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Igloo

Surprise snowstorm clobbers Rockies

Kelly Dickerson
Live Science
Thu, 19 Jun 2014 12:10 UTC
Snow storm in Summer!
© Glacier National Park
Glacier National Park is notorious for unpredictable weather.
The summer solstice is right around the corner, but winter isn't going down without a fight this year: A bizarre June snowstorm hit Glacier National Park in Montana and parts of Utah and Idaho this week, leaving many residents and visitors in the northern Rockies wondering what season it is.

Glacier National Park saw almost 4 inches (10 centimeters) of rain and more than a foot (0.3 meters) of snow, according to the National Weather Service. [See photos of the surprise snowstorm]

"Weather in northwest Montana and weather in Glacier [National Park] can be so variable, but it's always somewhat exciting, somewhat "wow," somewhat challenging to get this kind of weather this time of year," Denise Germann, a spokeswoman for Glacier National Park, told ABC Montana.

Now, as the snow melts and rivers spill over their banks, the area is at risk for flooding.
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Red Flag

The Earth's dwindling water resources: 25 shocking facts

Michael Snyder
Economic Collapse Blog
Wed, 18 Jun 2014 14:03 UTC
Image
© go-green.ae
War, famine, mass extinctions and devastating plagues - all of these are coming unless some kind of miraculous solution is found to the world's rapidly growing water crisis. By the year 2030, the global demand for water will exceed the global supply of water by an astounding 40 percent according to one very disturbing U.S. government report. As you read this article, lakes, rivers, streams and aquifers are steadily drying up all over the planet. The lack of global water could potentially be enough to bring about a worldwide economic collapse all by itself if nothing is done because no society can function without water. Just try to live a single day without using any water some time. You will quickly realize how difficult it is. Fresh water is the single most important natural resource on the planet, and we are very rapidly running out of it. The following are 25 shocking facts about the Earth's dwindling water resources that everyone should know...
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Cloud Lightning

South Dakota declares state of emergency as a result of severe flooding


The Republic
Tue, 17 Jun 2014 19:14 UTC
South Dakota flooding
© AP Photo/Dirk Lammers
A tractor trailer and two smaller trucks work their way through standing water on a closed portion of U.S. Highway 18 at the South Dakota-Iowa border, Tuesday, June 17, 2014, east of Canton, S.D.
The severe flooding affecting southeast South Dakota led Gov. Dennis Daugaard to declare a state of emergency on Tuesday and open an operations center to coordinate the state's response to the areas affected by the aftermath of the torrential rains.

Severe storms moved across parts of eastern South Dakota Monday closing roads, flooding streets, highways and fields, and increasing flows in the Big Sioux River.

Daugaard on Tuesday met with emergency management officials in Elk Point and later toured flood-affected areas in Minnehaha and Lincoln counties.

The National Weather Service in Sioux Falls said rainfall amounts Monday afternoon and overnight were greater than 2.5 inches in most areas, with some reaching more than 4 inches.
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Attention

Sabancaya Volcano in southern Peru becomes active after 15 years of silence

Rachel Chase
Peru This Week
Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:00 UTC
Sabancaya volcano
© El Comercio

Geological authorities are reporting that the Sabancaya volcano in southern Peru has become active after 15 years of silence.

According to information released by the Peruvian Geophysical Institute (IGP), Sabancaya has erupted several times. The first recorded activity at Sabancaya was in 1750, and the volcano became active again in 1784. 200 years later, in 1986, the volcano once again displayed activity. Now, the volcano is once again active, having gradually intensified since late February.

Speaking to El Comercio, IGP investigator Orlando Macedo said "All this activity is part of an expected process. Before the eruption, tremors were occurring closer and closer to the volcano and the crater. However, the process is taking longer than that which we saw at the Ubinas Volcano, when everything happened in a matter of days. In the case of Sabancaya, this could go on for several months."

Comment: Only halfway through 2014 and already the reports of volcanic activity around the globe are fast approaching the total for both 2013 and 2012. See below -


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Alarm Clock

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.4 - 85km WNW of Sola, Vanuatu


U.S. Geological Survey
Thu, 19 Jun 2014 05:45 UTC
Earthquake 6.4 Vanuatu
© USGS
Event Time
2014-06-19 10:17:58 UTC
2014-06-19 21:17:58 UTC+11:00 at epicenter

Location
13.577°S 166.826°E depth=59.9km (37.2mi)

Nearby Cities
85km (53mi) WNW of Sola, Vanuatu
219km (136mi) N of Luganville, Vanuatu
487km (303mi) NNW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu
813km (505mi) N of We, New Caledonia
878km (546mi) ESE of Honiara, Solomon Islands

Scientific data
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Cloud Lightning

65,000 birds and mammals killed by hailstorms in India


dnaindia.com
Wed, 18 Jun 2014 04:31 UTC
Image

Carcasses of rosy starling in Baramati, Pune district, and an Indian peafowl at Umarga, Osmanabad district
The hailstorm that hit Maharashtra earlier this year killed more than 65,000 birds and mammals in various parts of the state, according to a special report prepared by the Bombay Natural History Society.

A total 26 species of birds and nine species of mammals were killed in Marathwada and Vidarbha during the period from March 1 to 10 and on May 1 and 2, BNHS stated in the report that was released on Tuesday.

Mass mortality was reported in 27 areas with high mortality in 14 areas, each covering about 25 sq km.

"A high number of deaths were reported for birds that prefer residing near human habitation. Some of these are mynas, owls, parakeets and kites," the report states.

The highest rate of mass mortality was observed at the roosting sites of birds such as rosy starling, the house sparrow and rose-ringed parakeet. Birds such as coucal, bulbul, drongo, quail, lark, egret and bee-eaters were found dead across the study area.
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Snowflake Cold

Winter snow storm in Montana, Utah and Wyoming in mid-June

Linda Lam
weather.com
Wed, 18 Jun 2014 03:41 UTC
Image
Winter just won't quit, even as summer is right around the corner. Cool, huh?

Snow is falling over the higher elevations, as an upper-level low swirls over the Northern Rockies. Alta, Utah reported nine inches of snow on Tuesday, which makes it their third highest one-day snowfall total in June. Glacier National Park reports about one foot of snow fell on Wednesday at Sperry Chalet (approximately 6,590 feet in altitude). Lake-effect rain and snow has also developed off the Great Salt Lake, with snow above 7,000 feet.

Mountain snow will continue through Thursday morning in parts of the Northern Rockies. Winds will gust up to 30 mph and visibility may be less than half a mile at times.

Closer to pass level, look for a mix of rain and snow, with no accumulation expected. But if you have an early summer vacation planned for Glacier National Park, remember to bring your snow gear as more than a foot of snow is not out of the question.

Plow crews began the process of digging out Logan Pass in Montana last week, and they hope to have the Sun Road open to Logan Pass sometime after June 20. Conditions across the region will improve this weekend. Temperatures will climb into the 70s with mostly sunny skies.
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Snowflake

Summer snowfall in another European country: Snow in June raises eyebrows in Estonia


focus-fen.net
Tue, 17 Jun 2014 03:25 UTC
Image
© AFP
Living with sub-zero temperatures for several months a year, Estonians are no strangers to a little snow, AFP reported.

But residents of the Baltic nation were baffled on Tuesday when flurries of the white stuff fell in June for the first time in more than three decades.

"We last recorded snow in June 32 years ago and it was on exactly the same date: June 17, 1982," Estonian meteorologist Helve Meitern told AFP.

"Tonight, we could see temperatures fall below zero degrees Celsius (32 Fahrenheit)," she added.

The wintry weather follows a heatwave over the last month that saw temperatures spike to a toasty 30 degrees Celsius across this EU state of three million, where average June daytime temperatures range from 18-20 degrees Celsius.

The mercury soared to a searing 35.6 Celsius in August 1992, the hottest day ever recorded in Estonia.

Source: AFP
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Phoenix

Wildfire sparks evacuations on Navajo Nation, 11,000 acres burned


Indian Country Today Media Network
Tue, 17 Jun 2014 22:47 UTC
Assayii Lake Fire
© Unknown
The Assayii Lake Fire had consumed 11,000 acres on the Navajo Nation and caused the evacuation of two communities.
Two communities have been evacuated on the Navajo Nation as firefighters struggle to get a blaze under control, hampered by "high winds and extreme fire behavior," according to KOB News out of New Mexico.

The Assayii Lake Fire had burned 11,000 acres in the Chuska Mountains as of Monday June 16, and by nightfall the Sheep Springs and Naschitti communities were being evacuated. About 50 residences were threatened, four structures destroyed, and damage was still being assessed on Monday night into Tuesday morning, according to a press release from Southwest Incident Management Team 3.

"For safety reasons, the general public is encouraged not to travel on access roads leading to the Bowl Canyon Recreation Area," the news release said. "Road closures in the area are Rt. 134 at Sheep Springs to Crystal Boarding School and Rt. 30 at Mexican Springs."

The human-caused fire was sparked on June 13, 10 miles northeast of Navajo, New Mexico, the Incident Management Team said. The fire was being fought by 23 crews, 15 engines, six helicopters, two bulldozers and 593 personnel. About 700 firefighters were due to arrive on Monday evening, reported NBC affiliate KOB News out of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Wind conditions were expected to continue through Tuesday.
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Bizarro Earth

The great Pacific garbage patch: We are literally filling up the Pacific ocean with plastic

Michael Snyder
The American Dream
Mon, 16 Jun 2014 18:16 UTC
Image
© thehigherlearning.com
We are starting to see that there are very serious consequences for filling up our oceans with massive amounts of plastic that never biodegrades. In fact, this is one of the greatest environmental disasters of all time and yet you rarely hear it talked about. Virtually every molecule of plastic ever created still exists somewhere, and we all use things made out of plastic every single day. But have you ever stopped to think about what happens to all of that plastic? Well, the truth is that a lot of it ends up in our oceans. In fact, humanity produces approximately 200 billion pounds of plastic every year, and about 10 percent of that total ends up in our oceans. In other words, we are slowly but steadily filling up our oceans with our garbage. In the North Pacific Ocean, there is a vast area where so much plastic has collected that it has become known as "the Great Pacific Garbage Patch" and as "the Pacific Trash Vortex". This "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" stretches from Hawaii to Japan, and it has been estimated to be larger than the entire continental United States. It contains more than 100 million tons of plastic, and every single year it gets even larger.

When people hear the term "Great Pacific Garbage Patch", they expect to find millions of plastic bottles floating around out there. But that is not what we are dealing with. You see, when plastic gets into the ocean it never biodegrades, but it does photodegrade. So what we end up with is a "plastic soup" of billions upon billions of microscopic pieces of plastic. Some are approximately the size of your pinkie fingernail, but most of the pieces are much smaller.

Comment: Additional reading about the Plague of Plastic killing the world's oceans: Plastic is believed to constitute 90 per cent of all rubbish floating in the oceans. The UN Environment Program estimated in 2006 that every square mile of ocean contains 46,000 pieces of floating plastic. Marcus Eriksen, a research director of the US-based Algalita Marine Research Foundation, said:
"The slowly rotating mass of rubbish-laden water poses a risk to human health, too. Hundreds of millions of tiny plastic pellets, or nurdles - the raw materials for the plastic industry - are lost or spilled every year, working their way into the sea. These pollutants act as chemical sponges attracting man-made chemicals such as hydrocarbons and the pesticide DDT. They then enter the food chain. What goes into the ocean goes into these animals and onto your dinner plate. It's that simple"


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