© Gene Hart
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On Christmas morning, Gene Hart of Jonesport, Maine, woke up early to enjoy the sunrise before opening presents. What he saw may have been the best gift of all. "There was a cloud formation showing a remarkable series of wave shapes," says Hart. "They were backlit by the rising sun over Moosabec Reach." He snapped this picture of the harbor using a 14-megapixel digital camera:
Many sky watchers have witnessed a halo around the moon--a ring of light that surrounds the lunar disk at a radius of 22 degrees. The phenomenon is caused by pencil-shaped ice crystals in cirrus clouds that bend moonlight. On Dec. 21st, Harald Edens of Magdalena, New Mexico, witnessed a rare double halo:
© Harald Edens
Comment: Moon halos usually appear in conjunction with a full moon, but on 21st December the moon was only at first quarter. Besides producing two halos, the planet's changing atmosphere probably made it appear to be full.
See also: Chemtrails, Disinformation and the Sixth Extinction
© Wayne Cuddington , Ottawa CitizenFile photo of a winter storm in Ottawa, Ontario.
The agency said in a special weather statement that much of the province will be walloped by snow starting Wednesday afternoon as the outer reaches of a weather system making its way north from Kentucky crosses the border.
Meteorologist Arnold Ashton said the system will move on to deliver snow to parts of southern Quebec and New Brunswick on Thursday.
"It's the combination of snow and blowing snow that makes this particularly nasty," Ashton said.
Environment Canada said the areas of Dunnville and Niagara in southwestern Ontario and the stretch between Kingston and Cornwall in the east will bear the worst of the storm, getting 15 to 20 centimetres of snow.
The weather agency said other communities in those regions can expect up to 15 cm of snow, while central Ontario residents should get their snow shovels ready for 5 to 10 cm.
Philadelphia - The winter storm has led to the cancellation of a couple hundred flights at Philadelphia International Airport as well as delays in departures and arrivals.
Airport spokeswoman Victoria Lupica said Wednesday evening that the airport had recorded about 200 cancelled flights due to the winter weather.
She said there have also been delays in arriving and departing flights, with arrivals delayed four hours or more.
The University Park airport in State College in central Pennsylvania said Wednesday night that it had closed due to the storm but planned to reopen Thursday.
Passengers and people coming to pick them up are urged to contact airlines to check on flight status, or check with the airport on its website (www.phl.org ) or toll-free flight information number (1-800-745-4283).
Source: The Associated Press
Airport spokeswoman Victoria Lupica said Wednesday evening that the airport had recorded about 200 cancelled flights due to the winter weather.
She said there have also been delays in arriving and departing flights, with arrivals delayed four hours or more.
The University Park airport in State College in central Pennsylvania said Wednesday night that it had closed due to the storm but planned to reopen Thursday.
Passengers and people coming to pick them up are urged to contact airlines to check on flight status, or check with the airport on its website (www.phl.org ) or toll-free flight information number (1-800-745-4283).
Source: The Associated Press
© The Japan Daily Press
Tuesday saw temperatures setting a record low for the month of December, with Hokkaido's city of Furano reaching minus 28.4 degrees, the coldest ever recorded since monitoring began. Record lows were also made in Tokyo, at 6 degrees, and the prefectures of Tottori and Saitama with minus 8 degrees. Homes and offices in Japan very rarely have central heating systems, and windows are poorly insulated, making it sometimes difficult to keep warm in the winter. People instead rely on kerosene-powered space heaters, creating a high demand for oil. In areas where snowfall makes it difficult to drive, gasoline stations drive trucks around with tanks of fuel and long hoses, making deliveries so people don't even have to leave their homes.
The city of Monbetsu, also in Hokkaido, reported a meteorological phenomenon known as ice fog occurring on Tuesday. The meteorological agency says this takes place when the water vapors from the ocean rise and meet cold air on land to form thick, low-hanging clouds of very cold fog.
Three people were killed as tornados struck four US states on Christmas Day. Twisters first pounded Texas. Others then touched down in Louisiana and Mississippi. One headed straight for the centre of Mobile, Alabama tearing up residential and commercial areas causing severe power cuts.
Oklahoma highway officials have re-opened Interstate 40 in downtown Oklahoma City after a 21-vehicle pileup at its intersection with Interstate 35.
The two cross-country interstates meet near downtown Oklahoma City. Freezing rain in advance of a snowstorm slickened the highway overnight, and a semi-trailer jackknifed on a bridge over the Oklahoma River.
The two cross-country interstates meet near downtown Oklahoma City. Freezing rain in advance of a snowstorm slickened the highway overnight, and a semi-trailer jackknifed on a bridge over the Oklahoma River.
© Craig Fry/Yuma SunA massive sink opened up on Arizona Avenue near 10th Street early Monday. The hole measures approximately 60 feet in length, 30 feet in width, and nearly 25 feet deep.
So instead of having Monday off for Christmas, city workers were scrambling to repair the damage.
What had been the northbound lane of the busy roadway in the area between a county retention basin on one side and McNeece Brothers Oil, 1060 S. Walnut Ave., on the other had become an enormous hole 60 feet long, 30 feet wide and 25 feet deep.
The sinkhole was reported by McNeece at 6:30 a.m. Monday, said Martha Guzman, city of Yuma spokeswoman. She noted that the sinkhole occurred in a section of the roadway that had been undermined by a break in a 16-inch water line.
While crews worked to repair the damage, Arizona Avenue/Walnut Avenue was closed to traffic between 12th and 10th streets. Both Yuma Police Department and Yuma County Sheriff's Office were providing traffic control at the scene.
© Reuters / Ilya NaymushinA woman walks past trees covered with heavy hoarfrost and snow on the bank of the Yenisei River, with the air temperature at about minus 26 degrees Celsius (minus 14.8 degrees Fahrenheit), outside Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, December 24, 2012.
The cold weather that has Russia in its icy embrace has been causing all kinds of havoc. Flights and buses delayed and cancelled, many schools have been closed, and there have been power outages just when power is most needed.
© RIA Novosti / Alexsey NichukchinPolice patrol in downtown Moscow on December 22, 2012.
Just over the Urals, a state of emergency has been declared and over 2,800 people were evacuated from the village of Khovu-Aksy, the Republic of Tyva, temperatures there a lethal -38C (-36F). A helicopter was sent to pick up kids and women. Two days into the emergency, authorities are frantically repairing central heating pipes while most of the evacuees are staying with their relatives.
© USGSUSGS scientist Thierry Work takes a sample from diseased coral at Tunnels Reef on the north shore of Kauai, Hawaii.
Examination of the diseased areas, called lesions, suggests a mysterious cyanobacterial infection. Known for causing blooms in freshwater lakes, some species of Cyanobacteria, a type of blue-green algae, produce toxins that can sicken aquatic life, animals and even humans. However, the researchers said the current outbreak appear limited to corals.
The coral disease outbreak is said to be the first such cynobacterial infection documented in Hawaii on such a large scale. The university researchers are collaborating with USGS scientists to identify the cause of infection and what is promoting the outbreak.
Comment: Somehow it doesn't seem likely that this is what Van Gogh had in mind when he painted Starry Night. These 'Wave Clouds' and similarly novel clouds have been appearing a lot more often in recent years:
US: Giant Tsunami-Shape Clouds Roll Across Alabama Sky