An iridescent rainbow-colored cloud seemed to magically materialize in the sky above Vermont. The colorful streaks across Sunday's blue sky puzzled some people who saw it near the New York-Vermont border.
It's a "fire rainbow," WCAX reports. The phenomenon has made headlines before, and it's technically called a "circumhorizontal arc," National Geographic explains.
A similar fire rainbow made headlines in San Francisco less than two months ago. The National Weather Service shared several photos of that fire rainbow and an explanation from meteorologist Roger Gass.
Tuesday started with clear skies and an unusual phenomenon. Between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. thin bright white clouds appeared in the night sky. These were noctilucent clouds - the highest clouds in the earth's atmosphere!
Our usual high clouds may reach up to four to five miles, but noctilucent clouds occur around 50 miles up in the earth's mesosphere - basically on the edge of space. These clouds are made up of very tiny ice crystal - 100 nanometers or smaller. A nanometer is 1 billionth of a meter.
Researchers are still looking for a clear explanation of these clouds. They know that they only occur around local summer, and they know they only occur at higher latitudes. But much of their origin is still being figured out.
Thirteen departments across France are still on orange alert for flooding and rain, Météo France has warned, even as existing floods cause chaos across the country.
In a warning issued this morning (Wednesday June 13), flood risks still exist for Ille-et-Vilaine, Calvados, Eure, Eure-et-Loire, Orne, and Sarthe in the north west; and in the Landes, Gers, Lot-et-Garonne, Tarn-et-Garonne, and the Haute-Garonne in the south west.
The already-stricken Pyrénées-Atlantiques and the Hautes-Pyrénées are also on alert for flooding, but with up to 60mm of rain still expected in some areas.
The orange alert level is the second-most severe, and warns people to be very vigilant.
A flash flood warning was issued around 6pm local time (12.00am GMT), and many areas in Downtown Baton Rouge and in the north of the city have experienced severe disruption.
One social media user named Carey Darcey said: "Baton Rouge is flooding again. Get the boats ready!"
Rebekah Allen added: "Cars are turning around on Government Street by the Garden District because of flooding."
Weather radars estimated the region would witness three inches of rain in some areas in less than an hour.
Consumers are in for a shock as a poor growing season sends cost of avocados sky-rocketing to record levels
New Zealand avocado lovers can expect to fork out a little more for their favourite brunch as the price of the fruit hit record highs last month.
The average price for a 200g avocado reached NZ$5.06 last month, the highest price for avocados in the country since records began, up 37% from $3.69 in April 2018 and up 50% from $3.38 in May 2017.
"Seasonality impacts avocado prices," prices manager Matthew Haigh said. "Typically, avocado prices peak in July and August, as the main harvest season is from August to March."
Comment: Since other fruits seem to be doing ok in New Zealand, the bad harvest for avocados could be a small blip on the radar. Still, lets keep an eye on how crops are doing around the globe:
More storms have hit parts of Europe, causing flooding in parts of Switzerland, northern Italy and Germany, where one man has died.
Meanwhile, storm damage in Austria has left 14,000 households without electricity in Styria. One person died after strong winds downed trees in the city of Graz.
Catherine Groenstein Stuff Wed, 13 Jun 2018 13:12 UTC
A young sperm whale was found washed up on a remote beach near Hāwera on Friday.
A 13th sperm whale found dead on a South Taranaki beach in less than two weeks will be honoured with unique traditional processes.
The 11 metre-long male sperm whale was found on Friday at a remote and often inaccessible section of Ngati Ruanui beach along the Waihi-Tangahoe coastline.
It is believed to be from the same pod as 12 other whales that have found themselves stranded further down the coast at Kaupokonui since May 24.
"This is the 13th whale, one of an unprecedented amount of young male sperm whales stranding along our coast in South Taranaki," Ngati Ruanui rangatira Rukutai Watene said.
Several homeowners in southern Colorado woke up Wednesday to extensive hail damage. Based on statistics from the National Weather Service (NWS), it was the strongest overnight hail storm in El Paso County in more than 20 years.
The strong storm tore through the county, with much of the impact in Fountain. Hail in the area was reported as large as 3 inches. According to NWS, El Paso County has not seen hail more than 2 inches during the overnight hours since 1995.
11 News first warned of the severe storm. After it ended, several viewers shared photos and videos of broken glass from their homes and shattered car windows. One woman showed the hail that broke through her windows in her new home, sending hail throughout her living room.
At least 10 people were killed and several others injured after lightning struck them at different places in India's eastern state of West Bengal, officials said Wednesday.
The lightning struck Bankura, Hooghly, West Midnapore, Birbhum and North 24 Parganas districts on Tuesday.
"Yesterday lightning killed 10 people and injured several others in the state," a disaster management official said.
"Four people were killed in Bankura district, three in Hooghly, and one each in West Midnapore, Birbhum and North 24 Parganas."
The last official eruption of the Galeras Volcano in Colombia was reported in 2010.
The Galeras Volcano in southern Colombia registered two moderate earthquakes on Tuesday that left two people dead, several homes and roadways damaged, said local authorities.
The back-to-back volcanic earthquakes have placed local authorities in the nearby city of Pasto, capital of Narino Province, on high alert.
"We have activated all of the protocols ...to attend to the emergency," Narino Governor Camilo Romero said on Twitter.
The two people died when their house was crushed by falling rocks.
Comment: Scientists predicted increased activity this year and it would appear from looking at the list below, which details just some of those currently active, that this does seem to be the case:
The scientific discourse misses the fact that the ability to deny is an amazing human phenomenon, a product of sheer complexity of our emotional, linguistic, moral and intellectual lives. Denial is a complex unconscious defense mechanism for coping with guilt, anxiety and other disturbing emotions aroused by reality.
- Stanley Cohen
Recent Comments
Hippocrates called Elderberry his Medicine Chest along the way he fought a pandemic.. Coining the word. He didn't call it the medicine chest for...
Comment: Since other fruits seem to be doing ok in New Zealand, the bad harvest for avocados could be a small blip on the radar. Still, lets keep an eye on how crops are doing around the globe:
Erratic seasons and extreme weather devastating crops around the world