Earth ChangesS


Snowflake

Big snowfalls extend the snow season at ski resorts in Australia

William McInnes
Sydney Morning Herald
Sun, 17 Sep 2017 20:02 UTC
Adam Lambert, from Jindabyne, enjoys his time in the snow at Perisher.
© Perisher MediaAdam Lambert, from Jindabyne, enjoys his time in the snow at Perisher.
Skiers and snowboarders are continuing to hit the slopes in Australia's ski resorts with spring providing conditions that have been described as the best in years.

Three big dumps of snow throughout August and early September have lead to the biggest recorded snow depth since 2000.

The snow depth recording at Spencers Creek, midway between Perisher Valley and Thredbo, was 239.7cm this week, just shy of the 262cm recorded in 2000.

This time last year, the snow depth at Spencers Creek was just 114.7cm, less than half of the current depth and well below the average maximum of 190cm in previous years.
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Cloud Lightning

Is smog breeding storms? Researchers in China explore rise in lightning deaths

Stephen Chen
South China Morning Post
Sat, 16 Sep 2017 19:46 UTC
lightning
China is investigating whether air pollution has played a part in the rapid increase in the number of people struck by lightning in some of its largest cities in recent decades, according to a scientist involved in the project.

The investigation follows a discovery by US scientists that fossil fuel exhaust fumes could double the lightning risk at sea, which raised concerns about the risk to vessels in some of the world's busiest waters, including the South China Sea and the Malacca Strait.

Lightning now kills or injures nearly 4,000 people in China annually, according to government statistics, but less than 20 years ago the reported casualties were only a tenth of the present level.

The cost of the damage it causes to businesses in sectors such as telecommunications, power and transport is estimated to be somewhere between 5 billion and 10 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion).
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Snowflake

First cold front of season delivers snow to mountains in Utah

Katie England
Daily Herald
Sat, 16 Sep 2017 16:24 UTC
mountain snow
Many Utah County residents pulled out their sweaters for the first time today, waking up to cooler temperatures and rain showers thanks to the first cold front of the season.

The cold front brought varying levels of precipitation to cities across Utah Valley. Payson received the most with 1.14 inches of rain by 10 a.m., according to the National Weather Service.

Other cities including Alpine, Provo and Spanish Fork received more than a half inch of precipitation.

Scattered showers are expected throughout Friday afternoon and evening.

Widespread precipitation is expected across the state as the cold front crosses northern and central Utah, according to the National Weather Service's website.

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Snowflake

Early snowstorm strikes high areas of Wyoming


Billings Gazette
Fri, 15 Sep 2017 16:14 UTC
SNOW DRIFTS
Winter is coming early for some mountain areas of western and central Wyoming.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning Friday for the Bighorn, Absaroka and Wind River mountains. Up to a foot of snow is possible in high elevations.

Snow was also expected in parts of Yellowstone National Park, including the Old Faithful area.

On Friday morning, snow forced the Wyoming Department of Transportation to close sections of U.S. 212 near the Montana border, including Beartooth Pass, northwest of Cody.

Source: Associated Press
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Binoculars

Swallow-tailed gull from the Galapagos Islands turns up 4,000 miles away at Richmond Beach, Seattle

Sharon Salyer
The Daily Herald
Fri, 15 Sep 2017 13:40 UTC
Swallow-tailed gull
© Morgan EdwardsSwallow-tailed gull
It has all the appearances of Hollywood paparazzi — clusters of people with cameras with long lenses mounted on tripods, others using binoculars, and some just waiting in anticipation.

All this has been happening on beaches from Seattle to Edmonds to Everett, not in search of a movie star, but a swallow-tailed gull, a bird nearly 4,000 miles from its home in the Galapagos Islands off the coast of South America.

News of local sightings quickly spread among the birding world, earning a "rare" designation on the American Birding Association blog.

"There have been people here from all over the country — California, the East Coast," said Winston Rockwell, of Everett. "People made flights out here just to see that bird."

It's only the third time the gull has been spotted in America. The others were in California's Monterey County in 1985 and Marin County in 1996.

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Eye 2

Reporter killed by crocodile in Sri Lanka

Tom Kelly and Emine Simnaz
Daily Mail
Sat, 16 Sep 2017 13:12 UTC
The alleged crocodile attack is the second in Sri Lanka this year
The alleged crocodile attack is the second in Sri Lanka this year
The body of the Financial Times reporter who is believed to have been dragged into a lagoon and killed by a crocodile has been found by Sri Lankan police.

Journalist and Oxford University graduate Paul McClean, 24, was discovered in the coastal village of Panama on Friday, with wounds on one of his legs.

Divers found Mr McClean's corpse in a muddy lagoon, 225 miles east of the capital Colombo.

A crocodile is believed to have dragged Mr McClean away on Thursday afternoon, the officer said, but a post-mortem examination is expected to formally establish the cause of death.

British media reports said Mr McClean, who worked for the Financial Times, was holidaying in Sri Lanka with friends.
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Cloud Precipitation

Powerful one minute microburst swamps, sinks powerboats, jet skis at Lake Powell, Arizona


Arizona Daily Sun
Thu, 14 Sep 2017 12:22 UTC
The National Weather Service says the 56 mph microburst swept through the region in about a minute accompanied by rain showers.
© Jimmy RexThe National Weather Service says the 56 mph microburst swept through the region in about a minute accompanied by rain showers.
A sudden, powerful downward gust of wind swamped or sank dozens of powerboats and jet skis Thursday at Lake Powell along the Arizona-Utah border.

Authorities say at least three people were injured with a 60-year-old woman suffering a severe arm injury that required amputation.

They say a 57-year-old woman suffered head and hip injuries while another person had a dislocated shoulder.

The National Weather Service says the 56 mph microburst swept through the region in about a minute accompanied by rain showers.

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Attention

Rare bluefin tuna found dead on coast of Red Bay, Newfoundland

Stephen Roberts
Northern Pen
Fri, 15 Sep 2017 11:59 UTC
A rare sighting in the Labrador Straits, a dead Atlantic Bluefin tuna was found washed ashore in Red Bay last week.
© DFOA rare sighting in the Labrador Straits, a dead Atlantic Bluefin tuna was found washed ashore in Red Bay last week.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is investigating the surprise appearance of a large tuna on the shores of Red Bay.

A dead 738-pound Atlantic bluefin tuna was reported washed ashore in Red Bay Sept. 12. An initial report erroneously indicated the fish was a whale, misled by the size of the tuna rarely seen on the southern Labrador shores.

Carl Bradley, DFO field supervisor, sent some of his crew to sample the otolith and tissue from the tuna to gauge its age and its stock origin.

DFO then had the fish carried out into the ocean and sunk so it wouldn't attract predators.
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Attention

Another North Atlantic right whale discovered dead in Gulf of St. Lawrence; total to date now 11

Nathalie Sturgeon
CBC News
Fri, 15 Sep 2017 09:24 UTC
Another North Atlantic Right whale has been found dead in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, off Miscou Island.
© Center for Coastal Studies/NOAAAnother North Atlantic Right whale has been found dead in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, off Miscou Island.
Another North Atlantic right whale has been found dead in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans said in a release the carcass was found Friday morning off Miscou Island following a surveillance flight.

The department said it is the 11th confirmed death of a North Atlantic right whale in the Gulf to date.

DFO said it will attempt to recover and perform a necropsy on the whale next week.

"The Department cannot confirm if this whale is the same individual that was spotted entangled off the Gaspé Penninsula at the end of August," the statement read.
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Attention

Another dead marine mammal found on Grand Isle, Louisiana

Sara Sneath
Nola
Fri, 15 Sep 2017 09:07 UTC
A 10-foot dead whale washed up on the Grand Isle beach Sept. 15.
© Christopher HernandezA 10-foot dead whale washed up on the Grand Isle beach Sept. 15.
A 10-foot whale was discovered dead on a Grand Isle beach Friday morning (Sept. 15), the second found there in two months and at least the fourth on the Louisiana coast this year. The whale was hauled to a nearby state park by the town's Public Works Department for investigation.

The whale appeared to have bite marks on its underbelly, town supervisor Christopher Hernandez said. "It looked like a shark might have gotten to this one," he said.

A 27-foot female sperm whale was discovered on the same beach in August. "It took everything we had to move it," Hernandez said. "I had my forklift, my backhoe. That was huge."

Comment: Another source identified the species as a Risso's dolphin.

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