At least six tornadoes ripped through four southern states Monday evening, blowing over gas pumps and destroying homes.
The hardest hit areas by the unusual December tornadoes were in Florida and Alabama.
In Edgewater, Fla., 40 homes were damaged and 12 completely destroyed. There were two people with minor injuries but no deaths, the Edgewater Fire Department reported. Most of the damage was inside Terra Mar Village, a mobile home community.
In Alabama, there were no reported injuries or deaths, the Birmingham Fire Department reported, but a gas station off I-165 had its pumps blown over.
The forecast for Tuesday calls for a slight risk of tornadoes in areas stretching from Daytona Beach to Fort Meyers, Fla. Damaging winds, spotty hail and three to four inches of rainfall are expected.
Earth Changes
A slow-moving storm more than a foot of snow in parts of the Upper Midwest, making roads treacherous or impassable and leading to at least one fatal crash.
The system dropped 10.6 inches of snow at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and up to 14 inches on parts of the Twin Cities on Sunday, Minneapolis' heaviest snowfall since a blizzard two years ago caused the Metrodome roof to collapse.
This time around, stadium officials resorted to blasting the heat in an effort to melt snow from the roof as quickly as possible.
Blizzard conditions, blowing and drifting snow made visibility so poor that the state Department of Transportation pulled snowplows off some highways in southwest and west Minnesota on Sunday afternoon.
The Minnesota State Patrol reported more than 600 crashes by Monday morning, and at least 1,140 spinouts, according to Lt. Eric Roeske, and driving conditions remained hazardous. One person was killed in a crash involving a semi near Red Wing and injuries were reported in 63 other accidents, the patrol said.
Magnitude 7.3 earthquake in the Banda Sea off Indonesia felt more than 600 kilometres away in Darwin
© Credit: Audience submitted
A shipping container was shaken off its stands at Nguiu on the Tiwi Islands, about 100 kilometres north of Darwin.
A shipping container was shaken off its stands at Nguiu on the Tiwi Islands, about 100 kilometres north of Darwin.
Geoscience Australia says there could be more aftershocks from the quake that shook the Top End of the Northern Territory overnight.
Tremors were felt in Darwin and Katherine at about 2.30am local time and were the strongest in the north for about 20 years.
Overnight staff at the Darwin weather bureau evacuated their third-storey office while the building shook.
Duty forecaster Angeline Prasad says the tremor was the strongest she has felt.
"The building started shaking and it just became worse," she said.
"It is the worst tremor I've felt in Darwin.
Camp Verde, Arizona - Noises sounding similar to the mysterious ones heard across the Verde Valley on Tuesday afternoon have been reported around the country. And one reporter at a Rhode Island newspaper says she has heard reports from as far away as London, England, of a similar phenomenon.
The Corsica Daily Sun newspaper in Corsica, Texas, reported mysterious tremors and noises beginning around 3 p.m. local time, 2 p.m. Arizona time. Reporter Janet Jacobs reports that the Navarro County emergency coordinator, Eric Myers, received calls of "tremors being felt along with a rumbling type of noise." Two hours later, heavier tremors were felt along with descriptions of "popping and shaking." After the notice was posted on the department's Facebook page, additional reports indicated the phenomenon was felt along a line 50 to 60 miles long.
"They didn't act like any other thing except perhaps earthquake booms, which are low, shallow sometimes undetectable tremors similar to what's been happening locally," Jacobs reported. The Auburn Plainsman, a student newspaper at Auburn University, reported loud noises around midnight on Tuesday.
Residents in the area of the university reported the sound was "far too loud" to have been a gunshot. Campus police responded but found nothing unusual.
The Corsica Daily Sun newspaper in Corsica, Texas, reported mysterious tremors and noises beginning around 3 p.m. local time, 2 p.m. Arizona time. Reporter Janet Jacobs reports that the Navarro County emergency coordinator, Eric Myers, received calls of "tremors being felt along with a rumbling type of noise." Two hours later, heavier tremors were felt along with descriptions of "popping and shaking." After the notice was posted on the department's Facebook page, additional reports indicated the phenomenon was felt along a line 50 to 60 miles long.
"They didn't act like any other thing except perhaps earthquake booms, which are low, shallow sometimes undetectable tremors similar to what's been happening locally," Jacobs reported. The Auburn Plainsman, a student newspaper at Auburn University, reported loud noises around midnight on Tuesday.
Residents in the area of the university reported the sound was "far too loud" to have been a gunshot. Campus police responded but found nothing unusual.
Residents of Columbia County are wondering what, or whom, is responsible for the boom. Residents on and near Louisville Road near Appling reported hearing, and feeling, a loud boom early this morning. "It woke me out of a dead sleep," said Terry Glasscock. "You could feel the vibration. It wasn't like the whole house shook, but you could feel it."
He said he went outside to see if a transformer had blown to discover his neighbors outside as well, also investigating the noise. "I know the rock quarry blast. We hear the siren and can sometimes feel that, but this was a little different." He said he felt something similar about six weeks ago, but did not report it.
Columbia County Emergency and Operations Division Director Pam Tucker said the proximity of the reports to the Easter Piedmont Fault initially indicated it might be an earthquake. After following up with seismologists, that has been ruled out. She also said there has been no blasting at area quarries. A spokesman from Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, S.C. said the base had no aircraft flying at that time.
He said he went outside to see if a transformer had blown to discover his neighbors outside as well, also investigating the noise. "I know the rock quarry blast. We hear the siren and can sometimes feel that, but this was a little different." He said he felt something similar about six weeks ago, but did not report it.
These Strange Sounds from the Sky recorded in Bayonne, New Jersey are very loud and scary. They are similar to an airplane flying by or as the recorder says as a sort of ship coming from no where. Really nice records. Actually, people in this area seem to be very familiar with this strange and unexplained phenomenon since the weird noises were recorded several times last month and this month over there! A sign? But of what? Thank you for your following and for your postings!
© USGS
2012-12-10 16:53:09 UTC
2012-12-11 01:53:09 UTC+09:00 at epicenter
Location:
6.522°S 129.813°E depth=157.7km (98.0mi)
Nearby Cities:
229km (142mi) NW of Saumlaki, Indonesia
338km (210mi) WSW of Tual, Indonesia
361km (224mi) SSE of Ambon, Indonesia
366km (227mi) SSE of Amahai, Indonesia
519km (322mi) ENE of Dili, East Timor
© CBC News
Drivers awoke to snow and freezing rain on the streets of Montreal on Monday.
Drivers awoke to snow and freezing rain on the streets of Montreal on Monday.
While the system crosses the region and the Great Lakes, the weather agency has predicted snowfall up to 10 centimetres overnight. The snow will then turn to freezing rain early Monday morning.
Areas further east near Ottawa will see freezing rain later in the day on Monday.
A glaze of ice has coated some areas from Lake Huron to the Greater Toronto Area.
Warnings from Environment Canada state that drivers should take extra caution with morning commutes, and should take extra time for travel.
Also, due to the freezing rain, they have also cautioned pedestrians to walk carefully on roads and sidewalks not treated for slippery conditions in the affected regions.
Source: CBC News
At least five people have been killed in the Balkans after freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall caused travel chaos across the region.
Four people have died in Croatia and one in Serbia as a result of blizzards in the region of south-western Europe over the weekend, according to officials.
Airports and roads have been closed during the bad weather, with public transport in a lot of the major cities also being affected.
Four people have died in Croatia and one in Serbia as a result of blizzards in the region of south-western Europe over the weekend, according to officials.
Airports and roads have been closed during the bad weather, with public transport in a lot of the major cities also being affected.
When the sun set over the UK on Dec. 9th, sky watchers were stunned by an unexpected apparition of super-colorful stratospheric clouds. "They were amazing to see and a dream come true to photograph," reports Lesley Jennings of Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. "There were all sorts of colors. I've never see the like before!" added Rachael Taylor also from Aberdeenshire. Nigel Feilden photographed this specimen from Inverurie, Scotland:
"These are nacreous clouds," explains atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley. "Of all Earth's clouds they are most spectacular, and a very rare treat for skywatchers."
© Nigel Feilden
Taken by Nigel Feilden on December 9, 2012 @ Near Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Taken by Nigel Feilden on December 9, 2012 @ Near Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
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Mysterious noises heard across Verde Valley, Arizona