Earth ChangesS


Life Preserver

December 2010 was coldest month in Ireland since 1881

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© AltLough Corrib in the west of Ireland frozen over, Christmas 2010
BBC news has reported that 40,000 homes are still without water in Northern Ireland after the recent spell of freezing temperatures. Many have been without water for more than 10 days, and reservoirs are being drained due to an unprecedented number of leaks since the thaw. Calls to a few friends confirmed that, yes, it is bad - friends in Lisburn have been without water since Christmas Eve due to a frozen mains supply (i.e. not in their house); others in Belfast report low water pressure. Water is being rationed in places.

Was it really that cold? A search of the BBC site revealed "'Baltic' Northern Ireland" tucked away on the BBC NI news page. Castlederg in the West of the province recorded a low of -18°C on 20th December - a new record. The thing about Ireland is that it sits on the very western fringes of Europe, bathed by the warm Gulf Stream (which is why Doug Keenan considered the 7000 years of Irish tree ring data so important that he pursued Queen's University through FOI requests). Ireland, despite its latitude, just doesn't do 'very cold' (or 'very hot' for that matter).

When I first got interested in climate I ended up corresponding with Tonyb about the temperature records of the Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland. These stretch back to 1796. Incidentally there are a couple of WUWT posts featuring Armagh in the last year (here, here and here). How does this current cold month compare with the historical record at Armagh? Was the recent cold unprecedented?

Ice Cube

Freezing Rain: Russian Ministry Says 21,205 People Remain Without Electricity

Residents in the Moscow region continued to face power outages after disruptions caused by freezing rain on Dec. 26, leaving 21,205 people in 140 towns without electricity as of 6 p.m. yesterday, the Russian Emergency Ministry said on its website.

OAO MRSK Holding, which manages Russia's interregional power distributors, aims to restore power by 6 p.m. tomorrow, Chief Executive Officer Nikolai Shvets told Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at a government meeting yesterday.

Cloud Lightning

Winds Cause Damage, Snow Falls in El Paso, Texas

El Paso Texas snow
© ABC-7
Days of above normal temperature gave way to winds gusting above 60 miles and and snow flurries on Thursday.

Heavy snow fell in the upper valley and west El Paso Thursday afternoon as a cold front moved through the borderland area. Trans Mountain is closed until further notice, according to TxDOT officials.

Before the snow came, winds blew through the area, wreaking havoc.

Bizarro Earth

Rare hurricane-strength winds batter L.A. area; more snow and ice on way

A rare blast of hurricane-strength winds was topped by a 94 mph gust measured by the National Weather Service at 3:57 a.m. Thursday at Whitaker Peak.

Forecasters said the winds in valley and mountain areas will continue at least until noon Thursday. A wind warning for the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys is in place until then.

The weather service said in a statement that a northerly flow is producing the wind and icy conditions and "will continue to bring dangerous winter weather conditions" on Thursday, producing 1 to 2 inches of snow in some mountain passes and generating "upslope snow showers across the northern mountain slopes."

Igloo

Blizzard Causes 100 Car Pileup in North Dakota I-94 Blocked

Interstate 94, Highway 10 to close at 7 p.m.

Detroit Lakes, Minnesota - (6:30 p.m.) The Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Minnesota State Patrol will close Interstate 94 from Moorhead to Alexandria and Highway 10 from Moorhead to Detroit Lakes at 7 p.m. due to hazardous road conditions. The highways will remain closed until further notice.


Snow plows will be pulled from all area state highways and interstates in Mahnomen, Clay, Becker, Wilkin, Otter Tail, Traverse, Grant, Douglas, Big Stone, Stevens, Pope and Swift counties. Motorists are advised not to travel until conditions improve and Mn/DOT and the Minnesota State Patrol open the roads.

Motorists should plan accordingly. When a road is closed it is illegal to travel in that area. Motorists can be fined up to $1,000 and/or sentenced to 90 days in jail. In addition, if travelers need to be rescued from a closed road, other expenses and penalties will apply.

Attention

Now It's Snowing -- in Phoenix

With plunging temperatures and lingering cloud cover, Valley residents caught a rare glimpse of what many thought were brief periods of snow flurries Thursday.

Sightings were reported in Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Fountain Hills, Cave Creek, Carefree, Peoria, Glendale and Anthem, Apache Junction, Mesa and parts of Phoenix.

However, National Weather Service officials said that what people actually saw was a phenomenon called graupel -- soft hail that freezes higher in the atmosphere and as it comes down, warms and melts a little, much like a snowflake.

X

Arizona, US: Officials closing in on cause of mysterious bat die-off at bridge

Arizona Game and Fish officials are a few steps closer to unraveling the mystery behind the death of 69 bats under an east-side bridge even as more are found dead.

Another dozen bats were found dead Tuesday and Wednesday under a bridge on East Speedway where the road crosses the Pantano Wash.

Rabies has been eliminated as a cause of death after three bats found under the bridge Monday morning tested negative for the disease, said Mark Hart, a spokesman for the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Test results came back Wednesday morning.

It could be a week or more before the department receives the results of testing for white-nose syndrome, but officials say it is unlikely Tucson bats acquired the fungal infection. First documented in upstate New York in 2006, the syndrome has killed millions of bats in the East and has spread as far west as Oklahoma.

Fish

Haiti investigates dead fish mystery

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© Unknown
Click here to watch the video.

Authorities near the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic are investigating the mysterious death of scores of fish in a lake.

Environmental officials are testing samples, while the government tries to allay fears that it is linked to a deadly cholera epidemic.

Michel Chancy, the Haitian Agriculture Minister, said: "At this time we cannot connect this problem with cholera. Cholera affects people, not fish. The fish don't have anything to do with cholera. Something else caused this problem. It could be something toxic, a disease."

Igloo

US: Western states blitzed with storms, snow and rain

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© Rob Schumacher / The Arizona Republic via AP Brian King of Cypress, Calif., scrapes snow and ice off his pickup truck Thursday morning in Flagstaff, Ariz. King, trying to return home from a Christmas trip, was trapped in Flagstaff due to the blizzard that closed Interstate 40 and Interstate 17.
New Mexico and Colorado in path of storm that closed roads, cut power in California, Arizona and Nevada

Phoenix - Blizzard conditions were moving across the West on Thursday after shutting down major roads in Arizona, blasting California and Nevada with frigid winds and leaving an area of western Washington in a white-out on Wednesday.

Heavy snow fell in some mountainous regions on Wednesday and rains soaked lower elevations, cutting power to thousands and causing numerous traffic tie-ups and accidents.

A blizzard warning was issued in parts of Arizona on Wednesday, and forecasters warned the system would move into neighboring New Mexico on Thursday. Colorado's mountains could see up to two feet of snow by Friday.

Below is an overview by state.

Recycle

Sanitation Department's Slow Snow Cleanup was a Budget Protest

new york, blizzard
© Gregory P. MangoOn East 7th Street between Greenwood Avenue and Ocean Parkway, Brooklyn, NY. This street in Brooklyn has yet to be plowed. It could be one of the worst blocks in Brooklyn.
These garbage men really stink.

Selfish Sanitation Department bosses from the snow-slammed outer boroughs ordered their drivers to snarl the blizzard cleanup to protest budget cuts -- a disastrous move that turned streets into a minefield for emergency-services vehicles, The Post has learned.

Miles of roads stretching from as north as Whitestone, Queens, to the south shore of Staten Island still remained treacherously unplowed last night because of the shameless job action, several sources and a city lawmaker said, which was over a raft of demotions, attrition and budget cuts.

"They sent a message to the rest of the city that these particular labor issues are more important," said City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Queens), who was visited yesterday by a group of guilt-ridden sanitation workers who confessed the shameless plot.