Extreme Temperatures
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Snowflake Cold

Mussels that hitched a ride to Antarctica didn't survive brutal winter conditions

Katherine Kornei
New York Times
Thu, 09 Apr 2020 12:00 UTC
Antarctic
© Center for Dynamic Research of High Latitude Marine EcosystemsScientists suspect invasive mussels are hitching rides on ships to waters around the Antarctic.
Given its geographic isolation and bone-chilling temperatures, Antarctica has long held up a "no soliciting" sign when it comes to invasive species. But now the first successful marine invaders have breached the White Continent's door.

Scientists found a colony of mussels, most likely transported from Patagonia via ship, near the largest of the South Shetland Islands some 75 miles north of the Antarctic Peninsula. This discovery, published last month in Scientific Reports, is a harbinger of future invasions, the researchers suggest, particularly as climate change afflicts the Southern Ocean and ship traffic in the region increases.

Paulina Bruning, a marine biologist at Laval University in Québec City, never set out to find mussels in Antarctica. When Ms. Bruning dove in the 36-degree water of Fildes Bay on King George Island, she was focused on collecting native coral and sea sponges.

Comment: The researchers seem a little disappointed, probably because this puts a damper on the baseless claims that Antarctica is experiencing record warming:

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Snowflake

Heavy spring snow, high winds leave thousands without power across New Brunswick, Canada

Brad Perry
Country94.ca
Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:44 UTC
Very few vehicles were out on Bathurst streets on Friday during heavy snow and highway winds.
© Gail Harding/CBCVery few vehicles were out on Bathurst streets on Friday during heavy snow and highway winds.
Heavy snow and strong winds have knocked out power to thousands of homes and businesses across New Brunswick.

NB Power's online outage map shows more than 2,700 customers without power as of 9:30 a.m. Friday.

More than 260 customers are in the Kennebecasis Valley-Fundy region while more than 540 others are in Charlotte Southwest.

The utility is also reporting more than 1,000 customers without power in Central York Sunbury, including 266 customers in Fredericton.

There is no word from the utility on the lights will be back on.

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Snowflake

Spring snowfall and widespread floods across Iran


Radio Farda
Sat, 11 Apr 2020 19:19 UTC
Sringtime snow in Heyran pass, NW Iran
Sringtime snow in Heyran pass, NW Iran
Iran is grappling with potentially devastating floods in 16 provinces amid a coronavirus epidemic that has killed thousands, with tens of thousands infected.

Unusual snowfalls have blanketed many highland regions in Iran since April 8 and countries to the east, including Tajikistan and other Central Asian countries. Rain has inundated many cities and villages.

Comment: Snow falls in Dushanbe,Tajikistan in April - first time in 26 years

Emergency services have come to the rescue of many settlements and stranded passengers from western Iran to central regions and farther east near Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Iran suffered devastating floods in March and April 2019, that killed hundreds and wrecked economic havoc for more than three weeks. The high level of precipitation for two consecutive years comes after years of drought that brought the country to the verge of a serious water crisis. Many regions hit by this year's floods had not yet recovered from the 2019 disaster.
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Snowflake

Winter returns to northern New England as potent storm unleashes heavy snow

Mark Puleo
AccuWeather
Sat, 11 Apr 2020 14:20 UTC
Photos taken by the Dover-Foxcroft police show fallen trees causing power outages in central Maine.
© Twitter/@NWSCaribouPhotos taken by the Dover-Foxcroft police show fallen trees causing power outages in central Maine.
Residents throughout New Hampshire and Maine woke up on Good Friday morning to a blanket of snow far more customary for January than April. An early-spring snowstorm had painted a similar scene across much of northern New England as it lifted off into Atlantic Canada Thursday night.

The National Weather Service (NWS) recorded over a foot of snow in nearly 50 locations, almost all of which were in Maine. In New Hampshire, the areas of Pittsburg, Jefferson and Berlin all recorded over 6 inches.

After Bangor, Maine, recorded one of the least snowy stretches in its history, the storm dumped nearly 8 inches of snow on the city according to a NWS spotter at Bangor International Airport. AccuWeather Meteorologist Ryan Adamson previously noted that the city averaged less than 4 inches of snow in April most years.

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Snowflake

Spring storm brings more rain and snowfall to California - Mountain High resort tops 31 inches of snow


L A Times
Thu, 09 Apr 2020 15:12 UTC
Mountain High
Mountain High on April 9
Rain and snow continued to fall Thursday on parts of California as a wet spring following a no-show winter pushed back against resurgent dryness that spread over three-quarters of the state this year.

Mountain peaks from the Sierra Nevada to major ranges crossing Southern California glistened with new coats of white as hillsides sported increasingly vivid shades of green fueled by precipitation that began in March after a largely withering January and February.

The latest storm entered the state from the north last weekend and slowly moved down the coast.

In its fifth day, it was still drawing bands of rain into Southern California and producing remarkable amounts of snow at higher elevations.


Comment: Two days prior to the above report 4 FEET of spring snow had already smothered Mammoth Mountain in the same state.

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Snowflake

Spring snowstorm leaves over 264,000 Maine customers without power - up to 21 inches of snow dropped

Gillian Graham and Glenn Jordan
centralmaine.com
Thu, 09 Apr 2020 14:41 UTC
An ambulance crew checks on a vehicle off the road on the northbound side of the Maine Turnpike in Saco during Thursday's snowfall.
© Shawn Patrick OuelletteAn ambulance crew checks on a vehicle off the road on the northbound side of the Maine Turnpike in Saco during Thursday's snowfall.
A spring storm featuring rain, snow, thunder, lightning and gusty winds knocked out power to more than 264,000 customers across Maine at its peak and created hazardous driving conditions that closed state government.

Central Maine Power reported around 200,000 customers without power in its service area at 9:30 a.m Friday, down from a peak of more than 204,000 earlier in the morning.

Customers in areas hardest hit by strong wind gusts and heavier-than-expected snow should expect to be without power for more than a day and restoration times may not be immediately available as crews wait for safer road conditions, a CMP spokeswoman said Friday morning.

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Snowflake

Fresh spring snowfall in Himachal Pradesh, India

IndiaTV
YouTube
Wed, 08 Apr 2020 10:49 UTC
snow

Intense cold wave conditions continued in Himachal Pradesh on April 08. Koksar area received fresh snowfall in the higher reaches.

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Snowflake

3 record snowfalls in 6 days for Thompson, Manitoba, Canada

Ian Graham
Thompson Citizen
Wed, 08 Apr 2020 10:34 UTC
All city snow-clearing equipment,
© Ian GrahamAll city snow-clearing equipment, including two plow trucks last used to clear snow after the March 2017 blizzard, has been pressed into action since April 3, the second day of a six-day span that saw 65.6 centimetres of snow fall, with three of those days setting daily snowfall records.
An unprecedented six-day stretch of early April snowfall in Thompson has led to the biggest snow-clearing effort since the blizzard of March 2017 and, with everyone's nerves already frayed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, harsh words from the city's mayor for citizens "whining" about the state of city roads.

Snow fell in Thompson four of the six days from April 2 to April 7, setting records on three of them. The 15.6 centimetres that fell last Thursday was the most since 6.8 cm of snow in 1995, while the 34.4 cm that fell on Friday beat the previous record of 6.4 cm from 1967 by 28 cm. Only 2.8 cm fell April 4, well below the 1973 record of 8.4 cm, while the 12.8 cm of snow on April 7 was close to double the previous record of 6.5 cm in 1981.
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Snowflake

Snow falls in Dushanbe,Tajikistan in April - first time in 26 years


AKIPress
Thu, 09 Apr 2020 10:02 UTC
snow
The snow has fallen in Dushanbe in April for the first time during the past 26 years, Asia-Plus reported.

The snow is 18-20 cm thick in different parts of the capital city.

Snow is rare for Tajikistan in mid-spring. The country almost did not have snow during the past winter.

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Snowflake Cold

100% fruit losses in many parts of central Europe and the Balkans

Robert W. Felix
Ice Age Now
Wed, 08 Apr 2020 14:41 UTC
Poland frosts
One of the coldest April mornings in decades.

2 Apr 2020 - With temperatures dropping below -5 °C (even to -8 °C in some valleys) during the time of blossoming trees, the damage is almost complete - 100% in many vineyards and fruit plantations.

There are numerous reports of destructive frost to the fruit trees (cherry, peach and almond orchard) and some other crops across Slovenia, northeast Italy, Croatia, Serbia and Hungary.
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