Earth ChangesS

Snowflake

Heavy snowfall disrupts life in Nepal

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The continuous snowfall occurring here for two days has badly affected the life.The electricity supply is disrupted and air flights postponed. The 76-km long Beni-Jomsom roadway linking the district to the national highway has been fully blocked.

Although the snowfall decreased on Friday night, it is yet to be melted.

People are not able to go out of their homes. Similarly, the shops in the district headquarters are closed.

A local Kul Bahadur Thakali said, "The life is thrown out of gear here. All are dormant. Here is no light, no drinking water."

Technician at Nepal Electricity Authority in Mustang, Baburam Thapa, informed that more than half dozen electricity poles were crumbled thereby disrupting electricity supply.

Even the telephone wires are snapped. With the electricity cut off, mobile phone and internet are fully disturbed.

Snowflake

Rohtang Pass in India closed due to 5 foot of snowfall

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© News24 Bureau
The Rohtang Pass at 13,050 ft in Himachal Pradesh, which acts as a key road link between Manali and Keylong, has been closed due to heavy snowfall in the area.

The pass has 5 foot snow due to heavy snowfall for the last two days due to which traffic has been closed on the Rohtang Pass, government officials informed.

Rohtang Pass is also used to transport supplies to the Indian Army posted along the China and Pakistan borders in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir.

GREF (General Reserve Engineering Force), a Border Roads Organisation (BRO) wing has removed its posts from the Pass.

The Pass will now open around May at the onset of summer.

Bizarro Earth

Magnitude-6.6 earthquake strikes off Pacific coast of Panama

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© Associated Press
The U.S. Geological Survey says a magnitude-6.6 earthquake has struck off the Pacific coast of Panama. There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

The U.S.G.S. said the quake hit at 11:07 p.m. local time Tuesday with its epicenter 151 miles (245 kilometers) south of the coastal city of Punta de Burica, close to the border with Costa Rica. Its depth was measured at 20 miles (33 kilometers).

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center says no tsunami threat was issued for the area following the quake.

In early December, two earthquakes with magnitudes of 5.8 and 6.6 struck in the same region without causing damage or injuries.

Snowflake Cold

Hawaii breaks 122-year old cold weather record

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© W.M. Keck Observatory WebcameraIcicles covered part of the lens of a webcamear at the W.M. Keck Observatory at Mauna Kea Monday morning as snow remained on the ground from a storm over the weekend.
The unusually cold weather over the last two days continued to break records in Hawaii, including a record for this date that goes back over 122 years in Honolulu.

The National Weather Service said Monday morning's low temperature of 57 degrees beat the low temperature for this date of 60 degrees of temperatures recorded at the Honolulu Airport.

It also beat a older low temperature record for Honolulu set in 1893 of 58 degrees.

On Kauai, the low of 57 degrees at the Lihue Airport beat tied a record of 57 degrees last seen in 1993.

It's the second day of record low temperatures.

Four low temperatures records were tied or broken Sunday morning.

The low of 54 degrees in Lihue and Kahului Sunday broke records for Kauai and Maui. The previous record of 59 degrees in Lihue was set in 2005. The low in Kahului broke a record of 55 set for this date in 1971.

In Hilo, the low temperature of 59 degrees broke the previous record of 60 set in 1999 on Sunday's date.

Honolulu tied a record low of 58 degrees set in 1979.

Temperatures should be a little warmer Monday night, ironically because of a weak cold front moving through the islands.

Comment: Cold records have been breaking all over the world. Reputable scientists have been predicting a coming ice age while the junk science of 'global warming' is spewed from every media outlet out there. Get prepared; it's going to get cold!

New Ice Age 'to begin in 2014'

The Little Ice Age predicted to start in 2014

Russian Scientist: New Ice Age to Begin in 2014


Bizarro Earth

Coyote attacks two residents in Groveland, MA

coyote
A coyote attacked at least two people outside their homes in a northern Massachusetts town on Monday night, sending one man to hospital with bite wounds, according to local police.

The Groveland police department issued a warning on Tuesday to residents of the town located about 35 miles north of Boston, saying the animal is on the loose and likely to have rabies.

"We are asking all residents to be watchful and when outside use extra care for your safety and the safety of your children and pets," said deputy chief Jeffrey Gillen.

Comment: Animals have been attacking humans with increasing regularity lately. Even beloved pets are turning on their owners. Perhaps the animal kingdom is reflecting the increasingly bizarre and deteriorating behavior that humans have been exhibiting recently.

Pack of coyotes chases man and dog through Burbank neighborhood, California

Coyote attacks second young girl in Rye, New York

Spike in coyote attacks on animal pets in Claremont, California

Woman and dogs attacked by coyote in front of her Kilworthy home, Ontario


Question

Spate of deep sea beaked whale deaths puzzle experts in Scotland

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© APThe Cuvier's beaked whale is the world's deepest diving mammal.
Experts say they are baffled by a spate of mystery deaths around the west coast of Scotland by the world's deepest diving mammal.

Scientists at the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust says it has received many reports over the past two weeks from members the public of stranded cetaceans. Five were of Cuvier's beaked whales, a species that is rarely seen due to its offshore distribution.

"Despite being rarely seen however, they are native to Scotland, preferring offshore deep-water canyons and seamounts where they hunt for squid," said the trust.

"To our southwest in Ireland, the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group have recorded similarly high numbers of Cuvier's beaked whales. In December, five were found dead along the west and north coast which accounts for almost 10 per cent of all the records of this species since records began.

Comment: Something natural involved? Creatures from the deep signal major Earth Changes: Is anyone paying attention?

Or maybe something artificial? Navy sonar blamed for death of beaked whales found washed up in the Hebrides

Or maybe both?


Bizarro Earth

Flooding, landslides and power outages hit Washington state

Floods Carnation, WA
© Reuters/Jason RedmondElevated water levels of the Tolt River pass near a residence after heavy rains caused the river to rise in Carnation, Washington January 5, 2015.
An unusual burst of heavy rainfall in western Washington state caused landslides and flooding early on Monday, knocking three homes off foundations and forcing the evacuation of a nursing home, officials said.

Several landslides in rain-soaked coastal Grays Harbor County pushed muddy floodwater and debris across key state highways, county and rural roads, most of which remained closed at nightfall in and around Aberdeen and Hoquiam, the county's largest cities.

"It's not one of these snow-melt events, it's the inundation of rain over the last 24 hours," said Dave Porter, a spokesman for the Grays Harbor County Sheriff's Office, adding no injuries have been reported.

Drier forecasts for Monday night and Tuesday could aide emergency crews working to clear roadways, although it was uncertain when roads would be re-open, Porter said.

Comment: Devastating floods have been increasing around the globe. These bizarre weather events seem to be indicative of worldwide swings that will in all likelihood continue to become more extreme in the future. See the SOTT topic on floods for a listing of recent flood events.


Snowflake

Travel chaos as heavy snowfall strikes Turkey

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© Adem Altan/AFP A person walks with an umbrella on a snow-covered road in Ankara, on January 6, 2015.
Heavy snowfall descended on large parts of Turkey on Tuesday, January 6, snarling road and air traffic and leading to closures of schools, reports said.

In the northern province of Karabuk, a school bus went off the road and turned over on to its side in slick conditions caused by snow, leaving a student dead and 18 others injured, the Dogan news agency reported.

The snowfall also seriously disrupted road traffic across Turkey and caused trouble with the electricity network causing some power cuts, particularly in the northern parts of the country.

Turkey's national flag-carrier Turkish Airlines cancelled 44 international and domestic flights in and out of Istanbul and some other cities including the capital Ankara.


In mega-city Istanbul, the authorities appeared to take every precaution including closing down schools. But the snow has so far failed to appear in the city in the quantities predicted.


Snowflake

Sub-zero cold wave set to lash Saudi Arabia with snow and wind

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© ReutersIn this photo taken on Jan. 9, 2013, residents of Tabuk enjoy the snow after a heavy snowstorm in the desert. A snowstorm is forecast to hit parts of the Kingdom, including Tabuk, on Wednesday.
A wave of bitterly cold weather accompanied by wind, sub-zero temperatures and snow is expected to hit the Kingdom on Wednesday and last until Sunday, the Presidency of Meteorology and Environmental Protection (PME) said on Monday.

The extreme cold is forecast strike the north and northwest areas of the Kingdom as a result of storms coming from Europe and America. The inclement weather is expected to move across the entire country.

Hussain Al-Qahtani, spokesperson of the PME, said this would be the coldest weather for the year. The northern areas would be struck first, including Tabuk, Turaif and Al-Jouf, where sub-zero temperatures and light snow is expected. The PME also expects wind that would limit visibility.

The temperatures would likely drop in Madinah, Jeddah and Makkah, accompanied by strong winds. The cold wave would reach its peak on Thursday in Hail, Qassim, the Eastern Province and Riyadh.

Attention

Deer attacks and injures animal keeper at zoo in India

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In a surprise attack, the first of its kind at the Nehru Zoological Park, a deer injured an animal keeper who went to administer medicine to it here on Sunday.

According to zoo officials, the animal keeper, Akbar went to the deer enclosure and after releasing them into the display area, sought to administer medicine that were prescribed to a male deer.

In what the officials describe as mock attempt at aggression, the deer hit the keeper and pressed him to the compound wall with its antlers.

"There were no major external injuries but as he was pressed with antlers, Akbar had some discomfort and a bit of internal dislocations. We rushed him to Yashoda hospital at Malakpet and got him treated.

The zoo is taking care of his treatment costs," the zoo curator, B.N.N.Murthy said.

Usually, deer are reticent in nature and not known to attack, officials said adding that the mock attempt could have been a defensive response when the animal keeper went with medicine.

Comment: Other recent deer attacks on people: Man attacked by deer he shot with arrow

Moose charges at ski patrolman on the slopes in Colorado

Man dies following ferocious deer attack at Slovakian farm

Violent elk put down in Sweden after attack on woman

Wolf Lake man attacked and injured by elk at campground in Muskegon, Michigan

Rampaging moose stomps on 2 women walkers in Colorado

Deer farmer, 75, dies five days after being gored by stag in rutting season in Wales