The recent arctic blasts have caused the ice cover on the Great Lakes to increase rapidly. As of Tuesday, Feb. 17, the amount of ice on the Great Lakes is more than the same date last year.

The total ice cover on the Great Lakes is now rated at 82.3 percent as of Tuesday. On the same date last year, the Great Lakes had 81.6 percent total ice cover.

The Great Lakes ice cover has grown over 5 percent in the past 24 hours. That's about 4,750 square miles of ice overnight. At that pace of ice growth, the Great Lakes would be almost totally iced over in the next four days.

The blast of arctic cold tonight through Friday will certainly help ice continue to grow.

The cold will come with a 10 mph to 20 mph wind, which could temporarily break up and reduce some ice. But the light wind days in the next 10 days also look very cold.

So it's going to be very interesting to watch the ice expand in the next few weeks.

From the bitter cold weather I'm expecting to head our way, combined with several days of light winds, I think we will surpass last year's total ice cover on the Great Lakes. In fact, I'm wondering if we could see the Great Lakes almost totally ice up by the end of February.

Four people from Mukaka village under Chief Maranda in Mwenezi died on the spot on Sunday after being struck by a bolt of lightning as they sought shelter under a tree during a thunderstorm.

The incident comes exactly two weeks after seven other people in Chief Mazungunye's area, Bikita, were killed by lightning which struck their grass-thatched huts on February 2.

Masvingo acting provincial police spokesman Assistant Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa referred all questions to national police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Paul Nyathi, who said he was yet to get the details of the incident.

Sources in Mwenezi said a bolt of lightning struck at around noon and killed Shaiwai Mukuvashuro (29), Thangson Chimiti (29), Batanai Moyo (32) and Richard Chandavengerwa (33) after they had sought refuge under a tree.

Louisiana's wetlands are famously disappearing, thanks to a century of dredging and drilling in the Mississippi River. A football field-sized swath of land falls into the ocean every hour. But along on small part of the coastline, the land is actually growing. Welcome to Atchafalaya Bay.

A pair of recent satellite images released by the NASA Earth Observatory shows Atchafalaya Bay in 1984 and 2014. A necklace of barely visible islands morphs into prominent chunks of land. The mouths of two rivers, the Atchafalaya and Wax Lake Outlet, grow substantial deltas. By one estimate, the deltas have added one square mile every year.

Mexico's Colima volcano is playing to the camera. Known locally as the Volcán Fuego or Volcano of Fire, Colima's recent activity is being captured on video and time-lapse photography as well as during monitoring flights around the area.

The latest blast, featured in this BBC clip, shows a huge ash column climbing over a mile into the sky. Blankets of ash covered villages as much as 15 miles away, but there was no structural damage.

Extreme winter weather has been causing problems for millions across the East Coast, but it has also made for some beautiful sights.

Among those beautiful sights is Niagara Falls, which has now frozen over due to temperatures which dropped to 16F on Wednesday.

And it looks like the popular tourist destination may stay frozen, as temperatures are expected to drop even lower come Thursday.

A sperm whale that had been stranded near a coastal village in the town of Calauag, Quezon province, died yesterday, an environment official of the province said.

Manny Calayag, community coordinator of the Quezon-Environment and Natural Resources Office, said the sperm whale, one of the world's largest animals, died around 7:30 a.m. in the shallow portion of the waters off Lamon Bay near the coast of Bangkorohan village.

The whale was found by fishermen a kilometer away from the shore on Tuesday, said Senior Insp. Noel Divino, Calauag police chief.

He said the whale, measuring 40 feet long and 10 feet tall, was found with a wound on the right part of the belly.

Glendale Police are investigating a dog bite that sent two children to the hospital.

According to Glendale Police they got a call of a dog bite from the family dog around 1:22 p.m. Monday. Officer Breeden with the Glendale Police Department described the dog as a pit bull.

It all happened near 67th Avenue and Mountain View Road.

8-year-old Xavier was passing by the home and heard the screaming, he ran over to the home and called 911.

"I heard somebody yelling animal and hurt," said Xavier.

The dog bit an 8-year-old boy on the arm and leg and a 13-year-old girl was bitten in her lower extremities.

Paramedics rushed both of the children to area hospitals in serious but non life-threatening condition. The 8-year-old was flown to Phoenix Children's Hospital.

Neighbors that live nearby say they know of the dog.

After a gap of almost 66 years, Bean Goose was spotted at Sariska wildlife sanctuary between February 1 to 11. Last time this rare bird was seen in Bikaner in the year 1948.

Bean geese are found in the arctic tundra region but migrate from there during winters. Out of three, two species, bar-headed goose and grey leg goose have visited Sariska in the past. They have been often spotted at Mansarovar lake and Kankwadi lake. But Bean Goose has come after long time and now Sarsika holds the record of hosting all three species.

Barely a week after the last snowstorm pounded Turkey, another is bringing snow across much of the country as a trough of low pressure digs southward.

Moisture being pulled to the north from the Mediterranean Sea will combine with cold air from Russia to produce a widespread and long-lived snowstorm.

While western Turkey was hit hard by the previous storm, the worst of this snowstorm is expected to occur across central and east-central Turkey.

The higher terrain of northwestern Turkey can still get a significant snowfall, while Istanbul experiences rounds of snow squalls.

Additional accumulating snowfall is expected in Istanbul Tuesday night through Thursday. Rain will mix with the snow at times, especially during the afternoon hours and when light precipitation falls, but snow will be the primary problem.

Snow totals will vary greatly across the Istanbul area; however, the hardest hit areas could get total snowfall of 15-25 cm (6-10 inches) through Thursday. The period of heaviest snowfall is expected on Wednesday when low visibility and snow-covered roadways are expected.
Snow began on Monday across many areas in central and eastern Turkey, but the heaviest snow will fall into Wednesday in areas such as Erzincan and Erzurum. Occasional snow may even continue to fall into Thursday in some places.

Snow accumulations of 13-25 cm (5-10 inches) are expected to be widespread in central Turkey with local amounts in excess of 30 cm (12 inches). In the highest terrain, total accumulations could near 60 cm (24 inches), which is great news for the many ski resorts scattered across the region, but bad news for travelers.

A wide swath of the nation was digging out Tuesday from a deadly storm that pummeled some areas with heavy snow while others were blasted with treacherous ice.

More than a foot of snow fell in parts of Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and West Virginia. Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina were among states where sleet and freezing rain made roads hazardous.

Near-record low temperatures swept through the South, and some areas were encrusted in at least 1/2 inch of ice, the National Weather Service said. More than 200,000 customers lost power in Arkansas, Georgia and the Carolinas, AccuWeather reported.

The National Weather Service warned that the bitter cold temperatures would remain deep into the week.

"This is not your typical North Carolina winter storm where the sunshine melts the snow and ice in a day or two," Gov. Pat McCrory said Tuesday. "The extended low temperatures and black ice likely will make this a dangerous situation for several days."

In North Carolina, Charlotte-Douglas International Airport officials said more than 2000 passengers spent the night in the terminal; cots, mats, pillows and blankets were distributed. Airlines grounded about 1,500 flights due to the storm — and more than 5,700 flights have been grounded nationwide since Sunday due to back-to-back winter storms.

Washington, D.C., and its environs were hit with 4 to 8 inches of snow, enough to shut down federal offices in the region.

The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency called on the Tennessee National Guard for assistance in several counties where interstate crashes occurred. Icy road conditions and crashes resulted in a 12-mile backup on I-40 late Monday, TEMA said.