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Tour Of California Says Sierra Snow Could Cause Crashes Sunday
Lake Tahoe, Calif. -- Don't put your snow shovels away just yet.
The latest weather forecast is predicting 3 inches of snow at lake level in the Tahoe basin this weekend.
"It's going to be a dramatic change from today," said Placerville's Bill Rose as he prepared to hike near Echo Summit.
Forecasters said the snow is expected to start falling Saturday night and continue into Sunday.
"Today couldn't be better. It's sunny and beautiful. But, big weather changes are common this time of year," said backcountry skier Jake Maker.
© KCRAAn image of Lake Tahoe.
Lake Tahoe, Calif. -- Don't put your snow shovels away just yet.
The latest weather forecast is predicting 3 inches of snow at lake level in the Tahoe basin this weekend.
"It's going to be a dramatic change from today," said Placerville's Bill Rose as he prepared to hike near Echo Summit.
Forecasters said the snow is expected to start falling Saturday night and continue into Sunday.
"Today couldn't be better. It's sunny and beautiful. But, big weather changes are common this time of year," said backcountry skier Jake Maker.
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One day after officials opened a floodway downriver to speed the flow through the lower Mississippi Valley and spare two of Louisiana's largest cities, the water at Vicksburg hit 56.48 feet on Sunday, more than an inch above the record 56.2 feet set in 1927, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Experts say the river will rise another foot still in Vicksburg before May 19, when it is expected to crest at 57.5 feet -- 14.5 feet above flood level.
The atmosphere in Vicksburg on Sunday remained remarkably calm with the police station closed, although the 911 emergency dispatch line remained open.
The Mississippi, swollen by a rainy spring and melt from an especially snowy winter, continues to rise as it moves south.
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About 4000 residents of Iidate-mura village and 1100 people in Kawamata-cho town, in the quake-hit northeast, began the phased relocations to public housing, hotels and other facilities in nearby cities.
Their communities are outside the 20km radius from the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, officially designated as an area of forced evacuation due to health risks from the radiation seeping from the ageing and damaged plant.
The government told people in communities such as Iidate-mura they had to leave but authorities are unlikely to punish those who choose to stay.
The Fort Atkinson Fire Department tells us that an electrical transformer blew up early Thursday morning at Nasco International Inc., 901 Janesville Avenue.
The roof of the main office caught fire and had to be extinguished by the fire department. There is substantial electrical damage to the main office as well.
There were no injuries. The Nasco main office is closed for today.
The roof of the main office caught fire and had to be extinguished by the fire department. There is substantial electrical damage to the main office as well.
There were no injuries. The Nasco main office is closed for today.
Sediment-laden water pours into the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers. Credit: Norman Kuring, Ocean Color Team.
That's going to cause downstream problems this year... all the way downstream to the ocean. But before we go there, let's take a quick look at how the system works.
© Suburban Journals photoA tornado siren in Arnold.
St. Charles County - Authorities believe a transformer fire near the county's fire and ambulance dispatch center in Wentzville about 3:45 p.m. today caused a power surge that tripped tornado warning sirens from the dispatch center for about three to four minutes.
The transformer was atop a pole on West Meyer and May roads, near St. Joseph Health Center, authorities said.
The dispatch center is at 1605 Wentzville Parkway.
The cause of the fire was unknown Saturday. The National Weather Service confirmed that it issued no tornado watches or warnings.
© Reuters/Fred GreensladeMembers of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) work at shoring up a dike along the Assiniboine River near Poplar Point, Manitoba, May 13, 2011.
Opening the dike will, over days, flood at least 225 square kilometres (55,600 acres) of land that includes 150 homes while taking the pressure off strained dikes.
After the deliberate dike breach, Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger said the gradual, controlled flood was going well and that he knew of no homes in its path that had been damaged.
Water was spreading rapidly across fields, however, swamping land when farmers are usually planting crops of wheat, canola and vegetables.
"This was a necessity because a catastrophic overflow would have taken all the people in this area, and around it they would have had up to five times more damage if the river opened up," Selinger told reporters near the breach site. "...The dikes are very stressed with the amount of water going through, which is why we had to do this opening here."
The controlled flood looked to continue for as long as a week with flows speeding up because the river was still rising, Selinger said.
Las Vegas, Nevada -- Las Vegas police said it took about two hours to clear up a traffic mess caused by an electrical transformer explosion behind the Monte Carlo casino.
The blast and resulting fire created a cloud of smoke that shut down the northbound lanes of Interstate 15.
Metro Police told the Las Vegas Sun there were no injuries and Monte Carlo guests had to be evacuated.
The cause of the explosion, which occurred around 12:30 a.m. MDT, was not known.
The blast and resulting fire created a cloud of smoke that shut down the northbound lanes of Interstate 15.
Metro Police told the Las Vegas Sun there were no injuries and Monte Carlo guests had to be evacuated.
The cause of the explosion, which occurred around 12:30 a.m. MDT, was not known.
© Ray PetlockThe Town of Slave Lake has declared a state of emergency as wildfires force 260 people from their homes
Close to 1,000 people have been forced from their homes since the fires broke out Saturday afternoon. Initially, about 260 people were evacuated from the Poplar Lane and Mitsue areas but Sunday afternoon, another 700 residents were ordered out of the area because of another fire burning southwest of the community.
Displaced residents are being sent to a Red Cross reception centre at Northern Lakes College. Two schools in the area are being set up as temporary shelters for evacuees.
