Earth ChangesS


Snowflake Cold

World Snow Overview - Ski resort in Austria gets 140cms (55 inches) in 7 days


snow-forecast.com
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 18:34 UTC
Flachauwinkl
Flachauwinkl, Austria
SNOW NEWS UPDATED 13 DECEMBER 2018

It's been a remarkable week in the Alps with one of the biggest early December snowfalls in memory covering wide areas of the region. Resorts reported up to 80cm of snow falling in 24 hours in some cases and up to 1.4 metres of snow accumulating in others. Most of the snow fell between Saturday and Wednesday with the most intense period for many on Sunday and Monday.

AUSTRIA It's been an incredible week for fresh snow in Austria with the little resort of Flachauwinkl (50/150cm) topping the 7-day snowfall table with a remarkable 140cm (a few inches under five feet) of snowfall. Much of that fell between Sunday and Tuesday too. Plenty of internationally better-known ski centres saw big accumulations as well Saalbach 50/60cm - it may need to update its depth totals) also reported 140cm, 90cm (three feet) of that arriving over three days. Zell am See (0/115cm) got 116cm. Most other Austrian resorts reported 50-100cm so it's not difficult to report the conditions almost everywhere are ‘powder' as shown in our snowfinder tool.

Read More...
Question

'Creepy sounds' recorded in Ohio's night sky


Sott.net
Tue, 27 Nov 2018 18:29 UTC
Strange sounds (stock)
© vexels.com
On November 27, 2018, YouTube user 'CJ Blaze' recorded video of 'creepy sounds' they heard in the skies of Ohio:
U have to turn sound up, powers that be turned it down.
Read More...
Cloud Precipitation

China: Egg-sized hailstones severely damage crops in Jinghexiang and Yunnan


Fresh Plaza
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 14:20 UTC
crop damage
File photo
Pepper plants suffer severe damage, some bananas were crushed

An innocent rain shower in Jinghaxiang, Yunnan, suddenly turned into a hailstorm at around six in the afternoon of December 9th.

Local agricultural production areas suffered severe damage, and local farmers suffered severe losses.
Read More...
Attention

Seabird populations have dropped 70% as fishing industry competes for food

Josh Gabbatiss
Independent (UK)
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 13:54 UTC
Overall seabird numbers have dropped massively
© AFP/Getty ImagesOverall seabird numbers have dropped massively since the middle of the 20th century
The world's seabirds are being pushed to the brink of extinction by the fishing industry which is competing with them for food, a new study has warned.

Populations have dropped by up to 70 per cent since the middle of the 20th century, experts said.

This is partly due to habitat destruction and pollution, but the new research led by the University of Aberdeen, has revealed that pressure from fishing has played a major role in this decline.

Scientists compared two time periods - 1970 to 1989 and 1990 to 2010 - to assess the degree of competition seabirds faced for prey species such as anchovy, mackerel and squid.

The team then estimated the annual consumption of those prey species for nearly 300 varieties of seabird, based on population counts and models.
Read More...
Camera

Rare light pillars captured in Wisconsin

Chaffin Mitchell
AccuWeather
Tue, 11 Dec 2018 06:52 UTC
Amazing light pillars appear over Beloit, Wisconsin
© Tom PurdyAmazing light pillars appear over Beloit, Wisconsin.
A rare phenomenon called light pillars were seen beaming up to the night's sky in Beloit, Wisconsin, on Sunday evening.

The National Weather Service (NWS) reported over five hours of freezing fog in that area, which create the perfect conditions for light pillars.

Light pillars are an optical phenomenon caused when light is refracted by ice crystals. These lights tend to take on the color of the light source.

"They appear as beams of light to the observer. It is usually caused by street lights. However, any source of light can create a light pillar given proper conditions," AccuWeather Meteorologist David Samuhel said.

For ice crystals to form, the conditions need to be extremely calm and cold, without wind. For the light pillars to show, the ice crystals need to be near the ground.

"Typically, ice crystals are small enough to remain suspended in the air and only form when temperatures are below zero [F]," Samuhel said. "In most instances, temperatures are minus 10 to 20 degrees or colder."

Comment: Clearly our atmosphere is showing signs of serious change - evidently it's becoming colder:

Read More...
Seismograph

4.4 temblor strikes parts of Tennessee, Georgia and the Carolinas along New Madrid fault


RT
Wed, 12 Dec 2018 09:43 UTC
earthquake Tennessee
© google maps

A 4.4. magnitude earthquake has struck parts of Tennessee, Georgia and the Carolinas and seismographs have also recorded a secondary shock in the area.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) traced the earthquake to Decatur, Tennessee, but it has been felt in neighboring states too.

The convulsion occurred along the New Madrid Seismic Zone, which is along the Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi state lines.


Comment: A reminder that the New Madrid Seismic Zone is one of the areas around the world to keep on eye on for the potential of a Major earthquake:

Read More...
Attention

Loud mysterious booms rattle homes and nerves in northeastern Illinois


NBC News - Chicago
Tue, 11 Dec 2018 16:32 UTC
Mysterious booms in Illinois
© NBC
Mysterious boom sounds in the middle of night have residents in Elgin tired and looking for answers.

Some residents say the booms are so loud, they even shake homes in the northwest suburb.

"The house shakes, the windows shake," said resident Colleen Roberg.

The noises have been heard at various hours of the day, but particularly overnight.

"They've become louder," said Sue Webb, president of the Southwest Area Neighbors group.

The SWAN group said residents have suspected two bridges as the possible cause of the booms - the Route 31 bridge that runs over Route 20 and the Route 20 bridge the crosses over the Fox River.
Read More...
Sun

Rare for Alabama: a 22º sun halo at ground level!

Jason Simpson
WHNT
Tue, 11 Dec 2018 22:28 UTC
You don't see this every day on Sand Mountain! Sure, we get halos, sundogs, and arcs in the sky on a weekly basis, but we rarely see them at ground level here in Alabama. This 22º halo from Peggy Ponds in Albertville on Tuesday, December 11th is quite a find.
22º halo in AL
Why so rare?

Halos, sundogs, and arcs form when sunlight is refracted through ice crystals. Those crystals are hexagonal plates that look something like this:
Ice crystals diagram
© WHNT
As the sunlight bends into the spectrum upon exit from the plate, it shows off the optical phenomenon we see as a ring around the Sun or Moon.

On Tuesday, we had freezing fog that was precipitating out small ice crystals that were shaped like this. The closest description I can find to what we observed is from the Arctic and Antarctic: diamond dust.
Read More...
Snowflake

Winter storm dumped nearly 3 feet of snow in 48 hours on Busick, North Carolina

Mark Price
Charlotte Observer
Tue, 11 Dec 2018 15:06 UTC
A massive storm is bringing snow, sleet and freezing rain across the country.
© APA massive storm is bringing snow, sleet and freezing rain across the country.
A tiny Yancey County community that most North Carolinians have never heard of is the talk of the state, after the National Weather Service revealed nearly 3 feet of snow fell there in 48 hours.

"The tiny town of Busick, North Carolina, in Pisgah National Forest,...recorded 34 inches by Monday afternoon," NBC News reported.
ABC News also singled out Busick in its storm coverage, calling the snow fall "staggering."

Mount Mitchell in Yancey County also got 34 inches of snow, according to the North Carolina State Parks. The park is the highest point east of the Mississippi, at 6,684 feet.

Read More...
Cloud Precipitation

Flash floods hit Vancouver


Floodlist
Wed, 12 Dec 2018 14:50 UTC
Gilmore/Still Creek in Burnaby
© Sarah Godin ‏Gilmore/Still Creek in Burnaby
Flash flooding on 11 December, 2018, caused severe transport problems in parts of Vancouver, Canada.

Roads and highways were submerged. Local news reports said that emergency crews responded to at least 30 calls for vehicles in flood-related emergencies. The heavy rainfall also caused issues for transit services on the Expo Line (TransLink) service after tunnels were flooded.

Between 30 to 60 mm of rain fell in a few hours in parts of Vancouver. Port Mellon, situated around 35 km North West of Vancouver, recorded 77mm of rain in 24 hours to 11 December.

Environment Canada said that the heavy rain was brought by the first in a series of December storms that moved across coastal British Colombia. Weather warnings have been issued for wide areas of British Colombia over the coming days, in particular for heavy snow.

Read More...