Earth ChangesS


Cloud Precipitation

Record-breaking rain in New Mexico

Robert Felix
Ice Age Now
Fri, 13 Sep 2013 13:19 UTC
Flooding New Mexico
© (Shari Vialpando-Hill/Las Cruces Sun-News)An arroyo that runs underneath Dunn Drive on the East Mesa in Las Cruces, N.M. flows with heavy rainwater Thursday, Sept. 12, 2013 after a severe thunderstorm hit Dona Ana County and surrounding areas over night and through the early morning.
Much of New Mexico is grappling with heavy rains, and the Red Cross is setting up temporary shelters to house evacuees from flooding in Artesia.

The Artesia Fire Department has cobbled together a fleet of boats and helicopters to rescue people from a Lakewood RV park and a small neighborhood.

The department is using half a dozen boats and two helicopters. A Blackhawk helicopter is on the way.

South of Lakewood, a cargo train has gotten stuck. The crew has remained on board until help arrives.

Totals from the National Weather Service are striking, with Eddy County being the hardest hit in the state. More than 5.5 inches have fallen in Queen, and nearly three inches have fallen in parts of Carlsbad since Sept. 11.

The service has also issued a flood warning for De Baca and Chaves Counties until 3:15 p.m.

Those areas are getting four inches and more of rain.
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Question

41 dead swallows found on road in Hyogo, Japan


japantoday.com
Fri, 13 Sep 2013 11:31 UTC
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© Alpsdake, Wikimedia CommonsBarn Swallow ( Hirundo rustica gutturalis) Barn Swallow in Japan
Police in Hyogo Prefecture said Friday that a large number of swallows were found dead strewn along a road in Kamigori.

According to police, the birds were found around 11:30 a.m. on Thursday. TBS reported that an inspection of a 64-meter-long stretch of road in the town turned up the remains of 41 swallows.

Local officials say that although the cause of the birds' deaths is unknown, a preliminary check for avian flu returned a negative result.

Hyogo prefectural officials said it is continuing to investigate the reason for the unusual number of dead swallows in the area, and will carry out further tests for viruses related to avian influenza.
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Cloud Lightning

Airport lightning strike shuts down Baltimore airport for two hours


CSMonitor.com
Fri, 13 Sep 2013 09:26 UTC
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Federal officials and the head of an air traffic control group says a worker was hurt when lightning struck BWI Airport, shutting down flight operations.

The Federal Aviation Administration said lightning struck the air traffic control tower at 2:21 p.m. Thursday. The FAA suspended arrivals and departures until about 4:45 p.m., according to a BWI spokesman.

John Dunkerly, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said that he had just left the tower when the lightning strike, which he said hit a runway, occurred. He said a traffic management coordinator who was turning on equipment in the tower was shocked when the electricity traveled to the tower.

Dunkerly says the worker was taken to a hospital. An FAA official said the worker did not appear to be seriously injured.
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Cloud Precipitation

'Unprecedented rainfall' pummels Colorado - heaviest in 63 years, thousands evacuated


Chicago Tribune
Fri, 13 Sep 2013 09:22 UTC
Authorities have ordered all residents of the town of Lyons, located north of Boulder, to leave this morning as deadly flooding worsened overnight as record rains continued in central Colorado.

The Boulder County Sheriff's Office said officials planed to evacuate the town of about 2,000 around daybreak, according to KDVR in Denver. The Colorado National Guard has been called into to help.

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Bizarro Earth

Peru declares state of emergency near Ubinas volcano

Rachel Chase
Peru This Week
Fri, 13 Sep 2013 09:19 UTC
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The Peruvian government has declared a 60-day state of emergency in areas close to the Ubinas volcano, located about 70 kilometers outside of Arequipa. Authorities are concerned about the potential effects of volcanic ashes and gas on local villagers and their livestock.

According to Andina news agency, the area covered by the state of emergency are the Moquegua districts of Ubinas, Matalaque, Chojata, Omate, Coalaque, Ichuña, Lloque, Yunga, and the Arequipa district of San Juan de Tarucani.

Furthermore, Peru21 reports today that the village of Querapi will be permanently relocated within a year. Querapi, a small town populated by about 25 families, has been hit hard by the recent eruptions from Ubinas. As a short-term solution, regional authorities are planning on evacuating the residents of Querapi to a safe-zone before deciding on a permanent relocation plan.
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Black Cat

Cougar attack in British Columbia leaves woman in critical condition


National Post
Fri, 13 Sep 2013 09:19 UTC
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A B.C. woman has been attacked and critically injured by a cougar.

A spokesman with the Rescue Co-ordination Centre says the incident happened late Sunday afternoon on Flores Island in Clayoquot Sound, about 20 kilometres northwest of Tofino.

He says the 60-year-old victim, who lives on the remote island, was attacked from behind by the big cat.

A medevac helicopter could not reach the site because of poor weather so coast guard members stationed in Tofino rushed to the scene to transport the woman to Tofino by boat.

She was then airlifted to hospital elsewhere on Vancouver Island.

There's no word on her condition, but rescue officials say the woman's husband fought off the cougar and injured it, forcing it to retreat into the bush.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightening strikes woman in Scranton, PA

Shauna McNally
WNEP
Wed, 11 Sep 2013 21:44 UTC
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The day began with hot temperatures in the 90s on Wednesday, but the heat gave way to intense storms.

A person was struck by lightning along Boulevard Avenue in Scranton's Green Ridge section.

Witnesses said a woman was helping flag down cars while other people pushed stalled cars out of a flooded section of the street, when the lightning struck.
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Igloo

Better get your woollies!

Dr. Klaus L.E. Kaiser
Canada Free Press
Thu, 12 Sep 2013 17:38 UTC
No doubt about it. The Earth's climate is cooling!

One of the most prescient indicators clearly shows it, namely the Danish Meteorological Institute's daily mean temperatures for the Arctic area north of the 80th northern parallel. They have been measured for over 50 years which shows a long-term average of 90 days with the air temperature above freezing.

The Year 2013

The year 2013 has seen a dramatic departure from that routine. In 2013, the summer (above freezing temperatures) lasted for only 45 days, one half of the average number of days. Not only did the frost-free days start much later than on average this year, they also ended much earlier, see the figure below. In fact, the frost-free period seen this year was significantly shorter than in other year since 1958, when the recordings began.
Global Cooling
© Danish Meteorological InstituteFig. Observed temperatures in the Arctic (latitude above 80° N) by day of the year in 2013 (red line), the long-term average (green line) and the freezing temperature (blue line); temperatures in degree Kelvin (K).
The new data corroborate other findings of no global warming for the last 18 years. In fact, not a single of the 20-plus climate prediction models used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) even shows the recent temperature developments as within their model uncertainties. It begs the question: Is another ice age imminent?
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Snowflake Cold

Ice age cometh: No warming left to deny... Global cooling takes over... CET annual mean temperature plunges 1°C since 2000

P Gosselin
No Tricks Zone
Thu, 12 Sep 2013 17:27 UTC
global temps
© www.woodfortrees.orgGlobal temperatures have fallen over the last 8 years.
Lately we've been seeing and hearing lots media reports of cooling and cold weather extremes. Global temperature data, such as HadCrut 4, show warming has disappeared altogether.

Looking at the data for the last decade or so, one thing stands clear: Global temperatures have been showing many more signs of cooling than warming. Already we are sensing that global temperature has lost the battle to stay up. The HadCrut data series above shows that cooling has gained the upper hand. Indeed warming is now in the history books, having died some 15 years ago.
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Igloo

Rare solar cycle has cold implications for UK climate

Paul Hudson
BBC
Thu, 12 Sep 2013 17:25 UTC
NASA last week confirmed their prediction that the current solar cycle 24 is likely to be the weakest since 1906.

Intriguingly, the current solar cycle shows a striking similarity with solar cycle 5 which was also very weak, with the same double peak as the current cycle, and ran from approximately the mid 1790s to around 1810.

Solar cycle 6 was weaker still and stretched from around 1810 to the early 1820s.

Solar cycles 5 and 6 were so unusual that they were named the Dalton solar minimum after meteorologist John Dalton and coincided with a period of increasingly cold winters and poor summers.

This type of climate is a result of a jet stream that's positioned further south than normal - caused, it's thought at least in part, by the behaviour of the sun.

The mechanism as to why weak solar cycles may affect the position of the jet stream is poorly understood.

But a more southerly positioned jet stream is the reason why the UK has recently seen a return of cold snowy winters and a run of poor summers.
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