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Cloud Precipitation

San Francisco: Pineapple Express storm brings rain, flight delays

Victoria Colliver
San Francisco Chronicle
Mon, 10 Feb 2014 19:09 UTC
Image
© Paul Chinn, The Chronicle
Pedestrians cross California Street the rain in San Francisco, Calif. on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2014. The Bay Area is getting doused this weekend in one of the biggest storms in over a year.
Wet conditions from a Pineapple Express storm system moving through the region created slick streets, triggered a flood advisory in the North Bay and caused delays of up to two hours at San Francisco International Airport Saturday.

The rain was expected to continue through the weekend, with another burst of showers Saturday night through Sunday, but then drying out by Monday.

While rainfall totals will not be complete until the storm ends, National Weather Service forecasters said San Francisco received just under an inch of rain in the 24 hours ending 4 p.m. Saturday for a total of 1.92 inches since the storm began on Thursday.

The three-day total topped 11 inches at MountTamalpais with rain expected through Monday morning, said Bob Benjamin, a forecaster with the weather service. Rains could be heavy at times in the North Bay, he said, but should be light to moderate in the East Bay and on the Peninsula.
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Cloud Lightning

100 dead birds washed up on Chesil Beach, UK


Dorset Echo
Mon, 10 Feb 2014 15:34 UTC
Image
© Izzy Imset
SCENE: Dead birds laid out on Chesil Beach.
A huge amount of dead birds have washed up on Chesil Beach.

Some of the 100 or so seabirds have been found alive but the majority are dead or in distress.

Storms have washed them onto the beach.

Birds such as razorbills, guillemots and two kittiwakes have been found.

Five dead puffins, which are species of European conservation concern, have also been washed up.

Some of these birds were covered in oil, and those found alive are exhausted and need time to recover, says Dorset Wildlife Trust.

Concerned conservation officers have been able to rescue some of the stranded birds. A trapped razorbill, stuck inside an empty metal cage filled with shingle to stabilise the shoreline was freed by Angela Thomas, Assistant Warden at the Chesil Bank and Fleet Nature Reserve.

She said: "The force of the waves had emptied the shingle from the metal cage, but somehow a razorbill had become trapped inside - it was hard to get it out, and we had no idea how it got in there. It would not have escaped without our help, so we're glad we managed to spot it."
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Snowflake

Cold winter brings rare seagull invasion on Allegheny River, Pittsburgh

David Highfield
pittsburgh.cbslocal.com
Fri, 07 Feb 2014 13:03 UTC
Image
© KDKA
The extremely cold winter we're having is affecting wildlife and causing a rare sight in Pittsburgh.

People are now gathering nightly to watch thousands of seagulls that have converged on the Allegheny River, not far from Heinz Field.


While seagulls are normally around here, Bob Mulvihill from the National Aviary in Pittsburgh says what's going on right now is very rare.

There's an estimated flock of as many as 8,000 gulls that congregate each evening on the Allegheny River and what's most abnormal is how far some of them have traveled.

"It's very uncommon to have the conditions that lead to this kind of concentration," said Mulvihill. "These birds will stay on the Great Lakes until they freeze over, and then, they hesitatingly go south looking for some open water."

But he and the other birdwatchers that have started gathering in the evenings to examine the rare sight, say a few of the gulls are from very far away - some from the arctic. The same areas as polar bears.

Comment: For the last couple of months, across the northern hemisphere, extremely cold weather conditions have been driving many wintering Arctic and boreal bird species much further south than is usual. These include Snowy Owls recorded in Hawaii and Bermuda!! Additionally, many are turning up in unprecedented numbers. This all points to a probable return of the Ice Age. See also this selection: Rare Arctic bird turns up in Darwin, Australia

UK storms bring in rare Arctic gulls to Pembrokeshire

Storm blows Canadian bird 3,000 miles on to Tyrone lough, Northern Ireland

Bird watchers flock to Portland, UK after a rare Arctic Brunnich's Guillemot spotted

Ice Age Cometh: Snowy Owl invasion coming in North America?

Maine experiencing a Canadian owl invasion

Incredible Hawk Owl invasion in Estonia!

Huge Snowy Owl invasion becomes official in Canada and U.S.

Thousands of Hawk Owls descend on Finland as food in northern Russia runs out

Ice Age Cometh: Unprecedented influx of Arctic Ivory Gulls into UK

      Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Recent storms have killed at least 5,000 sea birds on French coast


thisfrenchlife.com
Mon, 10 Feb 2014 15:14 UTC
Image
© Xavier Leoty/AFP
Photo taken on February 10, 2014 shows the bodies of puffins washed up on a beach in Sainte-Marie-de-Re, western France, after heavy storms
Storms decimate puffin colonies on French coast

The Atlantic storms that have buffeted Europe in recent days have killed at least 5,000 sea birds on the French coast, half of them puffins.

Most of the birds whose bodies have been washed up on beaches between the Pyrenees and Brittany died of exhaustion or starvation as a result of days of gale-force winds which made it impossible for them to fish, officials with the national Bird Protection League (LPO) told AFP.

"It started a fortnight ago but there has been a big increase in the numbers over this weekend," said the LPO's Olivier le Gall.

Photo taken on February 10, 2014 shows the bodies of puffins washed up on a beach in Sainte-Marie-de-Re, western France, after heavy storms

After puffins, guillemots have been the species most affected, followed by razorbills and kittiwakes.

Although most of the bird deaths were caused by the weather conditions, the LPO said there had also been some caused by pollution as a result of cargo ships taking advantage of the inclement conditions to dump noxious gases at sea.
      Read More...
Snowflake Cold

Worst snowstorm in decades hits Japan: Eleven dead


Yahoo News
Mon, 10 Feb 2014 14:35 UTC
Image
© AP
People hold umbrellas as they walk on the street covered with snow in Tokyo. At least 27 cm accumulated, the highest snowfall in the capital since 1969.
Eleven people died, more than a thousand were injured and tens of thousands lost power when the worst snowstorm in decades hit Tokyo and areas around the Japanese capital before heading north to blanket the tsunami-hit Pacific coast.

Flights were still backed up at Tokyo's Haneda international airport on Monday and the lobby was packed with anxious travelers, with some flights overbooked.

As much as 27 cm (10.6 inches) of snow fell on Tokyo by late Saturday, the most in 45 years, Japan's Meteorological Agency said. Back streets in outlying neighborhoods remained choked with snow and frozen slush on Monday morning, forcing commuters in heavy boots to pick their way carefully to work.
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Clipboard

Professor Matthew 'say anything' England's past bad climate science

Anthony Watts
Watts Up With That?
Mon, 10 Feb 2014 13:26 UTC
global warming debate
© Michael Ramirez
Readers of course recall the latest claim in a series of excuses about "the pause" in global warming with the new paper from Professor Mathew England of the University of New South Wales (home of the award winning Chris Turney "ship of fools") that is getting media attention, where he concedes there has indeed been a pause, and offers "trade winds" as the explanation. But if there was a pause in "climate change" , why then back in 2011 did he blame it for flooding?
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Coffee

As wildfires break out in Alaska and Oregon, Georgia declares state of emergency due to continuing snowfall


Press TV
Mon, 10 Feb 2014 13:46 UTC
Georgia state of emergency
© Unknown
Georgia has declared state of emergency as a new winter storm is looming over the area two weeks after a rare storm paralyzed the state and wreaked havoc on roads and residents.

Gov. Nathan Deal extended the previous number of central and northern Georgia counties under a state of emergency to 45, after the National Weather Service warned of the upcoming storm, Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Dean was publicly embarrassed for what critics called a lackluster response to the Georgia's snow gridlock on January 28.

The situation was compared to "end of the world" scenarios as Atlanta and other areas were covered by 2.6 inches of snow and ice. Thousands of motorists were stranded on the road.

Comment: Wildfire warning issued for Alaska - apparently freeze-dried vegetation can 'spontaneously combust'

More winter wildfire weirdness as forest fires break out in Oregon

      Read More...
Snowflake

Black snow falls in Siberian city


RIA Novosti
Mon, 10 Feb 2014 13:36 UTC
Image
© RIA Novosti. Andrey Lebedev
Black Snow Falls in Siberian City
Black snow covered the ground in a city in Siberia Sunday, raising concerns among local residents, Russia's environmental watchdog said.

This is not the first time that oddly-colored snow has fallen in the West Siberian city of Omsk.

Black snow appeared in the region last winter twice in December and was likely caused by a local thermal power station, TPP-5, that was working at overload capacity, Rosprirodnadzor said.
Image
© RIA Novosti. Andrey Lebedev
Black Snow Falls in Siberian City
"Work is underway. According to preliminary reports, this is again TPP-5 that has dumped ash. By Monday, the samples will be examined," a spokesman for the watchdog said.
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Cloud Precipitation

UK floods: Swollen Thames threatens thousands of homes


BBC News
Mon, 10 Feb 2014 09:45 UTC
Image
© BBC News
In Datchet the Thames has flooded the village
Thousands of homes along the River Thames are threatened with flooding as water levels continue to rise.

Fourteen severe flood warnings are in place in Berkshire and Surrey, while two remain in Somerset.

Amid criticism of Environment Agency head Lord Smith, PM David Cameron - who is in flood-hit Dorset - said it was not the time to change personnel.
      Read More...
Snowflake Cold

The Ice Age Cometh! Snow set to hit the South AGAIN as big freeze goes on in the North East


The Daily Mail
Mon, 10 Feb 2014 09:26 UTC
Image

Here we go again: Snow falls at the Lincoln Center in New York during Fashion Week on Sunday night
Another round of snow and ice dubbed 'Winter Storm Pax' is expected to coat Atlanta and other parts of the Deep South this week.

Less than two weeks after some southern cities were crippled by a couple of inches of snow, forecasters have issued another winter storm watch for the Georgia area.

With forecasters predicting snow, sleet and freezing rain for parts of Kansas, Oklahoma and possibly north Texas on Monday, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed has begun to treat priority roads and bridges to avoid another ice storm fiasco.

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal was forced to apologize for the state's poor handling of last month's snow storm, which left hundreds of children stranded in schools overnight, some without provisions, and created traffic jams stretching for miles on roads coated with just two inches of snow.

According to The Weather Channel the next swathe of southern snow will kick off on Monday morning, as a stripe of wet conditions develop in parts of Kansas, Oklahoma and possibly extreme north Texas. It will then spread eastward into the Mid-South region.
      Read More...
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