The chilly weather gripping the country is expected to continue into the weekend with forecasters predicting cooler nights for the country.
Records kept by the Nadi weather office show the lowest temperature measured this week was 15 degrees Celsius at Rarawai mill in Ba.
Other major centres also recorded low temperatures in the past week with Suva experiencing 21 degrees, Lautoka 17.6 degrees and Nadi at 18 degrees.
According to the weather office the cold spell is being caused by strong south east wind flow bringing in cold air from the south.
"These conditions are expected to continue into the weekend, however, it should start getting warmer next week," a forecaster said. Temperatures in the Western Division are expected to drop to 15 and 16 degrees Celsius in the weekend with the Central Division expected to record lows of 18 and 19 degrees.
Earth Changes
Experts cautioned that the gain is so small that the glaciers might not actually be growing - but what is clear is that the glaciers are not shrinking, according to a report published in Nature Geoscience
The glaciers in the Karakoram Range between northern Pakistan and western China have actually grown, rather than shrinking.
Unlike most mountain glaciers, the Karakoram glaciers, which account for 3 percent of the total ice-covered area in the world, excluding Greenland and Antarctica, are not shrinking.
A team of French glaciologists has recently confirmed that these glaciers on average have remained stable or may have even grown slightly in recent years.
The new study used data from satellites to study the Karakoram Range of northern Pakistan and western China.
The researchers found that the ice had actually increased in thickness by 0.11 (plus or minus 0.22) meters per year between 1999 and 2008.
Experts cautioned that the gain is so small that the glaciers might not actually be growing - but what is clear is that the glaciers are not shrinking, according to a report published in Nature Geoscience.
Viewer photo of reported tornado from from WTKR.com.
Newly hired Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator Doug Jones told the Board of Supervisors DOS personnel found damage to trees in the area behind Accawmacke Elementary School as well as the wooded area off Nedab Lane.
One vehicle received minor damage from a fallen tree and numerous trees were downed and were found to be twisted off from the ground up.
Several roads also flooded during the storm, which reportedly dumped nearly 4 inches of rain in some spots near Locustville and up to 6 inches in Gargatha.
No injuries were reported and no structural damage was found besides downed electric wires and a pole.
A drought stricken corn field is seen in DeWitt, Iowa July 12, 2012.
A drought in the US and soaring temperatures in the Black Sea region have created a volatile grain futures market that has led to lower yield estimations for the 2012-13 season. The US Department of Agriculture has projected that global wheat stocks for this season will be at a three year low.
As a result, prices have spiked significantly and Francisco Redruello, senior food analyst at Euromonitor International, said that this volatility across the grains sector will have implications for bakery and snack firms in the near future.
"If price rises continue in August, it will increase in-put costs for bakery and snack manufacturers," Redruello told BakeryandSnacks.com.
It could become a "significant" problem for firms if dry conditions continue, he said.
"Impact on prices will probably start to be felt in September, when current futures contracts expire," he added.
Melba, Idaho - A sinkhole near Melba claimed the life of a woman who was driving to work early Saturday morning on Butte Road, just east of South Powerline Road.
Kieran Donahue, a long-time deputy with the Canyon County Sheriff's Office, says this is a freak accident. He says there are rarely sinkholes in the county, let alone one that would appear on a road and kill someone.
But investigators say 32-year-old Sonia Lopez was driving to work at about 4:15 a.m. Saturday on Butte Road, south of Melba, and apparently didn't see the 20-foot wide sinkhole right in front of her.
"She's driving early in the morning hours, probably pitch black, and literally just drives right into this 2-3 foot deep hole," said Donahue.
Lopez was not wearing her seatbelt and was found dead more than an hour later by an out-of-county deputy.
Now filled-in, the only sign of the sinkhole and accident is a fresh patch of asphalt and a memorial to a young woman gone too soon. A yellow cross with messages like, "Love you and miss you so much" stands just feet from where the hole was.
Kieran Donahue, a long-time deputy with the Canyon County Sheriff's Office, says this is a freak accident. He says there are rarely sinkholes in the county, let alone one that would appear on a road and kill someone.
But investigators say 32-year-old Sonia Lopez was driving to work at about 4:15 a.m. Saturday on Butte Road, south of Melba, and apparently didn't see the 20-foot wide sinkhole right in front of her.
"She's driving early in the morning hours, probably pitch black, and literally just drives right into this 2-3 foot deep hole," said Donahue.
Lopez was not wearing her seatbelt and was found dead more than an hour later by an out-of-county deputy.
Now filled-in, the only sign of the sinkhole and accident is a fresh patch of asphalt and a memorial to a young woman gone too soon. A yellow cross with messages like, "Love you and miss you so much" stands just feet from where the hole was.
© USGS
Earthquake Location
Earthquake Location
Friday, July 20, 2012 at 06:10:25 UTC
Friday, July 20, 2012 at 06:10:25 PM at epicenter
Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location
49.418°N, 155.935°E
Depth
22.7 km (14.1 miles)
Region
KURIL ISLANDS
Distances
137 km (85 miles) S of Severo-Kuril'sk, Russia
424 km (263 miles) SSW of Vilyuchinsk, Russia
442 km (274 miles) SSW of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Russia
449 km (278 miles) SSW of Yelizovo, Russia
© tri-cityherald.com
Residents were evacuating from the town of Vilaflor, south of the Teide national park that spans the centre of the Spanish island of Tenerife, as flames reached parts of the town.
Emergency services "are evacuating residents from Vilaflor due to the advance of the fire from the east," the regional government said in a statement Tuesday evening.
© digitaljournal.com
The order came as Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO) readied to refire a second reactor at the Oi plant, western Japan, just weeks after the first unit was restarted, ending a brief nuclear-free period in earthquake-prone Japan.
A spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said KEPCO had to re-examine the Earth's crust underneath Oi, while the operator of the Shika plant in nearby Ishikawa also had to carry out further studies.
The decision came after geological experts argued both plants are likely sitting on active faults and could be vulnerable to earthquakes if tectonic plates shift.
© 9News
Crews have been working to repair the hole since 1 p.m. CDOT says travelers should expect long delays through the Idaho Springs area.
© The National Weather Service
The National Weather Service issued this map along with its Seasonal Drought Outlook on Thursday.
The National Weather Service issued this map along with its Seasonal Drought Outlook on Thursday.
"Unfortunately, all indicators (short and medium-term, August, and August-October) favor above normal temperatures," the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center said in its Seasonal Drought Outlook released Thursday.
"We don't see a reason to say it will improve," Kelly Helm Smith, a specialist at the National Drought Mitigation Center, told reporters. "I'm in the Midwest," she said, referring to her office at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, "it's really unpleasant."
The outlook noted that "a dramatic shift in the weather pattern" would be required "to provide significant relief to this drought, and most tools and models do not forecast this."
Drought could take hold in the northern plains by October, the Climate Prediction Center added.
