Earth ChangesS


Cloud Grey

'One of the rarest clouds ever' forms over Nevada sky


Weather Nation
Fri, 09 Mar 2018 22:51 UTC
Rare horseshoe cloud
© Weather Nation
It is called a horseshoe cloud... Because, well, it's shaped like a horseshoe.

Christy Grimes caught a glimpse of what the National Weather Service calls "one of the rarest clouds ever."

Grimes shot the photos near Battle Mountain Thursday and sent them to the National Weather Service office in Elko, Nevada.

So, with it being one of the rarest clouds, everyone is stuck wondering how the clouds form.

The Elko National Weather Service office gave this great explanation:
"An updraft pushes flattish cumulus clouds up and a horizontal vortex develops from differential updraft speeds.

As the vortex climbs, it gets caught in the faster horizontal winds aloft, and the middle part of the vortex catches the faster speeds with the ends being slower.

The result is that the center of the vortex pulls out ahead. Various time lapses can be found online."
So, if you ever see a horseshoe cloud, make sure to snap a photo, because you're one of the lucky ones.
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Cloud Precipitation

Heavy rain and melting snow cause flooding in northern Albania (PHOTOS)

Richard Davies
Floodlist
Fri, 09 Mar 2018 20:00 UTC
flood
Heavy rain and melting snow have caused flooding and landslides in Albania over the last few days.

Shkodër County in the north west of the country is the worst affected area where the Drin and Bojana rivers have overflowed.

Local authorities there said that 2,285 hectares of land were under water. Military personnel are working to alleviate flooding, carry out evacuations and deliver relief supplies.
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Attention

Lava flow confirmed at Shinmoe volcano in Japan following eruptions


The Mainichi
Fri, 09 Mar 2018 19:28 UTC
Mount Shinmoe is seen from a Mainichi Shimbun helicopter on March 9, 2018.
© MainichiMount Shinmoe is seen from a Mainichi Shimbun helicopter on March 9, 2018.
A flow of lava has been confirmed at Mount Shinmoe in south Kyushu, following a series of eruptions starting earlier this month, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said on March 9.

At around 10:10 a.m. on March 9, a worker from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology involved in an on-site inspection informed the JMA that lava could be seen flowing from the northwest section of the mountain's crater. The agency later confirmed a lava flow, and is investigating its range.

The JMA had announced on the same day that eruptions of the volcano, which straddles Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures, had stopped at 1:45 a.m., but it seems that lava built up inside the crater subsequently spilled over.

Comment: See also: Shinmoedake volcano in Japan rumbles anew with explosive eruption

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Snowflake

Another roof collapses due to snow weight in Nakusp, British Columbia - 200 inches of snow in some areas this year

John Boivin
Mission City Record
Thu, 08 Mar 2018 19:03 UTC
roof
This is the third home that had its roof caved in by heavy snow

Emergency crews in Nakusp were called out Wednesday to another collapsed roof caused by heavy snow- the third in a week and a half.

This time, the roof covering a wraparound, second-story deck of a house on Shakespeare Road collapsed, said Nakusp Fire Chief Terry Warren.

No one was injured in the collapse, though a truck parked next to the house was damaged. Electricity was cut off to a portion of the house, but the residents are still able to occupy the building, said Warren.

"The heavy snow seems to be really affecting big, long open runs of roof," said Warren. "We also find that people are losing their gutters, their eavestroughs, to the weight of the snow."
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Snowflake Cold

Thousands of flights cancelled as Storm Quinn pummels northeastern US with high winds and heavy snow


Sputnik
Wed, 07 Mar 2018 21:56 UTC
Storm Quinn cancelled flights
© Rebecca Butala How/Getty Images
Thousands of flights have been cancelled at New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia airports as the northeastern US weathers yet another powerful winter storm Wednesday and Thursday.

Airlines have canceled more than 2,100 flights scheduled to depart Wednesday from airports in the Boston, Philadelphia and New York areas as Winter Storm Quinn is bring high winds and heavy snow to the region.

Comment: See also: US east coast hit by 36 inches of snow and counting - 6 inches per hour in Vermont (VIDEOS, PHOTOS)

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Snowflake Cold

One for the books: February weather set records throughout Montana

Curtis Grevenitz
kpax.com
Fri, 09 Mar 2018 14:50 UTC
snow
February is the shortest month of the year, but it may have felt like the longest month because of record cold, snow, and wind.

The phrase "a real Montana winter" is used to describe how tough Montana winters were. Well, February 2018 is a time your children could one day be telling their grandchildren about "a real Montana winter."

It was the snowiest February on record for Chinook, Choteau, Cut Bank, East Glacier, Great Falls, and Havre. It was the snowiest month ever on record for reporting stations near Lewistown, Bynum, Valentine, and Galata.

Temperatures were brutally cold, the second coldest February on record for Lewistown, third coldest for Dillon, fourth coldest for Cut Bank, and fifth coldest February ever for Great Falls and Havre.

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Fish

Earthquake-hit Papua New Guinea left with dead fish, eels and prawns in polluted rivers

Leith Huffadine
Stuff
Fri, 09 Mar 2018 13:47 UTC
dead fish
Contaminated drinking water and disrupted rivers are making the aftermath of several powerful earthquakes in Papua New Guinea even worse.

Dead fish, eels, prawns and other debris are clogging silt and mud-laden waterways, causing stench and unsafe water, while properties have also been damaged.

The situation is being described as "disastrous" by the Governor's Office in the badly-hit Gulf Province.

In a public notice, the office stated: "Given the magnitude of the earthquake and its resulting damage upstream in Southern Highlands and Hela Province, consequential effects and changes in the rivers systems downstream is disastrous ...
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Snowflake

Erie, Pennsylvania now buried under 13 feet of snowfall - continues to break records

Anthony Watts
WUWT
Thu, 08 Mar 2018 12:42 UTC
snow
© Jill McCormick
From the "Snowfalls are now just a thing of the past" by climate scientist Dr. David Viner department comes this news from NOAA/NWS:

With 156 inches between December 2017 and February 2018, Erie, Pennsylvania, set a new record for most winter snowfall:
Erie Winter snowfall

Via NOAA/NCEI on Twitter

Comment: See also:

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Seismograph

Rare M5.6 earthquake strikes Mozambique-Malawi border, is followed by M5.2


The Watchers
Thu, 08 Mar 2018 12:00 UTC
Rare M5.6 earthquake hits Mozambique followed by M5.2
© Google/TW
The first, registered by the USGS as M5.6, hit at 08:49 UTC at a depth of 6.4 km (4 miles) and was followed by M5.2 at 09:52 UTC at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). The M5.6 earthquake is expected to have a medium humanitarian impact based on the magnitude and the affected population and their vulnerability.

According to the USGS, the epicenter was located 25.9 km (16.1 miles) NE of Nsanje (population 21 774) and 80.4 km (49.9 miles) S of Mulanje (population 16 483), Malawi.

There are 3 000 000 people living within 100 km (62 miles) and 8 800 within 5 km (3.1 miles).

Some 22 000 people are estimated to have felt very strong shaking, 63 000 strong, 195 000 moderate and 4 783 000 light.

Comment: Earthquakes, volcanoes, sinkholes, landslides and gaping fissures, they just keep coming with a greater frequency and seem to be becoming ever more massive:

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Attention

Thousands of starfish wash up in Andalusia, Spain after 'Beast of the East'


The Local (Spain)
Wed, 07 Mar 2018 12:56 UTC
Stills from video by Juana Salas
Thousands of starfish wash up in Andalusia, Spain after 'Beast of the East'
The storm that swept across Spain's southern tip last weekend not only caused damage to boats, cars and buildings along the coast but also brought devastation to the starfish population.

A carpet of the marine animals were washed up on Punta Umbria beach in Huelva on Monday in what conservationists believe was a direct result of Storm Emma.

A video uploaded by Juana Salas on Facebook showing the extent of the stranding has been viewed over half a million times:

Comment: A video of the tornado mentioned in the above text:



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