Extreme Temperatures
S


Binoculars

Rare Arctic Ivory gull found in Ullapool, Scotland

Image
© Matthew RossThey're more at home following polar bears around the Arctic but this young ivory gull has taken up residence at a fish farm near Ullapool.
A rare Arctic visitor is getting folk all a flutter in Wester Ross.

A young ivory gull, generally found in the high Arctic, has been spotted at a fish farm near Ullapool.

They have only been reported in the UK as few as 100 times.

The bird was spotted by Wester Ross Salmon employee Matthew Ross when it landed at the fish farm at Ardmair Bay north of Ullapool. Matthew was unsure of the species of bird and sent pictures to a local wildlife tour operator to identify it.

The sighting has caused interest with bird watchers due to its rarity and there is speculation that it may be the same individual that was spotted at Uig Harbour in Skye at New Year and has possibly been blown to the mainland in the recent winds.

Inverness-based Alan Tissiman of RSPB Scotland said: "Ivory gulls are very rare visitors to the British Isles, invariably seen in the winter months after strong north westerly gales. They are usually found far to the north on the Arctic pack ice where they live all year round.

"They are scavengers, never happier than when they find a dead whale or seal to feed on! They are known to follow polar bears and other predators to feed on the remains of their kills.

"They are lovely-looking birds and I would imagine that this individual will have attracted a fair amount of interest from birdwatchers - though they may not wish to enquire too closely into its feeding habits!"

Comment: See also: Rare Arctic Ivory gull spotted in Quincy, Illinois


Ice Cube

Lake Erie's sudden freeze of January 2015

Image
NASA/NOAA satellite image from above the Great Lakes taken just after 1:30 p.m. Monday
Lake Erie was less than six percent frozen last Tuesday with ice covering only a sliver of the lake's western basin.

But, after a week with frigid temperatures in the single digits, heavy lake-effect snows and high winds, Lake Erie is freezing up fast.

Nearly 60 percent of the lake waters were frozen today, according to graphs by the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL).

Most of the western half of the lake is already under ice coverage.

In some areas - the western basin, along the U.S. and Canadian shorelines, near Long Point, Ont. and close to Buffalo - it's nearly 100 percent iced over, according to GLERL charts.

As Lake Erie iced, so too have the Great Lakes at large.

Just a week ago, more than eight percent of the surface area of all of the lakes was frozen.

But by Monday, nearly one-quarter of the Great Lakes were under ice.

Cow

100 cows die after falling through lake ice in South Dakota

Image
Fell through: Mike Carlow (left) and Bob Pille (right) use a shovel and a prying tool to free a dead cow from the ice on White Clay Reservoir south of Pine Ridge, South Dakota on Tuesday. Last week an estimated 100 of Carlow and his brother Pat's cows wandered onto the ice, broke through and died
These images of drowned cattle are enough to make meat eaters and vegetarians alike shed a tear over the mistake that caused their mass death.

Last week, about 100 cattle wandered onto a South Dakota reservoir covered in six-inch-thick ice while seeking shelter in a severe windstorm.

Their hunt for rest turned tragic when the ice collapsed under their enormous weight of more than 1,000 pounds.

Snowflake Cold

'Siberian' winter temperatures predicted to hit Denmark

Image
© Søren Bidstrup/ScanpixWednesday offered "blink and you'll miss it" snow, but the real winter wallop may be coming as early as this weekend.
Storm-strength winds are once again hammering parts of Denmark on Thursday and winter is set to truly make its presence felt next week.

After a beautiful blanket of snow hit parts of Denmark on Wednesday and then disappeared again in about an hour, many were left wondering if and when true winter conditions will set in.

Meteorology institute DMI predicts that winter will truly make its presence felt as early as this weekend, with temperatures falling below the freezing point Saturday night and then remaining there for much of the next week.

The national forecast calls for rain to turn to snow on Sunday, with small amounts predicted through the middle of next week. By late next week, DMI's forecast is short and to the point: "Cold, windy and snow showers."

Snowflake Cold

Temperatures forecast to plummet to -15C in Scotland

Image
© GettyA car buried under 4-6 inches of snow in Tyndrum, Stirlingshire
Weatherr Channel UK meteorologist Liam Brown warned: "We should prepare for freezing temperatures and very icy conditions for the coming days, and probably much of next week too.

Blizzards swept across the country yesterday - as Scots were warned that the worst of the wintry weather was yet to come.

The Met Office have issued "be aware" warnings for wind, ice and rain for much of central and southern Scotland for today.

Travel chaos is set to continue as severe gales of up to 80mph hit the country, while heavy rain and a thaw caused by slightly milder temperatures could lead to localised flooding.

Snow is forecast to return from tomorrow, when the mercury will fall again - and by early next week temperatures could plummet to a teeth-chattering -15C.

Weather Channel UK meteorologist Liam Brown warned: "We should prepare for freezing temperatures and very icy conditions for the coming days, and probably much of next week too.

Cloud Precipitation

Storm Rachel: 100mph gales leave 2,000 homes without power and cause travel chaos across UK

Image
© PA/Getty ImagesBad weather has caused travel chaos with lorries queueing to board Dover ferries
Fierce Storm Rachel has left 1,950 homes without power and sparked travel chaos across the UK after a deluge of snow and torrential rain.

Gale force winds of up to 101mph blasted through Britain today as the churning low-pressure vortex - dubbed Storm Rachel - sparked commuter chaos.

But as the storm caused damage, delays, disruption and power failures, forecasters have warned the worst could still be to come.

Some 149 flood alerts and 32 flood warnings have been issued across Britain this morning, the Environment Agency confirmed.

The Met Office has also cautioned a "be aware" weather warning remains in place across the whole of England, Wales, Northern Ireland and central and southern Scotland for rain and high winds.

The highest recorded windspeed in the UK today is 101mph - reported in Great Dunsell, Cumbria while other exposed and coastal areas documented speeds of 70mph.

A Met Office spokesperson said: "After something of a lull, a further spell of very strong winds, this time from the west, is expected from late Thursday morning onwards into the evening, again with gusts of 70mph or more in places.

Snowflake

Tropical snowfall in Vietnam

Image
Heavy snowfall caused a traffic jam that extended several kilometers in Sa Pa town in the northern province of Lao Cai from Friday night to Saturday morning. Tourists from other provinces have flocked to the area for a taste of tropical snowfall.

The temperature at O Quy Ho Mountain Pass in Sa Pa town dropped to below 0 Celsius degree from 9pm on Friday to past midnight on Saturday, causing snow to fall heavily in many areas, according to Nguyen Van Thanh, a forest ranging official of the province's Hoang Lien National Park.

The snowfall seriously limited drivers' visibility and caused a several-hour traffic jam on National Highway 4D from Sa Pa to neighboring Lai Chau province and the other way around.

Snowflake

Heavy snowfall across Saudi Arabia

Image
I love this photo! A snow camel!

Saudi Arabia: Friday, 18 March 1436, corresponding to 9 January 2015
The snow fell heavily on Friday evening (January 9, 2015), in Qurayyat -Jouf, and its environs and the "books", and parts of the province Tarif.

Image

Image

Snowflake Cold

12 people die across Mexico due to cold weather

Image
© Notimex Low temperatures below zero degrees and snowfall are expected to persist in Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Durango.
In Chihuahua, four people froze to death, three died due to burns and two more for intoxication, while in Sonora one died for intoxication in Nogales and two for hypothermia in Huatabampo and San Luis Río Colorado.

The cold weather affecting much of the country has claimed a dozen victims, nine in Chihuahua and three in Sonora, state authorities reported.

The State Coordination of Civil Protection of Chihuahua issued an alert due to low temperatures, rain and snowfall in the higher areas, specifically in the municipalities of Temósachic and Balleza, where temperatures have dropped to -14C (6.8F).

Other regions with low temperatures are Chihuahua and Ciudad Juárez (-4C/24F), Ocampo (-10C/14F), Janos (-7C/19F) and Nuevo Casas Grandes (-6.5C/20F).

Low temperatures below zero degrees and snowfall are expected to persist in Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Durango.

Igloo

Temperatures reported in 14 U.S. states - from Washington to Maine - were colder than Mars

Image
It's officially colder than Mars: NASA recorded a daytime high of 17.6 F on Mars today, which was warmer than many parts of the Midwest and Northeast. Above, a postal service worker braves the cold in Rockford, Illinois where the high was 18 F.
Time to stop remarking about how unearthly cold it is outside because on Thursday, Mars was actually warmer than many parts of the U.S. The daytime high in the red planet's Gale Crater, as recorded by NASA's Curiosity Rover, was 17.6 degrees F - a whopping 11 degrees warmer than the 6-degree high in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Temperatures in fourteen states from Washington to Maine reported temperatures colder than Mars, as a brutal blast of Arctic air sweeps the country. Mars just recently passed its closest orbit to the sun, which partially explains why the temperature was relatively balmy. The Gale Crater is also located in one of the warmest parts of the planet, near the equator.

It's officially colder than Mars: NASA recorded a daytime high of 17.6 F on Mars today, which was warmer than many parts of the Midwest and Northeast. Above, a postal service worker braves the cold in Rockford, Illinois where the high was 18 F.

Comment:
"Studies reveal that ice ages are probably preceded by periods of freak weather patterns (check) hot spots and cold spots (check) torrential, localized rains and flooding (check) increased comet dust in the atmosphere (check), increased volcanism (check) a series of particularly cold and harsh winters (check) interspersed with localized heat-waves and drought (check); and then, finally, the watershed winter comes when the increased heating from within the planet itself (evidenced by the increasing volcanism) and its concomitant increased evaporation of the seas, combines with the cooled and lowered upper atmosphere, and the snow begins to fall and fall... and fall... and fall. Convert the extraordinary rains that have fallen in parts of the upper northern hemisphere in the past few years to snow volumes, and you can easily see that entire regions could be quickly buried under many meters of snow that, assuming that the albedo effect does not rapidly take over and prevent the snow from melting, by the time it did melt, multiplied millions of living things - including people - would have perished, buried along with the pathological leaders they have erroneously believed had their best interests at heart."

The Global Situation Has Taken a Turn For the Worse: Recovery Unlikely
See also: A Different Kind of Catastrophe - Something Wicked This Way Comes