Extreme Temperatures
S


Red Flag

Vegetable rationing after extreme weather devastates European crops

Europe vegtables rationing
© Victoria Jones/PA
European agriculture has been decimated with at least 80% losses which have led to black market sales of produce, rationing, shortages, collapsed greenhouse facilities and bankruptcy for farmers. The losses are beyond epic and this is what is expected in the new grand solar minimum, but the media brushes it away saying its bad weather in Europe.


Igloo

Freak weather - It's snowing in the UAE!

Snowing in the UAE
© Naughty dawg 666/YouTube
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is known for its desert climate and year-round sunshine, but freak weather conditions have covered part of it in snow. And as if that wasn't weird enough, heavy winds also caused a crane to collapse, sparking a fire.

One person was injured in the blaze following the crane collapse on Dubai's busy Sheikh Zayed Road, according to officials cited by AFP.

Three vehicles were also destroyed in the fire.

Snowflake

Freak weather in Spain leaves devastated salad crops and leads to rationing of vegetables in UK supermarkets

Poking out of the rock-hard ground and covered in snow, these Spanish vegetables haven't made it to our supermarket shelves
Poking out of the rock-hard ground and covered in snow, these Spanish vegetables haven't made it to our supermarket shelves
Poking out of the rock-hard ground and covered in snow, these Spanish vegetables haven't made it to our supermarket shelves.

Shops are rationing greens after snow and storms in the Mediterranean have caused shortages which will last until April.

Stunning pictures from Murcia in southern Spain capture the scale of the problem as whole fields of broccoli and lettuce lie buried in snow.
Shops are rationing greens after snow and storms in the Mediterranean have destroyed crops causing shortages which will last until April
Shops are rationing greens after snow and storms in the Mediterranean have destroyed crops causing shortages which will last until April
Spain supplies more than 50 per cent of Europe's vegetables during the winter. Pictured: Snow covers a tractor near Caravaca de la Cruz in Murcia, Spain
Spain supplies more than 50 per cent of Europe's vegetables during the winter. Pictured: Snow covers a tractor near Caravaca de la Cruz in Murcia, Spain

Sun

Record warmth: Longest time Washington D.C. above freezing in January since 1872

Washington DC
© Erik CoxA sunny, mild day in the capital.
It's nothing compared to D.C.'s record-warm December in 2015 — when the daffodils were blooming and people wore short-sleeve T-shirts on Christmas — but so far, this month has been hovering in uncharted territory, as well.

It's not a sexy record, but it's a significant one. As of Friday morning, the city has had 16 days above 32 degrees, which is the longest span of time it's been above freezing in January since records began in D.C. in 1872.


January is supposed to be the coldest time of the year, but the weird-weather spell is yet another warm milestone for the capital, all of which have occurred since 2010.

So far, this January has an average temperature of 41.9 degrees, which is the second-warmest January since 2000 and the 12th-warmest overall.

Snowflake Cold

Groundhog Day 2017: Punxsutawney Phil Sees Shadow, 6 More Weeks of Winter

groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil
© AP Photo/Keith SrakocicIn this Feb. 2, 2016, photo, Groundhog Club handler John Griffiths holds Punxsutawney Phil, the weather-predicting groundhog. In 2017, Phil predicted 6 more weeks of winter

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow on Thursday morning, predicting six more weeks of winter during Groundhog Day festivities at Gobbler's Knob, a small hill just outside Phil's hometown.

Members of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club's Inner Circle revealed Phil's forecast by poem, as is tradition.

"It's mighty cold weather, you've been braving," this year's verse read. "Is it more winter or is it spring that you're craving? Since you've been up all night and starting to tottle, I, Punxsutawney Phil, shall not dawdle," the proclamation read. "My faithful followers, I could clearly see a beautiful, perfect shadow of me. Six more weeks of winter, it shall be!"

Records dating to 1887 show Phil predicting more winter 102 times while forecasting an early spring just 18 times — including last year, the AP reports. There are no records for the remaining years.

Binoculars

Rarely seen Arctic gull turns up at Tupper Lake, New York

Ross's Gull
© Ian Lewington.Ross's Gull
On a recent Tuesday afternoon, some carpenters working at Jack Delehanty's home in Tupper Lake put out on the ice some entrails and egg skeins from walleyes they had caught. The next day Jack noticed an unfamiliar bird picking at the walleye eggs. Jack consulted with his sister, Alex, and their mother, Charlcie Delehanty, a longtime birder, and they were also puzzled. Alex then sent me pictures and video they had taken to see if I could identify the bird. That night, I realized it was a first-year Ross's gull, an incredibly rare vagrant from the Arctic.

Thanks to the internet, my news of the Ross's gull reached the birding community within hours, and hundreds of birders from all over the country and Canada soon flocked to Tupper Lake (and Jack's home!) to see the bird, which has been hanging out much of the time near the Tupper Lake boat launch and the causeway near the bridge over the Raquette River. This bird has provided a small but significant economic boost to the Tupper Lake community as hundreds of visiting birders have bought food and gas and occasionally spent the night. A similar appearance of this species in Newburyport, Massachusetts attracted thousands of birders from around the country.


Comment: See also: Rare high Arctic gull turns up in Half Moon Bay, California


Snowflake Cold

Russian ice breakers stuck in the Arctic, yachts over underwater volcanoes

Vessels Kapitan Dranitsyn and Admiral Makarov ‘marooned’ in east for the rest of winter after getting trapped off Chukotka.
Vessels Kapitan Dranitsyn and Admiral Makarov ‘marooned’ in east for the rest of winter after getting trapped off Chukotka.
Russian Ice Breakers stuck in unexpectedly and unusually thick sea ice, but they we were told the sea ice is disappearing. Private yacht sails through floating pumice and then after see an underwater volcano where they sailed over. New Zealand Herald, epic article as a case study into "Warm Weather Media Bias"


Sources

Snowflake Cold

Black Blizzard: Cyclone wreaks havoc on Russia's Arctic city of Norilsk (VIDEO)

Storm
© Norilsk News / YouTube
A powerful cyclone has triggered days of severe snowstorms in the world's northernmost city of Norilsk, leaving inhabitants battling to maintain a regular lifestyle in the face of extreme cold, biting winds, and low visibility.

Storm warnings have been announced every few days throughout the past month, with the latest declared on Sunday night, as a warm cyclone hit the city. Temperatures have risen from about -25C to -15C, but a third of the expected monthly snowfall fell on Sunday night alone, and precipitation has not subsided since. Average snow cover has reached seven inches.

Winds have regularly exceeded 25 km/h, and have on occasions reached 40 km/h, which is defined by Russian meteorologists as a "black blizzard" - a severe weather event. Visibility has fallen below 1 km, but videos posted by locals show that it is hard to make out the houses on the sides of the road even during daytime - which only lasts five hours - without streetlights.

Snowflake

There's so much snow on Loveland Pass, Colorado that it buried an avalanche warning sign

This sign is not very useful given the conditions.
© Jake Gronseth with Rex BerkeyThis sign is not very useful given the conditions.
If you've been reading the news at all over the past few weeks, you might have heard that it's been snowing in the mountains. A lot.

And how much snow has Loveland Pass gotten? So much snow that it's burying a sign warning of avalanche danger.

Viewers Jake Gronseth and Rex Berkey uploaded a photo of the buried sign to Your Take. They say they took the picture at around 11 a.m. on Thursday.

"Yes, it was cold," they write." Whatever the sign says, it doesn't help very much."

After a slow start, snow has been epic at Colorado's ski areas. Loveland has gotten 115 inches of snow this January. The average amount for this time of year? Fifty eight inches.

Yeah, that's pretty epic.

Snowflake Cold

Upheaval by John Casey, instantly frozen fish and South California freeze warnings

frozen fish
John Casey's new book Upheaval is out and connects the anti-correlation of low sunspot activity and high earthquake activity. The take away is that during grand solar minimums such as the type we are entering now, there will be a major 8.0+ quake in the Mississippi River Valley destroying bridges, ripping apart gas pipelines and all trade crossing the Mississippi will come to a halt. Also Switzerland experiences the most days below zero since 1964 and flash frozen Pike with a fish in its mouth, Mastodon.
style.


Sources