Here's the 'Once-in-100-year-snowfall' in Southern Austria in pictures......that storm I told you about last week ended up going further east - Eastern Italy and SE Austria. Still expecting a big dump in Southern France today and tomorrow - not quite this much, but a metre.
Rhys Jaggar
Earth Changes
Vienna - Record snowfall in parts of southern Austria disrupted traffic and rail services Friday and prompted authorities to declare the highest-level avalanche alert.
In the Gailtal valley, in the southern province of Carinthia, about 102 centimetres of snow fell in just 48 hours, marking an 80-year record, according to the Austrian national weather centre ZAMG.
The Lesachtal valley meanwhile saw between 160 and 200 centimetres of fresh snow, according to unofficial data.
In the Gailtal valley, in the southern province of Carinthia, about 102 centimetres of snow fell in just 48 hours, marking an 80-year record, according to the Austrian national weather centre ZAMG.
The Lesachtal valley meanwhile saw between 160 and 200 centimetres of fresh snow, according to unofficial data.
Tens of thousands of people have been left without power or transport by freak snowstorms in south-central France.
Up to 100,000 were left without electricity in the largely hilly region, with some losing their phone lines, according to regional power company ERDF.
Traffic has been blocked on several highways, while heavy snow in the elevated Massif Central region near the Alps cut train lines between Béziers and Clermont-Ferrand.
Up to 100,000 were left without electricity in the largely hilly region, with some losing their phone lines, according to regional power company ERDF.
Traffic has been blocked on several highways, while heavy snow in the elevated Massif Central region near the Alps cut train lines between Béziers and Clermont-Ferrand.
A skier dies after an avalanche and blizzards paralyse towns and cities in parts of the western United States.
The 20-year-old skier died in hospital after she was buried by a rare avalanche at a resort in Utah.
The same storm front that created the avalanche conditions also brought blizzards to major cities, closing roads and halting transport systems.
The 20-year-old skier died in hospital after she was buried by a rare avalanche at a resort in Utah.
The same storm front that created the avalanche conditions also brought blizzards to major cities, closing roads and halting transport systems.
New record low temperatures in Denver for December 14th and 15th.
© Ohio State University
Eric Kendrick, a senior research associate at Ohio State, shown at a POLENET GPS site in West Antarctica. He is standing in front of solar panels, battery boxes, and wind generators used to power the GPS station.
Eric Kendrick, a senior research associate at Ohio State, shown at a POLENET GPS site in West Antarctica. He is standing in front of solar panels, battery boxes, and wind generators used to power the GPS station.
The finding will give much needed perspective to satellite instruments that measure ice loss on the continent, and help improve estimates of future sea level rise.
"Our preliminary results show that we can dramatically improve our estimates of whether Antarctica is gaining or losing ice," said Terry Wilson,* associate professor of earth sciences at Ohio State University.
These results come from a trio of global positioning system (GPS) sensor networks on the continent.
Wilson leads POLENET, a growing network of GPS trackers and seismic sensors implanted in the bedrock beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). POLENET is reoccupying sites previously measured by the West Antarctic GPS Network (WAGN) and the Transantarctic Mountains Deformation (TAMDEF) network.
© AP
The cane toad is famed for its indestructibility
The cane toad is famed for its indestructibility
In a contest between a toad and a crocodile, it seems obvious the croc will win. Not, though, if its adversary is a cane toad - the poisonous pests laying waste to Australian wildlife.
Researchers have found that, in some waterways in the Northern Territory, numbers of freshwater crocodiles have more than halved over the past two years. The reason is cane toads, which are fatal when eaten.
Joined by people seeking shelter from the bitter cold, parishioners at the Jaffrey Bible Church on Sunday thanked God for a warm place to sleep and for the utility crews struggling to repair power lines snapped by New England's devastating ice storm.
"Your fellow Jaffrey residents have stepped up and made this a more bearable situation," Walt Pryor, recreation department director for the town of 5,700, told the congregation Sunday morning.
"Your fellow Jaffrey residents have stepped up and made this a more bearable situation," Walt Pryor, recreation department director for the town of 5,700, told the congregation Sunday morning.
Several places in the state have already shattered daily record lows, and more are expected to be broken as the sub-zero temperatures continue through Sunday night.
White Sulphur Springs reported 29 degrees below zero to the National Weather Service today, stretching way beyond the last daily record low of 17 degrees below zero set in 1922.
"We're waiting for a lot of reports to come in still," said Scott Coulston, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Great Falls.
White Sulphur Springs reported 29 degrees below zero to the National Weather Service today, stretching way beyond the last daily record low of 17 degrees below zero set in 1922.
"We're waiting for a lot of reports to come in still," said Scott Coulston, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Great Falls.
