Earth Changes
"At this time of the year, these [birds] migrate from the hot to cold places. While flying towards the Caspian sea in Iran, a lightning strike hit them," Mohammed Abdulla, an employee at the Halgurd-Sakran National Park, told Rudaw English. "We have so far managed to discover around 150 of them."
"There are many others that we have not yet been able to discover as their bodies have dispersed across the mountain," he added.
Sulaiman Tameer, head of the Kurdistan Organization for Animal Rights Protection categorized the birds as common cranes, a medium-sized species most commonly found in Europe.
A potent low triggered a series of snowfall warnings, special weather statements, and freezing rain warnings across the eastern Prairies and northwestern Ontario Thursday, many of which still remain Friday morning.
There were reports of several early-morning highway closures, along with roughly 3,000 power outages by Thursday morning. By the evening, Manitoba Hydro tweeted that they were "finishing up" restoring power to the last of their affected customers.
As the storm tracks east, heavy snow will still continue behind it for parts of northern Manitoba, meanwhile, freezing rain and the risk of ice pellets remain for northern Ontario.
There was record snowfall in the Upper Midwest Thursday. In Grand Forks, North Dakota, almost 10 inches fell and Fargo, North Dakota, received almost 5 inches of snow.
Wyoming saw the largest amount of snowfall, with 21 inches.
Seven states from Minnesota to Kansas are under ice and snow alerts Friday morning.
The Too-Ashuu, Chyirchyk, Taldyk, Tonmurun mountain passes were cleared from snow.
Inert materials were applied to improve traction.
All roads are open.
The Ministry of Transport asked drivers to have winter tyres, tyre chains and a shovel if they plan to drive through mountain passes.
Agencia Estatal de Meteorología (AEMET) said some areas recorded their highest daily rainfall totals in more than 30 years. La Pobla Tornesa recorded 197.6mm of rain in 24 hours to 01 April. On the same day, 48 mm of rain fell in 4 hours in Vilafamés.
The worst affected areas were the towns of Almassora, Borriana, Oropesa and Vilafamés. The provincial government also reported some flooding in Benicàssim, Villarreal, Vinaròs, Traiguera, Benicarló and Peñíscola.
Take the previous anomalous "warming spikes" on the UAH Satellite-Based Temperature of the Global Lower Atmosphere chart (below) — they generally occur at the beginning of a year, and then are quickly followed by a sharp downward plunge:
A continuation of March's sharp downward plunge (with the odd bump on the way) is highly probable over the months ahead, and we can now consider a reading below baseline by the end of the year "likely".
The Grand Solar Minimum is intensifying.
Comment: See also:
- Global cooling to replace warming trend that started 4,000 years ago - Chinese scientists
- Professor Valentina Zharkova explains and confirms why a "Super" Grand Solar Minimum is upon us
- Researchers find depths of Pacific Ocean cooling, possibly linked to Little Ice Age
- Behind the Headlines: Earth changes in an electric universe: Is climate change really man-made?
- Adapt 2030 Ice Age Report: Interview with Laura Knight-Jadczyk and Pierre Lescaudron
The largest snowfall accumulations were reported in the higher elevations, with a general 10 to 20 inches of snow falling over the mountains of Wyoming and Montana. One mountain just north of Cooke City, Montana, was buried under 23 inches of fresh snow, the highest snow total reported across the region.
By daybreak on Thursday, most of the snow had shifted over the Dakotas as the storm tracked eastward, covering the Black Hills with nearly a foot of snow.
Rapid City, South Dakota, measured 6.5 inches on Wednesday, making it the snowiest start to April on record, according to the National Weather Service office in Rapid City. The previous snowfall record for April 1 was 3 inches set back in 1927. A few more inches of accumulation are in the forecast before the snow tapers off by the weekend.
Heavy snowfall in the highlands and strong downpours at lower altitudes continued to cause problems on the roads between the village of Hortiatis and Agios Vasilios, Oraiokastro and Melissohori, and also between Langada and Iraklio, the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA) reported.















Comment: More details: Winterlike storm dumps up to 23 inches of fresh snow in Montana and Wyoming