Earth ChangesS


Cloud Lightning

Storm causes hillside collapse, flooding in Southern California

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© APPeople attempt to pull a truck out of the rain-swollen Santiago Creek near Modjeska Canyon, Calif. on Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2010.
A powerful storm dumped more rain on already waterlogged Southern California on Wednesday, washing hillsides onto highways, endangering houses in canyons and forcing rescuers to pluck dozens of motorists from flooded streets.

The storm was expected to ease as it moved eastward. Floodwaters washed away homes in Arizona, and inundated parts of Nevada and Utah.

The low-pressure system could be in New Mexico by Thursday and could reach the Gulf Coast by Saturday with some rain, but not the deluge that hit Southern California, forecasters said.

In Southern California, the burst of heavy rain in the morning left streets flooded and caused minor mudslides. The threat, however, of larger mudslides could last for weeks in the suburban Los Angeles canyon hillsides laid bare by wildfires.

"The ground is so saturated it could move at any time," said Bob Spencer, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works.

Igloo

Mayor of London: There's a Mini Ice Age Coming, Says Man Who Beats Weather Experts

Piers Corbyn not only predicted the current weather, but he believes things are going to get much worse, says Boris Johnson, London's mayor

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© Getty ImagesFootprints remain after people walked on the snow-covered beach at Weston-Super-Mare, England
The man who repeatedly beats the Met Office at its own game

Well, folks, it's tea-time on Sunday and for anyone involved in keeping people moving it has been a hell of a weekend. Thousands have had their journeys wrecked, tens of thousands have been delayed getting away for Christmas; and for those Londoners who feel aggrieved by the performance of any part of our transport services, I can only say that we are doing our level best.

Almost the entire Tube system was running on Sunday and we would have done even better if it had not been for a suicide on the Northern Line, and the temporary stoppage that these tragedies entail. Of London's 700 bus services, only 50 were on diversion, mainly in the hillier areas. On Saturday, we managed to keep the West End plentifully supplied with customers, and retailers reported excellent takings on what is one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
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We have kept the Transport for London road network open throughout all this. We have about 90,000 tons of grit in stock, and the gritters were out all night to deal with this morning's rush. And yet we have to face the reality of the position across the country.

It is no use my saying that London Underground and bus networks are performing relatively well - touch wood - when Heathrow, our major international airport, is still effectively closed two days after the last heavy snowfall; when substantial parts of our national rail network are still struggling; when there are abandoned cars to be seen on hard shoulders all over the country; and when yet more snow is expected today, especially in the north.

Bizarro Earth

US: Los Angeles Evacuations Ordered; California Braces for More Rain

San Bernardino County Firefighter
© AP Photo/Daily Press/James QuiggSan Bernardino County Firefighters Jay Hausman, left, and Ryan Beckers, right, pull a victim from a car caught in swift water at Hughes and Avalon Road in Victorville, Calif., Monday, Dec. 20, 2010.
If six days of pounding rain wasn't enough to dampen holiday spirits, a seventh could prove to be downright dangerous. Forecasters expected heavy rains across California going into Wednesday, and authorities began evacuations late Tuesday as concern grew about potential mudslides in the wildfire-scarred foothills across the southern part of the state.

Officials ordered evacuation of 232 homes in La Canada Flintridge and La Crescenta, foothill suburbs of Los Angeles, because of forecasts of more heavy rains on already saturated mountainsides.

San Diego police evacuated dozens of homes and businesses but no structural damage was reported in the city, said Lt. Andra Brown. A commuter rail station was closed in the city's Sorrento Valley area due to heavy rains. About a dozen homes were evacuated in a cul-de-sac south of downtown.

Bizarro Earth

How a freak diversion of the jet stream is paralysing the globe with freezing conditions

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© Met OfficeDaily mean temperature anomalies around the world between 1st December and 20th December compared with the 30 year long term average between 1961 and 1990
It's snowing in Australia and California yet 'warm' in Greenland

The freezing conditions that have blasted Britain are being blamed on a series of weather patterns that are bringing Arctic temperatures to much of western Europe, California and even Australia.

One of the main factors is a change in the position of the jet stream - the fast-moving current of air that moves from west to east, high in the atmosphere.

Changes in the jet stream's path can cause massive changes in weather conditions across the globe and may be why Australians are now shivering their way through summer and the current freezing conditions in California.

In a normal British winter - when conditions are mild and soggy - the jet stream lies over northern Europe, at an altitude of between 35,000 to 50,000 feet.

Cloud Lightning

6,000 passengers in seven-hour queue stretching 1.2 miles as snow and ice cripples Eurostar

  • Thousands of passengers who had queued for five hours told to come back at 3am tomorrow
  • Salvation Army serves hot drinks to freezing travellers
Thousands of Eurostar passengers joined giant queues and were forced to wait for up to seven hours today as the Channel Tunnel rail link was thrown into disarray.

Police were forced to turn away some passengers after the freezing weather conditions ruined journeys at London's St Pancras station as speed restrictions and cancellations affected the service.

About 6,000 travellers endured freezing temperatures as queues snaked through the main terminal and out into the street stretching to an estimated length of 1.2 miles.

And this evening people who had queued for up to five hours were told to go home and return at 3am tomorrow.
british library
© Stephanie SchaererDesperate: Passengers queue by the British Library, hundreds of yards away from the Eurostar terminal at St Pancras International station.

Snowflake

So this is Christmas

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© Facundo ArrizabalagaPassengers stranded at Heathrow were forced to sleep on the floor
National embarrassment deepened to abject humiliation last night as more than half a million Christmas travellers remained stranded in the UK. Major arterial roads and the Channel Rail Link ground to a standstill, unable to cope with drifting snow, black ice and "refugees" from Heathrow.

Temperatures were expected to drop to -13C last night and snow is expected across much of the country again today, particularly in southern England, Wales, the Midlands and Scotland. There is little prospect of all the marooned reaching their intended destinations in time for Christmas, even if the airports could be run for 24 hours a day.

Dawn heaped disappointment on a further 100,000 passengers who had been booked to fly to or from Heathrow, and even Eurostar, the usual escape valve for travellers to Continental Europe, came to a standstill, turning away existing customers and airport escapees alike.

Better Earth

Scientists Cite "Atmospheric River" for Near Continuous Rain

It has happened before. Consider the winter of 1861-1862 -- it rained for 45 consecutive days


It's the rain that just won't stop -- day after day. It's almost as continuous as the flow of a river, tropical moisture funneled into California by what scientists have come to call an "atmospheric river."

The term was coined only within the last generation of satellite imaging that can actually show the band of moisture.

But there's nothing new about the phenomenon. What scientists now realize was an atmospheric river in 1861-62 brought California 45 straight days of rain and caused flooding of Biblical proportions, evocative of Noah and his ark.. It bankrupted the state.

"The atmospheric river brings in the moisture. How much rain gets dropped out of it has a distribution, just like earthquakes," said Lucy Jones of the U-S Geological Survey office in Pasadena.

Cloud Precipitation

Dramatic satellite image shows huge storms heading toward Los Angeles

A satellite image of the Pacific Ocean offers a dramatic preview of the storms that are expected to batter Southern California on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

weather map
© National Weather Service
The satellite shot (above) shows a band of storm lining up in the Pacific and moving into California.

The image below shows rains in California as of about 10:30 a.m.

A northern cold front is expected to move into the Los Angeles basin Monday afternoon, mashing up with subtropical moisture that has been sitting off the Pacific coast for several days. Periods of intense rainfall through Wednesday will bring another 5 inches to coastal plains and valleys and up to 10 inches in the mountains.

Igloo

Colorado weather forecast: White Christmas for high country, little to no snow for Denver

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© 9news.com

Denver - While the ski resorts across the state will be measuring snow in feet over the next few days, conditions along the Front Range will be mild and relatively snow-free through Christmas Day. The Colorado weather forecast calls for several feet of snow for some parts of the Colorado high country through the middle of the week.

9NEWS Meteorologist Marty Coniglio says a few flurries may fly in Denver are possible on Thursday, but measurable snowfall is not expected in the city before Christmas. You will need to head west for a white Christmas.

Tuesday, the winter solstice occurs at 4:38 p.m. and the Solstice coincides with the only complete eclipse of the full moon in 2010. Cloud cover held off just long enough to make for beautiful views of the eclipse overnight along the Front Range.

The last winter solstice full moons were in 1999 and 1980.

Bizarro Earth

Southern California Braces for More Rain, Possible Mudslides

Worst Weather in Years Pounds West Coast, Utah and Nevada

From the mountains to the foothills, California residents are bracing for another round of heavy rains and threats of mudslides. For the past week, residents faced relentless rainfall along with snow and high winds.


In the northern part of the state, the storm knocked out power to thousands of customers, according to local utility companies.

Southern California has been hit hard by heavy rains since the weekend - creating scores of accidents and residents preparing to evacuate.

"I was just driving and the wind was actually what pushed me and caused me to hit the pole," said motorist Raquel Funches.