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Mon, 25 Oct 2021
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Snowflake

Snow blankets sun-kissed Arizona, Nevada and California - 18 inches deep in Prescott

Barbara Goldberg
Reuters
Mon, 18 Jan 2021 14:26 UTC
Tim Ahlman shovels snow outside his home in Bellemont, Ariz. Monday, Jan. 25, 2021. A series of winter storms have dropped more precipitation in Flagstaff than the city had during last summer’s monsoon season.
© FELICIA FONSECA / AP
Tim Ahlman shovels snow outside his home in Bellemont, Ariz. Monday, Jan. 25, 2021. A series of winter storms have dropped more precipitation in Flagstaff than the city had during last summer’s monsoon season.
There is nothing weird about seeing snow in January, unless it is falling on sun-kissed expanses including Nevada's Las Vegas and Arizona's deserts, which were transformed on Tuesday into winter wonderlands.

Just days after Malibu, California, known for its balmy beaches, was blanketed with snow by an unusual winter storm, frosty flakes made their way to Nevada and Arizona - shocking for some but a welcome relief for many in the drought-plagued U.S. West.

Prescott, Arizona, home of Whiskey Row bars and live music venues, reported 18 inches of accumulation by mid-morning on Tuesday, and it was still snowing, said meteorologist Bob Oravec of the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland.

"They are actually very happy they are getting this snow," he said. "Snow pack is always good for future water management."

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Attention

Indonesia volcano eruption: Merapi ejects new ash cloud


Deutsche Welle
Wed, 27 Jan 2021 14:03 UTC
Hot volcanic material flowed for 1,500 meters (4,900 feet) down the slopes of Mount Merapi

Hot volcanic material flowed for 1,500 meters (4,900 feet) down the slopes of Mount Merapi
The Mount Merapi volcano in Indonesia erupted on Wednesday spewing ash, gas and extremely hot rock fragments for four hours, the Research and Development Center for Geological Disaster Technology reported.

There were no reports of casualties, but the Development Center kept the alert system at its second-highest level.

The explosion happened just as residents had begun to return to their nearby homes on the island of Java after fleeing previous eruptions.

The resulting lava flow was the biggest since authorities raised the danger level in November, Hanik Humaida of the local Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center said.

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Attention

4 Gray's beaked whales strand on Ruakākā Beach, New Zealand - one dies


New Zealand Herald
Tue, 26 Jan 2021 13:37 UTC
One of the four Gray's beaked whales that got stranded on Ruakākā Beach couldn't swim back out to sea and died.
© Project Jonah
One of the four Gray's beaked whales that got stranded on Ruakākā Beach couldn't swim back out to sea and died.
Flensing of a Gray's beaked whale that died on Northland's Ruakākā Beach will begin this afternoon under the supervision of the local hāpu.

Locals found four Gray's beaked whales stranded on the beach on Tuesday evening and called Project Jonah- an environmental organisation dedicated to the protection of whales, dolphins and seals.

Three whales were refloated and helped back out to sea while one kept turning around and coming to the shallows.

Several locally-trained medics who volunteer for Project Jonah went down to the beach after the three whales swam back out to sea to help those that worked on the fourth whale.
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Tornado2

1 dead, at least 17 injured after tornado strikes Alabama town

Jay Reeves and Desiree Mathurin
ABC News
Tue, 26 Jan 2021 14:12 UTC
Alabama tornado damage
© WRBC
A teenager huddling in his basement was killed and several of his family members were critically injured when a tornado blew a tree onto their home in Alabama and it collapsed on top of them, police said Tuesday.

The tornado left a swath of destruction Monday night in Fultondale, a Jefferson County city north of Birmingham. Piles of furniture, appliances and tree limbs were strewn about and vehicles ended up in awkward positions, as if a child had flung his collection of Matchbox cars into the air. One car landed upside down against some tree branches on a large pile of debris.

Police Chief D.P. Smith said several other family members trapped in the basement were critically injured, while one escaped harm. The teen was pronounced dead at the scene Tuesday morning .

"They were doing what they were supposed to be doing,'′ the chief said.

Fultondale Fire Chief Justin McKenzie said 17 people have since been hospitalized and 11 others were treated on scene, WVTM-TV reported.


Comment: Winter storms alerts in effect for 23 US states

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Snowflake Cold

Madrid's record-breaking snowstorm killed half a million trees

Cap Allon
Electroverse.net
Tue, 26 Jan 2021 14:39 UTC
snap
Madrid, Spain's central capital, is a city of elegant boulevards and expansive, manicured parks such as the Buen Retiro - at least it was, before the Grand Solar Minimum slapped it silly.


A slew of new all-time cold and snow records have been set across Spain this January, snowfall so substantial that people even skied the streets of Madrid:
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Attention

Over 100 gannets found dead after high tides believed to have pummelled breeding colony in New Zealand, 10-metre swells

Sharnae Hope
Stuff
Mon, 25 Jan 2021 14:24 UTC
A Kāwhia local reported that 134 dead birds had washed ashore on the coastline, and most of them were juveniles.

A Kāwhia local reported that 134 dead birds had washed ashore on the coastline, and most of them were juveniles.
More than 100 dead birds were found along the King Country coastline, near a biodiversity hotspot.

A Kāwhia local reported 134 dead birds had washed ashore between Kāwhai Ocean Beach and Aotea Harbour on Saturday.

Ōtorohanga District Council and the Department of Conservation were notified, and it's believed high tides sweeping over a breeding colony on nearby Gannet Island were to blame.

The dead birds were initially mistaken as albatrosses, then identified as gannets by DOC - with 117 of them juvenile gannets, known as gugas.
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Snowflake

Snow falls on Maunakea, Mauna Loa summits in Hawaii


West Hawaii Today
Mon, 25 Jan 2021 11:45 UTC
The Maunakea summit was blanketed with snow Monday evening amid a winter storm warning that remains posted for Hawaii Island summits until 6 p.m. Tuesday.
© W.M. Keck Observatory
The Maunakea summit was blanketed with snow Monday evening amid a winter storm warning that remains posted for Hawaii Island summits until 6 p.m. Tuesday.
The Maunakea and Mauna Loa summits were blanketed with snow Monday evening amid a winter storm warning that remains posted until 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Forecasters with the National Weather Service in Honolulu are calling for heavy snow, with accumulations up to 8 inches, and wind gusts up to 45 mph, for the two Hawaii Island summits.

The Maunakea Access Road was closed to the public Monday evening at the Visitor Information Station at the 9,200-foot level elevation.

Forecasters predict that a strong high pressure system northeast of Hawaii and a trough to the southwest will combine to create locally strong southeast winds over Hawaii through the midweek.

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Cloud Precipitation

Deadly floods, landslides in Santa Catarina, Brazil - 3 inches of rain in 3 hours

Richard Davies
Floodlist
Tue, 26 Jan 2021 11:45 UTC
floods
Further heavy rain has triggered flooding and landslides in the city of Florianópolis and areas of Santa Catarina state, Brazil .

Flash flooding and landslides were reported in Florianópolis after heavy rainfall on 21 January, 2021.

More heavy rain was reported in the state of Santa Catarina during the following days, in particular in the capital, Florianópolis. Civil Defense of Santa Catarina (DCSC) said almost 40mm of rain fell in Florianópolis in a 1 hour period around midday on 24 January. DCSC added that 86mm of rain fell in 3 hours and 104mm in 6 hours.

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Snowflake Cold

Migratory birds wintering in northern Iran increased by 30% due to severe, premature cold in Siberia


Tehran Times
Mon, 25 Jan 2021 11:10 UTC
The population of migratory birds took flight

The population of migratory birds took flight to spend the cold season in the northern province of Mazandaran increased by 30 percent since the beginning of winter (December 21, 2020) compared to the same period last year, head of wildlife affairs at the provincial department of environment (DOE) has said.
The annual census for migratory birds in Iran begins in the middle of the Iranian calendar month of Dey (December 22- January 20) and ends in the middle of the month of Bahman (January 21- February 19), which will be a 1-month period since January 1 to 31.

The reason for the increase in the migration of wintering birds this year is due to the severe and premature cold in Siberia, Korous Rabiei stated, IRNA reported on Monday.

According to the wintering census last year, 90 species of migratory birds with a population of over 500,000 migrated to the three wetlands of Miankaleh, Sorkhrud, and Azbaran, reservoirs and protected areas of the province, which is predicted to reach up to 700,000 this [Iranian calendar] year, he explained.

He went on to say that the largest increase in the migratory birds' population is related to the whooper swan, whose number increased about 10 times compared to the same period last year, from 500 to about 5,000.
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Snowflake

Winter storms alerts in effect for 23 US states

Kathryn Prociv
NBC News
Mon, 25 Jan 2021 17:44 UTC
A satellite image shows weather over the United States
© NOAA
A satellite image shows weather over the United States on Monday.

The country is expected to be hit with a slew of storms this week with winter weather alerts in effect Monday for 60 million people across 23 states, stretching from Southern California to the Midwest and mid-Atlantic.

Heavy snow was expected to fall Monday from the Central Plains to the Midwest and Great Lakes where cities like Omaha, Nebraska; Des Moines, Iowa; and especially Chicago could see their biggest snowstorm of the season.

Snowfall rates, forecast to be 2 inches per hour at times, will likely cause treacherous travel conditions and the risk of power outages.

For the Chicago area, heavy snow occurring around Monday evening's rush hour could also be met with lakeshore flooding from Lake Michigan. Strong winds across the Great Lakes are expected to kick up large waves and cause flooding. For Lake Michigan, forecasts called for waves of 10-13 feet, producing a risk for water splashing up on Lake Shore Drive as well as inundating nearby parks and parking lots.


Comment: Spectacular snowfall was also recorded in Naco, Sonora, Mexico:



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