Among the observations by volcanologists conducting weekend inspections in the area around Costa Rica's Turrialba Volcano were craters in the earth measuring up to one meter in diameter - the result of rocks shooting out from the volcano.

Experts from the National Seismological Network (RSN) and the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (OVSICORI) conducted the inspections in light of significant activity at the volcano that started last week.

RSN volcanologist Gino González Ilama said the areas of impact are located on the south side of the volcano and cover 80 percent of the slope up to 400 meters from the volcano's crater.

"We observed the impact of volcanic rock that had caused several craters on the ground. We believe the rocks were shot out of the volcano at speeds greater than 100 kilometers per hour, and this proves there is strong activity inside," González said.

Two blobs of dense rock jammed deep beneath Chile's coastline acted like seismic speed bumps during the magnitude-8.8 Maule earthquake in 2010, according to a new study.

Some of the world's largest earthquakes occur in Chile. The country sits above a subduction zone, where the Nazca tectonic plate dives down under the South America tectonic plate. Where the two plates lock together, a huge amount of strain builds up and is periodically released through earthquakes.

Ridges and undersea mountains on the Pacific Ocean seafloor (the Nazca plate) divide the coastline into segments that unleash earthquakes at different intervals, scientists think. After the subduction zone gobbles these seafloor barriers, they can stop earthquakes from moving through an area or serve as earthquake starting points.

Now, researchers have discovered similar quake-controlling behavior from unusual geologic features bolted to the underside of the South American continent like a wad of chewed gum. The dense rocks seem to have played a key role during the devastating Maule earthquake, according to results published Nov. 1 in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

Another shot of cold air will follow a fast-moving storm forecast to sweep from the Midwest to the East during the second half of the week.

People from the Midwest to the East will need an array of outdoor gear into next week.

Before the chill hits, temperatures will moderate during the first part of the week over much of the eastern half of the nation.

Conditions will be favorable for storm cleanup early this week around the Chicago Lakefront and at midweek in northern New England. Waves washed over Lake Shore Drive in Chicago following a blast of snow on Halloween. Record snow amounts buried New England as the same storm pushed off the coast and ramped up. The milder air will also make raking leaves a little less painful from the Midwest to the Appalachians and Northeast.

The storm later this week will not be as strong as the system that hit the Midwest and East this past weekend. However, it will bring spotty rain and snow to parts of the northern Plains Wednesday then the Great Lakes on Thursday.

In the wake of the storm, winds will kick up, bringing in a quick dose of cold air and localized lake-effect snow to parts of the Upper Midwest.

Winds with the cold shot will not be as intense and more from the west in the wake of the storm around the Great Lakes. The southeastern shoreline of Lake Michigan will be hit with wave action, rather than Chicago during this round. The northwest flow will bring more lake-effect flurries and snow areas farther east over the Midwest when compared to this past weekend.

Some fifteen departments in south eastern France were on alert on Tuesday as storms swept through the region. Residents in the Ardeche were some of the hardest hit as rivers burst their banks.

Gale force winds and heavy rain lashed south eastern France on Tuesday leaving weather alerts in place for 15 departments.

On Monday night the severe weather caused havoc in the Ardeche department and left over 6,000 homes without power. Firefighters were called out nearly 100 times to deal with incidents.

"We have an enormous amount of damage, with walls collapsing onto roads," said deputy mayor of an Ardeche village Michel Aymard, who said it was the third time in two months the region had been hit by devastating floods.

The ABC is reporting an incredible sight in the skies over east Victoria, in the Gippsland area. It looks like a UFO, but it's entirely natural.

No, it's not chemtrails. Instead, it's a type of cloud called a Fallstreak Hole. You may recognize that it glimmers in a way that's similar to the contrails of jets. That's because a similar phenomenon causes it. That rainbow look is the result of water crystals in the clouds freezing and refracting the light. Those frozen crystals have also made one patch of the cloud slightly heavier, pulling it downward from the rest of the cloud layer, and giving it that odd, punch-out look.

I mentioned contrails earlier because they are also caused by frozen water droplets hanging in the air, gleaming in the sunlight. But contrails happen when warm air is released with jet exhaust and collides with supercooled water in the stratosphere. This causes the water to freeze instantly, and thus you can see a long trail of frozen vapor where a plane just flew overhead.

We are being beaten by a one two punch. From one side we have the sun diminishing its radiance and on the other volcanoes have gone berserk these past few years. And we have 'official' smoke signals going up from the ICC global warming crowd that it is not warming after all with no sorry and no admission of being wrong or lying. (Be sure to read the special note at the end about the new official ICC statements, a new volcano blowing its stack since yesterday, and a spiritual note to global warming liars.)

Until recently, it has been the hard science of astrophysics that has been warning us that the sun has entered a phase of low activity, which will drive cooler weather here on earth. The head of the Space Research section of the Russian Academy of Science, Professor Khabibullo Abdussamatov, in 2006 issued a press release, warning that the world should prepare for imminent global cooling. He predicted that the global cooling would start in 2012 - 2015, and would likely peak around 2055.

"On the basis of our [solar emission] research, we developed a scenario of a global cooling of the Earth's climate by the middle of this century and the beginning of a regular 200-year-long cycle of the climate's global warming at the start of the 22nd century," said Abdussamatov. He and his colleagues had concluded that a period of global cooling similar to one seen in the late 17th century - when canals froze in the Netherlands and people had to leave their dwellings in Greenland - could start in 2012-2015 and reach its peak in 2055-2060.

The Russians did not calculate into their predictions these record breaking volcanic emissions into the atmosphere. Alone the sun was throwing us into cooling. Volcanic cooling is being added to the formula before our very eyes and only the blind at this point cannot see what is coming.

A 16 metre long Minke whale has washed up on Retamar beach near Almeria city today.

It's a common sort of whale in the Med, but this fully grown specimen caused much alarm when it was spotted at about 12:30 today just offshore, and calls were placed to the emergency services.

Specialists from the sealife charity Equimar turned up and confirmed the animal was dead. Specimens were taken from the animal for later analysis, but a preliminary check by the specialists indicated that the animal had lost its dorsal fin, probably by being hit by a fishing boat, and probably died shortly afterwards as it would be unable to hunt.

A ten year-old fifth grader is dead after he and another student were attacked on their way to school in Anhui by three wild dogs, reports Sina News Video.

They were heading to school at 7am on October 29 in Guzhen County when the dogs, described as "evil" and quite large, attacked. The other child, a nine year old, sustained an injury to his arm but was able to escape.

When help arrived, the dogs were still surrounding the boy's body. Police brought more than 60 guns to the scene and killed all the dogs on site.

© i24news
Waterspout in Tel Aviv, November 3, 2014

Israel Meteorological Service to i24news: Waterspout is just as beautiful as a tornado but much less harmful.

The Israeli fall offered Monday morning a beautiful natural phenomenon - a waterspout.

A waterspout is an columnar vortex (usually appearing as a funnel-shaped cloud) that occurs over a body of water, usually above the sea, Amit Savir of the training department in Israel Meteorological Service told i24news.

The phenomenon is usually accompanied by lightning and thunderstorm, Savir added.

Unlike the infamous tornedo, which causes great damage in its wake due to wind speeds of more than 300 miles per hour, diameter of more than two miles (3.2 km) across, and which stays on the ground for dozens of miles (more than 100 km), "the waterspout is very local, it stays above the water and rarely hits land. If the waterspout does hit land, the damage could be minor," Savir explained.

It was the earliest and heaviest snow in several places since records have been kept dating as far back as 1880.
100 Year Snow Records broken across the South Eastern US on October 31st and November 01st. It was the earliest and heaviest snow in several places since records have been kept dating as far back as 1880.

Reduced sunspot count shows Solar hibernation is occurring along with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) showing a cooling Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Multi-Decadal Oscillation (AMO) Atlantic Ocean temperature is predicted to fall by 2020, which screams of cooling events to take place globally.