Earth Changes
A small tornado in Santa Cruz County near Watsonville last Saturday lasted only three minutes but knocked down walls of some greenhouses
and uprooted trees in its path, a spokesman for the National Weather Service
said.
The tornado started as a waterspout on the surface of Monterey Bay at 6:59 a.m., crossed over Sunset State Beach and grew to 20 yards wide with winds reaching 75 mph as it swept east to inland areas, said Logan Johnson, a weather service spokesman in Monterey.
The swirling winds crossed over a large farm, sent fiberglass and plastic sheeting flying off of the walls of some greenhouses and caused the metal support structure of one to cave in and damage crops growing inside, Johnson said.
The twister also blew out fiberglass windows in two other greenhouses and propelled debris into a field 30 to 50 yards from the greenhouses, Johnson said.
The United flight was leaving the gate in Albany en route to Chicago Saturday when it slid off the paved road. The 65 passengers and crew were uninjured and were evacuated from the plane, put on a bus and sent back to the airport.
Airport authority spokesman Doug Myers says the accident didn't case any other airport delays. The plane was removed from the snow bank and will be inspected for any problems.
Myers said the airline would determine what happened with the jet. It was snowing lightly at the airport Saturday.

Montreal's massive snow clearing operation will start on Friday morning. Claudine Nicol took this photo of parked cars entombed in snow in Villeray on Thursday.
Michel Frenette, a spokesman for the city, said snow removal will take about nine days to accomplish.
The nine days also includes a break period for workers.
"We will stop operations on the evening of the 31st and come back 36 hours later on the morning of Jan. 2," said Frenette.
He said it is taking longer because snow blowers have to go over the same area multiple times to remove all of the snow.
Three thousand people are working to clear the snow.
With another blast of winter weather headed for Atlantic Canada, people are being urged to prepare for a lot of snow throughout the Maritimes and up to 140 km/h wind gusts in Newfoundland.
The storm is expected to start Saturday night in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and P.E.I.
Nova Scotia may see 40 centimetres of snow by Sunday night in the province's north and the Annapolis Valley.
Meteorologist Andy Firth said the nor'easter would bring snow, blowing snow and rain to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, as well as southern and eastern New Brunswick.
"This is a significant nor'easter storm," Firth said from Dartmouth, N.S., on Saturday. "We have warnings out for snowfall, blowing snow and storm surges."
Firth said parts of New Brunswick and P.E.I. would see around 15 to 30 centimetres of snow.
Flurries were expected to begin over the western Maritimes on Saturday evening, with heavy snow beginning around midnight and continuing until around noon Sunday.

Soldiers are mobilized yesterday morning to remove snow from roads in front of tollgates near the Baekyang Tunnel in Sasang District, Busan. As snow was not cleared in time, dangerous roads caused traffic jams during rush hour. Heavy snowfall is rarely seen in the southern port city.
He left home at 6:15 a.m. and reached the Changwon Tunnel that connects the two cities in 10 minutes, but soon had to turn his car around as the tunnel was closed due to snow.
Roh then passed through Jangyu and Dongmasan IC (interchange) and finally arrived at his office in Changwon at 9:40 a.m.
It usually takes only 25 minutes if he takes the tunnel route, but it took 3 hours and 25 minutes.
On his way to the office, many vehicles were waiting for assistance after being damaged in car accidents due to the slippery roads.
"It doesn't snow much in Gimhae," Roh told the JoongAng Ilbo. "Not many drivers have tire chains. It was terrible to drive because many roads are icy due to the early morning snow."

A homeless woman has a charity meal distributed by volunteers in Russia's southern city of Stavropol on Dec. 25, 2012.
Meteorologists say the country is experiencing one of its coldest winters in decades.
In the Far East region of Magadan, 300 kilometers of roads remain blocked by heavy snow. Plows and machines can not reach those roads to clear them. In some places, snow is as much as five meters deep.
Irina Bryarkina lives in the Tyva region of Siberia where temperatures have been -40 C for several days. It is so cold that many heating pipes have frozen and thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes.
Caused when ice crystals splits sunlight into different colours, they cause the sky to flicker with colour.
Brandon Rios, who captured the amazing images with his father, said he was 'completely astonished' by the phenomenon.
'Although my father was the one to take the pictures I was with him at the time,' said Brandon after the pair spotted the rainbows over their home in Douglas, Arizona.
The winter storm that dumped a record-breaking amount of snow on Montreal is now hitting Newfoundland, with Environment Canada saying northern and central parts of the province can expect 20 to 30 centimetres.
"Heavy snow and strong easterly winds over southwestern Newfoundland this morning will spread northeastward today," Environment Canada said.
By 2:30 p.m. local time, there were snowfall accumulations of 13 centimetres in Deer Lake, seven centimetres in Gander and less than a centimetre in St. John's, according to Environment Canada meteorologist Rodney Barney.
Winter storm warnings are in effect in many parts of central and northern Newfoundland, with Environment Canada warning that "dangerous winter weather conditions" are expected in some areas.
The low-pressure system producing the storm is expected to move from southern Nova Scotia to near Cape Breton by Friday evening. The system will then track across eastern Newfoundland at night before moving to the northeast of the province on Saturday.
The National Weather Service in Melbourne says the most likely trigger for a tsunami along Brevard County would be an earthquake in Portugal or Puerto Rico.
"Rogue waves" also are potential threats. That happened in 1992 when a 10-foot-high, 27-mile-long wave crashed into Daytona Beach, injuring 75 people.











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