Earth Changes

Waterspout spotted off Sydney, Australia

Anton Nilsson
The Queensland Times
Wed, 07 Apr 2021 12:51 UTC

A Sydney woman could hardly believe her eyes when she spotted a spinning column moving across the sea.

Kasia Kapusta, 43, spotted the so-called waterspout off the coast at Maroubra Beach on Tuesday morning.

"It looked incredible," she said.

"I've been living in Maroubra for five years and I've never seen anything like it."

Waterspouts are a form of wind vortexes that form over water, scooping up the liquid and dragging it towards the sky.

Comment: Another was filmed in the area on April 8:

Record-low temperature of -20°C in Slovenia as multiple century-old extreme cold records broken across Europe

AuthorMarko Korosec
Severe Weather Europe
Wed, 07 Apr 2021 10:15 UTC

Many areas in Slovenia reached their coldest April morning over the last 100 years! The official meteorological station Nova vas na Blokah peaked at -20.6 °C which has set a new all-time national record for the month of April since the records began. Numerous extreme cold records also across other parts of central and western Europe, deep freeze and morning frosts have been destructive.

As we expected, the weather models were not wrong this time. An unpreceded extreme cold has verified across many parts of Europe this Wednesday morning, following the significant and historic snow a day before. Snowfall with some accumulation was reported even at the seaside in Slovenia and Croatia islands (Kvarner area).

In Slovenia, the weather station Nova vas na Blokah hit -20.6 °C and set the new official lowest temperature for April (the previous record at the station Nova vas was -18.0 °C set on April 4th, 1970). There was another record of -26.1 °C recorded with an unofficial weather station in the village Retje near Loški Potok.

Comment: The amazing thing isn't even the record cold - it's the flip from record heat to record cold in just 6 days!

Three dead gray whales found in San Francisco Bay area in a week

Azenith Smith
KTVU FOX 2
Thu, 08 Apr 2021 09:26 UTC

Three gray whales have been found dead in and around the San Francisco Bay in the past week. It's raising concern among marine scientists who said that number is alarming.

It's the start of the whales' northern migration. The center expects one or two whales to wash ashore in a couple weeks but three within a week is a lot. It's reminiscent of 2019 when there was a high number of whale deaths in the Bay.

In scenic San Francisco Bay lies a sad discovery Wednesday, the carcass of a 33-foot male gray whale.

"These creatures, they are such magnificent creatures and to see them dead like this is really heartbreaking," said Sea Valor CEO/Founder Eric Jones.

Comment: Report from January this year: Nearly 400 Gray Whales have died off the west coast since 2019

Shallow 6.0-magnitude earthquake hits Kermadec Islands

China.org.cn
Wed, 07 Apr 2021 18:10 UTC

An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.0 jolted Kermadec Islands region at 09:53:28 GMT on Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.

The epicenter, with a depth of 10.0 km, was initially determined to be at 29.1007 degrees south latitude and 176.6725 degrees west longitude.

Alaska DOT: Epic avalanche cascade shuts down Hatcher Pass Road for days

Nathaniel Herz
Alaska Public Media
Wed, 07 Apr 2021 12:30 UTC

© Hatcher Pass Avalanche Center
Avalanche debris covers two stretches of the Hatcher Pass Road after last weekend’s storm.

A rare cascade of avalanches over the weekend has shut down the Hatcher Pass Road, and it will remain closed for several days as crews wait for conditions to stabilize before clearing avalanche debris.

Forecasters with the Hatcher Pass Avalanche Center say that five different avalanches crossed the upper stretch of the road, and one of those extended so far that it hit a second, lower stretch of the road, beneath a switchback. The center, in a Facebook post, said that was the first time such a slide had taken place since the 1980s.

Photos posted by the center show ribbons of avalanche debris covering the upper stretch of the road in several areas, as well as massive piles of snow burying large stretches of Archangel Road, which is groomed for skiing and walking during the winter.

3 dead, 3 missing after floods in north Haiti

Richard Davies
Floodlist
Tue, 06 Apr 2021 12:01 UTC

Civil Protection in Haiti reported on 05 April 2021 that at least 3 people have died and 3 are missing after days of heavy rain caused flooding in northern and central areas of the country.

The Civil Protection Agency said heavy rainfall began on 02 April 2021. As of 05 April, flash floods and overflowing rivers were reported in Centre, Nord, Nord-Est and Nord-Ouest departments.

One person was killed and 149 homes damaged after floods in Jean-Rabel commune in Nord-Ouest department. Two deaths were recorded in the commune of Bois de Lance in Nord Department, with three people also reported missing. More than 1,270 houses were flooded in the municipalities of Terrier-Rouge, Caracol and Trou-du-Nord in Nord-Ouest. Around 137 families were evacuated in Terrier-Rouge and Caracol.

Skier dies in avalanche on mountain in Banff National Park, Alberta

Penticton Western News
Tue, 06 Apr 2021 11:26 UTC

© THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Parks Canada
Haddo Peak in Banff National Park is seen in an undated handout photo. A skier from Alberta has died in an avalanche while he and another skier were on a mountain in Banff National Park.

One skier managed to escape, but the second was swept away and killed in the slide

A skier from Alberta has died in an avalanche while he and another skier were on a mountain in Banff National Park.

Parks Canada says two male skiers from Canmore, Alta., were on the northeast face of Haddo Peak in the Lake Louise area on Monday when the avalanche was triggered.

Indonesia, East Timor flood death toll surges past 150

Al Jazeera
Tue, 06 Apr 2021 10:36 UTC

Villagers carry the body of a victim after flash floods in Lembata, East Flores, Indonesia on Monday.

At least 118 people have now been confirmed dead in the flash floods and landslides in Indonesia and East Timor.

More than 100 others are still missing.

Torrential rains were triggered by a passing cyclone. Now, as conditions begin to improve, rescue workers are trying to reach communities in need.

Al Jazeera's Jessica Washington reports.

Temperatures in UK plunge to -6C as Arctic blast strikes - more snow forecast

William Walker
The Mirror
Wed, 07 Apr 2021 04:52 UTC

Brits are bracing for another bitterly cold day with warnings of more snow as well as bouts of rain as Arctic winds continues to sweep the nation.

Up to 3cm of snow is predicted to fall in parts of Scotland while the mercury is likely to drop to sub zero temperatures again on Wednesday.

Lows of -6C will hit central parts of England this morning and forecasters warned that it will be 'a cold start for all of us.'

It comes after temperatures plunged as low as minus 4.2C overnight in parts of the UK, while some regions had 11cm of snow fall.

Today, a yellow weather warning for snow remains in place for parts of northern Scotland until 10am.

The severe weather warning states that 'snow showers may lead to some transport disruption' in the affected regions, with up to 3cm set to fall.

London is set to record the coldest start to April in eight years, after St James's Park saw the coldest average over the first six days of the month back in 2013, the Star reports.