© YouTube/Queen Mea
Earth Changes
Snow cover as of Dec. 13
Potent snow storm blankets the South
A total of 17 states saw snowfall (see video below) in one degree or another late last week as a very active cold front colored in white a large swath extending diagonally from New Mexico and Texas, to New England. Record breaking snow of a foot or more was recorded in some counties of Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina.
© NASA
View from above the new Tongan island, which formed after a submarine eruption
View from above the new Tongan island, which formed after a submarine eruption
Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai, which is made up of a volcanic ash, could now remain for up to 30 years, according to a study by the space agency.
The new land mass, which has a 400ft (120m) summit, was created after an eruption lasting from December 2014 to January 2015 and was initially predicted to last a few months.
The new study said the island, which is the first of its type to persist in the modern satellite era (post-1978), offers a "first step to understand erosion rates".
A yellow weather warning has been issued by the Met Office for ice
Following a weekend gripped by the coldest temperatures of 2017, the freeze is expected to loosen its hold on Wednesday.
But a severe yellow weather warning will continue until 11am across most of England, Wales and Scotland, as remaining ice threatens treacherous conditions on roads and paths.
Comment: The UK is infamous for it's inability to deal with cold weather and with winter only just beginning it's not a good sign what with predictions, and signs we can see all around the world, that we're entering an ice age. This unusual weather is blamed on a 'polar vortex', where the jet stream in the north pole descends further south bringing with it extremely frigid air. And with each year it seems to be behaving more erratically, meandering further south and with an ever increasing regularity. It's effects are being felt all over the northern hemisphere (though the same is happening in the southern hemisphere too) where winters begin more abruply and are much more intense than before.
- US: Polar vortex to bring 'extended period of severe winter weather', amidst already record breaking cold - UPDATE
- The state of ice and snow in Northern Hemisphere 2017
- Rare snownado filmed at national park in Poland
- Over a metre of snow in 72 hours for the Alps; big falls in the Dolomites and Pyrenees too
- Thousands of ice balls wash up in the Gulf of Finland on the Russian coast
For more information see Pierre Lescaudron and Laura Knight-Jadczyk's book: Earth Changes and the Human-Cosmic connection.
A rare glimpse at a snownado
Michal Bielas posted a video to Facebook showing the unusual sight that greeted him Monday during a walk in Tatra National Park.
The video depicts a whirlwind rolling through the snow, creating what is known as a snownado or snow devil.
The balls were up to seven in diameter and no definitive explanation for their existence has been accepted
A video shows the strangely uniformly sized ice balls washing up in the Gulf of Finland in north-western Russia.
Ecologist Ilya Leukhin told local media that oil spills in the water could have created the ice balls but she was not the only one with a possible explanation for the phenomenon.
Yuryi Shahov, who videoed and shared the sight online, said: 'Seems that someone has thrown snowballs into the Gulf.'
Some believe that snow was rolled together by the waves, or that what look like ice balls could in fact be stones covered with ice.
On Tuesday morning, the whale was moving and appeared to be stuck in the shallow water. The whale was declared dead by Tuesday afternoon. It is being moved to deeper water.
The Newport News Police Department Marine Unit is on scene. The Virginia Aquarium's Stranding Response Team has been notified and are working on a plan.
While whales are not uncommon in local waters during colder months, some can become stranded, lost or injured by boaters.
Translated by Sott.net
A bizarre sight hit Mikael Lind from Örnsköldsvik.
Hundreds of gray birds suddenly died in the middle of the road.
"It was surreal," he told SVT News.
He was headed towards Gottne in November when he saw the birds just lying there in the middle of the road, over an estimated 25 meter stretch.
"At first I thought it was rocks or gravel, so I slowed down to around 50 kph, but the closer I came, it turned out to be birds. But they did not move so some of the birds were picked up by the car and got stuck in the grill," he says.
He then stopped to examine the absurd view more closely.
© Mikael Lind
Hundreds of gray birds suddenly died in the middle of the road.
"It was surreal," he told SVT News.
He was headed towards Gottne in November when he saw the birds just lying there in the middle of the road, over an estimated 25 meter stretch.
"At first I thought it was rocks or gravel, so I slowed down to around 50 kph, but the closer I came, it turned out to be birds. But they did not move so some of the birds were picked up by the car and got stuck in the grill," he says.
He then stopped to examine the absurd view more closely.
Comment: There is likely an environmental factor behind this, perhaps some sort of electric discharge that zapped them mid-flight. Or there could be stranger explanations:
And They March! The Strange Tale of the Beebe Blackbirds
Procession of the Damned: Mass Bird and Fish Deaths Turning Up Everywhere
Reign of Fire: Meteorites, Wildfires, Planetary Chaos and the Sixth Extinction
© Itumeleng English/ANA
A tornado ripped through the Vaal in Midvaal, leaving more than 1 100 shack dwellers homeless and destroying many homes.
A tornado ripped through the Vaal in Midvaal, leaving more than 1 100 shack dwellers homeless and destroying many homes.
Recalling the two to three minute tornado encounter, local resident Nkutha said:
"I have never seen anything like this. Strong winds just started blowing, followed by a hail storm.According to local media reports, it blew off roof tops, uprooting trees and destroying fences and walls in its wake. This video shows the extensive damage caused.
"There was no way I could save my shack, so I took my little niece, Owethu, and put her in the food cupboard. I then lifted my skirt and told the other children in the house to hide."
© USGS (screen capture)
It was the second M6.0+ earthquake to hit Iran's southeastern province of Kerman within 12 hours. Multiple strong quakes have injured at least 18 people and damaging some 20 houses, state media reported.
Just over one month ago a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the Iran-Iraq border region. It killed over 400 people becoming the deadliest quake of 2017.
Comment: See also: