Earth ChangesS


Snowflake

60 inches of snow in 4 days at Apex Mountain, British Columbia - Most snow in 40-plus years

Chelsea Powrie
Castanet
Fri, 07 Feb 2020 11:18 UTC
Apex Mountain Resort sees most snow in 40-plus years.
© Apex Mountain Resort InstagramApex Mountain Resort sees most snow in 40-plus years.
James Shalman likens the conditions at Apex Mountain Resort to skiing on clouds.

"You're skiing in this kind of weightless powder zone, the snow is blowing up over your shoulders, it truly is what you live for as a skier or snowboarder," Shalman, Apex general manager, said from the top of the hill Friday.

Apex Mountain has smashed through snowfall records this week, seeing over 150 centimetres in the last four days, and it's still coming down.

"We just happen to be in this little storm cell, and it just hit us, in a great way," Shalman said.

He has been at Apex for 20 years and can't recall a bigger, longer-lasting dump of snow, and he's been talking to locals in the lift lines whose memories stretch even further.

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Rose

Mysterious "cloud rosettes" only visible from space captured by NASA off coast of western Australia

Amanda Kooser
Cnet
Fri, 07 Feb 2020 09:25 UTC
cloud rosettes
© NASA Earth Observatory image by Joshua Stevens, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS/LANCE and GIBS/WorldviewNASA's Aqua satellite spotted these actinoform clouds over the Indian Ocean.
Some natural wonders aren't as obvious as the Grand Canyon or Victoria Falls. A NASA satellite caught sight of a series of striking "cloud rosettes" over the Indian Ocean. It looks like an unseen hand turned cloud formations into a flower arrangement.

NASA's Aqua satellite captured the breathtaking view on Jan. 29, and the space agency's Earth Observatory shared it as an image of the day on Friday. The clouds appeared off the western coast of Australia.

Comment: A variety of unusual and normally rare phenomena are being sighted in our skies with an increasing frequency these days: Also check out SOTT radio's:

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Seismograph

6.2-magnitude earthquake rocks Papua New Guinea


Daily Mail
Sun, 09 Feb 2020 10:17 UTC
Seismologists said coastal residents near the epicentre would have felt 'quite strong ground shaking' as the tremor was close to the shore of Papua New Guinea
Seismologists said coastal residents near the epicentre would have felt 'quite strong ground shaking' as the tremor was close to the shore of Papua New Guinea
A 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck Papua New Guinea today, the US Geological Survey said.

The quake hit just after 4pm local time at a depth of 19 miles some 75 miles south of Kokopo, the capital of PNG's East New Britain province, the USGS said.

Despite the earthquake strike close to the shore no tsunami warning was issued, authorities said.

Geoscience Australia senior seismologist Trevor Allen said coastal communities near the epicentre would have felt 'quite strong ground shaking' as the tremblor was close to the shore.

But, he said, the area was relatively sparsely populated and flexible building design locally helped limit exposure to damage from quakes.
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Windsock

Storm Ciara's hurricane-force winds batter UK transport

Ben Quinn
The Guardian
Sun, 09 Feb 2020 10:15 UTC
High winds from Storm Ciara whip up foam onto the road at Caswell Bay near Swansea
© Phil Rees/Rex/ShutterstockHigh winds from Storm Ciara whip up foam onto the road at Caswell Bay near Swansea.
Hurricane-force winds have rocked Britain's transport network, causing the cancellation of trains, flights and ferries and prompting warnings of power cuts and a risk to life from falling debris.

The arrival of the weather front known as Storm Ciara, along with heavy rain and winds of more than 80 miles per hour, also comes with a heightened risk of flooding.

Heathrow airport said it had agreed with airlines to "consolidate" the flight schedule in a bid to minimise the number of cancelled flights.

British Airways was offering rebooking options for customers on domestic and European flights flying to and from Heathrow, Gatwick and London City while Virgin Atlantic also posted a list of cancelled flights on its website.

At least 10 rail companies sent out "do not travel" warnings, and nearly 20 others have told passengers to expect delays as strong winds were expected to damage electrical wires and clutter train tracks with broken tree limbs and other debris.

Rail companies issuing warnings against travel included Gatwick Express, Great Northern, LNER, Northern, Southeastern, Southern, Thameslink, Grand Central Hull Trains and TransPennine Express.

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Cloud Precipitation

Flash flooding after torrential downpours cause havoc in Johannesburg and Gauteng, South Africa


Floodlist
Sat, 08 Feb 2020 20:34 UTC
Floods in Gauteng Province, 08 February 2020.
© Gauteng Province Community SafetyFloods in Gauteng Province, 08 February 2020.
Torrential downpours in South Africa have caused havoc on roads around Johannesburg and Gauteng Province. In some areas flooding has prompted residents to evacuate their homes.

Dozens of roads have been flooded in and around Johannesburg, including parts of the M1 De Villiers Graaff motorway. Some motorists were forced to abandon their cars submerged under water.

City of Johannesburg Emergency Management Service (EMS) said on 08 February: "Heavy rainfall since yesterday has resulted in flash floods in some parts of Johannesburg. We urge residents to exercise caution on all roads, low lying areas and near rivers. Officers from all Fire Stations along with police are attending to various incidents citywide."

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Seismograph

Shallow 6.1-magnitude quake hits off Bristol Island, South Sandwich Islands

huaxia
Xinhua
Sat, 08 Feb 2020 20:20 UTC
Graph
An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.1 jolted 124km SSE of Bristol Island, South Sandwich Islands at 14:32:57 GMT on Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The epicenter, with a depth of 16.12 km, was initially determined to be at 60.0165 degrees south latitude and 25.4811 degrees west longitude.
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Cloud Lightning

Lighting kills 4 mountain gorillas in Uganda

Javira Ssebwami
PML Daily
Sat, 08 Feb 2020 13:32 UTC
Mgahinga national park
Four mountain gorillas from Volcanoes national park in Rwanda have been found dead inside Uganda's Mgahinga national park in southwestern Uganda, reports The Observer.

According to reports, the gorillas are suspected to have been killed by a lightning strike on February 3. The deceased gorillas include three adult females and a male infant.

The Hirwa family of 17 members crossed to Uganda's Mgahinga national park on August 28, 2019, from Volcanoes national park in Rwanda.
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Snowflake

Severe winter weather in central and eastern Europe - at least 3 killed

Travis Fedschun
Fox News
Thu, 06 Feb 2020 12:28 UTC
A snowplow pulls a truck stranded along a snow-covered road in the village of Naklerov, Czech Republic, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020.
A snowplow pulls a truck stranded along a snow-covered road in the village of Naklerov, Czech Republic, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020.
A series of winter storms across central and eastern Europe claimed another life on Thursday after an elderly man was found dead in his snow-trapped car in Serbia.

The spate of blizzards and strong winds combined with heavy rain and snow have left at least three people dead across the region.

Serbian police said Thursday they found a man's body while rescuing around 20 people, including five children, from their blocked cars on a road the southwestern part of the country.


Comment: Reports from other countries in the region:








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Snowflake

Winter storm drops snow on Haleakala, Big Island summits, Hawaii

Ben Gutierrez
Hawaii News Now
Fri, 07 Feb 2020 12:08 UTC
Winter storm drops snow on Haleakala
Winter storm drops snow on Haleakala
A deep cold front dropped snow on the summits of Haleakala on Maui, and Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea on the Big Island, resulting in snowcaps on Hawaii's three tallest mountains.

The National Weather Service in Honolulu had those summits under a winter storm warning through noon Friday.

A dusting of snow fell on summit of Haleakala, which tops out at about 10,023 feet. The road to the summit was closed for much of the day Friday because of icy conditions.

Meanwhile, snow accumulations of up to 6 inches is in the forecast for the Big Island summits.

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Snowflake Cold

Snowfall, blizzard cause traffic disruptions across Romania


Romania Insider
Thu, 06 Feb 2020 10:12 UTC
BLIZZARD
Roads and railways have closed, trains have been canceled and schools have closed across the country after the recent snowfall and blizzard.

The A2 highway, linking Bucharest to Constanța, a city on the Romanian Black Sea coast, closed on the evening of February 5 because of the blizzard, G4media.ro reported.

In Buzău, Brăila, Ialomița and Tulcea counties, all national and county roads were closed between 22:00 and 08:00 for all vehicles, except the intervention ones.

In Harghita and Covasna counties segments of national roads were closed for traffic after trees fell onto the roads, while the blizzard closed national roads in Constanța county (DN 2A Hârșova - Ovidiu and DN22 Ovidiu - Tulcea). In Prahova county, the traffic was blocked on the national road DN1A Ploiești - Cheia because of the trees that had fallen down, while the DN 71 Sinaia - Moroieni was closed because of the blizzard. Similarly, roads were closed in Galati county (DN24 D Galați-Bârlad) and in Călărași county (DN 3 Călărași - Lehliu - Fundulea, DN3A Fetești - Lehliu, DN 31 Oltenița - Călărași, DN 21 Călărași - Slobozia and DN 3B Călărași- Borcea) because of the blizzard.

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