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Ice Cube

Ice ages happen far more often than previously thought: Scientists surprised to discover Scotland had glaciers until relatively recently

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© Martin KirkbrideSnow blankets Scotland's Cairngorm Mountains.
The last glacier in Scotland may have melted within the last 400 years, not 11,500 years ago as previously believed, new research finds.

The Cairngorm Mountains of eastern Scotland are the snowiest part of the Scottish Highlands even today. But previous studies of rocks from around the United Kingdom suggested that the last glaciers vanished from the region after about 11,500 years ago, when a cold period called the Younger Dryas ended.

"Conventional wisdom is that's when Scotland had its last glaciers," said study researcher Martin Kirkbride, a senior lecturer at the University of Dundee. The new study reveals that a later cold snap brought glaciers back to the land.

The last glacier

Kirkbride discovered Scotland's last glacier inadvertently while doing fieldwork with undergraduate students in the Cairngorms. One student was working on a project about how avalanches moved debris down the mountain slopes, and the researchers were curious about where the boulders they saw littering the bottom of the hills came from. They hiked up the slope and found ridges of boulders bordering a large slab of granite.

Comment: It appears that these researchers should talk to their colleagues, who found this summer the prestage for glacier formation at Mt. Ben Nevis:

Another sign of impending Ice Age? Glacier-like hazards discovered during the summer on Ben Nevis, Scotland
A team of climbers and scientists investigating the mountain's North Face said snowfields remained in many gullies and upper scree slopes.

On these fields, they have come across compacted, dense, ice hard snow call neve.

Neve is the first stage in the formation of glaciers, the team said.

The team has also encountered sheets of snow weighing hundreds of tonnes and tunnels and fissures known as bergschrunds.

The large, deep cracks in the ice are found at the top of glaciers.

The team of mountaineers, geologists and botanists is recording wildlife and rock forms on the North Face.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), Midland Valley Exploration and the Nevis Partnership, an organisation based at Torlundy, near Fort William, are involved in the three-year project.

So far, many new populations of rare fauna such as highland saxifrage, tufted saxifrage and wavy meadow grass have been recorded.



Snowflake Cold

Heavy snow in Kyrgyzstan leaves four people frozen to death

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Surprise snowfall traps at least 2,000 sheep - Many farmers have not yet harvested half of their crop.

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Heavy snowfall in the north of the country suddenly overwhelmed the area, said the Ministry of Emergency Situations. The heavy snowfall trapped many the shepherds and one of them froze to death. Three homeless people also froze to death in the capital Bishkek.

The country's north and south Bishkek-Osh highway was closed due to heavy snowfall in the mountains.

This was reported in the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Kyrgyz Republic on Friday

Snowflake

Snow for September was highest on record in North America

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Rutgers University Climate Lab :: Global Snow Lab

Snowflake

Autumn snow hampers traffic in the Urals, Russia


The snow has brought a lot of trouble for drivers because most have not yet changed tires.

"I was driving on the highway M5″ Ural ", the roads are very quickly swept out, - says Igor Nikiforov. - Maximum speed was 20 kilometers (12 miles) per hour, and even at this speed it was scary at some turn to go, the car just drifting. There were traffic jams because trucks could not climb the mountain, they stood and idled."

Over the weekend there were forty serious accidents on the roads of the Chelyabinsk region.

Meanwhile, resourceful residents of the South Urals have used the bad weather to open the ski season.

In Zlatoust adults and children began sculpting the first snowman.

Thanks to Argiris Diamantis for this link

Snowflake Cold

Ocala, Florida breaks 84-year old cold record

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© Isocrates.us
Children were bundled at bus stops. Workers left home in sweaters and light jackets. Heat pumps switched on earlier than normal.

Monday morning, the temperature dipped to 49 degrees in Ocala - a record low for the day.

The previous record was 50 degrees, set in 1930. The official measuring site is the city water plant at Southeast 36th Avenue just north of Maricamp Road.

Monday morning's daybreak low temperatures ranged from 46 degrees near Salt Springs to 52 degrees in Ocala.

The official forecast for rainfall and temperatures can range significantly throughout Marion County. The county's official forecast is issued by the weather service, while the Star-Banner's weather page uses AccuWeather forecasts. Sometimes those predictions differ.

National Weather Service forecaster Kate Guillet said the cold front began pushing through late Friday night from the central Plains, bringing relief to a very wet three weeks in Marion County.

"It brought cooler and drier weather," she noted. "The temperatures dropped very quickly because there were no clouds (to hold in the heat)."

Sunday's morning low in Ocala hit 50 degrees, just missing the record of 49 degrees set in 1987.

Snowflake Cold

Cold temperatures set record as snow arrives in Chicago

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Saturday's snowflakes mark the third earliest snow sighting since the city began recording

Looks like Mother Nature isn't going to let Chicago forget that winter is coming.

The city saw light snow Saturday morning, marking one of the earliest snow sightings on record.

The earliest snow spotting in Chicago is Sept. 25, which occurred in 1928 and again in 1944, according to the National Weather Service.

Saturday's snowflakes mark the third earliest snow sighting since the city began recording.

The Rockford area also spotted snow Saturday morning, marking their second earliest sighting. The record was set in 1951 when the area saw snow on Oct. 3.

But the snow wasn't the only weather element the Chicago area made the record books with this weekend.

The city set a temperature record with O'Hare Airport recording a high of 47 degrees, marking the lowest maximum high temperature in 79 years, the NWS reported. The previous record, set on October 4, 1935, was 48 degrees.

The average high temperature in Chicago for the month of October is 62 degrees. The average low temperature is about 43 degrees.

Snowflake Cold

130 year record low temperature in Vladivostok, Russia

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Snow in the Perm region. The autumn weather breaks records.
Earlier than normal snowfall in the Perm region.

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2 Oct 2014 - Snowfall in early October in the Perm area "is not the norm for the region," said Andrew Shikhova, of the Regional Center for Geographic Information Systems.

Another record was broken in Vladivostok, which registered the lowest absolute minimum air temperature in more than 130-year history of weather observations.

Tuesday morning in the seaside capital was only plus one degree Celsius.

Sun

U.S. Drought Monitor: California drought covers 100% of state

U.S. Drought Monitor for California as of September 30, 2014:

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Snowflake

16 inches of snow falls in Bulgaria

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Mount Musala
Also, first snow of the season in Turkey - No big deal, but a far cry from the global warming crisis that the con men are trying to make us believe.

27 Sept 2014 - The most snow is in Rila in the high mountains, where the snow reached depths of 30-40 centimeters (12 to 16 inches) in places. This was announced by the weatherman TV-MET Simeon MATEV on "24 Hours".

Sun

Southern Canada, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota baked in record heat

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Actual high temperatures on Sept. 25, 2014.
When you think of 90-degree-plus record heat in late September, I'll bet Canada doesn't pop in your head first.

Contours of actual highs on Sept. 25, 2014 with record heat circled in Montana, North Dakota and southern Canada.

Highs Thursday soared into the 90s as far north as southern Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba, smashing daily temperature records.

Estevan, Saskatchewan topped out just under 94 degrees. The provincial capital of Regina had its warmest day of the year (91.6 degrees F or 33.1 degrees C). Eight other Canadian cities soared above 90 degrees in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Record highs were set as far north as Thompson, Manitoba (79.7F or 26.5C), just under 500 miles north of Winnipeg.

South of the border, both Williston, North Dakota, and Miles City, Montana (97), sweated through their record hottest day so late in the season, according to weather historian Christopher Burt and senior meteorologist Stu Ostro.

Rapid City, South Dakota (92), reached the 90s two weeks after their earliest snowfall on record.

Comment: Listen to a recent BlogTalkRadio discussion on earth changes and the recently released book by SOTT.net editors Pierre Lescaudron and Laura Knight-Jadczyk, Earth Changes and the Human-Cosmic Connection.

SOTT Talk Radio show #70: Earth changes in an electric universe: Is climate change really man-made? (With transcript)