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Snowmobiler killed in Idaho avalanche - death toll reaches 30 in the US this winter season

Alaa Elassar, Kaylene Chassie
CNN
Sun, 21 Feb 2021 13:28 UTC
A snowmobiler died in an avalanche in the Smoky Mountains, Idaho.
A snowmobiler died in an avalanche in the Smoky Mountains, Idaho.
A man snowmobiling in the Sawtooth National Forest in central Idaho died Friday after triggering a large avalanche.

The snowmobiler was riding up a steep slope in the Smoky Mountains, roughly 8 miles from Galena Summit, when he triggered the avalanche, according to the Sawtooth Avalanche Center.

"We are saddened to report that a snowmobiler was caught and killed in an avalanche yesterday in the upper reaches of the Smiley Creek drainage," the avalanche center said in a Facebook post.

"The avalanche danger was rated considerable at the time of the accident," the center said. "We extend our heartfelt condolences to the victim's friends and family."

Comment: The following incident now takes the death total to 30: Snowmobiler killed, another injured in Nevada avalanche

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Snowmobiler killed, another injured in Nevada avalanche

Bob D'Angelo
kiro7.com
Sat, 20 Feb 2021 13:20 UTC
One snowmobiler died and another was seriously injured Saturday in Nevada's Ruby Mountains.
© Hendrik SchmidtOne snowmobiler died and another was seriously injured Saturday in Nevada's Ruby Mountains.
One snowmobiler was killed and another was seriously injured Saturday in an avalanche in a Nevada mountain range, authorities said.

Three men from Elko were snowmobiling near Castle Lake in the Ruby Mountains, The Elko Daily FreePress reported. The men were above Lamoille Canyon when the avalanche occurred shortly before noon, the newspaper reported.

Their names have not been released.

According to Elko County Undersheriff Justin Ames, one of the men escaped the snow and called for help.

Ames said another man suffered a broken leg and clavicle and was being flown to Salt Lake City for treatment, the Daily FreePress reported. The other snowmobiler remained buried in the snow, the newspaper reported.
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Ice Cube

Death toll rises as record freeze continues across Southern U.S

Tim Moran
Patch
Thu, 18 Feb 2021 00:00 UTC
.Many of the deaths reported in Texas are of people trying to stay warm during a record cold spell.
Queue for Propane in Houston
© AP Photo/David J. PhillipResidents of Houston had to wait over an hour in the freezing rain to fill their propane tanks on Wednesday
ACROSS AMERICA — The death toll continues to climb from the historic freeze that has ravaged Texas and many other Southern states, with news outlets reporting as many as 35 deaths across multiple states in connection with the cold and widespread power outages.

Most of the deaths reported as of Thursday morning have come in Texas, where millions of residents lost power this week due to a failure in the state's power grid system; just under 500,000 homes and businesses remained without power as of Thursday. Deaths from the freezing weather this week have also been reported in Louisiana, Kentucky, North Carolina and Missouri, according to several news reports.

Reported deaths from the Southern winter freeze as of Thursday range from 21 to 35, as media outlets have varied on the totals as they come in. The high-end number was reported by the Columbus Telegram, a newspaper based in Nebraska.

Comment: See also:

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Ice Cube

Record-breaking winter weather has millions of Americans trying to stay warm

Steve Almasy, Madeline Holcombe and Holly Yan
CNN
Wed, 17 Feb 2021 18:15 UTC
texas snow storm power failure
Texans shivered as power grid failed in the face of the February snowstorm
While many Americans were dealing with how to stay warm Tuesday, some vaccine providers were dealing with the news that some shipments were running behind.

About 105 million Americans throughout the county remain under a winter storm warning or watch as many deal with frustrating power outages and stinging cold temperatures. "Significant snow, sleet, and freezing rain accumulations will spread across most of the Mid-South Wednesday and Thursday," the National Weather Service said.

Winter storm warnings are in effect in parts of Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and all of Arkansas. Watches are in place from Kentucky to New England.The weather has led to at least 26 deaths, including three people who died in carbon monoxide related incidents and one driver who hit a snowplow.

The frozen precipitation also was hampering coronavirus distribution.
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Snowflake

Winter wonderland... in Lebanon


RT
Fri, 19 Feb 2021 13:10 UTC
cold
Heavy snowfall has turned Lebanon's mountainous region of Kfardebian into a winter wonderland - not a scene usually witnessed in this region!


Comment: Related: Heavy snowfall hits Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt

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Snowflake Cold

Severe blizzard hits Kazakhstan


Kazinform
Thu, 18 Feb 2021 13:01 UTC
snow
A storm alert was issued for the cities of Nur-Sultan and Kokshetau as well as six regions of Kazakhstan for today, February 18, Kazhydromet reports.

It is expected to snow and rain in the Kazakh capital today with fog, blizzard and ice-slick predicted locally. Mercury is forecast to drop sharply from +1+3 to -15-17 degrees Celsius and lower.

Snow and rain, ice-slick and blizzard are also expected to batter tonight Mangistau region. Wind gusting 15-18 m/s is to roll through the region.

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Snowflake Cold

Aerial views of a frozen downtown Chicago under snow during historic cold weather


VOA News
Fri, 19 Feb 2021 12:28 UTC
cold
Aerial views of downtown Chicago under a blanket of snow during an historic cold snap that has had the United States in its grip for several days, thanks to an Arctic blast that is causing temperatures to plummet.

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Snowflake

World Snow Wrap Feb 19 - Utah had 2 metres in 5 days - Japan's epic season continues

Reggae Elliss
Mountain Watch
Fri, 19 Feb 2021 15:15 UTC
All hands on deck in Snowbird on Feb 16.
© Snowbird resortAll hands on deck in Snowbird on Feb 16.
The past two weeks have seen a bit of everything in the Northern Hemisphere with Japan having a couple of warm spells in between deep powder, Canada has been fine but freezing, it's all sunshine in Europe and there have been some ridiculously deep days in the Northern Rockies.

Japan

It has been a mixed couple of weeks in Japan with heavy snowfalls and good powder days last week followed by warm weather and rain earlier in the week. The rain turned to snow in Hokkaido on Tuesday night, and on Wednesday Lucy Morrell our reporter in Furano wrote that, "the mix of yesterday's warmth and rain plus snow meant this morning we're all barricaded in our houses behind freezing slush." Not to worry, it's been all about powder since.

In Niseko the rain also turned to snow on Tuesday night leaving 46cms of fresh snow and temps at -8 with good powder on offer. There was another 25cms yesterday and the storm should clear today. The forecast is for the chance of rain across Hokkaido tomorrow, but the Grasshopper's calling for a return to snow after dark night and continuing on Sunday.

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Snowflake Cold

The extreme weather in the US is so severe even weather satellites are bewildered

Marianne Guenot
Science Alert
Thu, 18 Feb 2021 00:00 UTC
satellite weather
© College of DuPage/InsiderPurple (right) showing frigid ground instead of cloud (left).
The severe winter storm raging through the southern US brought such extreme cold that it confused weather satellites monitoring the situation.

On Tuesday, the cold air advancing south from the Arctic chilled the ground so much that one monitoring satellite mistook the ground for tops of clouds, which are usually much colder than surface temperatures. The phenomenon was first pointed out by Washington Post meteorologist Matthew Cappucci.

A similar effect was seen over Canada on February 10, where it was highlighted by the local news channel WROC TV in Rochester, New York.

The satellite in question is called GOES-East. It uses infrared sensors to measure temperatures at the top of clouds to plot them. Typically, the clouds are colder than the ground surface. The satellite's algorithms use this assumption to outline cloud cover from space, even at night.

Capucci tweeted a video illustrating the effect:


Comment: See also: Record cold in eleven U.S. states - coldest February 16 in history of meteorological observations

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Snowmobiler who died in Colorado is the 28th killed in avalanches across the US this season

Mallika Kallingal, Jamiel Lynch
CNN
Fri, 19 Feb 2021 13:45 UTC
Body of a snowmobiler missing near Rand, Colorado has been found.
Body of a snowmobiler missing near Rand, Colorado has been found.
The body of a snowmobiler missing near Rand, Colorado has been found, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. The grim discovery marked the 28th avalanche death this season.

According to officials, two snowmobilers were caught by a large avalanche near Ruby Mountain on Tuesday. The accident occurred on a slope at around 11,400 feet and the avalanche was about three quarters of a mile wide and 400 feet high.

One rider was buried under two feet of snow and died while the other person was not injured, according to CAIC.

The riders were with four other snowmobilers at the time, but the man who died was standing on a steep slope away from his snowmobile when the avalanche occurred. He was swept downhill and his body was found Wednesday afternoon, CAIC reported.

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