Earth Changes
The earthquake that struck near Littlefield, Ariz., a community about 20 miles southwest of St. George, Utah, was the first of 18 small-magnitude tremors that lasted through Sunday, according to the Arizona Geological Survey.
The largest event was a 2.6 magnitude quake at about 8:36 a.m. Sunday. The Arizona Geological Survey has not reported any injuries or damage from the series of tremors.
While the amount of quakes to hit the area may seem unusual, Geological Survey researcher Michael Conway said the state has seen swarms before.
Conway said the area is "tectonically active," but this was the first time a swarm has been recorded in the northwest corner of the state, bordering Utah and Nevada.
"Active faults in the vicinity of the earthquake swarm include the Mesquite/Overton Arm," according to an Arizona Geological Survey statement. The area has extensive earthquake history.
As a result of unseasonable cold, new record low minimums were set in a number of localities across Southern and Northeastern Ontario. "We used up some of our spring-like weather too early, and now we're paying for it," Environment Canada Meteorologist Geoff Coulson said. Coulson added that cold temperatures can be blamed on a combination of a weakening El Niño and polar vortex coming down south.
"The vortex brought with it some colder air, not just for Ontario but also for Quebec, Atlantic Canada, and a good chunk of the midwestern US and northeastern US as well. And with this pattern being fairly stubborn at this point, this cold air is expected to linger at least through mid-month, giving us temperatures more like single digit highs anywhere between 2, 3 °C (35.6, 37.4 °F) when we'd normally be seeing daytime highs of around 10 °C (50 °F)."
The following is a summary of weather event information received by Environment Canada on April 5:
London Airport -12.0 °C (10.4 °F) breaks previous record -10.5 °C (13.1 °F) set in 1995
Delhi -12.2 °C (10.04 °F) breaks previous record -10.5 °C set in 1995
Kitchener -15.5 °C (4.1 °F) breaks previous record -11.5 °C (11.3 °F) set in 1982
Guelph -16.7 °C (1.94 °F) breaks previous record -12.8 °C (8.96 °F) set in 1903
Hamilton -10.9 °C (12.38 °F) breaks previous record -10.8 °C (12.56 °F) set in 1995
Barrie -15.0 °C (5 °F) breaks previous record -14.0 °C (6.8 °F) set in 1982
Timmins -24.5 °C (-12.1 °F) breaks previous record -22.9 °C (-9.22 °F) set in 1995
Kirkland Lake -26.5 °C (-15.7 °F) breaks previous record -22.8 °C (-9.04 °F) set in 1970
The cold blob refers to a large, anomalous area of colder-than-normal sea-surface temperatures, located east of Newfoundland and south of Greenland.
"This area of colder water started to show up a few years ago and has become larger and more persistent during the past couple of years," AccuWeather Atlantic Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski said.
Whether or not ocean currents draw cold water from this blob southward into tropical regions of the Atlantic could determine how active the season becomes. With all potential factors in mind, forecasters are predicting that tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic will total 14 this season, two more than what is considered normal.
If the cooler water migrates southward across the eastern Atlantic, then westward into tropical breeding grounds, it will lower sea-surface temperatures over the region where 85 percent of Atlantic tropical systems develop.Another possibility is that the water from the cold blob could alter the makeup of deep ocean currents and affect the salinity of the water. If this happens, the pattern of warming waters that has been occurring since 1995 will reverse, leading to a period of cooling.
Take a look at this reading from Bore Hole 944 inside the super-volcano at Yellowstone National Park:
Folks within 500 miles of Yellowstone National Park may want to keep close watch on the super-volcano there. With readings like you see above, now closed-off to the public, it seems there's something taking place at the deadly volcano.
With heatwave conditions prevailing across the state, 66 people have died due to sun stroke and other related problems, officials said.
The highest number of deaths — 28 — were reported from Mahbubnagar, followed by 11 in Medak and five each from Karimnagar and Khammam.
Other deaths were reported in Adilabad, Nizamabad, Warangal and Nalgonda.
According to the Meteorological Department Nizamabad, north Telangana continues to be the hottest area in the state with maximum temperatures of 43.4C followed by Medak and Karimnagar with 43C. Hyderabad recorded 41C.
In an indication of the unbearable hot conditions in the state nowhere was the temperature below 40C.
The severe heatwave was forcing the people to stay indoors during the peak hours of the day and the roads and bazaars in Hyderabad and other major cities were wearing deserted look.
The state administration has advised the people to avoid going out into the open from 12 noon.
Telangana normally witnesses heatwave condition only in the month of May but this year the temperatures have been unusually high and harsh right from the beginning of summer.
Last year more than 2,000 people lost their lives in heatwave in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Officials were fearing worst this year as the Meteorological department has warned of even worse days ahead. Officials have warned that the highest temperature this year may reach 46 to 47 degrees at some places.

The weekend's heavy rains turned the streets on the outskirts of Peshawar in northern Pakistan into rivers
Footage aired on local television channels showed army troops and rescue workers digging through the rubble on the outskirts of the Kohistan district where they managed to recover six dead bodies and two survivors.
Some six hundred army troops and engineers are currently engaged in clearing the roads and assisting in rescue operations, an army spokesman said.
Ongoing bad weather has hampered rescue operations, in which desperate local residents have used spades, shovels — even their hands — to help find people trapped under the mud.
Comment: See also earlier video reports here: 24 killed as torrential rains wreak havoc in northern Pakistan
The volcanic eruption produced large flows of lava, and plumes of ash reaching multiple kilometers into the sky.
The ascending ash produced multiple impressive displays of static discharge lightning, ranging in color from blue and green, to white, purple and yellow.
The lightning is produced by friction between the hot billowing clouds of ash, and the colder moist air surrounding the volcano which resides in South Japan near the ocean.
Watch the volcano on live stream here.
Comment: Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano also lit up the night sky with a spectacular eruption on the same day.

The huge swell engulfs the entirety of the island lighthouse, meaning the enormous wave was as high as 11 double-decker buses
Winds reaching 85mph helped whip up the massive swell - which was so powerful spray from the sea was felt in the helicopter carrying the photographer.
Mathieu Rivrin spent around five hours flying near the lighthouses located on the French island of Quessant, as well as Finistere and Penmarc'h.

The winds, which were blowing at 85mph during the storm frenzy, helped drag the wave up and over the tall building
Mr Rivrin, 26, of Brest, said: 'The lighthouse is located in Quessant, an island 20km from the coast of Finistere.
BMKG, which measured the earthquake at a preliminary 6.1, said there was no tsunami threat as a result of the tremor. The earthquake was felt throughout parts of Java Island but there was no immediate word on whether it had caused any damage or casualties.
Indonesia is on the so-called 'Pacific Ring of Fire', an arc of fault lines circling the Pacific Basin that is prone to frequent and large earthquakes. In December 2004, a magnitude-9.1 tremor, one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded, struck off the west coast of Sumatra, unleashing a massive tsunami that struck scores of countries in the region and killed at least 227,898 people.
The pair were tracking the extreme wildfires sweeping the midwest for KWTV News 9, when they came face to face with a wall of flames.
The footage begins with the TV crew sitting in a car recording a large grass fire in Woods County, northwest Oklahoma as a tractor driver in front desperately tries to maneuver his vehicle away from the advancing flames.















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