In the remote desert of western Egypt, near the Libyan border, lie clues to an ancient cosmic cataclysm.
Libyan desert glass is the name given to fragments of canary-yellow glass found scattered over hundreds of kilometres, between giant shifting sand dunes.
Interest in Libyan desert glass goes back more than 3,000 years. Among items recovered from King Tut's burial chamber is a gold and jewel-encrusted breastplate. In the centre sits a beautiful scarab beetle, carved from Libyan desert glass.
Libyan desert glass - raw and carved - is easily available today, but how the glass formed has long puzzled scientists.
It's the latest that Rapid City has seen a foot or more of snow
A powerful storm system that brought severe weather to Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, and Arkansas has brought an insane amount of snow to parts of South Dakota (and Colorado prior to that).
Since 1948, Rapid City, South Dakota has seen measurable snow only twice after May 21. The latest measurable snow on record for the city came on June 13, 1969. The latest foot of snow on record was April 30, 1967.
Rapid City, along with Mt. Rushmore, have picked up a foot of snow (as of 10:30 a.m. Wednesday). Other towns outside of Rapid City, like Hisega and Rockerville, have picked up anywhere from a foot and a half to two feet of snow from this storm.
As of 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Denver had officially received 3.4 inches of snow. That's the most snow measured this late in the season since May 29, 1975 when 5.6 inches hit the city.
In addition to the snow, Denver tied the record low temperature for May 21 when the official thermometer for the city dropped to 31 degrees Tuesday morning. It was previously 31 degrees on this date in 2001 when 1 inch of snow fell.
In terms of high temperatures on Tuesday, they will struggle to reach into the lower 40s again making it the second day in a row with temperatures staying 30 to 35 degrees below normal for the third week in May. The record "coldest maximum" for May 21 is 40 degrees set 128 years ago in 1891. It's possible that record could also be challenged.
Another day, another fresh shot of powder at Lake Tahoe's ski resorts.
Heavenly Mountain Resort reported 2 inches of new snow in 24 hours Tuesday morning. That brought the seven-day snow total to 1 foot.
Heavenly will open Friday through Monday and then close for the season. As of Tuesday morning, the resort reported a season total of 498 inches.
Over at Squaw Valley, it is looking more like March than May. After receiving an additional 5 inches of snow overnight Monday, Squaw is reporting 28 inches of snow since Thursday.
Amanda Schmidt Accuweather Tue, 21 May 2019 13:24 UTC
While some regions of the United States, including the Northeast, are experiencing summerlike heat early this week as the calendar inches toward Memorial Day, other areas in the Midwest and western U.S. are still experiencing snow.
Phillippi is far from the only social media user to express his dismay with the winter display. Meteorologist Joe Moore declared the May snow in Duluth was 'CRAZY.' Many other social media users responded with disappointed memes about the snowy post.
Corn sowing in France slowed again this week, losing its lead to last year, after persistent cold weather continues to hamper the central European nation's planting efforts.
France was battered by a brutal cold front during the second half of April and first half of May — the key planting window — with the mercury hitting all-time lows and effectively slamming the brakes on sowing efforts.
France is the third largest corn exporter in the world, meaning a delayed or poor harvest will have a pronounced impact on global markets.
Severe frosts have been widespread these last four-or-so-weeks, from the lowlands to Brittany to South Ouest, with farmers regularly lighting frost-fires in an attempt to protect fragile crops.
Maria Luigia Brusco Fresh Plaza Tue, 14 May 2019 18:35 UTC
Heavy rain, flooding in Puglia, Emilia-Romagna
After the strong hailstorm recorded on Sunday May 12 in the Italian regions Basilicata and Apulia, new 'water bombs' mixed with hail affected the same areas. The situation is worrying for stone fruit, watermelon and table grapes. It was a very wet awakening, Monday May 13, in the provinces of Forlì-Cesena and Ravenna (Emilia Romagna). The plentiful rains have swollen all the rivers and some have overflowed. The most difficult situation is in the territory of Cesena with flooded orchards and closed bridges and roads.
"The damages on peaches, apricots, nectarines and some goji plants are enormous, with damaged fields and fruits that will rot in a few days. We had just finished with the thinning of the apricots and waited for them to be completely ripe to proceed with the harvest", says Anna Camarda, a farmer from Basilicata who has her crops in Metaponto. "The varieties of apricots affected are Vitillo and Thirintos (early apricot), while for peaches it is Sagittaria. The citrus orchards in bloom are also affected."
The calendar says mid-May but for skiers and riders at Lake Tahoe the season just does not want to end.
A blast of winter weather delivered a fresh coat of Sierra powder to the few resorts that are still operating for the season.
Heavenly Mountain Resort, which will continue Friday-through-Sunday operations until Memorial Day, reported 8 inches of new snow in 48 hours Friday morning.
Up to seven inches of snow fell on Squaw Summit in California's Squaw Valley overnight into Thursday, May 16, according to the National Weather Service.
While many Californians might lament snowfall in May, employees at the Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows ski resort rejoiced, writing, "Our kind of May Showers!" Footage filmed by Kurt Wilhelmy shows thick snow covering snowmobiles and plows at Squaw Valley on Thursday morning.
Credit: Kurt Wilhelmy/Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows via Storyful
