Welcome to Sott.net
Tue, 26 Oct 2021
The World for People who Think

Earth Changes
Map

Nuke

Sandy curtails nuclear plants, oldest under alert

Scott DiSavino
Reuters
Tue, 30 Oct 2012 12:09 UTC
Hurricane Sandy slowed or shut a half-dozen U.S. nuclear power plants, while the nation's oldest facility declared a rare "alert" after the record storm surge pushed flood waters high enough to endanger a key cooling system.
Image
© Reuters/NOAA/Handout
New York - Exelon Corp's 43-year-old Oyster Creek plant in New Jersey remains on "alert" status, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said early Tuesday. It is only the third time this year that the second-lowest of four emergency action levels was triggered.

"Oyster Creek is still in an alert but may be getting out of it as long as water levels continue to drop," NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan told Reuters.

The alert came after water levels at the plant rose more than 6.5 feet above normal, potentially affecting the "water intake structure" that pumps cooling water through the plant.

Those pumps are not essential to keep the reactor cool since the plant has been shut for planned refueling since October 22. Exelon however was concerned that if the water rose over 7 feet it could submerge the service water pump motor that is used to cool the water in the spent fuel pool, potentially forcing it to use emergency water supplies from the in-house fire suppression system to keep the rods from overheating.

Exelon also moved a portable pump to the intake structure as a precaution in case it was needed to pump cooling water.
      Read More...
Igloo

France: Winter before it should be


Euronews/YouTube
Sun, 28 Oct 2012 13:48 UTC

"C'est l'hiver avant l'heure;" or 'it is winter before it should be', was one local person's reaction to heavy snow falls which have hit eastern parts of France.

The cold snap brought power cuts with up to 50,000 households in the Isere region in the Alps deprived of electricity.

Authorities have issued an "Orange" warning, the second highest alert, and rescue services have been fully mobilised.

Up to 50 centimetres of snow fell in some parts making driving hazardous. An icy wind and fresh falls of snow on top of the ice only added to the dangerous conditions.

Many drivers were forced to abandon their cars while emergency services were called to clear trees from roads felled in the high winds, with gusts blowing up to 130 kilometres per hour recorded in one area.

Parts of the south of France were the worst hit by the high winds where on the riviera two people have been reported missing.

A search has been mounted for a 12-year-old boy on the island of Porquerolles. Emergency services say his bike has been found. A 26-year-old windsurfer is also missing.

In the port of Marseille the ferry Napoleon Bonaparte was damaged when strong winds broke the ship's moorings.

The hull smashed against the dock flooding two of its watertight compartments.
      Read More...
Igloo

Cold snap to sweep through China


English People Daily Online
Mon, 29 Oct 2012 12:48 UTC
Cold Snap in China
© Xinhua/Lin Hong
Citizens wearing thick clothes walk on a street in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province, Oct. 28, 2012. A cold front swept the province on Sunday, lowering the temperature nine to 11 degrees centigrade in most parts of the province and bringing the lowest temperature down to less than zero.
Beijing -- China's central and eastern regions will experience temperature drops in coming days, while the southern parts will receive moderate to heavy rain, the national meteorological watchdog forecast Sunday.

Strong wind will make temperatures in northeastern regions fall by six to ten degrees Celsius on Sunday. A blast of cold air is forecast to sweep across the central and eastern parts from Monday, the National Meteorological Center said on its website.

The center also forecast that fog will shroud parts of Hubei, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces on Sunday morning, reducing visibility to less than 1,000 meters.

Over the next three days, parts of South China will see moderate to heavy rain, and some regions may experience torrential rain, the center said.

Son-Tinh, the 23rd tropical storm of the year, strengthened to a super-typhoon on Saturday night and was located 260 km southeast of Vietnam's Thanh Hoa at 5 a.m. Sunday.

Son-Tinh is expected to move northwestward at a speed of 10 to 15 km per hour and make landfall in Vietnam's northern coastal regions on Sunday night, the center said.
      Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Tjörnes Fracture Zone Volcano: Seismic swarm continues with no end in sight


Extinction Protocol
Tue, 30 Oct 2012 08:59 UTC
The earthquake swarm in the Tjörnes Fracture Zone north off Iceland continues into its 10th day. After a decline in intensity during 25-28 Oct, the frequency of quakes has again picked up. There are often more than 100 quakes a day including some above magnitude 3. The Icelandic Met Office maintains a warning for a possible larger quake in the area. - Volcano Discovery
Image
      Read More...
Snowflake Cold

Sweden braces for week of heavy snow


Ice Age Now
Tue, 30 Oct 2012 06:40 UTC
Meteorologists predict heavy snowfall throughout the country and have issued a nationwide class 1 warning.

"There may be large quantities of snow," explained Lisa Frost of the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, SMHI.

"As it's the first snow and it's quite early in the season, we're issuing the warning - especially as some people haven't changed to their winter tyres yet."

Throughout Monday, the Dalarna and Värmland counties have been slammed by a lengthy snow storm, which has left 10 cm (4 inches) of snow. SMHI forecast a further 10 cm before Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) is already fighting the blizzards.

The season's lowest temperature was recorded on Sunday night with Nattavaara in far northern Sweden hitting -22.1C (-6F).
      Read More...
Road Cone

Frankenstorm Sandy: 16 dead and millions without power as Obama declares New York City major disaster area


BBC
Tue, 30 Oct 2012 06:29 UTC
Image
US President Barack Obama has declared a "major disaster" in New York state after storm Sandy smashed into the US East Coast causing flooding and cutting power to millions.

A record 4m (13ft) tidal surge sent seawater cascading into large parts of New York City's subway system.

Across the city, a power sub-station suffered an explosion, a hospital was evacuated and fire destroyed 50 homes.

At least 13 people are reported dead across several states.

An estimated 50 million people could be affected by the storm, with up to one million ordered to evacuate homes.

Sandy, now downgraded from a hurricane but described as a "super-storm", is churning north heading for Canada still packing torrential rain driven by gale-force winds.
      Read More...
Ice Cube

Surprise October snow hits central Germany - Suspected record


TheLocal.de
Tue, 30 Oct 2012 06:41 UTC
Winter appeared overnight in many parts of Germany on Saturday with unseasonal heavy snow fall and subzero temperatures hitting central and southern areas.

Meteorologists say this is the first time for decades that snow has fallen on low lying areas in October. More flurries are expected over the weekend.

As much as 17cm of snow fell overnight in Thuringen forest in central Germany - a suspected record for this time of year.

Heavy snow also fell on Bavaria, Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and Saarland, with further flurries expected on Saturday in Leipzig, Dresden and Munich, according to the DWD.

"This happens maybe once every 30 or 40 years," meteorologist Christoph Hartmann of the German weather service (DWD) told Die Welt newspaper on Saturday, referring to the unusual snowfall in October.

The severe drop in temperature - by 20 degrees within a week - also occurs "very, very seldom," he added.

With winter's first onslaught, fallen trees blocked train lines between Leipzig and Munich, causing delays and diversions to the ICE high speed rail network.

A further 10-15 cm of snow is expected overnight in the Alps and in the Ore Mountains in Saxony, where DWD said temperatures could fall as low as minus ten.
      Read More...
Snowflake

Austria - Rare October snow catches drivers by surprise


Ice Age Now
Tue, 30 Oct 2012 06:38 UTC
Only twice before since records began has there been snow in October in all the nine provinces of Austria, on the 31 October 1941 as well as in the night of 23 and 24 October 2003.

Austrian weather expert Alexander Orlik from the central weather institute ZAMG said: "It is true the snow is very early this year and that is an indication that it will be a long hard winter, but not proof."

The early snow caught many drivers unaware who had not yet changed over to winter tyres - causing problems on the roads. The legal deadline to have winter tyres is 1 November in Austria.

In Carinthia parts of the region were left without electricity as the snow fell as a result of heavy snow meaning trees toppled onto the lines .
      Read More...
Cloud Grey

Amazing Roll Cloud over Andrews, Texas

S.A
Sott.net
Tue, 30 Oct 2012 05:22 UTC
A Sott.net reader sent in these amazing images and video of a spectacular 'roll cloud' over the town of Andrews, Texas, USA, taken on October 25th 2012.


Image
Image
Image
      Read More...
Boat

Crew member dead, captain missing after Canadian-built replica of HMS Bounty sinks

Paul Koring and Jane Taber
The Globe and Mail
Mon, 29 Oct 2012 09:24 UTC

Image
© Reuters/U.S. Coast Guard
A crewman from the replica tall ship HMS Bounty is aided in the water by a member of the U.S. Coast Guard next to a life raft in the Atlantic Ocean approximately 144 kilometres southeast of Hatteras, North Carolina, October 29, 2012.
Washington - One crew member has died and the captain is missing in high seas and raging winds after the Canadian-built replica of HMS Bounty was abandoned and sank Monday morning.

U.S. Coast Guard Jayhawk helicopters rescued 14 others from life rafts in a dramatic dawn rescue about 150 kilometres off Cape Hatteras, N.C.

As the crew abandoned the sinking ship, struggling to get into life rafts before dawn, three were tossed into the sea by waves sweeping over the stricken vessel. "One of those managed to get to a raft, but not the other two," U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Lieutenant-Commander Jamie Frederick told The Globe and Mail at 13:30 pm.

The dead crew member, 42-year-old Claudene Christian, was found unresponsive in the water on Monday evening. The Coast Guard said she was taken to a hospital in Elizabeth City, where she was later pronounced dead.

Rescuers continued to search for the missing captain of HMS Bounty, 63-year-old Robin Walbridge.

The Coast Guard says Captain Walbridge and Ms. Christian were able to put on survival suits designed to keep them afloat and protect them from chilly waters for 15 hours.

Helicopters were used in the search and two Coast Guard cutters have also gone out to sea to help search.

"We're throwing all the assets we have out there so that we can keep searching for these folks," Cdmr Frederick said.

Earlier he confirmed that "14 are safe on shore."
      Read More...
Amazon Smile
Revolt! T-shirts