Extreme Temperatures
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Ice Age California saber-toothed cats didn't starve into extinction

Tim Wall
Discovery News
Fri, 28 Dec 2012 09:23 UTC
Image
© American Museum of Natural History
The fearsome felines of the Ice Age in California don't show signs of starving immediately before their extinction. Teeth of saber-toothed cats and the American lions didn't have wear marks that would have suggested the cats were gnawing on bones in hunger near the time of the cats' extinctions.

"Tooth wear patterns suggest that these cats were not desperately consuming entire carcasses, as was expected, and instead seemed to be living the 'good life' during the late Pleistocene, at least up until the very end," said lead author Larisa DeSantis of Vanderbilt University in a press release.

Tooth wear patterns did reveal previously unknown differences in the two cat species behavior. Saber-toothed cats, also known as Smilodon, appeared to have regularly crunched bones, and showed no increase in this dietary distinction toward the end of their reign, which spanned from 30,000 to 10,000 years ago. American lions however, were more finicky and seem to have avoided bones, much as modern cheetahs do.
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Cloud Lightning

Fifteen dead in U.S. Northeast snowstorm


Russia Today
Thu, 27 Dec 2012 20:11 UTC
Image
© AFP Photo / Jeff SwensenResidents shovel snow on Mt. Washington after a winter storm blanketed the Midwest with snow.
Fifteen people have died in the powerful winter storm that triggered tornadoes in the American South and is now burying the Northeast in snow. With hundreds of flight delays, post-Christmas air travelers still remain stuck at US airports.

Since Tuesday, 15 have died in weather-related incidents across the US, including a 1-year-old and a 2-year-old who were killed in a car accident. While many of the victims lost their lives during traffic accidents caused by the rough weather, others were crushed to death by falling trees.

Throughout Indiana, the snowfall ranged from 6 to 12 inches, forcing the state to employ 350 snowplows to clear the roads.

"It's pretty bad. You get a lot of drifting out there. That's what's killing us, mainly," plow driver David White told CNN affiliate WRTV.
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Igloo

Major snow storm dumps 33cm of snow in Brockville, Canada

Dale C. Elliott
BNTV News
Thu, 27 Dec 2012 15:22 UTC
Snow in Brockville
© BNTV News
A major winter storm that hit our region overnight had people stuck on the roads, the ditch and their driveways according to Brockville Police. The region also spent the day digging out from one of the largest December snowfalls on record.

Brockville Police say if you don't have to go out today, stay at home and off the roads.

"The amount of snow that fell is only realized as people are stuck at the end of their driveways. Good Samaritans can be found stopping to help and now their vehicles are hazards on the roadway. Stay at home if you can." said Inspector Scott Fraser today.

Fraser also said that there have been no major accidents that have been reported so far.
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Igloo

65 percent of USA covered by snow

Robert Felix
Ice Age Now
Thu, 27 Dec 2012 15:07 UTC
And it looks like there's a snowy weekend ahead.
Snow Cover USA
© NOAA
This map from NOAA shows that 65 percent of the USA was covered by snow as of Thursday morning, December 27, 2012.

And it looks like there's a snowy weekend ahead, with snow for New York City, Boston and Philadelphia.

Snow is expected to spread from parts of the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley on Friday to portions of the Northeast on Saturday.

Source: The Weather Channel
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Igloo

Europeans freezing by the hundreds, as workers lose their jobs in mindless government attempt to make the weather colder

Steven Goddard
Steven Goddard WordPress.com
Thu, 27 Dec 2012 12:46 UTC
We truly live in an age of deep stupidity and insanity.
December 26, 2012 Cold Weather Across Europe, Asia Kills Hundreds

Cold weather in the past few days has sadly gone from severe to deadly. While unusually high snowfall has disrupted the travel plans of millions of Americans, freezing temperatures have taken the lives of hundreds of people from Central Europe to South Asia. The BBC reports that in Poland, 49 people have died; in Ukraine, 83; in Russia, 88; and in India, at least 93. The majority of those dead are the elderly and the homeless.
The EU believes that they control weather, and they also believe that they want to make it colder.
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Igloo

Heavy snowfall halts life in Gazar


DunyaNewsTV
Thu, 27 Dec 2012 12:42 UTC
Snowing In Gaza
© DunyaNewsTv
Heavy snowfall has halted life across Gazar city. Lower areas are covered with 1 ft while the upper areas are covered by snow up to 3 ft. The Gazar-Chitral Highway has been closed for last 4 days. There is shortage of eatables in the city.The traffic is closed in Phandar, shamran, Chasi and Tebr areas of tehsil Gopis. The shortage of eatables is rising day by day while the residents are facing difficulties in the supply of fuel. People have remained closed inside in houses due to chili cold after heavy snowfall.The temperature has fallen down till -10 Degree Centigrade in the upper areas.
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Ice Cube

Record low temperatures hit Japanese cities

Adam Westlake
The Japan Daily Press
Wed, 26 Dec 2012 09:45 UTC
As Japan continues to deal with a persisting cold front, Christmas Day brought record low temperatures to as many as 44 locations, mostly in the northern region and on the island of Hokkaido. The Japan Meteorological Agency warned that cold temperatures would last throughout the week, with more heavy snowfall in the north and areas that face the Sea of Japan.

Tuesday saw temperatures setting a record low for the month of December, with Hokkaido's city of Furano reaching minus 28.4 degrees, the coldest ever recorded since monitoring began. Record lows were also made in Tokyo, at 6 degrees, and the prefectures of Tottori and Saitama with minus 8 degrees. Homes and offices in Japan very rarely have central heating systems, and windows are poorly insulated, making it sometimes difficult to keep warm in the winter. People instead rely on kerosene-powered space heaters, creating a high demand for oil. In areas where snowfall makes it difficult to drive, gasoline stations drive trucks around with tanks of fuel and long hoses, making deliveries so people don't even have to leave their homes.

The city of Monbetsu, also in Hokkaido, reported a meteorological phenomenon known as ice fog occurring on Tuesday. The meteorological agency says this takes place when the water vapors from the ocean rise and meet cold air on land to form thick, low-hanging clouds of very cold fog.
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Snowflake Cold

China braces for cold snap


China Daily
Thu, 27 Dec 2012 09:43 UTC
A fresh cold snap will hit most parts of China in the coming three days, according to the National Meteorological Center's forecast on Wednesday.

The cold snap is moving west to east. It will bring snow, strong winds and temperature drops of around 8 degrees Celsius to Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Snow will hit most parts of Inner Mongolia autonomous region, North China and Northeast China.

Most areas south of the Yellow and Huaihe rivers will see precipitation.

Meanwhile, tropical storm Wukong (local name Quinta) landed in Leyte in the eastern Philippines around midnight on Tuesday and is moving northwest.

It is expected to enter the southern parts of the South China Sea between Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

Source: Xinhua
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Cloud Precipitation

U.S. winter storm Euclid dumps snow from coast to coast, another snowstorm to follow

Chris Dolce
Euclid Heads Through the Northeast Thursday
Thu, 27 Dec 2012 09:29 UTC
Image
© AP/Darron CummingsMotorists and pedestrians go past a mound of snow that workers piled up in downtown Indianapolis, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012.
Winter Storm Euclid, by the time it departs New England Thursday night, will have deposited snow from California's Sierra Nevada Mountains to New England. Unfortunately, this occurred not only during the Christmas holiday, but also in the peak travel period after Christmas Day in the South, Midwest, and East.

After leaving behind up to six feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada on Saturday and Sunday, Euclid brought the Rockies a fresh blanket of snow on Christmas Eve.

Then, Euclid brought heavy snow to the South on Christmas Day, with up to a foot of snow in Arkansas and blizzard conditions reported in parts of Oklahoma and north Texas.

After dumping a swath of snow in parts of the Ohio Valley and eastern Great Lakes, Euclid is finishing up its long, snowy journey in the Northeast on Thursday.
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Ice Cube

Cold snap in Nepal kills 17 in 10 days


Global Times
Thu, 27 Dec 2012 09:22 UTC
Cold wave has killed at least 17 people across the Terai plains of Nepal in the past 10 days, reports from across the country said Wednesday.

As of today, seven individuals have died in Mahottari, five in Siraha, four in Rautahat and one in Bara districts since Dec. 15. The number of people visiting hospitals due to weather-related disease is increasing.

"Around 25 patients are visiting the hospital every day," a report said quoting Dr Prabin Jha of Rautahat district hospital as saying.

The districts where the deaths have been reported are some of the poorest Terai districts of Nepal. "Those people are dying who have no quilt or blanket to sleep with during the nights," Basanta Khatiwada, a Bara-based journalist told Xinhua.

"It would be better if some organizations come forward and distribute warm quilts and blankets to the poor," he added.
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