Extreme Temperatures
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Tornado2

Snownado videoed swirling amid Chicago snowstorm

snownado
A snowstorm brought more than just 7 inches of snow to Chicago -- it caused a rare snownado caught on camera by a local woman.

Amber Connor captured video Friday of the snownado, a winter whirlwind also known as a snow devil, swirling at the side of a Chicago road.

The video shows the mini tornado spinning snow through the air next to a line of parked cars.

The footage was filmed amid a snowstorm that dropped more than 7 inches of snow on the area.


Attention

Cold spell over January killed at least 35 manatees in Florida

Manatees endure another deadly year
Manatees endure another deadly year
Recent cold spells have taken a toll on Florida's beloved sea cows.

At least 35 manatees died from the cold between Jan. 1 and 26, compared with seven over the same period last year, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

An average of eight manatees died from the cold in the month of January from 2013 to 2017.

Manatees are ill-adapted to survive in frigid water. Their bodies are mostly lungs and ribs — they have deceptively little blubber.

The last time Florida saw an uptick in cold-related manatee deaths was in 2010 and 2011 when the number of manatees that died from the cold reached 282 and 114, respectively.

"It's been really busy," said Maya Rodriguez, a veterinarian at Miami Seaquarium, which rehabilitates sick manatees.


Comment: See also this report from December last year: Rare manatees endure another deadly year, with 513 deaths


Snowflake Cold

Cold weather records broken at 6 places in Saskatchewan, Canada

Val Marie was still the cold spot, early Tuesday morning as temperatures were around –29 C. The warm spot in the province was Buffalo Narrows at –6 C.
Val Marie was still the cold spot, early Tuesday morning as temperatures were around –29 C. The warm spot in the province was Buffalo Narrows at –6 C.
It was another really cold day in Saskatchewan on Monday as six daily cold weather records were broken.

Val Marie was the cold spot in the province, with temperatures dipping down to - 43.6 C. That broke a record of - 32.2 C for Feb. 12, which was set in 1949.

Val Marie was an outlier, as it was about seven degrees colder than the other coldest places in the province. Kindersley, Weyburn and Coronach dipped to - 36 C.

Val Marie was still the cold spot early Tuesday morning as temperatures hovered around - 29 C. The warm spot in the province was Buffalo Narrows at - 6 C.

Snowflake

Woman hangs out washing in shoulder-deep snow in Iceland (PHOTO)

The photo that was shared all across Iceland and beyond.
© Rebekka GuðleifsdóttirThe photo that was shared all across Iceland and beyond.
Photographer Rebekka Guðleifsdóttir who lives in Ísafjörður in the West Fjords of Iceland wanted to show her husband, who lives in the capital, how much it had snowed overnight and posted a photo of herself hanging out the washing on her Facebook page.

Having the washing line in the photograph was to help people assess the amount of snow she tells Mbl.is.

Rebekka grew up in Florida and then moved to Hafnarfjörður, a town just outside of Reykjavik, so these extreme conditions are quite exotic for her. However, her husband who is from Húsavík in North Iceland had told her stories about such heavy snowfall.

Snowflake Cold

Heavy snowfall (up to 3 feet) hits Sea of Japan coast, at least 5 die

A woman walks during heavy snow in Fukui on Monday.
© KYODOA woman walks during heavy snow in Fukui on Monday.
At least five people died in prefectures facing the Sea of Japan and elsewhere as heavy snowfall hit the areas Monday due to a strong winter pressure pattern, according to a Kyodo News tally.

Sea of Japan coastal areas are expected to continue to see heavy snow through Tuesday, with the Japan Meteorological Agency warning of avalanches and traffic disruption.

In Niigata Prefecture, a 90-year-old farmer was found dead in the city of Tokamachi in the morning after apparently falling into a snow-covered drain. A 62-year-old woman was also found to have drowned inside a drain in the city of Nagaoka after going out to shovel snow, according to local police.


Igloo

Arctic chill at minus 65C in Nunavut - eskimos advised to stay indoors

Rankin Inlet Nunavut
© Susan Enuaraq photoRankin Inlet in a deep freeze of -60C a couple of days ago.

Rankin Inlet, Nunavut gets cold in the winter. Located on the northwestern shore of the Hudson Bay at 62 degrees and between Chesterfield Inlet and Arviat, the town is definitely in a remote yet exposed region. Weather is just a part of life and recently the weather has been colder than cold.

Schools in the south get "snow days" though when you get to the 60-degree latitudes school closures are "cold days"...usually accompanied by some snow as well. When temperatures fall to -60C with the windchill or more than just about everyone will stay home and not risk going outside and expose skin. For the past few days, schools have cautiously remained closed.

"I don't remember the last time we actually closed due to weather. This is a bit of an extreme," said Mike Osmond, chair of the Rankin Inlet District Education Authority.

Comment: More recent examples of crazy low temperatures:


Ice Cube

Block of ice falls from sky landing metres from London street cleaner (VIDEO)

The ice landed metres from a street cleaner.
© Bloomfield Executive CarsThe ice landed metres from a street cleaner.
A CCTV camera captured the moment a block of ice plummeted from the sky, narrowly missing a street cleaner.

Council worker Serhiy Myeshkov said he felt lucky to be alive after the sheet of ice smashed on the road metres away from him.

It is thought to have fallen from a plane flying overheard.

Comment: The comments from the aviation authority hint at it being a meteorological phenomenon, and when we take into account the very dramatic changes occurring in our environment, it's possible these 'ice from the sky' reports may hint at the cooling of our planet: Also check out SOTTs monthly documentary: SOTT Earth Changes Summary - January 2018: Extreme Weather, Planetary Upheaval, Meteor Fireballs


Attention

Tennis ball sized hail, severe thunderstorms and a heatwave hit Queensland, Australia (PHOTO, VIDEO)

Lightning strikes the Q1 tower on the Gold Coast during Sunday night's storm.
© Bryce Forrest/Severe Weather AustraliaLightning strikes the Q1 tower on the Gold Coast during Sunday night's storm.
A severe thunderstorm that hit the city of Brisbane, Queensland Sunday night (local time), February 11, 2018, left 130 000 homes without power, produced some 265 000 lightning strikes and dropped up to tennis ball-sized hail on the region. At least one person was injured after a lightning hit nearby home.

Heavy rain and winds up to 100 km/h (62 mph) smashed Brisbane around 19:00 local time Sunday, accompanied by up to tennis ball-sized hail that caused extensive damage and blanketed fields. The temperature dropped by 10 °C (18 °F) as the storm hit, from up to 38 °C (100.4 °F) to 28 °C (82.4 °F).

The storm downed numerous trees and more than 500 power lines at the height of the storm, leaving some 130 000 homes without power. On Monday morning, February 12, Logan City, south of Brisbane, still had more than 40 000 properties without electricity, Brisbane almost 7 000 and Redland City about 2 300.

Comment: And some additional footage; check out the frighteningly close lightning strike:




See Also: Hail larger than softballs pummeled Cordoba, Argentina (PHOTO, VIDEO)


Snowflake Cold

Dangerously cold wind chills of -65 strike parts of Canada

weather
Feeling like -70. Yes, you read that right. MINUS SEVENTY. Not even record breaking, Kugaaruk, Nunavut had a forecast wind chill of -70 Sunday night. Now, extreme cold warnings cover a wide swath of the country.

"A multi-day episode of severely cold wind chills continues," warns Environment Canada in an extreme cold alert issued for much of Nunavut early Monday. "The coldest wind chill values will be between minus 60 and minus 65."

Polar Vortex takes hold

"The displacement of the Polar Vortex in more southern latitudes has meant some extreme cold for areas in northern Canada and even down to the south," says Weather Network meteorologist Erin Wenckstern. "At the surface, it allows cold, arctic air to flood in in waves bringing extreme wind chills to parts of the southern Prairies."

Extreme cold warnings stretch across all three Prairie provinces as well as into northern Ontario with wind chill values between -40 and -45 and feeling closer to -60 in parts of northern Quebec.

"Conditions will moderate through the morning as daytime temperatures rise," says EC, adding that "extreme cold puts everyone at risk."


Snowflake

The beaches of Barcelona snow-covered and a temperature of -21°C recorded in Spain

Barcelone
Snow in Paris but also on the beaches of Barcelona. The snow fell on much of the Spanish territory. Thirteen regions were on alert yesterday. Barcelona activated its emergency plan but on the beach, it was a party.

A temperature of -21 degrees Celsius (-5,8 degrees Fahrenheit) was recorded in the city of Girona between Barcelona and the French border.