Earth ChangesS


Snowman

Record snowfalls in New Zealand

Isaac Davison & Paul Harper
New Zealand Herald
Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:09 UTC
Image
© Simon BakerSnow covers the earthquake damaged DTZ House in central Christchurch.
The big clean up is well underway across the country following yesterday's record snowfalls in what may well end up being the coldest day of 2011.

Most state highways have now reopened and city councils in Dunedin and Christchurch have set about clearing most of the local roads of snow and ice.

Snowfalls made way to harsh frosts this morning, particularly in the South Island, although some snow is expected on Arthurs Pass, Milford Rd and the Desert Road later today.

Westerlies are forecast to strengthen over the South Island today, with heavy rain forecast of the west of the country, however temperatures are forecast to pick up following a frigid past few days.

WeatherWatch head analyst Philip Duncan said yesterday may well have been the coldest day of the year.

The national high was just 12 degrees recorded in Northland yesterday.
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Arrow Down

US: Sinkhole shuts down portion of US 41 in Brown County, Wisconsin

Alex Morrell
Green Bay Press-Gazette
Wed, 27 Jul 2011 08:35 UTC
Suamico - A quarter-mile of a southbound lane of U.S. 41 in northern Brown County was closed for 9½ hours Tuesday after a 5-foot by 3-foot sinkhole in the road developed in the morning.

The sinkhole opened about a half-mile south of Brown Road when soil infiltrated a concrete culvert pipe and the pavement above the pipe sank, according to the state Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

"It doesn't happen very often, but it obviously happens," said Kim Rudat, a DOT spokesperson.

The sinkhole opened at 8:30 a.m. and shut down the affected southbound lane until about 6 p.m.
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Arrow Down

Canada: Part of town street collapses creating large sinkhole in Carman, Manitoba

Gene Still
The Valley Leader
Wed, 27 Jul 2011 08:27 UTC
Image
© Sonja MorrisonA nearby resident checks out the large sinkhole that opened up on 2nd Ave SE near the corner of 1st St SE in Carman.
No injuries reported as street closed

This was more than just a regular pothole.

Town of Carman work crews were called out to 2nd Ave SE near the corner of First Street SE after receiving a call about a large sinkhole approximately six feet by five feet and about five feet deep, on the street.

Sonja Morrison, who lives near the site with her family, said they heard a "thump" and then a second louder one when they went outside their home to take a look at around 5:15 p.m. on Monday (July 25).
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Binoculars

US: Cracks and sinkholes form in creekside yards - Pensacola, Florida

Jamie Page
pnj.com
Wed, 27 Jul 2011 08:17 UTC
Image
© Katie King/kking@pnj.comChad Swan points to one of three large sinkholes in his backyard, which backs up to Carpenter's Creek. Over the past six years, the creek has severely eroded the yards of some of the homes along Creek Side Circle.
Sinkholes spawned by erosion raising calls for city action

For seven years, Leanne Pickering has watched as erosion and sinkholes expanded in the backyard of her Pensacola home, and she now wonders when they will overtake her swimming pool.

They are getting close; a 5-foot-deep sinkhole currently is within 6 feet of her pool's enclosure.

In 2002, Pickering built her home in a Creek Side Circle neighborhood near Airport Boulevard and Davis Highway that backs up to Carpenter's Creek.

Before long, she noticed her backyard was steadily falling into the creek. She found soft spots in the grass. Sinkholes began to form. Every year for the last five years, she has paid to have a truckload of dirt dumped into the largest hole. The hole continues to grow.
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Arrow Down

US: Sinkhole in Palatine, Illinois could take two weeks to fix

Kimberly Pohl
dailyherald.com
Tue, 26 Jul 2011 08:07 UTC
Image
© Bob Chwedyk A 15-by-20-foot sinkhole continued to cause traffic delays at the northwest corner of Dundee and Hicks roads in Palatine Monday. Officials say it may take up to two weeks before the hole is completely repaired.
It could take up to two weeks before crews completely repair a 15-by-20-foot sinkhole that opened up Saturday afternoon at Dundee and Hicks road in Palatine.

The good news, however, is that the Illinois Department of Transportation agreed to a request from village officials to resume southbound traffic on Hicks, which had been restricted most of Monday, Village Manage Reid Ottesen said.

"Traffic will begin flowing a lot better, but it's still an area to avoid if at all possible," Ottesen said.

The sinkhole formed at the northwest corner of the intersection after the heavy rainfall caused a sewer line to collapse about 30 feet below the surface. Readings showed 5.43 inches of rain fell on Palatine between midnight Friday and 3 a.m. Saturday, exceeding 100-year event standards, Ottesen said.
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Arrow Up

US: Florida insurance corporation seeking big premium increase on sinkholes


Bradenton
Mon, 25 Jul 2011 08:04 UTC
Image
© UnknownWorkers surround a sinkhole in Hialeah on Tuesday morning.
Florida's largest insurer of homes and businesses, state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp., will ask its board to approve a staggering rate increase for providing coverage on sinkhole policies, a company spokeswoman said Monday.

The company will ask its board Wednesday for an increase on average of more than 400 percent to purchase sinkhole coverage. In 2010, Citizens received about $32 million in premiums for sinkhole coverage with ultimate losses and loss-related expenses estimated to total $245 million. In areas where sinkhole claims have been particularly high, premium increases could be multiplied 20 times or more under the proposal.

Since the last major hurricane hit Florida in 2005, sinkhole claims have skyrocketed, totaling nearly $2 billion in the last four years. Most of the claims have come from Hernando, Hillsborough and Pasco counties, part of the Tampa Bay area.
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Snowman

U.K.: ATS Euromaster: Motorists Urged to Prepare as Forecaster Predicts the Worst Winter on Record


Reuters
Mon, 13 Jun 2011 07:22 UTC
Image
© Time.com
ATS Euromaster is urging motorists to pre-order cold weather tyres after a meteorologist predicted this winter will "break all records" in terms of snowfall and freezing temperatures.

Specialist long-range forecaster James Madden, of Exacta Weather, correctly predicted the harsh conditions experienced over the last two years and gave his forecast to ATS Euromaster as it prepares to fit cold weather tyres in the UK for the second year running.

He warns: "The UK is to brace itself for well below average temperatures and widespread heavy snowfall throughout winter 2011/2012 which will result in the fourth bad winter in succession, and will prove to be the worst of them all.
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Bizarro Earth

South Korea Landslides Leave 32 Dead, 10 Missing

Sam Kim and Hyung-Jim Kim
The Associated Press
Wed, 27 Jul 2011 05:28 UTC
Image
© AP Photo/Lee Sang-hakSouth Korean rescue workers carry a survivor who was rescued from a collapsed house as a midnight landslide caused by torrential rains swept away several houses in Chuncheon, South Korea.
A blast of heavy rain sent landslides barreling through South Korea's capital and a northern town Wednesday, killing at least 32 people, including 10 college students doing volunteer work.

The students died as mud and debris engulfed them as they slept in a resort cabin in Chuncheon, about 68 miles (110 kilometers) northeast of the capital Seoul, said Byun In-soo of the town's fire station. A married couple and a convenience store owner also died.

About 500 officials and residents worked to rescue people trapped in the mud and wreckage. Twenty-four people were injured and several buildings destroyed, officials said. Witnesses interviewed on television likened the sound of the landslide to a massive explosion or a screaming freight train and described the screaming they heard as buildings were carried away by rivers of mud.

In southern Seoul, 16 people died when mud crashed through residences at the foot of a mountain, emergency official Kim Jong-seon said. Three others also died after a stream just south of Seoul flooded, Kim said, and 10 people were reported missing throughout the country.
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Bizarro Earth

Noctilucent Clouds Sighted From Germany!


SpaceWeather
Tue, 26 Jul 2011 14:33 UTC
"The morning of July 26th was electric blue!" says Heiko Ulbricht of Freital, Saxony, Germany. "I woke up at 3 clock, looked out my bedroom window to the north and saw a stunning display of noctilucent clouds." Moments later, he dashed outside with a camera to record the view:

NLC's Over Germany
© Heiko UlbrichtImage Taken: Jul 26 2011
Location: Freital, Saxony, Germany
NLC's Over Germany_2
© Heiko UlbrichtImage Taken: Jul 26 2011
Location: Freital, Saxony, Germany
July has been an odd time for noctilucent clouds (NLCs). The month began with an extravagant display that stretched as far south as Colorado and Kansas--odd because NLCs are usually confined to higher latitudes. The event seemed to herald a period of widespread sightings. Observers were disappointed, though, when the clouds quickly retreated to their usual northern habitat. Could this German apparition signal renewed activity? Sky watchers at all latitudes should be alert for electric-blue ripples around sunrise and sunset. Observing tips may be found in the gallery.
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Bizarro Earth

Earth's Tallest Lightning Seen in Unprecedented Detail

Charles Q. Choi
Our Amazing Planet
Tue, 26 Jul 2011 10:29 UTC
Lightning
© Steven CummerTrees form a horizon from which a gigantic jet emerges; the thunderstorm is 200 miles away.
Mysterious and gigantic jets of lightning that shoot up to near the edge of space have now been observed in unprecedented detail, revealing just how much charge they pack and how they form.

More than 50 miles (80 kilometers) above Earth's surface, extreme ultraviolet radiation from the sun reacts with air molecules to produce highly charged particles, generating an energetic region known as the ionosphere.

In 2001, scientists discovered gigantic jets of lightning arcing up from clouds in the lowest portion of the atmosphere, the troposphere, to the ionosphere. These rarities apparently are caused by the profound difference in electric charge between the ionosphere and the rest of the atmosphere, but much else about them remained unclear.

"People wonder if these gigantic jets might threaten spacecraft, aircraft and passengers," said researcher Gaopeng Lu at Duke University. "This actually makes the study of gigantic jets and other lightning-related phenomena above active thunderstorms meaningful and of practical concern."
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