JOHN ANTCZAK and OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ SF Gate Thu, 28 Jan 2021 19:23 UTC
Mammoth snowstorm
A powerful storm packing heavy rain, snow and wind pounded parts of California and western Nevada on Wednesday, toppling trees, and causing power outages and mud flows in vast areas scarred by wildfires.
The onslaught was being fueled by a potent atmospheric river from the Pacific Ocean that punched into the state through the San Francisco Bay Area overnight, drifted down the coast past Santa Cruz and stalled over Big Sur before pivoting back northward.
Pacific Gas & Electric said overall, about 575,000 customers lost power Tuesday and Wednesday along the northern coast, in the San Francisco and Sacramento areas and elsewhere because of winds, rain and snow.
Comment: Nearly 3 feet of snow also recorded at China Peak resort:
Belinda Pheto Dispatch Live Thu, 28 Jan 2021 19:11 UTC
A man believed to be in his mid-20s was killed by lightning in Sophiatown, in the west of Johannesburg, on Thursday afternoon.
The SA Weather Service (Saws) has issued an "orange warning" for disruptive rainfall in parts of Mpumalanga, Gauteng and the western bushveld of Limpopo, as well as the northeastern parts of North West.
The rain is expected from Thursday and could continue throughout the weekend.
The weather service says the rainfall could result in flooding in low-lying areas, isolated incidents of breaching of earth dam walls, general disruption to traffic and basic services, flooding of roads and settlements, and danger to life — particularly because of fast-flowing rivers and streams.
The cougar attack on a man reported Monday afternoon in the Soo Valley north of Vancouver, Canada, "was predatory in nature," officials say.
The victim is a 69-year-old man, who suffered major injuries while fighting off the cougar, officials said. His identity has not been released.
Canada's Conservation Officer Service says the mauling happened around 3:30 p.m. Monday, near the British Columbia community of Whistler. That's about 220 miles north of Seattle.
"The man was mauled by a cougar and suffered major injuries to his face and hand," the Conservation Officer Service wrote on Facebook. "He was taken to (a) hospital via ambulance and is reportedly in stable condition."
Up to 14 inches of snow fell in the Tahoe region overnight as an atmospheric river aimed at the Sierra mountains dumped snow at elevations above 3,000 feet.
Besides the 14 inches recorded at Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows, Sierra-at-Tahoe recorded 10 inches of fresh powder, Kirkwood 11 inches, Heavenly 12 inches, and Sugar Bowl 9 inches of snow. Further south in the Sierra, Dodge Ridge ski resort recorded 24 inches of new snowfall.
More significant snow is forecast through Friday, and an NOAA blizzard warning is in effect for the Sierra until Friday at 2 a.m. Many higher elevations expect to receive 3-7 feet of new snow from this week's storm when all is said and done.
Scientists say the die-off, which is entering its third year, is likely due to a scarcity of food in the animals' cold water feeding grounds
Reports of emaciated gray whales have started to come in as the whales arrive at their breeding grounds off of Baja California, Mexico. If the trend continues this will be the third hard year in a row for the North Pacific gray whale population, with hundreds turning up dead in what scientists are calling an unusual mortality event, reports Isaac Schultz for Gizmodo.
According to new research published this week in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series, the die-off began in January 2019 and as of the paper's publication, the official death toll stood at 378. The species' last unusual mortality event occurred around the year 2000 and claimed the lives of some 600 whales, according to Gizmodo.
Des Moines hasn't seen a winter storm like this week's that dropped more than a foot of snow since 2009. And the city had never recorded a snowier January 25 than Monday.
Snow started falling around noon Monday in central Iowa and didn't stop until about 10 a.m. Tuesday. The storm created hazardous conditions on roads across the state, disrupted flights into and out of Des Moines International Airport, and forced many school districts to dismiss early Monday and cancel or delay school Tuesday.
The 10.3 inches that fell by the end of Monday set a new single-day record, according to the National Weather Service. It broke a 126-year-old mark for Jan. 25, previously set when 10 inches of snow fell that day in 1895.
By noon Tuesday, the NWS said 12.9 inches of snow had fallen at the airport, the 12th-highest two-day snow total in the city's history and snowiest storm in Des Moines since a blizzard dropped 15.5 inches over Dec. 8-9, 2009.
Asia's energy prices aren't the only commodity to have reached record highs this winter, the chill of solar minimum has also driven China's fresh vegetable prices to unprecedented levels.
A lingering "dip" in the jet stream has seen Arctic air funnel into southern Asian since early-December, 2020. The resulting cold has hampered the efforts of farmers ACROSS the continent, including in China, where on Monday the nation's wholesale price index for agricultural products -developed by China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs- surged to a new all-time high of 139.
In addition, the sub-index dedicated solely to vegetables climbed even higher, to 145, also a new record. Among the 28 types of vegetables monitored by the index, the average price surged to 6.2 yuan (96 US cents) per kg on Monday, the highest since the data became available 10 years ago. The price of cauliflowers and cabbages almost doubled compared to a year earlier.
"In the beginning of 2021, we had three cold waves. This type of cold and frosty weather has a big impact on the production and growth of vegetables, their maturity periods and yields," said a spokesman for Baishazhou Agricultural and Non-staple Products Marketplace, a major wholesale market in Hubei province.
"Some vegetables have frozen to death," the spokesman continued, "even the vegetables growing in greenhouses may freeze badly, such as red cabbages and lettuces. The quality of a number of water spinach has dropped with declining supply.
Comment: As well as natural disasters devastating crop growth, the insane response to the coronavirus crisis and losing value of currency in Western nations in particular, have made the production, availability, purchasing and distribution of food - a MAJOR global issue the likes of which we haven't seen in generations.
A strong winter storm brought heavy snow to the central Plains and western Great Lakes. Some of the highest snowfall accumulations were in Nebraska and Iowa where totals were over a foot.
There is nothing weird about seeing snow in January, unless it is falling on sun-kissed expanses including Nevada's Las Vegas and Arizona's deserts, which were transformed on Tuesday into winter wonderlands.
Just days after Malibu, California, known for its balmy beaches, was blanketed with snow by an unusual winter storm, frosty flakes made their way to Nevada and Arizona - shocking for some but a welcome relief for many in the drought-plagued U.S. West.
Prescott, Arizona, home of Whiskey Row bars and live music venues, reported 18 inches of accumulation by mid-morning on Tuesday, and it was still snowing, said meteorologist Bob Oravec of the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland.
"They are actually very happy they are getting this snow," he said. "Snow pack is always good for future water management."
Hot volcanic material flowed for 1,500 meters (4,900 feet) down the slopes of Mount Merapi
The Mount Merapi volcano in Indonesia erupted on Wednesday spewing ash, gas and extremely hot rock fragments for four hours, the Research and Development Center for Geological Disaster Technology reported.
There were no reports of casualties, but the Development Center kept the alert system at its second-highest level.
The explosion happened just as residents had begun to return to their nearby homes on the island of Java after fleeing previous eruptions.
The resulting lava flow was the biggest since authorities raised the danger level in November, Hanik Humaida of the local Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center said.
So preserve yourselves, my brothers, from the calamities of this place, for distinguishing it is extremely difficult! Souls find it sweet, and then within it they are duped, since they become completely enamored of it.
- Sufi proverb
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Comment: Nearly 3 feet of snow also recorded at China Peak resort: