Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

Rare winter hurricane Alex forms in the Atlantic

Andrea Thompson
Discovery News
Thu, 14 Jan 2016 12:18 UTC
Hurricane Alex
© NOAA
January was already shaping up to be a weird month, what with a hurricane out in the Pacific, but it just got weirder: Say hello to Hurricane Alex, a rare January storm in the Atlantic and the first storm of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season.

A season that doesn't officially begin until June 1.

Alex is the first such storm to form in January since 1978 and only the fourth January storm formation on record going back to 1851. The climatological average first date for the first named storm in a season is July 9.

While it's decidedly not hurricane season, the official June 1-Nov. 30 dates of that season are artificial ones, chosen because they encompass the bulk of tropical cyclone activity. But when conditions are right, storms can, and do, form outside of those bounds.

Alex formed from a system that first developed in the warm waters off the east coast of Florida last week and has tracked eastward across the ocean, gradually becoming stronger and more organized.

Comment: See also: Hurricane Pali sets Pacific record

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Bell

SOTT Exclusive: Strange sounds are back: 'Sky trumpets' heard in the Netherlands, the UK and Morocco

Amari Roos
Sott.net
Wed, 13 Jan 2016 21:03 UTC
strange sounds
In the last couple of weeks, Dutch citizens have reported hearing strange sounds in the sky. Martijn Mastenbroek from Pijnacker, a town in the Dutch province of South Holland, was at home on the evening of January 10th when he suddenly heard a peculiar sound.

"It sounded like trumpets," he recalls. "It lasted about five seconds. No, it wasn't coming from the washer. It really came from outside. My girlfriend heard it too."

Residents in other towns (Bleiswijk, Moordrecht, Lichtenvoorde and Beek) and cities (Gouda, Almere and Heerlen) reported on social media that they also heard these strange trumpet-like sounds. One resident from Gouda was able to record the sound with a camera (see below). Another video of the sound was posted on Facebook by user 'Jeff Afca', who was in Almere at the time.

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Sun

3 suns phenomenon seen in Kazan, Russia


Strange Sounds
Wed, 13 Jan 2016 20:05 UTC
Sun dog
© Victoria SvetlakovaSun dog
This intense three suns phenomenon appeared in the Russian sky on January 12, 2016 stunning residents across the city of Kazan.

I mean look at the pictures and the video. They are overwhelming.

Sun dogs are either caused by the refraction of light on plate-shaped hexagonal ice crystals in high and cold cirrus or cirrostratus clouds or drifting in the air at low levels like in these pictures.

Sun dog
© Marseille Gizatullin
The crystals act as prisms and bend the light rays passing through them with a minimum deflection of 22°.

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Attention

Update: 2 more sperm whales found dead on Dutch beach


Expatica
Thu, 14 Jan 2016 19:34 UTC
Sperm whale washed ashore on Texel
© namedreep/TwitterSperm whale washed ashore on Texel, Jan 12th, 2015
Two more sperm whales became stranded and died on the Dutch coast a day after five others, likely from the same pod, lost their lives nearby in a rare North Sea beaching, experts said Thursday.

"They are two males," said Jan Boon from the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), which is based on the northern Dutch island of Texel where the whales washed up.

One was found near the Texel port in front of NIOZ's buildings in the village of 't Hoorntje, while the other became stranded further to the north.

"The one I've seen here in the south has unfortunately been dead already for some time," Boon told AFP.

"There's blood, it's mouth is open," he said.

The two whales and the five others that died on Wednesday after floundering ashore late Tuesday are "probably from the same pod of six whales" that came ashore in Germany earlier this week.

Comment: See also this earlier report: 5 sperm whales die on Texel beach, Netherlands

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Attention

Cuttlefish mass die-off on island near Chile


Strange Sounds
Wed, 13 Jan 2016 16:48 UTC
Dead cuttlefish
© Twitter / Leonidas Romero SáezDead cuttlefish
Thousands of cuttlefish mysteriously washed up on Santa Maria off Coronel, Chile on January 12, 2016.

The cause of the mass die-off remains unexplained.

The animals appeared in the South Island Harbor.

Scientists have started insvestigating the possible causes for this mysterious and apocalyptical mass die-off.

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Alarm Clock

Whole lot of shaking going on: 6.1 magnitude earthquake recorded in Santa Cruz, Bolivia


Earthquake Track
Thu, 14 Jan 2016 14:14 UTC
earthquake
6.1 magnitude earthquake 9 km from Charagua, Santa Cruz, Bolivia

2016-01-14 03:25:28 UTC

UTC time: Thursday, January 14, 2016 03:25 AM

Your time: 2016-01-14T03:25:28Z

Magnitude Type: mww

USGS page: M 6.1 - 7km WSW of Charagua, Bolivia

USGS status: Reviewed by a seismologist

Reports from the public: 1 person
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Cloud Precipitation

Heavy flooding in Mozambique and Malawi; tens of thousands displaced


BBC
Thu, 14 Jan 2016 13:45 UTC
Floods Malawi
Flooding in Malawi
A major highway in Mozambique has split after two bridges collapsed as a result of heavy flooding that has killed 25 people and displaces tens of thousands in the country, officials say.

Parts of the country are also without electricity after torrential rains knocked down 10 pylons, reports say.

Heavy rains have also devastated neighbouring Malawi, where 48 have been killed about 70,000 have been homeless.

The southern African states have been hit by late summer storms.

The bad weather is expected to continue for several days.
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Tornado1

Hurricane Pali sets Pacific record

Richard Angwin
Aljazeera
Wed, 13 Jan 2016 09:45 UTC
hurricane Pali
© NOAA/National Weather Service

The earliest forming Central Pacific hurricane this year could be the first to cross the equator this season

If you were looking for a location that defined the term 'the middle of nowhere', Johnston Atoll would have a strong claim.

This uninhabited island lies 1,390 kilometres southwest of the Hawaiian Islands, themselves lying in a remote part of the Pacific.

Johnston Atoll is mentioned here because it is the closest island to what has already become a noteworthy cyclone, Hurricane Pali.

Pali is currently a Category 2 storm (on the five-point Saffir-Simpson scale), with sustained winds of 157 kilometres an hour and gusts of 195km/h.

It is unlikely to affect any inhabited islands in this part of the Pacific, and can truly be described as a 'fish storm'.

Nevertheless, Pali has already gone down in history: On Monday, it became the earliest-forming hurricane in either the Central or Northeastern Pacific - the area between the International Dateline and the Americas.

This is 19 days earlier than the previous record holder, Ekeka in 1992. These two cyclones are the only ones to have formed in this region before May.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning storms spark 50 fires overnight in Tasmania


9news
Thu, 14 Jan 2016 12:55 UTC
Australia wildfires
© AAP
Lightning has sparked almost 50 fires across Tasmania overnight as authorities start a race to extinguish them before the next wave of hot weather.

A total fire ban was in place for the state's south on Wednesday as temperatures reached more than 35C at several centres, and while there were no significant problems through the day, the storm that followed put crews on high alert.

"Approximately 47 fires started in bushland ... by lightning with very little rain," Tasmania Fire Service deputy chief Jeremy Smith said.

"The majority of these fires are in remote areas and do not present a risk to people or homes."

Many of the fires have burnt out or been extinguished but aircraft continue to search for blazes not already reported, Mr Smith said.

"Some are still burning freely in remote areas and will require careful management over the next few days to ensure they are bought under control before the next hot weather change."

Temperatures are forecast to be near 30C in part of the state on Monday.

Source: AAP

Comment: Remember that crazy wildfire season the US just had? Now Australia is having one

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Alarm Clock

6.7-magnitude earthquake hits northern Japan


RT
Thu, 14 Jan 2016 03:49 UTC
Hokkaido earthquake
© earthquake.usgs.gov
A strong 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck southeast of Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, according to the country's meteorological agency.

The quake was centered 51 kilometers southeast of the city of Shizunai at a depth of 51 kilometers, according to US Geological Survey (USGS).

While saying there was no threat of a destructive tsunami, Japan's authorities have asked people to move away from the coastline. National broadcaster NHK said some "changes in sea level" were possible.

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