Earth ChangesS


Igloo

US: Butte, Montana - Snow is Falling this Morning

Mike Heard
KXLF
Thu, 09 Jun 2011 16:48 UTC
Snow levels are dropping down close to 5,500' this morning with snow in Butte!

The snow is not sticking too much and should melt off by this afternoon. Looking at MDOT cameras, there is accumulating snow developing on Big Hole Pass, Lost Trail Pass, Elk Park and over Homestake Pass this morning.

One to two inches of snow is possible for Butte, however, as temperatures warm up later this afternoon, thunderstorms could form. Now that is a crazy weather pattern!
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Bizarro Earth

US: Wichita, Kansas Experiences Rare 'Heat Burst' Overnight


KSN.com
Thu, 09 Jun 2011 13:58 UTC
Last night Wichita experienced a very rare weather phenomenon known as a "Heat Burst." At 12:22 a.m. the temperature at Wichita's Mid-Continent Airport was 85 degrees. At 12:44 the temperature spiked to 102 degrees. This was a 17 degree increase in only 20 minutes. Winds also gusted between 50 and 60 MPH. The heat burst winds and temperatures rapidly dissipated as they spread across Sedgwick and Southern Butler Counties.


A heat burst is caused when rain falls into very dry air, high up in the atmosphere. The rain quickly evaporates as it falls through the dry parcel of air and that parcel cools rapidly. This dense mass falls rapidly toward the ground, heating up as it compresses. When this hot ball of air hits the ground it spreads out in every direction creating very strong, warm and dry winds.

About an hour before the heat burst, wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour battered the Wichita metro area. This was due to outflow winds from severe weather south of the city, and not related to the heat burst.
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Cloud Lightning

US: Part of Missouri River Closed, Crops at Risk


Reuters
Wed, 08 Jun 2011 11:37 UTC
mississippi floods farmland
© n/a
Rising water levels on the Missouri River are threatening to flood up to 500,000 acres of key corn and soybean production areas in the western Midwest.

The U.S. Coast Guard on Wednesday closed a part of the river to all vessel traffic where the state lines of Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri meet.

The flooding has sparked a scramble for supplies in the soymeal cash market as several processing plants are expected to shut when flood waters disrupt rail service in some areas.

The overflow of the Missouri River follows flooding of farm land in the South by the Mississippi River last month.

The United States is the world's No. 1 grower and exporter of corn and soybeans, and top shipper of wheat.
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Cloud Lightning

China: Guizhou hit by sudden heavy rain, 21 dead, 31 missing


English.xinhuanet.com
Mon, 06 Jun 2011 10:33 UTC
Image
© XinhuaFloodwater rushes through Wangmo county, Southwest China's Guizhou province, June 6, 2011.
After months without rain, many parts in southern China are now experiencing flooding. One week ago, provinces of Guizhou, Jiangxi, Hunan,Hubei, Jiangsu and Anhui were suffering severe drought.

But the situation took a sudden turn over the weekend, as several provinces including Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangxi and Zhejiang were hit by heavy rains over the weekend. The once-parched land is now virtually underwater.
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MIB

Exxon makes new oil discovery in Gulf of Mexico


Seattle PI
Thu, 09 Jun 2011 10:25 UTC
Image
© Reuters
New York - ExxonMobil Corp. disclosed details Wednesday of an oil and gas field that could prove to be one of the largest discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico in recent years.

The oil giant said three discoveries at its exploration project 250 miles southwest of New Orleans have the combined potential for more than 700 million barrels of recoverable oil and gas equivalent.
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Bizarro Earth

Tornado-Like Storm Rips Through Chilean Town, Injuring Nine

Kai Ma
The News Feed
Thu, 09 Jun 2011 10:23 UTC
Chileans can't seem to catch a break these days.

Less than a week after Chile's Puyehue volcano erupted, forcing thousands to evacuate, a freak storm hit another part of the Andean nation, injuring nine. The tornado-like storm struck the town of Villarrica in southern Chile with winds of 75 to 110 miles, reported CBS.

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Cloud Lightning

Adrian becomes major hurricane in the Pacific


MSNBC / Associated Press
Thu, 09 Jun 2011 10:19 UTC
Image
© National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Hurricane Adrian is strengthening off the Pacific coast of Mexico and is now a major hurricane.

Forecasters say maximum sustained winds for the first hurricane of the 2011 season increased Thursday to about 115 mph (185 kph).

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami predicts that the storm's center will stay well offshore.

The center of the storm was about 440 miles (708 kilometers) south-southeast of Cabo Corrientes. Adrian is moving west-northwest at 9 mph (14 kph).
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Bizarro Earth

Northern Ireland: farm workers 'escape tornado'


BBC News
Wed, 08 Jun 2011 21:57 UTC
Barn and The barn and car were badly damaged
© BBCBarn and The barn and car were badly damaged
Ten people working at a farm in County Londonderry had a lucky escape after what they described as a tornado struck it on Wednesday afternoon.

It ripped the roof off the barn. A car was also destroyed when a wall collapsed on it.

Farmer Fergie Kelly, said the workers were trimming cows' feet in the barn near Eglinton, when they heard a bang.

"We thought there was a bomb that went off. We ran out of the shed.
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Cloud Lightning

US: Lightning hit sends 77 cadets to Mississippi hospital


Yahoo News / Associated Press
Wed, 08 Jun 2011 16:18 UTC
Image
© AP
Two Air Force Reserve cadets were taken to a hospital by ambulance and 75 others by bus after a lightning strike Wednesday at a southern Mississippi military training base, a spokeswoman said.

Air Force Reserve cadets from around the country were at the Joint Forces Training Center for two weeks of work, said Army National Guard Maj. Deidre Musgrave. All were responsive and stable after the lightning hit about 2 p.m., she said.

Forrest County emergency operations director Terry Steed told a National Weather Service forecaster that nobody was directly hit when lightning hit a power pole near tents. All were taken to hospitals as a precaution, said Mike Edmonston, a senior meteorologist in Jackson.

Camp Shelby near Hattiesburg is the nation's largest state-owned military training center. Its 136,000 acres cut out of southern Mississippi's rolling hills and pine forests includes mock cities designed to look like Iraq and Afghanistan to give soldiers realistic training.
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Nuke

Fukushima Is Worse Than Chernobyl


The Explorer
Tue, 07 Jun 2011 11:29 UTC
radiation check / Japan
© n/a
In a recent statement by Dr. Gabriel Cousens, MD, MD(H), he speaks frankly about the overdue acknowledgement worldwide that the Fukushima crisis continues to worsen beyond even Dr. Helen Caldicott's recent comments, "It's worse than Chernobyl."

To generalize the big picture, Dr. Cousens explains "the Japanese government has not been able to stop the biggest radiation leak the world has ever seen. And now to make matters worse, they alternate between denial and admitting the bare essential facts; (a little bit more than the US government is doing). This is a serious problem because without adequate and honest information the Japanese, American, and global public are severely limited in understanding the seriousness of the situation."

His concern continues "They are thusly unmotivated and are not empowered to protect themselves. The reason I write this blog is because people need to know that this is not a crisis that is going to go away next month or even next year. For reasonable protection we would do well to follow very seriously my radiation crisis protocol for at least the next year."
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