The possibility of significant wintry precipitation from yet another winter storm across parts of Mississippi has prompted the National Weather Service to issue a Winter Storm Watch from Wednesday into early Thursday morning.
The Winter Storm Watch covers 24 out of 82 counties, including Bolivar, Calhoun, Carroll, Coahoma, De Soto, Grenada, Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Lafayette, Leflore, Marshall, Montgomery, Panola, Quitman, Sharkey, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tate, Tunica, Warren, Washington, Yalobusha and Yazoo in Western Mississippi.
A low pressure system is expected to develop and move east along the Northern Gulf Coast Wednesday into late Wednesday night, spreading moisture north over a deep cold airmass that will be firmly in place across the region.
Earth Changes
Two volcanoes on Japan's southern island of Kyushu erupted on Tuesday.
A volcano at Sakurajima, the Minamidake crater, erupted early Tuesday followed by an eruption at Shinmoedake in the afternoon.
Shinmoedake erupted for the first time in 52 years last month and has erupted more than ten times since.
A volcano at Sakurajima, the Minamidake crater, erupted early Tuesday followed by an eruption at Shinmoedake in the afternoon.
Shinmoedake erupted for the first time in 52 years last month and has erupted more than ten times since.
The National Weather Service issued a special weather statement early this morning. They warn that light winds and and low level precipitation will work together to create heavy fog throughout the New York City area.
Visibilities of below one mile are expected this morning, creating dangerous conditions for drivers.
Visibilities of below one mile are expected this morning, creating dangerous conditions for drivers.
© NPS
Hydrothermal fluids, just like the ones shooting from Old Faithful, could be pushing up the Yellowstone supervolcano.
Hydrothermal fluids, just like the ones shooting from Old Faithful, could be pushing up the Yellowstone supervolcano.
In the ancient past, the Yellowstone volcano produced some of the biggest-known continental eruptions, but the recent rising doesn't mean another doomsday eruption is looming, scientists say.
The recent rising is unprecedented for Yellowstone's caldera - the cauldron-shaped part of the volcano - but it's not uncommon for other volcanoes around the world. The new study has simply revealed a more active caldera at Yellowstone than scientists realized.
"It's pretty exciting when you see something that's five times larger than what you've seen in the past," said Charles Meertens, director of the nonprofit UNAVCO facility in Boulder, Colo., which aids geoscience research. Meertens is a former postdoctoral fellow under one of the study's authors, Robert Smith of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
© Yomiuri Online
Minami-dake crater at Sakurajima, a volcano on Japan's southern island of Kyushu, erupted Tuesday, following volcanic explosions at Mt. Kirishima in the same region.
The volcano spewed plumes of smoke and ash up to 2,000 meters into the air.
Local authorities temporarily banned citizens from driving near the area due to the sheer amount of ash raining down from the volcano.
© Xinhua/Zhu Zheng
The dried cornfield is seen in the mountainous area of Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province, Jan. 18, 2011.
The dried cornfield is seen in the mountainous area of Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province, Jan. 18, 2011.
Agricultural production across four million hectares has fallen dangerously in what is the worst drought in six decades.Across the provinces which help feed cities of northern China, precipitation is at precariously low levels.
Shandong province has had only 12mm (½in) of rain since last September, 15 per cent of the normal level. Despite more than 4,000 pumping stations continuing to supply water, the situation remains severe.
The drought, which began in October, has hit the southwest parts of Shandong hardest, putting further pressure on politically sensitive food prices that have been surging for months.
Comment: According to Xinhua News Agency, "Data from the provincial meteorological bureau showed the drought would be Shandong's worst in 200 years if there were no substantial precipitation by the end of this month."
"It's hard to know when it will rain. We must prepare for the worst and do our best to combat the drought to ensure a good harvest," premier Wen Jiabao said during a new year visit to a reservoir in Qufu, one of the worst affected areas.
© Earth Observatory, NASA
NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using AMSR-E data and sea ice extent contours courtesy of the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).
NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using AMSR-E data and sea ice extent contours courtesy of the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).
During the Northern Hemisphere winter of 2010 - 2011, unusually cold temperatures and heavy snowstorms plagued North America and Europe, while conditions were unusually warm farther north. Now the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) has reported that Arctic sea ice was at its lowest extent ever recorded for January (since satellite records began).
This image shows the average Arctic sea ice concentration for January 2011, based on observations from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E) aboard NASA's Aqua satellite. Blue indicates open water; white indicates high sea ice concentrations; and turquoise indicates loosely packed sea ice. The red line shows the average sea ice extent for January from 1979 through 2000.
NSIDC reported that ice extent was unusually low in Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, and Davis Strait in the early winter. Normally frozen over by late November, these areas did not completely freeze until mid-January 2011. The Labrador Sea was also unusually ice-free.
NSIDC offered two possible explanations. One reason is the Arctic Oscillation (AO), a seesaw pattern of differences in atmospheric pressure. In "positive" mode, the AO includes high pressure over the mid-latitudes and low pressure over the Arctic, setting up wind patterns that trap cold air in the far North. In "negative" mode, air pressure isn't quite as low over the Arctic and isn't quite as high over the mid-latitudes. This enables cold air to creep south and relatively warm air to move north.
The Kizimen Volcano located on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula is spewing ash into the skies and creating potential problems for aircraft.
© unknown
A bushfire burns close to a vineyard in Roleystone, near Perth.
A bushfire burns close to a vineyard in Roleystone, near Perth.
The Meteorology department said heavy rains and possible flash flooding could hit parts of Brisbane, the Somerset area, Ipswich and Lockyer Valley, areas which are already reeling under the recent flooding.
Senior forecaster Rick Threlfall said a major storm was developing around the Marburg and Amberley areas, west of Brisbane, a reported by Herald Sun said quoting experts.
"That storm's not moving too far and it's produced about 40 to 50 mm (rainfall) in the last hour... with those rainfall totals flash flooding is a potential," he said.
"We've also got a storm currently heading towards Toowoomba. That's not looking too severe at the moment," he added.
© Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP
Residents clearing volcanic ash released by the erupting Shinmoedake volcano from the roof of their house in Miyakonojo, Miyazaki prefecture, yesterday. Shinmoedake, the 1,421-metre-high volcano on the border of Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures in southwestern Japan, was still active after its first major eruption in 52 years in late January.
Residents clearing volcanic ash released by the erupting Shinmoedake volcano from the roof of their house in Miyakonojo, Miyazaki prefecture, yesterday. Shinmoedake, the 1,421-metre-high volcano on the border of Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures in southwestern Japan, was still active after its first major eruption in 52 years in late January.
Japan's Mount Shinmoe was an "extinct" peak way back in the 60s, serving as the perfect observation point for the 007 agent to scrutinise archvillain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in his secret base.
However, in reality the volcano is neither a secret rocket base, nor extinct.
© unknown
Volunteers carrying volcanic ash from an entrance of a residence in Miyakonojo, Miyazaki prefecture, yesterday.
Volunteers carrying volcanic ash from an entrance of a residence in Miyakonojo, Miyazaki prefecture, yesterday.
The revamped volcano got back into action on January 27 and in its biggest explosion it managed to break windows eight kilometres away. Officials cannot determine how long the eruptions will continue but some are insisting the cycle could go on for weeks and even intensify.
