Extreme Temperatures
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Snowflake

Snowiest winter in Havre, Montana in 138 years: More snow on the way

Karl Puckett
Great Falls Tribune
Wed, 14 Feb 2018 21:03 UTC
Winter snowfall in Harve
Winter snowfall in Harve
Usually, snow blowers would be in the window display facing the street at Havre Hardware and Home, but it was empty Monday.

"It's been a good winter for business," says manager Scott Stockdill, noting he's sold out of snow blowers, not to mention shovels. Even his stock of toboggans is running low.

It's been a good winter for snow in this community of 9,800, at least to date, as Stockdill can attest.

As of Monday, Feb. 12, snowfall in Havre was 70 inches, with yet another storm expected to hit the snow-battered city Wednesday afternoon.

That's almost 4 feet above normal — and the snowiest it's been in the city at this stage of the winter since 1880, when weather records began in Havre, according to the National Weather Service in Great Falls.
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Ice Cube

Great Lakes are now 69.1% ice covered, for only 2nd time in last 24 years

Bill Steffen
woodtv.com
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 14:04 UTC
map map
Great Lakes ice cover reached 69.1% on Saturday. That's only the 2nd time that we have had that much ice cover on the Great Lakes in the last 24 years (the other time was 2014). This is quite a leap up since Feb. 1, when we had just a 22.6% ice cover. The growth of ice has been caused by consistently cold temperatures and relatively calm conditions.

The first 11 days of Feb. were 6.3 deg. colder than average in Grand Rapids, 7.3 deg. colder than avg. in Milwaukee and 8.0 deg. colder than average in Chicago. Over the last 6 days, the average wind speed at Muskegon MI and at Holland MI has been 6.1 mph. Note with all the snow we've had, there has been very little drifting. Last year on 2/11 we had a 12.3% ice cover and on 2/11/16 we had just a 7.8% ice cover on the Great Lakes.
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Snowflake

Heavy snowfall continues to cripple life in northern parts of Pakistan (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)


Geo News
Tue, 13 Feb 2018 13:06 UTC
A vehicle covered in snow in Nathiagali Bazaar area of Abbottabad.
© PPIA vehicle covered in snow in Nathiagali Bazaar area of Abbottabad.
Vehicles were stranded at various points on the roads in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the second consecutive day, with passengers facing difficulties owing to shortage of food and other necessities.

One of the tourists, Rabiya Ahmed Shaikh, who was staying at a hotel near Nathiagali due to the roadblock there, said there was no food or water at the facility.

"The hotel [management] is saying shops around their facility are closed which is why they cannot get us food," she told Geo News. "They have lavatories but there is no water here."

People have lost contact with their relatives as there is no electricity in the area for them to charge their mobile phones and other devices.

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Tornado2

Snownado videoed swirling amid Chicago snowstorm

Ben Hooper
UPI
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 19:54 UTC
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.

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Attention

Cold spell over January killed at least 35 manatees in Florida

Annika Hammerschlag
Naples Daily News
Thu, 01 Feb 2018 19:04 UTC
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

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Snowflake Cold

Cold weather records broken at 6 places in Saskatchewan, Canada


CBC News
Tue, 13 Feb 2018 15:23 UTC
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.
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Snowflake

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


Iceland Monitor
Tue, 13 Feb 2018 14:54 UTC
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.
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Snowflake Cold

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


The Japan Times
Tue, 13 Feb 2018 14:00 UTC
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.

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Igloo

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

Steve Selden
Churchill Polar Bears
Tue, 13 Feb 2018 12:46 UTC
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:

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Ice Cube

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

Chris Baynes
The Independent
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 20:37 UTC
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

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