Extreme Temperatures
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12,000 people isolated after 46 avalanches during February in Chitral, Pakistan

snow workers
Dig that snow man
46 avalanches at different points in the region have caused the only road to Arkari Valley to remain blocked since Feb 5, isolating over 12,000 people in the area.

According to a report, the 12,000 people of the valley are still stranded as the long route to Chitral town was blocked off by huge avalanches. The people of the isolated area complained against the provincial government, for not clearing the sole road to of snow and boulders.

Village Council Chairman Sher Muhammad said, "Around 12,000 people in the valley are facing acute shortage of food, medicines and other essential commodities as there is no hospital. The local administration has reserved only one tractor to clear the road blocked by over 46 avalanches which is not possible."

Sun

Chicago records no measurable snow in January, February for 1st time in 146 years

record warm spring in Chicago
© Michael Tercha / Chicago TribuneRecord-breaking temperatures draw Chicagoans outdoors.
For the first time in 146 years, the National Weather Service documented no snow on the ground in Chicago in January and February — a record that put a spring in the step of some but weighed down others worried about climate change.

Because the snow measurement is taken at 6 a.m. at O'Hare International Airport, small amounts of snow that may have fallen later in the day and melted were not recorded, said Amy Seeley, meteorologist with the National Weather Service. This occurred Feb. 25 when there was a trace of snow and Jan. 30 when there was 0.1 inch. The weather service has been keeping data on snow on the ground for 146 years.

The record near-snowless start was overshadowed Tuesday by severe storms moving through the state.

The National Weather Service forecast large hail, winds, localized flooding and tornadoes Tuesday evening. A tornado hit Ottowa on Tuesday evening, killing one person, and the weather service said its spotters had reported a number of other tornadoes.

More stormy weather was forecast for the week, including possible snow.

WGN-TV meteorologist Tom Skilling said he believes the 146-year streak in Chicago is part of climate change and emphasized that it does not occur linearly, meaning that there is potential for cold winters in the future.


Comment: Meanwhile other parts of the US such as California and Nevada are experiencing record-breaking snowfalls.

See also: SOTT Earth Changes Summary - January 2017: Extreme Weather, Planetary Upheaval, Meteor Fireballs


Sun

Exceptionally warm February weather breaks records across Switzerland

the sun
© The Local
Thursday was exceptionally warm in Switzerland with many places across the country seeing temperatures of around 20 degrees, breaking previous records for the month of February.

The unseasonal weather, due to a mass of dry, hot air moving up from Spain, meant it felt more like the end of April than February, with temperatures on the Swiss lowlands some 12 degrees warmer than usual for this time of year, said MeteoNews.

The cities of Nyon, Sion, Aigle and Neuchâtel all broke their previous February records. In Sion, the mercury rose to 21.2 degrees, smashing its previous record of 19.8 set in 1998. Nyon reached 18.4 degrees and Aigle 19.5.

Cities in German-speaking Switzerland were also affected, with Thun, Interlaken and Basel-Binningen all surpassing 20 degrees. Lucerne wasn't far behind with 19.9 degrees, Zurich reached 19.5 and Bern set a new city record for February with 18.5 degrees.

Snowflake

At least 65 Snowy owls invade Bruce County, Ontario

A snowy owl flies over a field near Chesley.
© Rob GowanA snowy owl flies over a field near Chesley.
The snowy owls have landed in Bruce County.

As many as 40 of the birds have been spotted in an area north of Chesley over the past couple of weeks, attracting birders, photographers and others to the area.

"It is quite remarkable," said local birder Peter Middleton, who has been down to count and document the owls on a couple of occasions.

The flat open farmland in the area has traditionally been an area hot spot for the large, majestic birds whose traditional territory is the Arctic. But locals are reporting larger numbers of owls over the past couple of weeks than traditionally have made their way to the area, with some reports of over 40 owls in the area near Chesley and 65 across southern Bruce County.

Middleton said the reason why the birds have made their way to Bruce County recently is open to conjecture, but he believes it is related to a massive irruption of the birds on the Arctic tundra about three years ago.

"This is an irruptive species, which means it will move either according to weather or more normally in response to the presence of prey," said Middleton. "If prey is thin-spread they will move south in search of it."

Snowflake

Photos of record breaking snowfall for Reykjavik, Iceland; heaviest in 80 years

People had some hard work in store for them on Sunday when it came to retrieving their cars.
© Gunnar FreyrSnow blankets Iceland.
Record breaking amounts of snow fell in the city of Reykjavik in Iceland last night and the pictures are amazing.

The snow in the capital peaked at 51 cm.

Only once in history has this been topped, when snowfall in the city reached 55 cm in January 1937.

Roads may have been closed and schools have been shut
but for one photographer the snow was a perfect photo opportunity.

Gunnar Freyr, also known as the Icelandic Explorer, woke up to the sound of trees breaking in back garden.

While most people waited for the snow to settle and headed out once morning had broken - he went out with his camera at 3am to capture it all.

Attention

Mass extinction: Vatican embraces science to battle immense threats to humanity

Vatican
© Stefano Rellandini / ReutersA general view of Saint Peter's Square, Vatican.
One in five species already face extinction on our planet, population growth projections are bewildering and climate change shows few, if any, signs of abating. Now, a group of experts are meeting to tackle the problem in the unlikeliest of venues.

Leading biologists, ecologists and economists from around the world have been invited to a conference in the Vatican this week, where the impending mass extinction event facing our planet will be addressed and possible solutions formulated.

"By the beginning of the next century we face the prospect of losing half our wildlife... The extinctions we face pose an even greater threat to civilization than climate change - for the simple reason they are irreversible," biology Professor Peter Raven, of the Missouri Botanical Garden told the Observer.

"That the symposia are being held at the Papal Academy is also symbolic. It shows that the ancient hostility between science and the church, at least on the issue of preserving Earth's services, has been quelled," said economist Sir Partha Dasgupta, of Cambridge University.

Comment: To understand what's going on, check out our book explaining how all these events are part of a natural climate shift, and why it's taking place now: Earth Changes and the Human-Cosmic Connection.


Cloud Precipitation

Yet another dam collapse imminent warning, North Philippines coldest in 46 years, summer snow in Australia

Summer snow!
Summer snow!
Another dam warning of imminent collapse with flash flood warnings in Nevada, the event has passes but with levies breaking across California, Nevada and now dam over tops in these two states, what is happening that's not being told to us. Summer snow in Australia, more images emerge, 24 feet of snow for Tahoe in JANUARY ALONE. Avalanches at Snowbird, people trapped.


Sources

Snowflake

52 feet (16 meters) of snow and counting: California's record-breaking snowfalls continue

snow california
Scene at Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows ski resort: The snow is so high that it's burying chairlifts, forcing ski resorts to close.
The snow amounts in California's Sierra Nevada mountain range this winter are difficult to wrap your head around. In many cases topping 500 inches, they are some of the highest totals in memory.

At the Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows resort, seven feet fell in just the past week. The snow is so high that it buried chairlifts and ski patrol shacks.

Snowflake

Ancient solar events predict new Mini Ice Age affected regions, patterns emerge

bristlecone pine
Bristlecone pines
A new C-14 ancient pine cone solar activity reconstruction showed unusual cosmic ray events at 5480BC, 775 AD and 994 AD, so we can trace these effects through different societies on Earth at the time and see what happened in their local histories. China, Japan, Central Asia, Persia, Roman Empires. Now we overlap with current events on our planet, and the correlation is clear to see, repeating cycles of climate thousands of years apart.


Sources

Snowflake

Photos show the huge amounts of snow piled up around Tahoe, Nevada

 Top of Mt. Rose Highway on Feb. 19, 2017
© Dan Collins Top of Mt. Rose Highway on Feb. 19, 2017
The snow keeps piling up in the Sierra Nevada.

In the first three weeks of January alone, the Lake Tahoe area received nearly a full winter's worth of snow, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal. Houses were buried, cars blanketed and driveways covered.

And then came February, and the Sierra Nevada was slammed yet again with moisture-packed storms fueled by atmospheric rivers. "We usually see three or four atmospheric rivers in a season," said Scott McGuire, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Reno. "We've already had 10. We've had so much snow to the point where it's getting hard to measure."