Extreme Temperatures
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Attention

Unusually cold winter and spring have Koreans worried about rocketing food costs

food korea price spike winter cold spring
Park Ji-hyun, a working mother living in Bangbae-dong, southern Seoul, said she is surprised when she goes grocery shopping every weekend.

"It is difficult to find anything whose price has not risen. We have been refraining from eating out as restaurants have raised prices, but cooking at home has also become expensive," she said.

According to Statistics Korea, Wednesday, consumer prices rose 1.6 percent in April from a year ago, hovering stably below 2 percent for seven consecutive months.

However, inflation perceived by consumers is much higher. They especially feel the pressure at grocery stores and restaurants. The fresh food prices index marked a 4.7 percent rise in April compared with a year ago, jumping from a 1 percent rise the previous month.

Comment: The effect of the increasingly erratic seasons have been taking their toll for years and, as the weather reaches new extremes, food manufacturers and farmers can no longer hide the costs. From ranching to vegetables, our food chain is suffering and for now we're seeing prices soar, soon enough there'll be food shortages to worry about: For more, check out SOTT's monthly documentary: SOTT Earth Changes Summary - April 2018: Extreme Weather, Planetary Upheaval, Meteor Fireballs


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Adapt 2030 Ice Age Report: Strange ice thickness Hudson Bay and 18th fissure opens in Hawaii

sea ice
Hudson Bay ice is at near 100% coverage this far into the beginning of the melt season. Comparing with 2017 spring melt the bay should be around 25% or more melted so far. Also the Canadian Ice Service is not updating its charts due to continuous 100% ice coverage. Maps and weekly data sets are frozen, literally. Great Lakes ice coverage was far above normal for the months of January and February 2018. Strange how the -18C temperatures still cover the Hudson Bay area.


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Snowflake

Heavy May snowfall hits south Massif Central, France

Snow unexpectedly fell in the four departments, with the forecaster admitting it was
Snow unexpectedly fell in the four departments, with the forecaster admitting it was "late" in the season
Snow has fallen in the Ardèche, Cantal, Haute-Loire and Lozère, with Météo France calling it "heavy and settled, notable and late" in the season.

Since yesterday, the four departments have been on "orange alert" - the second-most severe level - for snow and ice, with the forecaster predicting that the conditions could make driving dangerous and difficult.

The late appearance of the snow - which Météo France called "heavy and settled" - is expected to have a significant impact on spring plants and vegetation, as well as road conditions, and any "fragile buildings".


Bizarro Earth

Extremely rare cyclone forms off the coast of Chile

Rare Cyclone off Chile
© MODIS/NASA
An extremely rare cyclone formed in early May 2018 about 160 kilometers (100 miles) off the coast of Chile-an area that almost never sees tropical cyclones. This image was acquired on May 9, 2018, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite.

Cyclones are not typically found in this region because sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the southeastern Pacific Ocean are usually too cold. The oceanographic process known as upwelling tends to bring cold water up from the deep ocean along the Chilean coast. (Similar conditions prevail offshore from California in the northern hemisphere.)

Snowflake

Unseasonal snow blankets Upper Mustang, Nepal

Mustang, May 10
Mustang, May 10
Heavy snowfall has blanketed various areas in Upper Mustang including Barhagaun, Muktinath, Dalome, and Lomanthang Rural Municipality since Wednesday night.

"The snow on the ground is as thick as half a foot. This is our first snowfall experience of snowfall in April/May,"said locals.

The construction of Beni-Jomsom-Korala road under the national pride project has been obstructed due to the snow.


Snowflake Cold

Adapt 2030 Ice Age Report: Antarctic cold front set to plunge temps to 1970's levels in Australia's grain belt

A blast of cold air from the Antarctic will hit Victoria, Australia
© WEATHERZONEA blast of cold air from the Antarctic will hit Victoria on Thursday with a maxiumum temperature of just 13 degrees forecast for Melbourne.
Australia's about to be pounded by a cold front that will take temperatures back to the 1970's and New Zealand will be inundated with flood waters again. Early seasons snows blanketing all of the alpine peaks in S.E Australia, plus the grain belt about to be swept by extremely high winds. Looking at the temperature anomaly map of Australia up to 8C below normal temperatures.


Snowflake Cold

According to feds, this was the coldest April in 20 years across the United States

shoveling snow
© GLEN STUBBE / STAR TRIBUNE VIA APA Saint Paul Hotel doorman clears snow during a mid-April snowfall in Minneapolis. It was a cold, snowy month across the nation.

The evidence of a spring-deferred lay in a yellow layer on Thursday atop a Center City building.

Donald J. Dvorin, the region's official pollen counter, noticed it on the roof, above his office, where he collects samples to calculate the daily count. "We saw the pollen looking yellow," said Dvorin, a physician with the Asthma Center, a sure sign that "it's accumulating."

Since last week, the tree-pollen counts have been "extreme," the fallout from a particularly chilly April - around here and across the nation - that delayed the pollen season a good 10 days, he said.

Temperatures in the contiguous United States were 2.2 degrees below 20th century averages last month, making it the coldest April in 20 years, according to a government analysis released Tuesday.

Overall, it was the ninth-chilliest April in Pennsylvania in records dating to 1895, said the National Center for Environmental Information.

Snowflake

Higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh, India receive heavy snowfall

snow
Upper reaches of Thanamandi Tehsil of Rajouri district received heavy snowfall. A hail storm killed about 60 sheep in the area.

Pirpanjal Mountain received fresh snowfall on Mughal Road. Himachal Pradesh's Keylong also received massive snowfalls.

Roads were covered with a thick sheet of snow.


Snowflake Cold

Whiteout in Churchill: Winter storm in spring hits Manitoba community

A winter storm hit Churchilll
© Pail MadziakA winter storm hit Churchilll
Residents in Churchill woke up to a whiteout Wednesday.

The community was hit with significant snow over night and another five to 10 cm is expected throughout the day.

Environment Canada said winds could hit between 60 and 90 km/hr Tuesday night and Wednesday morning with visibility reduced to less than one kilometer.

Temperatures are expected to fall to -10 C in the afternoon with light snow and blowing snow continuing into Wednesday night.

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Adapt 2030 Ice Age Report: Arctic report card Spring 2018

snow
Washington Post article out showing heat wave in the Arctic claiming that these temperatures "could" help melt the Arctic while claiming record heat wave. Looking at a bevy of sea ice data from several agencies, it looks like this year is actually increasing, which is interesting. Also huge hail / snow storm a "snail" or a "hnow" storm baffles rescue crews and onlookers as hail and snow fall at the same time.


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