Friday, May 31, 2013

Sorry there was no update on Thursday - server troubles. We had heavy rain storms which may have affected their system. Very frustrating. Storms again last night, but they caused no similar problem.

Copahue Volcano Eruption Imminent - The Copahue volcano located on the border of Chile and Argentina recorded an average of 130 seismic events per hour over the last 24 hours, which has officials worried of that eruption might occur before the evacuation of the Chile side is complete. Chile and Argentina are evacuating nearly 3,000 people after officials issued a red alert for the increasingly active volcano. Officials warned the volcano could erupt any time after a series of tremors and gas clouds from the crater hit the area.

**When you go into court, you are putting your fate
into the hands of people who weren’t
smart enough to get out of jury duty.**
Norm Crosby


LARGEST QUAKES -

Live Seismograms - Worldwide (update every 30 minutes)

This morning -
5.1 KHABAROVSKIY KRAY, RUSSIA

Yesterday -
5/30/13 -
5.2 SOUTHWEST OF SUMATRA, INDONESIA
5.0 SERAM, INDONESIA
5.1 LUZON, PHILIPPINES

5/29/13 -
5.2 PRINCE EDWARD ISLANDS REGION

3.8 earthquake in the Irish sea, 10 miles off the North Welsh coast. The quake's tremors were felt over a 90 mile radius and thousands of people felt the earth move as they were shaken from their beds by the earthquake which rocked three countries. The quake rattled doors, windows and crockery. The quake was measured at a depth of 8km and was followed four minutes later by a smaller, 1.7-magnitude tremor at a depth of 3km.
People living along the east coast of Ireland reported a low rumbling noise. "This was the biggest in the area since a 4.3 in August 1984." The UK is hit by about 200 earthquakes every year - but most of them are so small, that nobody notices them.

Magnitude-4.8 quake shakes part of Southern California coast - The epicenter was in the Santa Barbara Channel region about 100 miles west of Los Angeles. California typically experiences about 15 quakes every year with magnitudes greater than 4.6. The Santa Barbara region has been seismically quiet in recent years.
The epicenter of Wednesday's quake was not far from the epicenter of the devastating 1925 earthquake in Santa Barbara. Recorded at a magnitude 6.8, the temblor destroyed much of Santa Barbara's downtown on State Street.

VOLCANOES -
Volcano Webcams

Pacaya volcano erupts in Guatemala , sending volcanic material more than 400 metres in the air. The Institute of Vulcanology warned that the eruption could intensify with ash rising as high as 1000 to 2000 metres, posing a threat to air traffic at Guatemala's international airport. "Ash could spread over Guatemala City due to the direction of the wind."
The last major eruption of Pacaya, in May 2010, claimed the life of a television journalist, drove thousands of people from their homes and forced the closure of the Guatemala City airport for five days. Pacaya is 50 kilometres south of the capital and one of three active volcanoes in Guatemala.

Explosive activity at Vanuatu’s Mt Yasur volcano has increased in recent days. - The activity level of the volcano on Tanna Island is still at alert level 2 but an increase to 3 in the near future is possible. The risk of volcanic projections near the volcano crater remains as thick steam and ash is being emitted from active vents, with ash fall in communities downwind.
An increase in activity was noted in early April when bombs were ejected from the volcano to the parking area below the summit cone, and the activity status was raised from 1 to 2. It is recommended that all communities, visitors and travel agents take the current situation seriously.

Mount Etna eruptions becoming more violent, and scientists are baffled as to why - Mount Etna is spitting lava more violently than it has in years. The volcano is raging. Fountains of lava, some taller than the Eiffel Tower, shoot from its mouth every few weeks, flowing in red-hot streams into the surrounding valleys. There have been 13 eruptions since the beginning of February.
Etna is considered the most heavily studied volcano in the world, and it is thoroughly wired with sensors, but it is also the world's most unpredictable volcano. In addition to lava, Etna spits out vast amounts of data — several gigabytes a day, coming from magnetic field sensors, GPS altimeters and seismic sensors. Despite this wealth of data, Etna still poses a conundrum to scientists.
“The eruptions in recent weeks have been UNUSUALLY FIERCE and explosive. There have been lava fountain events in the past, but RARELY IN SUCH RAPID SUCCESSION. This time, the range of ash fall is much wider than usual."
The mountain is located at precisely the spot where the African and European tectonic plates rub against each other like two giant ice floes. At this plate margin, lava with low viscosity flows upward from a depth of 30 kilometers into a reservoir of magma two kilometers beneath the summit. “The stream of magma doesn’t move uniformly, but in spurts, vibrating as if it were in a hydraulic pump. This makes Etna so unpredictable.” In 1972, using seismic sensors, a scientist discovered a “pulse rate” of sorts in the stream of magma, which is forced through the vent at a rate of 72 beats per minute — coincidentally, at a rate similar to that of the human heartbeat.

TROPICAL STORMS -

In the Eastern Pacific -
Remnants of Barbara were located about 25 mi (40 km) NNW of Coatzacoalcos, Mexico. The remnants of Barbara are expected to produce additional rainfall amounts of 3 to 5 inches across portions of southeastern Mexico, bringing storm totals in excess of 25 inches. These rains could cause life-threatening flash floods and mud slides.

Barbara, weakened to a tropical storm, kills 2 people - Tropical storm Barbara weakened to a depression as it crossed southern Mexico early on Thursday headed toward the Gulf of Mexico, with warnings lifted as wind speeds dropped. A 61-year-old man from Colorado died while surfing at Playa Azul.

A storm with two names: Will Pacific Barbara morph into Atlantic Andrea? - Barbara, the second named storm in the East Pacific this year, strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane just prior to making landfall on Wednesday afternoon near Tonalá in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico. It is just now re-emerging over water, this time in the Gulf of Mexico.
As of 11 a.m. EDT on Thursday, it had weakened to a tropical depression with winds of 30 mph. Could it redevelop and reach storm intensity once more? Although it is poorly organized after a draining 15-hour trek over land, there is still a mid-level circulation and a few strong associated thunderstorms.
As for its future prospects, conditions in the Bay of Campeche are marginal for development. Although water temperatures are plenty warm, upper-level winds are quite strong. Further north toward the central Gulf, the wind shear is outright hostile.
In the unlikely event that it does manage to reform, it would start over with Atlantic numbering and naming. In other words, it would lose its Barbara heritage and become tropical depression 1 and then tropical storm Andrea. Steering winds are weak, and the storm or its remnants would drift slowly north or west near the Mexican coast.
It’s quite RARE to have a tropical cyclone move from the East Pacific to the Atlantic and be a named storm in both basins. In mid-October 1923, the 6th named Atlantic storm made such a Pacific to Atlantic crossing. Its slightly less rare to have the opposite occur. In either case, the storm names changes when a storm crosses basins. There is no Barbara in the 2013 Atlantic list, so the Pacific-born storm would require a new name from the Atlantic list.
Saturday is the first official day of the Atlantic hurricane season and the first few names on the list are Andrea, Barry, and Chantal. As of now, the basin looks quiet for the foreseeable future, with the exception of the disturbance in the Bay of Campeche.

SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -

Weather going from bad to worse says insurance boss in Canada. The president of the Insurance Bureau of Canada is offering a gloomy forecast of more extreme weather in the years to come and is urging municipalities to fix crumbling storm-water infrastructure to prepare.

River ice jam that led to Alaska flooding churns - A colossal river ice jam that caused major flooding in a remote Alaska town was starting to churn Wednesday as water finally chewed ice chunks away from the stubborn, frozen mass after most of the residents were forced to flee from the rising water.
An aerial survey Wednesday afternoon revealed chunks of ice have broken off at the front of the 30-mile ice jam on the Yukon River. That means the jam will move soon and waters will begin to recede in the waterlogged town of Galena, 20 miles upriver. Several hundred people are estimated to have fled the community of Galena where the river ice jam has caused major flooding, sending water washing over roads and submerging buildings.
The damage has left the town without power, fresh water and cell phone reception. The flooding lifted homes off foundations and has threatened to break a dike protecting the airport, virtually the only dry spot left in the community of 500 where floodwaters washed out roads and submerged homes. In a place where spring flooding is nothing new, many homes are built on stilts, but the fast rising water reached them, too. There are no reports of injuries.
The disaster has left people feeling traumatized and vulnerable. "We didn't have any idea how vast the flood was going to be." Now that the water is trying to push through the jam, conditions could change quickly. When the jam breaks, the downriver community of Koyukuk will be at risk of flooding. In an earlier flight Wednesday, the ice was locked firmly in place, despite 80 degree temperatures. The hot weather is expected to last a couple days before cooling slightly.

Flooding has forced hundreds of people to evacuate from their homes in eastern Norway. The weather has been unsettled across the region over recent weeks, and in just the last couple of days the rain has turned very heavy.
Lillehammer reported 64mm of rain on Wednesday, which is more than is expected in the entire month. Melting snow has also added to the problems. On 18 and 19 May, the temperatures in Lillehammer soared to 29C. In the surrounding mountains, this sudden rise in temperature caused the snow to suddenly melt. As the water poured down the mountainside, some of the rivers burst their banks. One of the worst hit towns was Kvam, which is situated along the Gudbrandsdalslagen River. Diggers were being used to try and alter the path of the flood water, but work had to be abandoned because the conditions became too hazardous. 250 people had to be evacuated from the town.
The saturated ground also triggered several landslides. One in Nesbyen, Buskerud County, was 20 meters wide. The flooding and landslides forced dozens of roads and two major railway lines to shut, but fortunately there have been no reported injuries.

SPACE WEATHER -

ASTEROID MOON DISCOVERED - Radar images of approaching asteroid 1998 QE2 show that it is a binary system. The 2.7 km wide primary is circled by a smaller 600 meter satellite. The preliminary estimate for the size of the asteroid's satellite is approximately 600 meters wide. The asteroid itself is approximately 2.7 kilometers in diameter and has a rotation period of less than four hours.
In the near-Earth population, about 16 percent of asteroids that are about 200 meters or larger are binary or triple systems Also revealed in the radar imagery of 1998 QE2 are several dark surface features that suggest large concavities.
The closest approach of the asteroid occurs on May 31 at 1:59 p.m. Pacific (4:59 p.m. Eastern / 20:59 UTC), when the asteroid will get no closer than about 5.8 million kilometers, or about 15 times the distance between Earth and the Moon. This is the closest approach the asteroid will make to Earth for at least the next two centuries. (satellite images)

HEALTH THREATS -

RECALLS & ALERTS
FRUIT TREASURE of CHULA VISTA, CA is recalling fresh THAI PEPPERS, because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

SOLAR WIND STORM - For the third day in a row, a remarkably fast (600 km/s - 700 km/s) stream of solar wind is blowing around Earth. This is causing magnetic unrest around the poles as well as elevated levels of high-energy electrons in Earth orbit. NOAA cautions satellite operators that "satellite systems may experience significant charging" in response to accumulated electrons.

**The best argument against democracy
is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.**
Winston Churchill


LARGEST QUAKES -

Live Seismograms - Worldwide (update every 30 minutes)

This morning -
None 5.0 or higher.

Yesterday -
5/28/13 -
5.3 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.1 NEAR EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.3 NEAR EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.0 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.1 FIJI REGION
5.0 OFF E. COAST OF N. ISLAND, NEW ZEALAND
5.2 GEORGIA (SAK'ART'VELO)

5/27/13 -
5.0 SOUTH OF JAVA, INDONESIA
5.5 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.3 NEW IRELAND REGION, P.N.G.
5.7 PANAMA-COSTA RICA BORDER REGION
5.8 OWEN FRACTURE ZONE REGION

5/26/13 -
5.0 KALIMANTAN, INDONESIA
5.0 NORTHERN ALGERIA
5.0 SOUTHEAST OF EASTER ISLAND
5.8 EASTERN UZBEKISTAN

5/25/13 -
5.5 KEPULAUAN BARAT DAYA, INDONESIA
5.0 WEST OF MACQUARIE ISLAND
5.2 SOUTH OF PANAMA
5.1 WEST OF MACQUARIE ISLAND
5.0 FIJI REGION
5.3 SOUTHERN PERU

5/24/13 -
5.0 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.3 EASTERN UZBEKISTAN
5.2 SOUTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
6.0 SOUTH OF TONGA
5.0 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
6.7 SEA OF OKHOTSK
8.3 SEA OF OKHOTSK
5.7 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA (broke dishes and shook mirrors off walls)
5.3 MACQUARIE ISLAND REGION

Friday's Far East quake felt 7000km away in Moscow - A massive 8.3 earthquake deep under the sea in Russia's Far East has been felt in cities including Moscow, 7000 kilometres west of the epicentre, but a tsunami warning was called off for the Pacific Sakhalin region.
"There were repercussions of the quake in Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow and Europe, in particular Romania. PRACTICALLY THE WHOLE CONTINENT SHOOK." However, there were no reports of casualties following the quake. The epicentre was in the Sea of Okhotsk, east of the Russian coast and north of Japan. The earthquake originated 600 kilometres under the sea bed and with the tremors so far down, they have the potential to spread quite far.
Russian news agencies reported that residents of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on the Kamchatka peninsula in the Okhotsk Sea felt the tremors for about five minutes. Residents ran out of the buildings. Schoolchildren were evacuated. Tremors were felt in Moscow, prompting some people to evacuate from buildings across the city. Tremors are EXTREMELY RARE in Moscow, the last recorded instance was in the 1977. Russian news agencies also cited eyewitnesses reporting strong tremors across Siberia.

Northern California 5.7 quake was a curiosity for seismologists - Felt 'along an UNUSUAL DISTANCE.' The quake was followed by four dozen aftershocks. The temblor occurred in a rugged section of Northern California that has not been studied as thoroughly as Southern California and the Bay Area and has less monitoring equipment. Experts said they were surprised the quake was felt over such a large area, and they plan to go to the region to investigate. It was the largest earthquake to shake California since 2008.
The quake centered near Greenville downed chimneys and sent items tumbling from grocery store shelves and downed chimneys when it hit shortly before 9 p.m. Thursday. It also ruptured a tank that supplies residential drinking water, leaving 300 people under a boil advisory. The quake struckabout 150 miles northeast of Sacramento.
Thursday's quake did occur in a zone with known active faults, including a series of faults that extend through the northern end of Lake Tahoe all the way to Oregon. But 5.7 is the STRONGEST MAGNITUDE RECORDED IN THE AREA. This mountainous eastern Sierra Nevada region, known for its lakes, rivers and national forests, has had about seven magnitude 4 earthquakes since the 1930s.
Scientists are still studying the intensity of Thursday's shaking and have moved seismographs there from more populated areas to monitor aftershocks. Within minutes of the first quake, more than 7,000 people reported feeling it, from across state borders into Oregon and Nevada and as far south as the San Francisco area. Officials in Susanville and Sacramento said the quake set off a number of home and car alarms and rattled windows. A resident said he felt a slow roll that lasted about 30 seconds.
The quake itself was not a huge surprise for Schwartz's USGS division, but "what was interesting was it was felt along an unusual distance. Earthquakes in different parts of the state are felt over different distances. We just haven't had that many examples of earthquakes in this part of the state, really, for comparison. There are more interesting questions now than we have answers for, at present."
More than four dozen aftershocks, ranging up to a magnitude 4.9 in an area of about 20 square miles, have been recorded since the first quake. These aftershocks look to be "fairly standard." Within the first week, there is a 20% chance that an earthquake larger than magnitude 5 will strike the area and a 5% to 10% chance a quake of a magnitude greater than 5.7. "A 5.7 is still a moderate-size earthquake, and earthquakes of that magnitude can occur really anywhere throughout the state. But it's large enough to generate interest and provide us some real info on how things work. We plan to keep looking at the sequence."

Australia - Slow slip quake moves Hawkes Bay further away from Australia. Wellington's BIGGEST EARTHQUAKE IN 150 YEARS is happening right now. The magnitude-7 equivalent quake, 40km deep, is a "slow-slip" event, when the movement of tectonic plates occurs over hours to months rather than seconds.

VOLCANOES -
Volcano Webcams

Chile, Argentina on red alert over Copahue volcano - The increased activity could lead to an eruption. people in two countries were evacuated Monday following a forecast that Copahue volcano in the Andes Cordillera mountain range is anticipated to erupt. More than 2,240 people, or 460 families, within a 25-kilometer (15.5-mile) radius, were evacuated on Monday. The volcano - located 310 miles south of capital Santiago, between Chile's Bio Bio region and Argentina's Neuquen province - has seen increasing seismic activity in recent weeks but has not yet erupted.

Gamkonora volcano (Indonesia) - Seismic swarm triggers eruption alert. Increased earthquake activity has triggered an eruption alert by VSI, who raised the volcano's status to 3 out of 4. Indonesian volcanologists reported that the degassing plume from the summit crater of the volcano has increased.

Two Volcanoes Currently Erupting in Alaska - Pavlof and Cleveland are currently erupting. Although their activity levels are low, more energetic explosions could happen without warning. Both volcanoes were relatively quiet Monday, but the Alaska Volcano Observatory has issued warnings stating that either or both could erupt in the weeks or months ahead, sending ash plumes into the atmosphere and possibly disrupting air traffic.
Pavlof has been erupting since May 13, with relatively low-energy lava fountaining and minor emissions of ash, steam, and gas. So far, volcanic ash from this eruption has reached as high as 22,000 feet (6,700 meters) above sea level, causing cancellations in regional airline flights and depositing a coating of ash onto local communities. Beneath the surface, Pavlof still shows signs of erupting -- albeit less violently than before.

Underwater volcano mapped in Southeast Alaska - The yet-to-be-named volcano differs from many on the ocean floor. Its top was likely above the water when it last erupted some 10,000 years ago.

Explosions at Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano produce ash columns - Scientists recorded two moderate explosions Saturday morning at Mexico's Popocatepetl that sent columns of gas and ash up to 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) above the crater. The region is still on yellow phase three alert, the third-highest warning on the seven-step scale.

TROPICAL STORMS -

In the Eastern Pacific -
Tropical Storm Barbara was located 145 mi (230 km) SSW of Salina Cruz, Mexico. A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Lagunas de Chacahua to Boca de Pijijiapan, Mexico. Additional strengthening is forecast before Barbara reaches the coast of Mexico today.

'Below-normal' cyclone season forecast for central Pacific - The Central Pacific Hurricane Centre says the central Pacific basin is likely to have a below-normal hurricane season with one to three cyclones. For 2013 in the northern hemisphere, there is a 70 per cent chance of a below-normal season.

Hurricane center to refine alerts - The National Hurricane Center plans to expand the Tropical Weather Outlook of potential storm-producing weather to a five-day outlook. The Tropical Weather Outlook issued by the National Hurricane Center traditionally assesses whether weather systems might turn into a tropical cyclone development "during the 48 hours." "We hope to expand that 48 hours to five days."

Active hurricane season ahead, forecasters say - Since 2000, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's tropical storm and hurricane forecasts have been more right than wrong, but not by much: the NOAA's prediction has been accurate in seven out of the past 13 years.

SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -

3 dead, 200+ rescued after severe floods swamp San Antonio, Texas - The wet weather plaguing many parts of the U.S. over the holiday weekend turned fatal in sodden San Antonio. One person is dead, another is missing and nearly a hundred more have been rescued as heavy rain has pummeled the Texas city, causing flash flooding.
The majority of rescues were people trapped in their vehicles in low-lying areas of the city. A 29-year-old woman who was trapped in her vehicle and tried to escape the rising water by climbing onto the car’s roof was washed away, and her body was found down the road against a fence. A man who had been trapped in his vehicle is unaccounted for.
San Antonio received 12.16 inches of rain in the 24 hours ending at 11 a.m. Central Time on Saturday. That is just shy of the 24-hour record for the city of 13.35 inches in October 1998. 9.87 inches of that came Saturday morning alone, the nearly ten inches drenching them in eight hours.

Illinois - On Tuesday, one person was injured and around 70 trailers were damaged in Springfield, Illinois, when straight line winds of up to 80 mph whipped the area.

Southaven, Mississppi declared a state of emergency after floods inundated homes. Some areas received nearly five inches of rainfall Tuesday evening (5/21), which is MORE THAN A MONTH'S WORTH OF RAINFALL.

CLIMATE CHANGE -

Centuries-old frozen plants revived - Plants that were frozen during the "Little Ice Age" centuries ago have been observed sprouting new growth, scientists say. Samples of 400-year-old plants known as bryophytes have flourished under laboratory conditions. Researchers say this back-from-the-dead trick has implications for how ecosystems recover from the planet's cyclic long periods of ice coverage.
High in the Canadian Arctic, the glaciers in the region have been receding at rates that have sharply accelerated since 2004, at about 3-4m per year. That is exposing land that has not seen light of day since the so-called Little Ice Age, a widespread climatic cooling that ran roughly from AD 1550 to AD 1850. "We ended up walking along the edge of the glacier margin and we saw these huge populations coming out from underneath the glacier that seemed to have a greenish tint."
Bryophytes are different from the land plants that we know best, in that they do not have vascular tissue that helps pump fluids around different parts of the organism. They can survive being completely desiccated in long Arctic winters, returning to growth in warmer times, but scientists were surprised by an emergence of bryophytes that had been buried under ice for so long.
"When we looked at them in detail and brought them to the lab, I could see some of the stems actually had new growth of green lateral branches, and that said to me that these guys are regenerating in the field, and that blew my mind. If you think of ice sheets covering the landscape, we've always thought that plants have to come in from refugia around the margins of an ice system, never considering land plants as coming out from underneath a glacier."
But the retreating ice at Sverdrup Pass, where the Teardrop Glacier is located, is uncovering an array of life, including cyanobacteria and green terrestrial algae. Many of the species spotted there are entirely new to science. "It's a whole world of what's coming out from underneath the glaciers that really needs to be studied. The glaciers are disappearing pretty fast - they're going to expose all this terrestrial vegetation, and that's going to have a big impact."

HEALTH THREATS -

Researchers find easy development of H7N9 Tamiflu resistance - Antiviral drugs such as oseltamivir (Tamiflu) are useful for treating H7N9 influenza infections, but there are worrisome signs that resistance can easily develop when patients take the drug, which can lead to a poor prognosis, researchers from China and Hong Kong reported.
Study of H7N9 cases shows extent of severe disease - Researchers from China published a detailed clinical analysis of 111 patients sickened in the country's H7N9 influenza outbreak that showed how severe patients' illnesses have been, with 77% admitted to intensive care units.

New MERS-CoV case reported as puzzles persist - Saudi Arabia reported that a foreigner died yesterday of a MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) infection, while health officials in Jordan offered new details -- some of them puzzling -- about a hospital cluster of cases that occurred there in April 2012.
Saudi Arabia reports 5 more MERS-CoV cases - Saudi Arabia reported that five more people have been infected with the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), as if to underline the warning from the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) that the novel virus is a global threat.

RECALLS & ALERTS
Salmolux of Federal Way, WA is recalling its cold smoked salmon products because it has the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

Friday, May 24, 2013

8.2 earthquake in the Sea of Okhotsk, no tsunami expected. The quake hit 373 miles below the surface in the Sea of Okhotsk. The epicenter is 223 miles west southwest of Esso, Russia.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center was quick to report that no tsunami was expected, posting this message on their website: BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA A DESTRUCTIVE PACIFIC-WIDE TSUNAMI IS NOT EXPECTED AND THERE IS NO TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII.
The quake was located along the Kuril-Kamchatka arc, which is considered one of the most seismically active regions in the world. It extends approximately 1,304 miles from Hokkaido, Japan, along the Kuril Islands and the Pacific coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula to its intersection with the Aleutian arc near the Commander Islands, Russia.
It has been a busy 24 hours in the Pacific, seismically speaking. There was a magnitude 7.4 quake and later a 6.3 near Tonga. Then a 5.7 quake struck 11km west northwest of Greenville, California. No tsunamis were generated in any of the events.

Russia to evacuate Arctic station over melting ice - A Russian drifting Arctic research station is to be evacuated because the ice field around it is melting, the environment ministry in Moscow reports. The ministry has ordered an evacuation plan to be drawn up within three days for North Pole 40 and its staff of 16. It is sending a nuclear-powered icebreaker to help move the station, located near Canada's economic zone.
Arctic ice melted at record speed in 2012, one of the warmest years on record. The Russian ministry said the "ABNORMAL DEVELOPMENT OF NATURAL PROCESSES" had endangered the lives of staff and the work of the station. North Pole 40 went into operation on 1 October, replacing another station which had existed for just under two years. It monitors the ocean environment and pollution, as well as acting as a weather station and conducting experiments. It will be relocated to Bolshevik Island in the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago.

**A bargain is something you don’t need
at a price you can’t resist.**
Franklin Jones

I'm taking a mini-vacation from the webpage, so there will be no update on Sunday through Tuesday this week. Have a Happy Memorial Day weekend!


LARGEST QUAKES -

Live Seismograms - Worldwide (update every 30 minutes)

This morning -
8.2 SEA OF OKHOTSK
5.7 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA (broke dishes and shook mirrors off walls)
5.0 SOUTH OF FIJI ISLANDS
5.8 SOUTH INDIAN OCEAN
5.4 MACQUARIE ISLAND REGION

Yesterday -
5/23/13 -
5.0 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5.0 SOUTHERN IRAN
5.0 TONGA
6.3 TONGA
7.4 SOUTH OF FIJI ISLANDS
5.0 TARAPACA, CHILE

Tonga - A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck in the sea 177 miles southwest of Tonga's capital Nuku'alofa on Thursday. The quake was recorded at a depth of 106 miles and struck at 1719 GMT.

VOLCANOES -
Volcano Webcams

Costa Rica Volcano Eruption Creates Difficulties For Neighboring Communities - March 21 was a scary morning for the neighbors of the rural town of Turrialba, Costa Rica. Famous for its natural attractions, Costa Rica has a number of fiery mountains. But most of them are at a dormant state, meaning that the likelihood of any type of volcanic activity is close to none. This is not the case for the volcano on the southern side of Costa Rica. The Turrialba Volcano has been reported to have increasing activity since 2001. Nevertheless, the local community of the quiet town of Turrialba did not expect the events that occurred at 8:52 AM.
The Turrialba Volcano is one of the largest volcanoes in Costa Rica. Because of the increase in gaseous excretion from the volcano, even hikers that try to see the beauty of the area are limited to only fifteen minutes on the top. The last time when there was unexpected activity from the Turrialba Volcano was 2012. But this was no more than some gaseous eruption. The truly frightening eruption happened in 2010. On that occasion, the ashes that were released forced two neighboring villages to evacuate the area.
This latest eruption that took place yesterday has increased the size of two gaps by about 12 to 15 feet. These gaps were made on the previously mentioned eruptions of 2010 and 2012. The eruption lasted for about three hours and the fiery mountain expelled a large amount of ash and gases that can be very toxic. But fortunately, there is no report of any magma coming out of the volcano. Although there is no sign that neither the gases or ashes reached neighboring villages, the local population has decided to take preventive measures immediately.
Many of the businesses closer to the volcano have decided to close their doors until they feel more secure. At this time, smoke is still coming out from the fumaroles of the volcano. And the National Commission of Emergencies has closed many of the local schools until further notice. The National Seismologic Network fears that volcanic activity might increase in the following weeks.

TROPICAL STORMS -

No current tropical storms.

US weather forecasters have predicted an UNUSUALLY ACTIVE Atlantic hurricane season of seven to 11 hurricanes. There is a 70% chance 13-20 named storms will form, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.

SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -

Cleanup efforts in the Oklahoma community smashed by a huge tornado have been hampered by thunderstorms, as the first victim's funeral was held. Amid heavy rain and hail, a flash flood alert was issued for the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, where 24 people died, including 10 children. Monday's storm is estimated to have wreaked over $2 billion (£1.3bn) in damage.
The recovery effort is now beginning to accelerate after all of the missing people were accounted for. Residents have been picking through piles of debris where their homes once stood, after being formally allowed on Wednesday afternoon back into the area that was battered by the top-of-the-scale tornado. Whole neighbourhoods in Moore, an Oklahoma City suburb of 56,000 people, were flattened by the twister, which packed winds of at least 200mph (320km/h). Officials estimate 13,000 homes were damaged or destroyed and 33,000 people affected.
A number of residents have been injured while sifting through the wreckage of their homes. "Now we are getting numerous calls for things such as gas leaks, electrical shocks, carbon monoxide leaks, nails being stepped on, that kind of thing." Despite harsh storms, weather officials said no new tornadoes had been expected on Thursday.
Among the destroyed buildings in the city are Moore Medical Center and two primary schools. Twenty-two people survived by crowding into a bank vault at a local credit union as the rest of the building was destroyed around them.. Six students suffocated after being buried under a mass of bricks, steel and other materials as the Plaza Towers Elementary School collapsed. A seventh Plaza Towers student, a seven-year-old boy, was killed instantly as an object fell on the back of his neck.
On Wednesday, the Moore Mayor said he would propose an ordinance in the next few days to require all new homes to have storm shelters. Some Moore residents were already vowing to rebuild - with storm shelters. Federal grants are already available to help residents subsidise the costs of safe rooms and shelters, although delays have reportedly held up hundreds of them. (photos)

HEAVY SNOW / EXTREME COLD -

Alaska - On Friday, the 17th, Anchorage SET A NEW RECORD FOR THE LONGEST SNOW SEASON ON RECORD, at 232 days. The National Weather Service measured 2/10ths of an inch just after 9 p.m. Friday and 1/10th Saturday morning – breaking the old record of 230 days set in 1981-1982.
Anchorage police responded to 22 crashes, 4 with injuries and 37 vehicles in distress between midnight and noon Saturday. Other parts of the city had much higher amounts of snow, however official measurements must be consistent and observed at the Sand Lake forecast office. The recent snowfall also BROKE THE DAILY RECORD FOR LIQUID PRECIPITATIONS, LOWEST MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE for May 17, and a HOST OF OTHER RECORDS.

EXTREME HEAT & DROUGHT / WILDFIRES / CLIMATE CHANGE -

Earthquakes, volcanoes and movement of the Earth's tectonic plates influence decline in coral habitat more than short-term environmental changes, a new study by Australian researchers has found. The study reveals a major role for long-term geological processes.

HEALTH THREATS -

Mystery respiratory illness infects 7, kills 2 in Alabama - All of the victims have shown signs of fever, cough and shortness of breath, but the Alabama Department of Public Health hasn’t been able to identify the disease. Officials collected samples from all of the victims and sent them to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, but results aren’t available yet. One of the test samples tested positive for H1N1 influenza A, but officials aren’t sure if that’s what caused the illness.
“At this point it’s too early to tell. That’s why we called it a respiratory illness of unknown origin.” None of the victims had travelled – or been in contact with someone who’d travelled – outside the country recently, which would have put them at risk for several unfamiliar diseases.
In recent months, a new strain of Coronavirus surfaced in several countries, including France, the UK and Saudi Arabia, killing 18 and infecting another 15. And there’s been recent evidence that H7N9, a strain of the bird flu has killed 17 and infected 82 in China, might spread person-to-person, though Alabama officials said there was no evidence linking the infections to H7N9.
UPDATE - Unusual pathogens ruled out in Alabama illness cluster. Test results on a cluster of Alabama patients hospitalized with similar respiratory symptoms indicated no unusual pathogens but instead a variety of common respiratory viruses and bacteria, a combination of influenza A, rhinovirus, and bacterial pneumonia, state health officials announced Thursday.

H7N9 shows limited aerosol transmission in ferrets - The first study in animals so far to test the new H7N9 virus transmits found that it can spread by the airborne route in ferrets, but not very efficiently.

World Health Organization officials and others at the World Health Assembly complained Thursday that restrictions on the use of virus samples are delaying the investigation of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Oklahoma tornado damage could top 2 billion dollars, the Oklahoma Insurance Department warns, although many renters may have no insurance cover. As many as 13,000 homes were damaged or destroyed in Monday's tornado, and 33,000 people have been affected. The damage could be worse than that caused by the tornado in Joplin, Missouri, in 2011. That event killed 161 people and led to at least $2 billion in insured losses.
In Oklahoma, 2,705 claims have been filed so far but are likely to rise. The tornado in Moore, Oklahoma was 17 miles (27km) long and 1.3 miles wide and has left at least 24 people dead. "The impact of this event from a property damage standpoint would be similar to Joplin", as the two tornadoes were "very comparable in scope".
Although 98% of US homeowners have home insurance, only about 70% of those who rent have insurance. "There is far too large a percentage nationally in the US of people who rent but do not get renters insurance." Many are under the misunderstanding that they are covered by their landlords or apartment complexes. Some small businesses may not have insurance either. "We found after 9/11 that was the case with a lot of small businesses. "With the economy [at the moment] a lot of companies look to reinvest with the business rather than purchase the insurance."
"To totally rebuild a community, probably you're talking two years. You've got to get your claims adjustors in there, you've got to get rid of all the debris, grading the area, think about how you're going to rebuild again, are you going to rebuild with a basement?" The process could be slowed down because of a shortage of supplies and builders in the aftermath of a tornado, but typically what happens is an area will be rebuilt better and stronger.
The US is in the midst of "THE MOST EXPENSIVE PERIOD IN RECORDED HISTORY FOR THUNDERSTORM EVENTS, which include damage from tornadoes". Over the past five years, insurers paid some $75 billion to victims of these events.

**Money can’t buy love, but it improves your bargaining position.**
Christopher Marlowe


LARGEST QUAKES -

Live Seismograms - Worldwide (update every 30 minutes)

This morning -
5.0 TARAPACA, CHILE

Yesterday -
5/22/13 -
5.0 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.4 TONGA
5.2 NEAR EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA

Seismic fault's temperature implies deadly Japan earthquake involved low friction - Researchers have come a step closer to understanding how and why the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan in 2011 were so surprisingly big.were so surprisingly big. Temperature sensors installed in the fault last year now show that friction between the rocks during the quake was an order of magnitude smaller than previously assumed.
The magnitude-9 Tohoku earthquake shocked the research community by setting a record for the greatest amount of slip ever seen in a fault: some 40–80 metres. No one could explain how or why this happened. In late 2011, a group of researchers mounted a ‘rapid response’ effort to investigate. In the spring of 2012, they managed to install a suite of 55 temperature sensors more than 850 metres into the fault, which itself lies under 6,900 metres of water.
Creating an observatory at those depths was in itself a record-breaking achievement. The project faced many challenges: bad weather delayed the installation, shifts in the fault could have crushed the instruments and an earthquake in December could have buried the observatory with landslides. But the team managed to retrieve their sensors on 26 April.
“Amazingly, it seems like the experiment might have actually worked." The temperature measures show how heat dissipated from the fault over time, enabling the researchers to extrapolate back to the moment of the earthquake and to see how much frictional heat was generated during the shift. From this they calculated the coefficient of friction for the fault, and found it to be an order of magnitude lower than the conventional value that has been used since the 1970s. That lower number means less friction.
The result supports the theory that the friction during an earthquake can be dramatically different from the friction during quiet times, perhaps because water in clays is heated by a quake’s shaking, then expands and jacks open the fault. There are hints that this finding could be generalized to other faults. The result is consistent with other experiments being conducted to try to recreate the pressure and temperature conditions of this fault in the lab.

VOLCANOES -
Volcano Webcams

Financial blow for Alaskan volcano monitoring - Volcanologists who monitor eruptions of Alaskan volcanoes are scrambling to cope with US federal budget cuts — even as the Pavlof volcano, 1,000 kilometres southwest of Alaska's biggest city, Anchorage, spouts a towering ash plume that is threatening aviation routes.

Costa Rica - Turrialba Volcano spits massive ash and gas trail. At 5 a.m. Tuesday morning, the Turrialba Volcano, located east of the province of Cartago, began to spew gas and ash from two crater openings, with four-kilometer high ash cloud developing. Residents from as far away as Vázquez de Coronado, Ipís de Goicoechea and Moravia reported the presence of ash on farmland, vehicles, lawns and property following the eruption. The ash could pose a serious hazard to more than 1,000 nearby dairy cows. (video)

TROPICAL STORMS -

No current tropical storms.

SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -

A meteorologist predicts most of Australia is in for an UNUSUALLY WET WINTER. After a hot, dry start to the year, Australia is in for a drenching over the next three months, a weather forecaster says.
A pattern of warm seas off the west coast of Indonesia and cool seas off the east coast of Africa - known as a negative Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) - will likely make for a wet winter for most of the country. "A negative IOD is the Indian Ocean's version of a La Nina and similarly produces above average rain and an increased chance of flooding. This week's rain is already THE HEAVIEST IN DECADES FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR across parts of central and northern Australia."
Cygnet Bay, in the Kimberley, and Curtin Springs, in the Northern Territory, had experienced their WETTEST MONTHS OF MAY ON RECORD. "We are looking at a healthy soaking across inland regions where drought has re-emerged over the past few months." A negative IOD was already emerging and had fuelled the wet across the country this week.
The Bureau of Meteorology released its seasonal climate outlook earlier this week. It stated the IOD was currently neutral but four out of five outlook models suggested a negative IOD would develop during the southern winter-spring period.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

The rescue effort after the Oklahoma twister that killed 24 people nears an end, as it emerges the storm was more powerful than first thought. Rescue workers are combing the ruins left by the gigantic tornado that killed two dozen people in Oklahoma on Monday. Officials say the search for survivors is nearly over as efforts turn towards recovery. The Fire chief said he was "98% sure" there were no more survivors or bodies to recover from the rubble.
According to the fire chief, no survivors or bodies have been found since Monday night. He said the goal was to conduct three searches of each location just to be sure. Emergency crews have had trouble navigating the devastated neighbourhoods because there were no street signs remaining. Some used mobile phones and GPS to navigate. Heavy-lifting equipment was deployed under bright floodlights as the operation continued overnight and throughout Tuesday. Rescuers braved the danger of electrocution and fire from downed power lines, as well as ruptured natural gas lines.
The storm, which also killed nine children, has meanwhile been upgraded to to EF-5, the most powerful level of twister. Packing winds of at least 200mph (320km/h), the tornado razed a swathe of the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore. The death toll may rise above 24 as some bodies could have been taken directly to funeral homes. The body count was revised down from 51 after the state medical examiner said some victims may have been counted twice in the confusion.
The National Weather Service uses the word "incredible'' to describe the force of such a storm. The NWS said the twister's path was 17 miles long and 1.3 miles wide. For about 45 minutes on Monday afternoon, the storm battered the suburb of about 55,000 people. Emergency workers pulled more than 100 survivors from the rubble of homes, schools and a hospital, while 237 people were known to have been injured.
Seven of the nine children killed in the tornado died at Plaza Towers Elementary, where the storm ripped off the roof and knocked down walls as students and teachers cowered in hallways and bathrooms. Officials said they were still trying to account for a handful of children not found at the schools who may have gone home early with their parents. That primary school and one other hit by the storm, Briarwood Elementary, did not have safe-rooms that protect against tornadoes. More than 100 schools in Oklahoma had been provided with state-funded safe rooms, but not those two.
Residents were given 16 minutes' warning before the tornado touched down - officials said such advisories were usually issued eight to 10 minutes ahead of a twister. Oklahoma's insurance commissioner said the cost of the storm would exceed that of the 2011 tornado in Joplin, Missouri, that killed 158 people. The Joplin twister caused $3bn (£2bn) in damage.
The storm left a tangle of ruined buildings, piles of broken wood, overturned and crushed cars. Many houses in the area are built on hard ground without basements, so many residents had struggled to find shelter. Oklahoma City lies inside the so-called Tornado Alley stretching from South Dakota to central Texas, an area particularly vulnerable to storms. The city of Moore was hit by a severe tornado in May 1999, which had the highest winds ever recorded on Earth, over 310mph.
Photos

**I discovered I scream the same way whether I’m
about to be devoured by a great white shark
or if a piece of seaweed touches my foot.**
Axel Rose


LARGEST QUAKES -

Live Seismograms - Worldwide (update every 30 minutes)

This morning -
None 5.0 or higher.

Yesterday -
5/21/13 -
5.8 CENTRAL PERU
5.2 SOUTHERN PERU
5.3 OFF COAST OF AISEN, CHILE
5.0 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, P.N.G.
5.3 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.0 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.3 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.2 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
6.1 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.6 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.0 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.4 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.2 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.1 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.8 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.8 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
6.0 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.2 HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
5.5 SOUTHWESTERN RYUKYU ISL., JAPAN
5.0 OFF EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN

5/20/13 -
5.0 MINAHASA, SULAWESI, INDONESIA
5.6 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.3 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.1 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.0 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.6 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.0 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.3 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
6.4 OFF COAST OF AISEN, CHILE

VOLCANOES -
Volcano Webcams

The Popocatepetl volcano near Mexico City is still rumbling. - Mexico's National Disaster Prevention Center says seismic activity shook the area early Sunday and the mountain also emitted gas, ash and glowing-hot rocks. 'Popo' has been especially active in the past three weeks which prompted the authorities to raise the alarm level to 'yellow,' a step before a 'red' alert, under which residents living nearby would have to be evacuated.

Eruption of Alaska volcano prompts cancellations of some area commuter, cargo flights - The eruption that started last week at Pavlof, at the far western end of the Alaska Peninsula, is still going strong. The volcano eruption is prompting regional airlines to cancel flights to nearby communities, including a town that reported traces of fallen ash. Pavlof released ash plumes as high as 22,000 feet over the weekend. The lava flows and fountains are continuing, with steam-and-ash plumes reported to be reaching 5-6 km (20,000+ feet).

TROPICAL STORMS -

No current tropical storms.

The killer cyclone that struck Bangladesh six days ago damaged the homes of tens of thousands of people and destroyed their crops, aid groups said, warning that many coastal communities were still in need. Cyclone Mahasen slammed into Bangladesh's low-lying southern coast late Thursday, also striking parts of Myanmar. Downgraded to a tropical storm as winds weakened and eventually fizzled over India, the storm still killed a reported 45 people.

Weird Gravity Waves Pulse From a Tropical Cyclone - Last Monday, May 13, the Suomi NPP satellite captured a fascinating image of Tropical Cyclone Mahasen as it moved northeast over the Bay of Bengal. The clouds of the storm itself weren’t optically visible in the darkness of a nearly new Moon, but lightning flashes within it were, as well as the eerie ripples of atmospheric gravity waves spreading outwards from its center.
Gravity waves are the oscillations of air parcels by the lifting force of bouyancy and the restoring force of gravity. These waves propagate vertically as well as horizontally, and actively transport energy and momentum from the troposphere to the middle and upper atmosphere. Gravity waves are caused by a variety of sources, including the passage of wind across terrestrial landforms, interaction at the velocity shear of the polar jet stream and radiation incident from space. They are found to affect atmospheric tides in the middle atmosphere and terrestrial weather in the lower atmosphere.
Atmospheric gravity waves aren’t to be confused with gravitational waves in space, which are created by very dense, massive objects (like white dwarf stars or black holes) orbiting each other closely. When the image was captured, Tropical Cyclone Mahasen was moving north through the Indian Ocean along a track that placed landfall along the Bangladesh coast. As it moved off the coast of India, Suomi’s VIIRS Day-Night Band was able to resolve lightning flashes towards the center of the storm, along with mesopheric gravity waves emanating outwards like ripples in a pond. Such gravity waves are of particular interest to air traffic controllers so assist in identifying areas of turbulence.
Over the course of the next few days Mahasen weakened into a deep depression, making landfall as a tropical storm on Bangladesh on May 16. In preparation for the storm large-scale evacuations were recommended for parts of Myanmar; however, this resulted in the overcrowding of boats and several vessels capsized. Suomi is the first satellite specifically designed to collect data to improve short-term weather forecasts and increase understanding of long-term climate change.

SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -

Tornado Alley: Patterns without predictability - The enormous tornado that struck in Moore, Oklahoma, on Monday has added a chilling entry into the list of the deadliest tornadoes on record. The event has many recalling a record-breaking tornado that struck in precisely the same region in 1999, during which the fastest winds ever seen on the Earth's surface were recorded: over 500km/h (310mph).
Tornadoes remain the most viscerally terrifying example of extreme weather, combining an extraordinary capacity for damage with a stubborn unpredictability. Broadly, they arise in the same conditions that spawn the biggest thunderstorms. The geography and climatology in the U.S. interior provide for just this situation with great regularity; three-quarters of the tornadoes that happen on Earth happen in North America. A disproportionate number of those occur in a region in the nation's centre, widely known as "Tornado Alley".
It is a loosely defined area; the state of Texas gets on average the highest annual number of tornadoes, but Kansas, further north, gets the highest number of the more violent storms. In simplest terms, warm, wet air blowing in from the Gulf of Mexico meets cold, dry air coming from the massive Rocky Mountain range, hemmed in by air masses on the eastern part of the country. That frequently creates the conditions for grand thunderstorms.
What is evident only in the light of years' worth of data is that there are some patterns in tornado occurrence. Monday's tornado came during the annual peak of tornado activity in the region; according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , tornado occurrences in the last 30 years strongly peak in the months of May and June. Curiously, they also peak in time of day, tending to occur more often in late afternoon hours (Monday's event occurred at a time on the rising edge of this peak, at about 15:00 local time).
There are more tornadoes in total being recorded in recent years, mainly due to better reporting and fewer truly unpopulated areas where they would go unseen. Yet there is no indication that the frequency of large tornadoes is increasing. While 2011 saw the largest number of storms above EF1 among records dating back to 1954, 2012 was among the lowest. And the average number of fatalities caused by tornadoes has been steadily declining since 1925 - before Monday's storm, only one of the 25 deadliest tornadoes occurred in the last 58 years, and most of that list stretches back further than a century.
Much of this can be attributed to better building codes and increasingly advanced warning systems in affected areas - the National Weather Service in Oklahoma issued a warning 16 minutes before the storm hit. But such warning systems can only give a rough indication of an area in which conditions are almost certain to spark tornadoes; what they cannot provide is a precise prediction of where a tornado will touch down.

HEAVY SNOW / EXTREME COLD -

U.K. Apples and pears shaping up to enjoy strong harvest - Last year's poor summer hit UK fruit growers, especially orchard owners, very hard, but UK fruit growers could enjoy a much improved harvest of apples and pears this year. The recent cold weather, a key part of a successful fruit harvest, could see fruit-filled branches in the autumn.
Poor weather conditions during 2012 saw British fruit yields down by up to 50%. However, the prolonged cold weather this year has not helped cereal growers, who face another tough year. An assessment suggested that the growing season was about EIGHT WEEKS LATE, but the recent warming has seen it reduce this deficit to about three to four weeks. "We are hopeful of a good harvest this year as long as this reasonable weather keeps up during flowering." The return of cold weather in some parts of the country, which have experienced ground frost, is not likely to jeopardise this.
But there would be concern if there was air frost (when the air temperature 1.25m above the ground fell to 0C (32F) or below). "We don't want an air frost, and we certainly do not want it falling beneath -2C. Kent, Worcestershire and Herefordshire are probably through this period now, so the crop should be set." "I would have thought they have got away with it because I do not remember hearing of any serious air frost in the past 14 days."
Apple trees are generally in blossom for about 14 days, during which time the flowers are pollinated - primarily by wild bees and hoverflies. Most varieties will not produce any apples unless they are pollinated, and pollinated with pollen from a different variety of apple tree so it is important that the trees are in flower at the same time.
A bumper harvest depended on a number of natural milestones being achieved over the course of 12 months. "We are looking for a good autumn that initiates plenty of flowers, so we want a sunny, dry autumn, and then we want a nice cold period during the winter. We have had plenty of cold this season. Then we want a good fortnight [during the spring] with no air frost when the blossom is out, it's pretty simple really."
Conditions last year were "absolutely diabolical" while apple trees were in flower. "And during the summer we would like some proper growing weather. Proper growing weather during May is some showers and warm nights, ideally double figure nights above 10C, and no drought during June, July and August."

STRANGE ANIMAL BEHAVIOR -

Anteater Gives Birth Without Mating, Zoo Officials Puzzled - A female anteater that gave birth despite the absence of a male partner at a zoo in Connecticut has zoo officials puzzled, offering a bizarre situation where likely explanations to the mystery are in short supply.
At Greenwich's LEO Zoological Conservation Center, a female giant anteater called Armani gave birth as planned last August. Because male anteaters are known to eat their young, Armani's mate, Alf, was removed from cohabitation for a period of several months. The story gets weird when last month, a zookeeper went into to Armani's holding area one morning and found that she had given birth to another baby. "The gestation period for anteaters is six months. Armani and Alf had not been back together long enough to do what they needed to do to put the cycle of life into gear a second time."
So how did it happen? "It is a bit of a mystery." But a possibility was suggested: delayed implantation. Sloths and armadillos, which belong to the same family as anteaters, have been observed with fertilized eggs remaining dormant in the uterus for some time, so it's possible Armani had the same thing happening. But not everybody believes that theory.
"When she gives birth, her entire uterus is going to clear out. Anything that's in her uterus, even another undeveloped embryo, would clear out," said a zookeeper and species survival plan coordinator for the North American population of giant anteaters at Reid Park Zoo in Tuscon, Ariona. In her opinion, the most likely scenario was that the two anteaters were able to mate, somehow.
"My guess is they thought they had him separated. We've seen incredible feats of breeding success. We've had animals breed through fences." The separated anteaters did share a fence line, but keepers didn't see how mating could have taken place between it. With nothing but speculation to go on, the mystery will likely never be solved.

HEALTH THREATS -

Coronavirus cases, deaths reported in Tunisia, Saudi Arabia - The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) has reached Tunisia, killing one man and infecting two of his relatives, while Saudi Arabia has reported another death and a new case since May 17.
WHO expert concerned guest workers could spread coronavirus - A World Health Organization (WHO) expert has expressed concern that guest workers in the Middle East could carry the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) to India and the Philippines.

RECALLS & ALERTS
- Galveston Shrimp Company has issued a precautionary voluntary recall of its pre-packaged Texas Gulf Shrimp due to foreign material found in a bag. The pre-packaged bags are shipped to HEB Stores. Customers who recently purchased pre-packaged Gulf Shrimp are encouraged to check their refrigerators and/or freezers.
- Eco-Cuisine of Boulder, Colorado is recalling lots of Brownie, Muffin & Cookie Mixes, Ground Beef Style Quick Mix, Sausage Style Quick Mix, English Scone Mix, and Basic Scone Mix, because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.

Monday, May 20, 2013

Deadly tornadoes ravage Oklahoma - A dangerous, half mile-wide tornado struck near Oklahoma City Sunday afternoon, part of an extreme weather system moving through the central U.S. and stretching from north Texas to Minnesota. At least one person is reported dead and 21 others injured in a series of tornadoes that have torn through the US state of Oklahoma. One of the tornadoes turned homes in a trailer park near Oklahoma City into splinters and rubble and sent frightened residents along a 100-mile corridor scurrying for cover. Twisters also hit Kansas and Iowa. Baseball-sized hail, wind gusts and tornadoes are threatening to pummel parts of the central Plains and Midwest again today.

No update on Tuesday this week

**Life’s disappointments are harder to take
if you don’t know any swear words.**


LARGEST QUAKES -

Live Seismograms - Worldwide (update every 30 minutes)

This morning -
6.8 OFF COAST OF AISEN, CHILE
5.6 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.0 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.3 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA

Yesterday -
5/19/13 -
5.0 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.2 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.1 NEAR EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.8 NEAR EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.0 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.1 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.1 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.1 NEAR EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.1 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.0 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.0 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.1 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
6.0 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.2 NEAR EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.0 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.1 NORTHERN ALGERIA
5.0 OFF EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN

Five hurt as 5.1 quake hits Algeria - The injured included two workers who fell from scaffolding when the quake hit, while another panicked and jumped from a window. Previously, on May 3, a quake damaged several buildings around Mostaganem city in western Algeria, causing no casualties. On May 21, 2003, nearly 3,000 people died and 10,000 were injured when an earthquake struck the coastal town of Boumerdes.

In Chenab valley in Jammu and Kashmir, people are scared to enter their houses due to frequent earthquakes. Since the May 1 earthquake that measured 5.9 on the richer scale, 30 aftershocks have hit this hilly region. The earthquake rendered buildings unsafe; 50,000 houses, schools damaged.

Since the powerful , Virginia-centered 2011 quake, more than 450 aftershocks have hit the area. The latest occurred Wednesday when a magnitude-2.3 quake struck about 6 miles south-southwest of Louisa. The survey says the area is within the central Virginia seismic zone, which has been identified for decades as an area of elevated earthquake risk.

VOLCANOES -
Volcano Webcams

Alaska's remote Pavlof Volcano was shooting lava hundreds of feet into the air, but its ash plume was thinning on Saturday and no longer making it dangerous for airplanes to fly nearby. The eruption that began Monday seemed to be slowing, but that could change at any time. "Things could ramp up quickly. " There are no flight restrictions because of the eruption, but pilots are being told to use caution. On Friday, a pilot flew by Pavlof, shooting video and photos of the eruption, including glimpes of the lava. (several videos)

Popocatépetl volcano (Mexico) - New crater formed on top of lava dome.
Villagers locked out of shelter - For the villagers closest to Popocatepetl, the Mexican volcano showing alarming signs of a imminent eruption, contingency plans are somewhat lacking. The village president has no telephone line, there is no doctor and the man with the key to the emergency refuge, a disgraced former mayor, has fled town. El Popo burst into life a fortnight ago, spewing clouds of ash and chunks of rock over nearby towns during eruptions that have grown in intensity.
It is potentially one of the world’s most destructive volcanoes because of its proximity to Mexico City, just 40 miles away, and the Mexican authorities have been preparing evacuation routes and shelters. But the residents of Santiago Xalitzintla, a poor farming village seven miles from the crater, remain locked out of their shelter. “We will use a human key. A child small enough to squeeze through the bars of the window but strong enough to jump down into the room and open the door from the inside.” Even if the brave youngster succeeds, the 2,000 residents face further problems. For one thing, the stone-walled shack has room for only 400 people. For another, its tin roof is unlikely to withstand cascading chunks of molten rock.
An American volcanologist who observed eruptions in 1994 and 2000, said: “When I started, the crater was very deep and the explosions weren’t powerful enough to send heavy material outside. The kind of explosions we’re seeing now are very capable of shooting that stuff out. It could cause rocks to rain down for miles around or, in a worst-case scenario, huge destructive mudflows.” Popocatepetl’s last massive eruption was 1,100 years ago when it wiped out the city of Puebla, 24 miles away.
“It’s a long time since it’s been this intense; a serious eruption is a possibility. There would be definite warning signs like earthquakes if it was going to get extremely bad, but the damage could block highways, close bridges, shut down hospitals, making escape very difficult.” In Santiago Xalitzintla there are few signs of fear. "We’ve got used to the roar of the volcano. There’s nothing you can do.” If ordered to leave, they will stay put rather than be forced out by soldiers, the villagers said. “They want to get their hands on our land and our animals. We’re more afraid of the army than El Popo.”

Feds concerned about risky activity at Kilauea - U.S. Geological Survey officials are concerned over what they say is risky behavior by visitors to Kilauea Volcano at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The problem is that people continue to get too close to Kilauea's current ocean entry, approaching both by land and sea.
Areas of ocean entry are dangerous places. Lava entering the sea builds a platform of new land known as a lava delta, which appears stable but is not. Lava deltas can collapse without warning. Kayakers visiting the volcano on the Big Island recently paddled just feet from lava streaming into the ocean. They then went ashore and walked across new land built by the ocean entry and scooped molten lava with their paddle.

TROPICAL STORMS -

No current tropical storms.

SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -

El Nino unlikely to disrupt Northern Hemisphere summer - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Thursday the latest data confirmed its forecast that El Nino was unlikely to cause extreme weather in the Northern Hemisphere throughout the summer and into winter.

EXTREME HEAT & DROUGHT / WILDFIRES / CLIMATE CHANGE -

Alberta leads Canada in extreme weather loss claims - The insurance bureau said severe weather events that used to happen once every 40 years are now happening once every six years, with more homes and vehicles being damaged. Alberta usually has more such events than other parts of the country.

Beating wild weather in Sri Lanka - Planners in Sri Lanka should do more to mitigate the effects of extreme weather in order to help those most likely to be affected, experts say. According to Sri Lanka's Disaster Management Centre (DMC), in 2012, 1.2 million people were affected by drought and over half a million by floods, while in early 2011, floods affected over a million and displaced more than 200,000 - a trend expected to increase in the future.

Climate slowdown means extreme rates of warming 'not as likely' - Scientists say the recent downturn in the rate of global warming will lead to lower temperature rises in the short-term. Some of the most extreme predictions of global warming are unlikely to materialise, new scientific research has suggested, but the world is still likely to be in for a temperature rise of double that regarded as safe.
Since 1998, there has been an unexplained "standstill" in the heating of the Earth's atmosphere. Researchers say this will reduce predicted warming in the coming decades. But long-term, the expected temperature rises will not alter significantly. The slowdown in the expected rate of global warming has been studied for several years now. Earlier this year, the UK Met Office lowered their five-year temperature forecast.
"The hottest of the models in the medium-term, they are actually looking less likely or inconsistent with the data from the last decade alone. The most extreme projections are looking less likely than before." The authors calculate that over the coming decades global average temperatures will warm about 20% more slowly than expected. But when it comes to the longer term picture, the authors say their work is consistent with previous estimates. The IPCC said that climate sensitivity was in the range of 2.0-4.5C.
Not everyone agrees with this perspective. The conclusion about the oceans needs to be taken with a grain of salt for now. "There is other research out there pointing out that this storage may be part of a natural cycle that will eventually reverse, either due to El Nino or the so-called Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, and therefore may not imply what the authors are suggesting." The authors say there are ongoing uncertainties surrounding the role of aerosols in the atmosphere and around the issue of clouds. "We would expect a single decade to jump around a bit but the overall trend is independent of it, and people should be exactly as concerned as before about what climate change is doing."


SPACE WEATHER -

A massive explosion from a meteor which crashed into the Moon was visible to the naked eye on Earth, THE BIGGEST EXPLOSION SCIENTISTS HAVE SEEN HIT THE MOON SINCE THEY STARTED MONITORING IT. A boulder-sized meteor slammed into the moon in March, causing an explosion so bright anyone looking up at the right moment would have spotted it. About 300 lunar impacts have been logged over the years but this latest impact, from March 17, is considered much, much brighter than anything else observed. It is understood the space rock left a 20m-wide crater after it slammed into the Moon’s surface at 56,000 mph (90,000 kph).
“We have seen a couple of others in the ‘wow’ category but not this bright.” The blast lasted only about a single second and shone like a 4th magnitude star — making it bright enough to see with just the unaided eye. The crash created a new crater 65 feet wide (20 meters). The crash sparked a bright flash of light that would have been visible to anyone looking at the moon at the time with the naked eye. "It exploded in a flash nearly 10 times as bright as anything we've ever seen before."
Scientists deduced the rock had been roughly 1-foot-wide (between 0.3 to 0.4 meters) and weighted about 88 lbs (40 kg).The explosion it created was as powerful as 5 tons of TNT. When researchers looked back at their records from March, they found that the moon meteor might not have been an isolated event. "On the night of March 17, NASA and University of Western Ontario all-sky cameras picked up an UNUSUAL NUMBER of deep-penetrating meteors right here on Earth. These fireballs were traveling along nearly identical orbits between Earth and the asteroid belt."
Though Earth's atmosphere protected our planet's surface from being hit by these meteors, the moon has no such luck. Its lack of an atmosphere exposes it to all incoming space rocks. Part of the motivation for the program is NASA's eventual intent to send astronauts back to the moon. When they arrive, they'll need to know how often meteors impact the surface, and whether certain parts of the year, coinciding with the moon's passage through crowded bits of the solar system, pose special dangers.
"We'll be keeping an eye out for signs of a repeat performance next year when the Earth-Moon system passes through the same region of space. Meanwhile, our analysis of the March 17th event continues." The scientists also hope to use NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to photograph the impact site to learn more about how the crash occurred.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

As Earth's magnetic field reverberates from one CME strike which hit on the 18th and sparked a G1-class geomagnetic storm, a second more potent CME is on the way. It was propelled in our direction by sunspot AR1748, which unleashed an M3-class solar flare on May 17th (0858 UT). Although this is not the strongest flare we've seen from AR1748, it could be the most geoeffective; the sunspot was almost-squarely facing Earth when the blast occurred. NOAA forecasters estimate a 75% chance of polar geomagnetic storms when the cloud arrives.

**How is it one careless match can start a forest fire,
but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?**


LARGEST QUAKES -

Live Seismograms - Worldwide (update every 30 minutes)

This morning -
5.0 OFF EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.0 NEAR EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA

Yesterday -
5/18/13 -
5.0 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
5.1 NEAR S. COAST OF WESTERN HONSHU
5.5 SOUTHERN IRAN
5.6 SOUTHERN IRAN
6.0 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.7 SOUTH OF AFRICA

5/17/13 -
5.0 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5.3 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, P.N.G.
5.1 ONTARIO, CANADA 5.7 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS

Canadian quake felt across parts of upstate New York - A 5.1-magnitude earthquake in Ontario, Canada has been felt across upstate New York from Buffalo to the Vermont border. Windows rattled, walls swayed and knick-knacks toppled from store shelves near the national capital Friday as Canadians across a wide swath of Ontario and Quebec felt the disconcerting tremors. The quake was felt in downtown Ottawa, where office workers scrambled under desks and ran for emergency exits.
Canada's government agency that monitors earthquakes says the quake occurred at 9:43 a.m. Friday. It was followed 10 minutes later by an aftershock measured at magnitude-4.1 by the Canadian agency and 3.6 by the U.S. bureau. “We don't expect to see major damage from an earthquake until it gets to around a 5.5”, said a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey.

As earthquakes become more intense and more frequent in the north of the Netherlands, there is mounting pressure on the government to reduce the amount of gas being extracted there. It is a curse for thousands of inhabitants of an area blessed with vast mineral wealth. Homes are crumbling as the country profits from the Groningen gas fields, the largest in Europe.
There exists a consensus among all parties - including the gas companies - that the process of extracting the gas is causing earthquakes, but the country is thriving on the proceeds. In 2012 the Dutch government made about 14bn euros (£12bn; $18bn) from the Groningen gas fields. Without these revenues, the Netherlands' deficit would be similar to that of crisis-struck Cyprus (6.3%).
"It comes rumbling towards you, louder and louder and louder. Everything starts to shake. It ends with a bang, like a massive weight dropped on the house. Boof! And that is frightening, really really frightening." The newly built neighbourhood of Middelstum is Dutch-style suburbia: a canal running down the left side of the street. But is one of the worst-hit areas. What percentage of these homes here has been affected? "At least 60% but the old ones are worse."
Approximately 60,000 homes lie within the earthquake zone. The gas companies are dealing with about 6,000 damage claims. "We want them to put our safety on top of everything, but they don't, they really don't. The government is meant to protect its citizens. We don't feel protected."
At one house a jagged split about 7cm (2.7in) wide runs through a concrete step and up the side of the house, as though lightning has struck and left an ugly, indelible mark. The floor of the utility room is clearly subsiding. It is an extraordinary concern in a region that lies almost entirely below sea level. This is not a land that can afford to sink any further.
Nor can it afford to give up its gas habit. "Almost all the people heat their houses with Groningen gas and they cook their meals with Groningen gas. It's also important because of the budget of our government." The Dutch government owns large stakes in the gas fields. While there is sympathy, few are prepared to sacrifice the relative economic prosperity generated by the Groningen gas. As one car park attendant puts it, "If the Groningers don't like it, they should just move elsewhere."
There is another reason the economics ministry has rejected some scientific recommendations to cut the scale of explorations immediately: contracts. "We have long-term contracts with other countries." Groningen gas was discovered in the 1960s. Since then, the Dutch government has reaped an estimated 250bn euros from the sale of this natural resource.
Last August there was a magnitude 3.4 tremor. Higher than any expert had previously predicted, it further sapped the residents' confidence and forced the ministers to commission an inquiry. "Until now we always knew that earthquakes could occur, now we don't know what the new maximum could be." Could lives be in danger? "You can never exclude anything. If people are in the wrong place at the wrong time…"
And that is the fear of those whose ancestors lived on the land long before the gas firms started shaking it. The Groningen Ground Movement is currently considering taking its case to the European Court of Human Rights, on the grounds their basic right to live without fear is being violated. "We sleep underneath a beam. At night I think, what if there was another earthquake and that beam was to come down on top of us? I hope I will live to tell about it." (quake map)

VOLCANOES -
Volcano Webcams

Alaska volcano 'fountaining' with fire, spreading expansive ash cloud - Alaskans and air travelers remained on alert Thursday due to the rumblings of Pavlof volcano emitting a "continuous ash, steam and gas cloud" that already extends up to 60 miles away. The volcano awoke Monday morning, kicking off a "low-level eruption of lava." By late Tuesday night, an ash plume reached 15,000 feet above sea level.
Pavlof, one of Alaska's most restless volcanoes, shot an ash cloud 15,000 feet into the air Friday in an ongoing eruption that is visible for miles when the weather allows. Pavlof is the second Alaska volcano to erupt this month. Both volcanos are active, in fact, they are at the highest alert level for sudden explosions with little warning.

TROPICAL STORMS -

No current tropical storms.

Cyclone Mahasen has spared Bangladesh from the worst extent of deaths and damage although it left 48 killed in its wake. This time there was early warning and most of the deaths occurred as victims ignored do's and don'ts issued by local authorities. More than 49,000 thatched houses were destroyed.

Indonesia - Monsoon set to break over Andamans under 'Mahasen' effect. The onset of the rains is expected to be normal this year, with raging cyclone Mahasen having played a big role facilitating it. The cyclone has churned up the seas and is trailed by strong band of southwesterly flows from South of the Equator.

Kathmandu - Cyclone Mahasen brings rain in Himalayas. It seems the Mahasen Cyclone in the Bay of Bengal has had a slight affect in the weather pattern of the Kathmandu Valley as the temperature has remained below normal for the past few days.

SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -

Video - Deadly China floods kill 55.