsummer's day and nature still has not recovered from the misearable, wet winter and the cold, late spring, say wildlife experts and gardeners.
"Spring got seriously behind and was the latest since 1996; with bluebells still in bloom in early June and many butterflies very late to emerge," said National Trust naturalist Matthew Oates. "Summer is now running two to three weeks late."
The long spell of cold weather caused insects to struggle, with a knock-on effect on tree and flower pollination and a lack of food for birds like swallows and swifts which depend on airborne insect food. The result has been late flowering plants and possibly many young birds going hungry.
Snowdrops lasted into April, daffodils until May and wild roses and elder trees are now flowering but unusually late, said Oates. "Some aspects of spring failed altogether - with frogs and toads struggling to breed in ponds which remained frozen".
The cold winter has left seas particularly cold. "This means the plankton is very late and we are only just beginning to see basking sharks, six weeks later than usual," said Joan Edwards, head of the Wildlife Trusts' Living Seas in Plymouth. "We also see that some seabirds look particularly undernourished, possibly because of the cold seas."
© Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
A Reed Bunting sits in reeds at Elmley Marshes. Many young birds are going hungry due to knock-on effect of late seasons.
A Reed Bunting sits in reeds at Elmley Marshes. Many young birds are going hungry due to knock-on effect of late seasons.
"Spring got seriously behind and was the latest since 1996; with bluebells still in bloom in early June and many butterflies very late to emerge," said National Trust naturalist Matthew Oates. "Summer is now running two to three weeks late."
The long spell of cold weather caused insects to struggle, with a knock-on effect on tree and flower pollination and a lack of food for birds like swallows and swifts which depend on airborne insect food. The result has been late flowering plants and possibly many young birds going hungry.
Snowdrops lasted into April, daffodils until May and wild roses and elder trees are now flowering but unusually late, said Oates. "Some aspects of spring failed altogether - with frogs and toads struggling to breed in ponds which remained frozen".
The cold winter has left seas particularly cold. "This means the plankton is very late and we are only just beginning to see basking sharks, six weeks later than usual," said Joan Edwards, head of the Wildlife Trusts' Living Seas in Plymouth. "We also see that some seabirds look particularly undernourished, possibly because of the cold seas."
© Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images
A Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan.
A Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan.
A freak hailstorm over one of the biggest Nato airbases in Afghanistan grounded more than 80 helicopters, putting several of them out of action for more than three weeks, it has emerged.
The half-hour storm in late April split rotor blades, cracked windows, ruptured the choppers' metal skin and damaged other parts. The hail was so intense that after an intensive repair programme eight of the choppers were still inoperable more than three weeks later, according to a Nato spokesman.
Videos show hailstones the size of golf balls pelting down on the airbase, which is at the edge of a desert and in summer endures temperatures that can climb above 50C.
© David Lane/Union Leader
A sinkhole opened at the intersection of Morning Glory and Stonington drives in Manchester Wednesday. A Water Works official said a ruptured water line may have washed away the sand and gravel supporting the roadway.
A sinkhole opened at the intersection of Morning Glory and Stonington drives in Manchester Wednesday. A Water Works official said a ruptured water line may have washed away the sand and gravel supporting the roadway.
Manchester Water Works officials said they hope to restore water to homes along Stonington Drive and Morning Glory Drive by 5 p.m. But they cautioned they are unsure of the extent that Morning Glory Drive has been undermined.
Three other sink holes developed on a steep portion of the roadway, signaling the likelihood of further undermining of pavement.
"It's like an earthquake," said Nancy Washburn, who lives at the corner of Stonington and Morning Glory. The streets are part of the Rosecliff subdivision.
Every summer, above the North Pole, ice crystals begin to cling to dust and particles high in the atmosphere, forming electric-blue, rippled clouds - called noctilucent or "night-shining" clouds - that stretch across the sky at sunset. Their season is eagerly anticipated by skywatchers in the high latitudes.
This year, noctilucent clouds got an early start. NASA's Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) spacecraft first saw them on May 13. The season started a week earlier than any other season that AIM has observed, and quite possibly earlier than ever before, said Cora Randall of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado.
The four images above show Earth's upper atmosphere, centered on the North Pole, as observed by the AIM satellite. The image on the upper right shows noctilucent clouds on May 23, 2013; the upper left image compares the same week from 2012. The two bottom images show the extent of noctilucent clouds in mid-June of each year. The brighter the clouds in each image, the denser the ice particles. Areas with no data appear in black, and coastal outlines are traced in white. You can view a daily composite projection of noctilucent clouds by clicking here during the northern summer months.
This year, noctilucent clouds got an early start. NASA's Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) spacecraft first saw them on May 13. The season started a week earlier than any other season that AIM has observed, and quite possibly earlier than ever before, said Cora Randall of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado.
© NASA
Comment: SOTT.net can explain it: the recent localized heatwave is probably the result of increased underwater and land-based volcanic activity, which in turn is the result of Earth Changes brought on by the grounding of the electrical current running through the solar system. Listen to this episode of SOTT Talk Radio to find out more!