Extreme Temperatures
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Ice Cube

As snowfall records are set, ferry becomes stuck in sea ice off Nova Scotia

Andrew Freedman
mashable.com
Wed, 18 Mar 2015 20:07 UTC
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© Twitter/@MAFerriesThe MV Highlanders pictured from a Canadian Coast Guard vessel in Cabot Strait on March 17, 2015.
While the all-time snowfall record in Boston may have received most of the media attention in the U.S., Canada has had its fair share of unusually severe winter weather this season as well.

Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland have been slammed by back-to-back-to-back-to-back (you get the point) severe winter storms, producing a broad area of sea ice cover and mountainous snowbanks along the streets of cities such as Charlottetown and Saint John.

A Marine Atlantic passenger ferry with 190 people aboard was stuck in pack ice off Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, on Tuesday, with Canadian Coast Guard ships trying to free the vessel. According to the Canadian Press, the MV Highlanders ran into heavy ice on Monday night, after leaving North Sydney, Nova Scotia, for Port aux Basques, Newfoundland.
#CCG Louis S St-Laurent assisting MV Highlanders and Blue Puttees in Cabot Strait. Slow progress in very thick #ice. pic.twitter.com/Do2HeFWiVW

— DFO_NL (@DFO_NL) March 17, 2015

In a statement to passengers, Marine Atlantic warned of travel delays.
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Chalkboard

200-pound ice boulder crashes through apartment roof in Wilmington, Massachusetts


CBS News - Boston
Wed, 18 Mar 2015 16:44 UTC
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© Wilmington Police Department
A huge chunk of ice crashed through the roof of a Wilmington Apartment building on Sunday. Luckily nobody was hurt.

The ice boulder weighing about 200 pounds landed in the back stairwell of the Avalon Oaks Apartments. Residents who were home when it happened say they heard a huge 'bang' when the ice came crashing through the ceiling.

"It was like this big," Kathleen Trowbridge said, holding her arms the width of her doorway, "and it just came through solid. It didn't break up." She then called 911.

Wilmington Police say the giant ice block fell from the highest part of the apartment building's roof, crashing onto a lower roof and through the back stairwell, leaving a gaping hole.

"Luckily nobody was there," a male resident said. "That was the most important thing. If somebody had been hit by that, they'd probably be dead."

Residents say that maintenance crews did shovel off the roof from past storms, but the ice buildup did not go away. Some are still concerned.

"If it's going to happen here, is going to happen in the front?" Trowbridge questioned. "There's icicles up there."

"I'm just very disappointed and very nervous for my health, for my kids' health," another resident voiced.
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Snowflake

Heavy snowfalls cause dearth of essential goods for 3 months in Mugu, Nepal

Raj Bahadur Shani
ekantipur.com
Tue, 17 Mar 2015 20:11 UTC
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Snow-covered roads have hampered movement in Mugu.
An acute shortage of daily essentials has been felt in the district due to the halt in transport services for the past three months.

As heavy snowfalls have blocked the roads that connect the remote mountainous district with the rest of the country, businessmen in district headquarters Gamgadhi have not been able to replenish their stocks and have started running out of daily essentials such as rice, lentils, flour, edible oil, spices, and noodles, among others.

Around two dozen trucks laden with daily essentials and other goods from Surkhet and Nepalgunj have been stranded in Ghucchi, Bulbule, and Dablek due to the blockade, causing a severe shortage of daily essentials in many parts of the district.
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Igloo

Twice as much snow falling in the Russian Ural mountains than 100 years ago...Leading to more tree growth

P Gosselin
NoTricksZone
Mon, 16 Mar 2015 19:15 UTC
German public radio Deutschlandfunk (DLF) reported earlier this year that scientists have discovered that twice as much snow has been falling in the Ural Mountains than 100 years ago.
Yugyd Va National Park
© Public domain photoYugyd Va National Park.
Hat-tip: Die kalte Sonne here.

The DLF reports:
Ural: snow causing the tree line to rise.

Climate change does not only mean that the temperature is increasing, it can also change the precipitation patterns. In the Ural Mountains of Russia significantly more snow is falling in the wintertime than 100 years ago. The development is having surprising consequences: The bigger amounts of snow is causing the tree line to rise. [...]

In the summertime in the Urals its has not gotten notably warmer over the past 100 years. The wintertime temperatures, however, have increased from minus 18°C to minus 16°C. Warmer low pressure systems are bringing more precipitation to the mountains. In the Urals today twice as much snow is falling than 100 years ago. And that is having an impact on the treeline."
According to the DLF, a team of German and Russian scientists say the tree line is currently rising at a rate of about 4 to 6 meters per decade.

The scientists believe that the doubled snowfall serves to protect young saplings during the winter and allow soil conditions that foster growth during the summer time. Photos of the region has allowed the scientists to determine treelines that today are up to 60 meters higher than 100 years ago.
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Snowflake

Blizzard warning in effect for eastern Kenai Peninsula, Alaska

Sean Doogan
Alaska Dispatch News
Mon, 16 Mar 2015 18:51 UTC
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© KTUU / Austin BairdWinter driving.
A winter storm is expected to drop as much as a foot of snow across parts of Southcentral Alaska Sunday night into Monday, but forecasters say the blizzard is unlikely to reach Anchorage, where warm temperatures are expected to return after a brief cold spell.

The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for the Portage Valley, about 50 miles southeast of Anchorage, and eastern Turnagain Arm Sunday. Areas that could be affected stretch from Whittier to Seward and include parts of western Prince William Sound. The warning goes into effect at 7 p.m. Sunday and lasts until noon Monday, and predicts winds gusting up to 50 mph and heavy snow, reducing visibility on the Seward Highway to less than a quarter-mile at times.

Snow-starved Anchorage residents, meanwhile, are not expected to get a late winter dumping of snow. The Anchorage NWS office said current cold temps -- which were hovering in the single digits on Sunday -- would warm to almost 40 degrees by Monday.
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Snowflake Cold

Newfoundland blizzard traps drivers in their vehicles


cbc.ca
Mon, 16 Mar 2015 16:41 UTC
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© Submitted by Dave SullivanHeavy snow drifts in the St. John's metro area Monday morning meant some cars were better off than others. Dave Sullivan said his car was nearly buried in snow, while some neighbours were able to get out.
Snow delays airline, bus and ferry travel, St. John's cancels garbage collection, MUN closed for day

A March blizzard hammered most of Newfoundland Monday morning, on a day when most schools and many offices were already closed for the St. Patrick's Day holiday.

RCMP and the Department of Transportation and Works were advising drivers to stay off most of the province's roads and highways, with conditions deteriorating due to the heavy snow and strong winds.

In western Newfoundland, two vehicles were reported to be stranded on Route 480, also known as the Burgeo Road. RCMP said they tried to reach the drivers but had to turn back, given zero visibility and heavy blowing and drifting snow. Further attempts will be made when the weather improves.

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Snowflake

Turkish ski resort of Uludağ hit with heavy snowstorm


national.bgnnews.com
Sat, 14 Mar 2015 16:51 UTC
Ongoing snowfall reached about 2 meters on Saturday on Uludağ Mountain, in what has been a suprise with spring right around the corner.

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Uludağ Mountain
The 2,543-meter mountain, located in Turkey's western province of Bursa, has witnessed one of its best seasons in the year with the occupacy rate in hotels going at 100 percent.

The snowfall also hit the 2014 Uludağ Economic Summit featuring prominent members of the Turkish business world as well as Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan.
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Snowflake Cold

Winter has been tough on waterfowl across America

Chris Bosak
The Hour
Thu, 12 Mar 2015 17:24 UTC
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© Chris BosakA male Hooded Merganser swims in a half-frozen Mill Pond in Norwalk.
What would you do if your refrigerator and kitchen cupboards were locked and you didn't have a key? The grocery stores were all boarded up, and it's the dead of winter so your garden has long stopped being productive. Oh, and you can't drive anywhere because of a natural instinct telling you to stay put.

That is what the last six weeks have been like for many birds, especially waterfowl. And it's been a deadly scenario.

I heard the other day that upwards of 70 ducks and geese were found dead at the Norwalk Wastewater Treatment Plant, most likely because of malnutrition. I also received a call from a Westport resident who had five dead Canada geese in her yard one morning. The number swelled to eight as the week went on. Mute Swans have been stranded on frozen water, too, although some of those birds have been saved.

"It's been the most severe winter we've had in 30 years," said Min Huang, a waterfowl specialist with Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP). "We've seen a lot of mortality over the last three weeks up and down the coast, mostly geese and puddle ducks."
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Snowflake Cold

A week before Spring: Nova Scotia blizzard forecast with 40 cm of snow


cbc.ca
Fri, 13 Mar 2015 16:54 UTC
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© Craig Paisley/CBCCBC meteorologist Peter Coade expects "all forms of traffic" to be affected on Sunday, including flights, roads and ferries.
Environment Canada warns of snow squalls for some areas of Maritimes Friday morning

Just a week away from the official start of spring, the Maritimes are bracing for another winter storm.

CBC meteorologist Peter Coade says two weather systems — one from the northwest and another warm and moist disturbance out of the Gulf of Mexico — are forecast to collide and become one, just south of Nova Scotia on Sunday.

The system is expected to produce snow. Coade expects "all forms of traffic" to be affected on Sunday, including flights, roads and ferries.

"Although it is still early to come up with a solid snowfall amount forecast, I think it safe to say that blizzard conditions can be expected with the strong east-to-northeast wind blowing around some 10 to 20 centimetres — possibly as high as 30 to 40 centimetres — of fresh snow," said Coade.
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Ice Cube

Unusual ice heave on Otter Tail County lakes, Minnesota

Elizabeth Huwe
dl-online.com
Thu, 12 Mar 2015 21:22 UTC
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Ice damage on Otter Tail Lake mostly has been concentrated on the south shore of the lake, according to Dave Sethre, President of the Otter Tail County Coalition of Lake Associations
Ice is a normal part of winter along Minnesota's lakes. However, this year, some property owners on Otter Tail County lakes are dealing with more ice, and damage, than usual.

Dave Sethre, president of the Otter Tail County Coalition of Lake Associations, called the ice on one of the biggest lakes -- Otter Tail -- "pretty radical" this year.

"This is turning out to be the winter of the ice heave on many of our larger Otter Tail County lakes," Sethre wrote in a March newsletter. "Estimates are that expansion has been 150 to 200 percent at some locations."

According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, ice heaves and ridges are caused by caused by the pushing action of a lake's ice sheet against the shore.
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