Friday, January 31, 2014

Global Disaster Watch - daily natural disaster reports.

**Dear Algebra,
Stop asking me to find your X.
She's not coming back.**

LARGEST QUAKES so far today -
None 5.0 or higher.

Yesterday, 1/30/14 -
5.0 CARLSBERG RIDGE
5.0 TONGA
5.0 OFF COAST OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

Nevada - Earthquake Swarm in Virginia City. A swarm of earthquakes has hit the Virginia City area. The Seismology lab at the University of Nevada has recorded at least 100 tremors in the area since Tuesday. Most have been in the magnitude 1.0 range. There have been several in the 3.0 range, the largest being a 3.1 at 2:30 Thursday morning. The quakes measured all the way to the Reno Tahoe International Airport.

VOLCANOES -
Volcano that blew in '99 heating up - One of the most active volcanoes in the Aleutian Islands is heating up again, prompting the Alaska Volcano Observatory to issue an advisory to pilots who might be flying near Shishaldin Volcano, some 100 miles northeast of Dutch Harbor. Satellite observations show increased surface temperatures in the summit crater as well as increased steam emissions.
The observatory said it has raised the aviation color code to yellow and the alert level to advisory. An eruption at Shishaldin in April and May 1999 sent an ash column 45,000 feet above sea level, but most eruptions have consisted of small ash and steam plumes. The increased activity recently does not indicate an eruption will occur, the observatory said.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Current tropical storms - maps and details.

* In the Western Pacific -
- Tropical depression Kajiki is located approximately 535 nm southeast of Manila, Philippines.
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Philippines - Tropical Depression Basyang [Kajiki] entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility Thursday night as it nears Mindanao and the Visayas. Public storm warning signal number 1 was raised in 10 areas amid the threat of the tropical cyclone that could hit areas affected by tropical depression Agaton. At 10 p.m. Thursday, the center of "Basyang" was estimated to be 969 km east of Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur.
The storm is packing maximum winds of 55 kph near the center and is expected to move west at 30 kph. "Basyang" is expected to make landfall over Surigao provinces between 11 p.m. Friday and 2 a.m. Saturday. It is expected to move towards the West Philippine Sea by Sunday evening. "Basyang" is expected to be 303 km northeast of Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur by Friday evening, and 325 km east-northeast of Puerto Princesa City by Saturday night.
PAGASA warned residents living in low-lying and mountainous areas under the storm signal to be on alert against possible flashfloods and landslides.Estimated rainfall amount is from 5-15 mm per hour (moderate to heavy) within the tropical depression's 300 km diameter. The weather agency added that "Basyang" might become a tropical storm." Fishing boats and other small seacraft are advised not to venture out into the eastern seaboards of central and southern Luzon, and the Visayas.

Australia - Great Keppel thrashed by storm surge. A Great Keppel Island tourism operator says a storm surge, in the wake of Ex-Tropical Cyclone Dylan, has been 'devastating.' He reinforced the foundations at his resort in the lead up to the tide but was unable to save all the buildings. He says the beach is being eroded at a rapid rate.
"A bank disappearing at about three metres every half an hour, three quarters of an hour. Nothing short of devastating, I've got about three houses about to wash into the water. We've already lost the deck off one of them, we've completely lost the big deck off the bar and restaurant. Trees are going in every five or ten minutes."
The work they did to protect the beach in the days prior has done little to save it. "We held it up for four days but the swell that has come up today, you'd be more than happy if you were a surfer, put it that way. I've never seen a swell like this, I've been coming over for 25 years and I've never seen the swell like it this morning."
There's little reprieve in sight. "Tomorrow morning's tide is only 100 millimetres short of this one so if this swell continues to pick up then they'll definitely go. We'll get another day on the loader but we can slow it, we can't stop it." The rough conditions have meant the ferry service between Yeppoon and the island have been cancelled. "It affects the whole place, the people in the town that sell all the food, staff over there, you know it really affects the whole area...This time of the year you sort of expect these kinds of things. We just have to fight back."

SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -

United Kingdom - More rain, high winds and high tides are set to hit the south and west of the UK, causing further flooding. The Met Office is warning of heavy rain in southern England - including the already flooded Somerset Levels - south Wales and parts of Northern Ireland. The Environment Agency, which has issued numerous flood warnings, said many coastal areas would be affected by high tides in the coming days.
This January is already the WETTEST ON RECORD for many southern areas. A Met Office amber rain warning - meaning "be prepared" - has been issued for the Somerset Levels and is valid until 03:00 GMT on Saturday. The warning said the public should be prepared for "significant disruption from flooding across the Somerset Levels", where large areas are already flooded. Most of southern England and south Wales, as well as County Antrim, County Armagh and County Down in Northern Ireland, are subject to a lower-level yellow warning throughout Friday until 03:00 on Saturday.
"20-30 mm (1in) of rain will fall quite widely, with around 40 mm on some high ground in the southwest of England and south Wales. The heavy rain will be accompanied by strong to gale force winds." Meanwhile, a small number of flood warnings have been issued in Scotland. The Environment Agency said places "at risk" from high tides and winds over the weekend included coastal and tidal areas of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol and south Gloucestershire. Many other coastal areas of England could also be affected by the wind, rain and high tides from Friday through to Sunday.
Parts of the Somerset Levels have been flooded throughout January. In Wales, Aberystwyth University's seafront halls of residence are to be evacuated until Monday. Buildings there have been evacuated several times in recent weeks. Flood defences on part of the Welsh coast, washed away by recent storms, have been reinforced with bags of slate set down by a helicopter.In the Somerset Levels, 25 sq miles (65 sq km) has been flooded and the Environment Agency said it was running pumps 24 hours a day to drain the water. 62 pumps were removing about 1.5 million tonnes of water - equivalent to 600 Olympic-sized swimming pools - each day.
The Environment Agency said dredging of rivers in Somerset would not begin until flood water had drained and river banks were safe. Up to and including 28 January, the South East and central southern England had a record 175.2mm (6.9in) of rainfall in January - beating the previous record of 158.2mm for the same parts of England set in 1988. Across south-west England and south Wales, the 222.6 mm (8.8in) of rainfall up to midnight on Tuesday meant January was already the fifth-wettest. For the UK as a whole, 164.6 mm (6.5in) of rain has fallen so far this month - 35% above the long-term average. (rainfall map & photos at link)

Alaska - This January is Juneau's WETTEST MONTH ON RECORD. The capital city received 10.15 inches of rain.

'GLOBAL WEIRDNESS' / CLIMATE CHANGE -

The UNUSUALLY SHARP KINK IN THE JET STREAM that has brought extreme weather to nearly the entire U.S. in January is finally beginning to straighten out, and a return to more normal winter conditions began Thursday and will extend into next week. Atlanta's Thursday temperature was expected to rebound into the upper 30s under sunny skies, helping to melt out the hundreds of miles of ice-covered roads left by Winter Storm Leon on Tuesday. A state of emergency remained in effect for all of Georgia until at least noon Thursday due to icy roads.
Atlanta, Birmingham, Alabama, and many other cities in the Southeast U.S. suffered their worst traffic days in history on Tuesday, after sleet and snows of 1 - 3" compacted into ice on area roads, resulting in travel chaos. Temperatures will fall into the teens again on Thursday night, allowing those roads that do thaw out to re-freeze. The Southeast will not fully thaw out until Friday afternoon, under sunny skies and temperatures in the 50s. At least a dozen deaths have been blamed on the storm, including five traffic fatalities in Alabama.
Top snowfall amounts from Leon, by state
VIRGINIA: 10.0” at 5 locations
NORTH CAROLINA: 9.0” Gliden
NEW JERSEY: 7.7” Estell Manor (7.3" in Atlantic City)
MARYLAND: 6.7” Ridge
MASSACHUSETTS: 5.5" East Sandwich, West Tisbury
DELAWARE: 5.4” Dover, Harrington, Ellendale
NEW YORK: 4.9" Theresa
MISSISSIPPI: 3.0” at 5 sites
SOUTH CAROLINA: 4.0” Bennetstsville
GEORGIA: 4.0” White
LOUISIANA: 4.0” Jena
ALABAMA: 3.0” numerous locations
WEST VIRGINIA: 3.0" Gary
TENNESSEE: 2.0" Maryville
PENNSYLVANIA: 1.0” 5 NE Philadelphia
FLORIDA: no official snow reports, but 0.5" of sleet at Freeport

Rain in California! The first significant rain storm of 2014 moved through the northern half of the state on Wednesday, bringing some welcome relief from the record dry conditions that have parched the state this winter. In the Sierra Mountains, snows of up to 12 inches fell, and up to 2 feet of snow may accumulate above 8,000 feet, adding a modest boost to a snowpack that was the LOWEST ON RECORD In many locations.
As of 7 am PST on January 30, the Sierra Snow Survey found a snow pack that was only 7% of normal for this time of year. Sacramento recorded 0.03" of rain on Wednesday, ending a string of 52 consecutive days without rain. It was their longest streak of dry days during the rainy season EVER RECORDED, smashing the previous record of 46 days set in 1884. Wednesday's rains in downtown San Francisco and Oakland ended their longest winter rain-free periods ON RECORD, since at least 1850 (though San Francisco did get 0.03" of drizzle earlier this month.)
The last actual rainfall in the city was on December 6th. That’s 53 days during what normally should be the wettest period of the year, when at least 8” would normally fall. The rains also brought an exceptional dry streak to an end in Reno, Nevada -- the 0.10" of rain that fell was its first precipitation since December 19.
Drought situation in California still dire despite rains - While rain and snow in California are a welcome respite, they will put only a minor dent in what is one of the worst droughts in California history. The U.S. Drought Monitor update put 9% of the state into "Exceptional Drought" -- the worst category. This is the first time since the Drought Monitor product began in 2000 that a portion of California was put into "Exceptional Drought". California's area experiencing extreme to exceptional drought remained at 63%, making it one of the three worst winter droughts in state history.
To break the drought, much of the state needs more than 12" of precipitation. Sacramento has received about 2" of rain since July 1, 2013, which is 8" below normal, and most of the southern half of the state needs more than a year of rainfall to fall in one month to break the drought. The stubborn ridge of high pressure responsible for the drought is forecast to build back over California during the first ten days of February, and the state will receive little or no rain during that period. However, the ridge will not be as intense, increasing the odds that a low pressure system will be able to break the ridge by mid-February and bring more rain to the state.

*****
Global Disaster Watch is on Facebook - with breaking news during the day.

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Global Disaster Watch - daily natural disaster reports.

**Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains,
no matter how improbable, must be the truth.**
Sherlock Holmes

LARGEST QUAKES so far today -
None 5.0 or higher.

Yesterday, 1/29/14 -
5.1 MYANMAR
5.7 TARAPACA, CHILE
5.5 SOLOMON ISLANDS

TROPICAL STORMS -
Current tropical storms - maps and details.

* In the Indian Ocean -
- Tropical cyclone Eleven is located approximately 160 nm east-southeast ward of Cairns, Australia.
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Australian Cyclone Activity hits RECORD LOW LEVELS - In Queensland, on the northeast coast of Australia, residents have been warned that a tropical low is forming off the coast this week and could quickly develop into a cyclone, to be named Dylan. The storm would be the first to hit this part of the country in more than two years, and it brings the potential for damaging winds, heavy rainfall and flooding from higher than normal tides.
Tropical cyclones are not unusual in Australia, but they used to be a lot more common. Australia has a long record of devastating tropical cyclones, such as Yasi, which made landfall in Queensland in February 2011. But a new study finds such storms to be on the decline. The frequency of these storms has reached an UNPRECEDENTED low level not seen in the past 550 to 1,500 years.
Cyclone Mahina, which struck Queensland in 1899, holds the world storm surge record at 48 feet. Instrumental records of the storms cover less than 50 years, and this observational record isn’t great for storms that happened before 1990. Researchers need some sort of marker of storm activity if they are to see how activity has changed over time. Several years ago, though, scientists discovered that stalagmites in caves held just such a record.
Cyclones have a propertly distinct from monsoons: while cyclones travel over seawater, they cannibalize the water they precipitate — water molecules with lighter oxygen are continually re-evaporated by storm clouds as the cyclone progresses, making it isotopically different from normal rain. When a cyclone dumps its rain on top of a cave, this light water soaks into the ground and starts to drip into the cave. The oxygen from the water becomes incorporated into the calcium carbonate that forms stalagmites.
In Australia, stalagmites grow with alternating dark and light bands, representing the wet and dry seasons, respectively. This means that a stalagmite can record the yearly change in hurricane activity, similar to how an ice core might hold a record of past changes in the composition of the atmosphere. By measuring the ratio of oxygen-16 to heavier oxygen-18 within the wet-season bands, scientists gain a window into the cyclone activity of a specific year in the past. Higher levels of oxygen-16 indicate a year of stronger cyclone activity.
The west coast of Australia is more prone to tropical cyclones than the east coast, but the stalagmite record revealed that the frequency of cyclones in that area has dropped off in recent years. Storm activity in that region since 1970 has not been that low for the past 1,460 years. The east coast is also at a historical low, the analysis showed, reaching levels not seen for the past 550 years.
“The Australian region seems to be experiencing the most pronounced phase of tropical cyclone inactivity for the past 550–1,500 years." These results are in line with climate models that have predicted Australia will experience fewer storms because of climate change. Those same models, however, also say that the cyclones that do hit the continent will likely be of greater intensity, which means that they’ll have a greater potential for destruction.
How climate change might alter the tracks of future hurricanes and tropical cyclones varies by region. In the North Atlantic, for instance, researchers last year found that warmer air should push storms away from the East Coast, lessening the chance for something like Sandy to hit. But the constant across predictions is that the energy added to storms by anthropogenic climate change should lead to more intense storms. That could mean more rainfall, stronger winds and higher storm surges, all of which would bring more devastation to any of the coastal areas worldwide that are unlucky enough to be struck by a storm.

SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -

The extreme weather that has been battering the UK recently has taken its toll in a number of ways. Following rain, wind, hail and thunderstorms last weekend, many parts of southwest England are completely flooded, with many people having to leave their homes. In West Bromwich, lightning struck several houses and a church, while in Wales, 22mm of rain fell during last Saturday night and Sunday. The stormy weather in Cumbria even caused the Wet Sleddale Reservoir to overflow. The weather has left many of the UK’s beaches covered in huge amounts of litter. The Marine Conservation Society is calling on people to help out with cleaning up the coastline – but only go to the beach if the weather is calm.

HEAVY SNOW / EXTREME COLD -

A dangerous winter storm swept through the U. S. Deep South on Tuesday, dumping 1 - 4" of snow and 1/4" - 1/2" of ice on a region unused to dealing with severe winter weather. Travel chaos resulted in many cities, and at least nine people died in storm-related accidents.
Officially, 2.6" of snow fell at the Atlanta Airport from Winter Storm Leon, and snow amounts across the city ranged from 1.5" - 3.5". But with temperatures in the low 20s, and only 40 snow plows and 30 sand trucks to handle the snow, Atlanta streets and highways quickly turned into parking lots during the afternoon snow, as schools, businesses, and government offices all closed nearly simultaneously, sending a huge number of vehicles onto the roads.
Atlanta experienced its WORST TRAFFIC DAY OF ALL-TIME, and thousands of motorists were forced to abandon their vehicles, with many spending the night sheltering in stores, stalled cars, or strangers' homes. A Facebook group dubbed SnowedOutAtlanta, meant to connect stranded motorists with people willing to put them up for the night, had thousands of members by Tuesday night.
Thousands of children never made it home, and were forced to spend the night both Tuesday and Wednesday at their schools or at bus shelters. There were 1200 confirmed traffic accidents in Atlanta, with at least 130 injuries. It was Atlanta's worst driving day since the infamous Snow Jam of 1982, when 6" of snow also created traffic chaos, stranding thousands of motorists.
Dangerous travel continued on Wednesday - After a morning low of 11° in Atlanta on Wednesday morning, the temperature struggled to reach the freezing mark, resulting in little improvement in road conditions during the day. A Winter Storm Warning continued for Atlanta throughout the afternoon, even though skies are sunny, and no precipitation is expected. "I don't think I've even seen a Winter Storm Warning issued with a forecast of clear skies, but if it helps keep people off the roads, it's a great idea."
At 1 pm, the Winter Storm Warning was replaced with a "Civil Emergency Message", which is the way situations like this should be handled in the future. Atlanta was warned well in advance of the winter storm, but local officials failed to plan properly for the storm. Advances in weather forecasting won't help much if people don't use the information to make the right decisions.
Though freezing rain and snow from Winter Storm Leon have ended across most of the South, temperatures well below freezing will continue to keep traffic paralyzed over a swath of the country from East Texas to Eastern North Carolina. Atlanta wasn't the only city with extreme traffic problems. Birmingham, Alabama looked much like Atlanta, with thousands of drivers stuck and hundreds of children unable to get home; Tuscaloosa, Alabama declared a state of emergency and ordered all non-emergency vehicles off the road; 124 miles of I-10 in the Florida Panhandle were closed on Wednesday morning due to ice. Fortunately, the freezing rain was not great enough to cause serious power outages, with ice accumulations generally under 1/4".

While Ohio was grappling with RECORD-BREAKING COLD on Tuesday, southern states struggled with something much worse - the ice storm.

EXTREME HEAT & DROUGHT / WILDFIRES -

As California's drought deepens, 17 communities across the state are in danger of running out of water within 60 to 120 days, state officials said.

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Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Global Disaster Watch - daily natural disaster reports.

**I'm just here to establish an alibi.**

LARGEST QUAKES so far today -
5.5 SOLOMON ISLANDS

Yesterday, 1/28/14 -
5.1 WESTERN IRAN
5.0 REYKJANES RIDGE
5.3 REYKJANES RIDGE

Greece's government announced emergency relief for the residents of the Ionian islands of Kefalonia and Ithaki Monday, a day after they were hit by a strong quake which caused damage and slightly injured seven people. Sunday's quake, whose magnitude was revised to 5.9, was followed by dozens of aftershocks that continued through Monday.
Frightened residents were preparing to spend a second night in their cars or town squares, fearing a possible bigger quake. Many recall the devastating quakes of 1953, when a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck three days after a 6.4 temblor, killing hundreds, injuring thousands and destroying nearly all the buildings on the islands. “We need 48 hours to say with 99 percent certainty that this was the main quake.” However, that the multiple aftershocks are normal and expected.
Buildings erected in the area since 1953 have been constructed to strict anti-seismic specifications, and serious damage from Sunday's quake was limited. Rockslides shut some roads and many homes and stores suffered cracks and broken windows. Schools remained shut for a second day on both islands Tuesday while engineers inspected school buildings to ensure they are safe.
The state is setting aside 100,000 euros ($136 500) for the residents of each of the islands to meet immediate needs, while equal amounts were earmarked for the municipalities of both islands to provide to those “directly affected.” Two ferries with a combined capacity of nearly 4,000 passengers were dispatched to Kefalonia to provide housing for residents whose homes were damaged. Authorities also sent rescue vehicles and disaster response units on standby to Kefalonia, as well as police reinforcements. Earthquakes are common throughout Greece, but the vast majority are small and cause no injuries or damage.

Greece - Kefalonia Earthquake: Locals fear 1953 catastrophe may happen again. On Tuesday, for the third day in a row, the Greek island of Kefalonia was hit by continuous earthquakes, something that brings back memories of 1953 when the whole island was devastated by three strong quakes. Many locals live with the fear of a possible repetition of 1953 as the coincidences are many.
According to the Institute of Geodynamics in Athens, Greece, more than 130 quakes with a magnitude of over 3 have shaken the island. This seismic activity has turned the days and nights of the locals into a nightmare. Back in 1953, within 4 days, from August 9 to 12, the island was struck by three great earthquakes, all measuring above 6 on the Richter scale (6.4 on August 9, 6.8 on August 11 and 7.2 on August 12) and caused the death of 455 people. In addition, the event caused widespread damage on the infrastructure throughout Cephalonia and Ithaca.
This is the reason why the seismologists avoid officially announcing whether Sunday’s earthquake was the main one. In other words, the fact that this region is experiencing earthquakes of this magnitude has made scientists cautious over their estimations. A professor of seismology stated that “we must wait for a week to pass to say with 99 percent certainty that this was the main quake.”
On the contrary, another professor of Geology appeared more reassuring. He explained that “while no scenario should be ruled out, the genesis mechanism that brought the two quakes — the one of 1953 and the one this past Sunday — is different as the faults are not the same. One is located in the east part of the island and the other is located west of Palliki region.”
Meanwhile, the Island’s residents were warned that the forthcoming weeks and months will be a tough period for them as a barrage of aftershocks with an average magnitude above 4 is expected. (photo at link)

TROPICAL STORMS -
Current tropical storms - maps and details.

* In the Indian Ocean -
Tropical cyclone Eleven is located approximately 69 nm east-northeast of Willis Island, Australia.

Australia - Cyclone warning issued for north Queensland, set to hit Friday. A cyclone warning has been issued for parts of north Queensland as a tropical low gathers strength and heads towards the coast from Port Douglas, north of Cairns, south to Mackay.
The weather system was about 590 kilometres east-northeast of Cairns and 600km northeast of Townsville, and was moving towards the coast at 9km/h. At this stage forecasters expect it to cross the coast, possibly as a low-strength cyclone, on Friday morning, between Tully, south of Cairns, and Townsville. A cyclone watch remains in place for coastal and island communities from Mackay south to St Lawrence, and inland through the eastern interior north of Clermont.
A strong ridge of high pressure is combining with the low to generate gales along much of the east coast between Port Douglas and Mackay. Winds are expected to build to damaging gusts of 120km/h from this afternoon or evening, and will continue tomorrow and Friday. Forecasters are also warning of heavy rain, which may cause flash flooding, for coastal and inland parts of the north tropical coast and tablelands, Herbert and Lower Burdekin and the Central Coast and Whitsundays districts from this afternoon.
A dangerous storm tide is also expected between Port Douglas and St Lawrence, mainly on the high tide over the coming three days. "Large waves may produce minor flooding along the foreshore. People living in areas likely to be affected by this flooding should take measures to protect their property as much as possible and be prepared to help their neighbours.''

HEAVY SNOW / EXTREME COLD -

U.S. - A RARE and dangerous ice storm has begun in the Deep South, where Winter Storm Leon is tracking along the northern Gulf Coast, spreading a nasty mix of freezing rain, sleet, cold rain, and snow along a swath from Central Texas to Eastern Virginia.
Freezing rain was falling at a temperature of 28°F in Austin, Texas, where a 20-car pileup on an overpass was reported, as well as at least ten other car crashes in a 30-minute time span. A portion of Interstate 35 was closed due to the crashes and icing. Freezing rain was falling on the north side of Houston, Texas, and in Mobile Alabama.
Snow was falling in Jackson Mississippi, and sleet in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The National Weather Service posted Freezing Rain Advisories along a swath from Eastern Texas across Southern Louisiana, Southern Mississippi, Southern Alabama, the Florida Panhandle, almost all of Georgia and South Carolina, and into Eastern North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland. Ice accumulations of 1/4" - 1/2" are expected in much of this area, with isolated higher amounts.
Snows of 1 - 4" were possible just to the north of the freezing rain swath, with heavier amounts of 6 - 12" across southeast Virginia and northeast North Carolina. The ice storm has the potential to cause significant damage to trees and power lines, resulting in widespread power outages. Travel will be very dangerous in a region unaccustomed to extreme winter weather.
An UNUSUALLY sharp southwards dip of the jet stream is allowing intensely cold air to spill southwards out of the Arctic and over the eastern half of the United States. The most extreme cold Tuesday morning was over the Upper Midwest, where the temperature fell to -35° in Northern Minnesota in Longville, with a dangerously low wind chill of -47°. Chicago bottomed out at -11°, with a wind chill of -30°, at 7 am CST. In Detroit, Michigan, the low hit -10°, with a wind chill of -27°.
Wind chill levels that low are EXTREMELY RARE in Southeast Lower Michigan, and the dangerously cold conditions prompted officials at the University of Michigan to cancel classes on Tuesday for only the fourth time since the college was founded in 1817 (the other closures came in January 1978, 1974, and 1945.) The latest round of snow on Monday brought the January total snowfall for Detroit to 37.1", establishing a NEW ALL-TIME JANUARY SNOWFALL RECORD.
Damage from Tuesday's Southeast U.S. ice storm may well run into the hundreds of millions of dollars, but it will not compare to the damage from the most expensive ice storm in U.S. history, the great February 1994 Southeast U.S. ice storm. That storm killed nine people and caused $4.7 billion (2013 dollars) of damage in portions of TX, OK, AR, LA, MS, AL, TN, GA, SC, NC, and VA. At least 2 million customers were without electricity at some point, and 1/2 million were still without power three days after the storm. Hardest hit was Northern Mississippi, which was deluged with 4 - 5" of freezing rain that created flooding problems. Ice thicknesses of 3.5 - 5.5 inches were common in the state, causing catastrophic damage estimated at $3 billion. Some residents were without power one month after the storm.
The number of blizzard warnings issued so far during the winter of 2013 - 2014 show that the Upper Midwest is giving Alaska a run for its money - a VERY UNUSUAL state of affairs!
62° in Alaska - The cold air flowing out of the Arctic into the eastern half of the U.S. is being replaced by warm air surging northwards over Alaska and the North Atlantic east of Greenland. The warmth in Alaska the past three days has been PARTICULARLY ASTONISHING, with Alaska observing its ALL-TIME WARMEST JANUARY TEMPERATURE of 62° on Monday 1/27 at the Port Alsworth Climate Reference Network station.This ties the January state record set at Petersburg on January 16, 1981. Port Alsworth is about 160 miles southwest of Anchorage.
Nome, Alaska recorded a high of 51°F on Monday. This was 38° above average, and the warmest temperature ever observed in any November through March in Nome since record keeping began in 1907. Ironically, exactly 25 years ago, Nome recorded its lowest temperature on record -- a bone-chilling -54° on January 27, 1989. Nome is located about 160 miles south of the Arctic Circle, and has just 6 1/2 hours of daylight this time of year.
All-time January heat records have been set over the past three days in Nome, Denali Park, Palmer, Homer (twice), Alyseka, Seward, and Talkeetna. Bolio Lake Range Complex in Fort Greely, Alaska, located about 100 miles southeast of Fairbanks, hit 60° on Sunday. This is only 2° short of the all-time state January heat record of 62° set at Petersburg in Jan 1981.

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Global Disaster Watch is on Facebook - with breaking news during the day.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Global Disaster Watch - daily natural disaster reports.

**Always be yourself.
Unless you can be a unicorn. Then always be a unicorn.**

LARGEST QUAKES so far today -
None 5.0 or higher.

Yesterday, 1/27/14 -
5.4 CHUQUISACA, BOLIVIA
5.3 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.1 SOUTHEAST OF EASTER ISLAND

VOLCANOES -
Italy's Mount Etna erupts again - Europe's most active volcano erupted over the weekend. Mount Etna sent lava streaming down its sides and smoke rising from the crater. (video at link)

TROPICAL STORMS -
Current tropical storms - maps and details.

No current tropical storms.

More Tropical Trouble for the Philippines This Week - While many across the southern and central Philippines are still recovering from rounds of heavy rainfall this month, another tropical disturbance arrive later this week. Rains from former Tropical Storm Lingling, combined with the local monsoon, resulted in torrential rainfall, totaling more than 1220 mm (48 inches) in some parts of eastern Mindanao.
This event affected more than one million people, killing at least 64 people with more still missing. Even though rainfall has been much lighter across the region over the past several days, more than 100,000 people are still displaced from their homes. As people attempt to return to their homes and rebuild as necessary, another threat looms on the horizon.
A large area of showers and thunderstorms, currently just south of Guam, will track westward this week and reach the Philippines by Friday or Saturday. The heaviest rainfall is expected to occur over the areas that are still recovering from the recent flooding. New rainfall of 100-200 mm (4-8 inches) is expected with local amounts over 300 mm (12 inches). This amount of rainfall across the southern and central Philippines can quickly lead to widespread flooding, while hindering recovery efforts across the region.
Unlike the last tropical feature to impact the region, this one is expected to continue on a westward track which will generally the heaviest rainfall to a 24-hour time period, instead of occurring for several days in a row.

Australia - King tide and cyclone coinciding has MacKay region on high alert. A tropical low was situated in the northern Coral Sea, approximately 870 kilometres east-northeast of Cairns, and moving southwest at around 10 kilometres per hour. They have issued a severe weather warning for people in the Northern Tropical Coast and Tablelands, Herbert and Lower Burdekin and parts of the Central Coast and Whitsundays Forecast Districts.
The tropical low is expected to move in a general westwards direction over the next couple of days and may develop further as it approaches the Queensland east coast. Heavy rain, which may lead to flash flooding, and damaging winds, with peak gusts in excess of 90km/h, are expected to develop about coastal and adjacent inland areas between Port Douglas and the area north of Mackay during Wednesday afternoon. 24 hour rainfall totals in excess of 200mm are possible.
Water levels on the high tide are also likely to exceed the highest tide of the year about coastal areas between Port Douglas and the areas north of Mackay over the next couple of days. Locations which may be affected include Hamilton Island, Proserpine, Bowen, Townsville, Cairns, Port Douglas and Mareeba. Queenslanders need to be aware that this system is now likely to develop into a cyclone and cross the coast, probably on Thursday or Friday.
If this tropical low develops into a cyclone it will be named Tropical Cyclone Dylan and will be the first in the Coral Sea this wet season. The Coral Sea typically has five cyclones each year, however only or two of them make landfall. The possibility of a cyclone coinciding with king tides has the region on high alert. King tides are expected later this week, with the largest on Friday expected to peak at 4.29m in Shute Harbour at about 11am. King tides occurred twice every year and this week's would be the summer tide.
Whether or not the cyclone forms, the Whitsundays can expect wet and windy conditions for the rest of the week, with Proserpine already experiencing about 100mm of rainfall since Sunday.

HEAVY SNOW / EXTREME COLD -

Alaska - Road traffic to Valdez was cut off from the rest of the state after a series of avalanches over the weekend blocked the only road into the coastal community. The highway to the town of about 4,000 was blocked after an avalanche in the Keystone Canyon on Friday, followed by another on Saturday.
30 miles of the Richardson Highway remain closed for the foreseeable future, in part because a lake had formed below the avalanche that must now recede. Some sections of the highway also remain unstable and unsafe. Crews were working on the northern end of the avalanche area, but even when the waters recede, clearing the highway would not be a routine snow-plowing job. "We will be restricted because there is only so much equipment you can get up there at one time. There is limited space for everything, but once water recedes, we'll be working on both ends, north and south."
Valdez, one of Alaska's main seaports, lies in a remote area of the Chugach Mountains. Officials have set up shelters and urged some residents to leave their homes as a precaution. "There is plenty of gasoline and heating fuel oil in town to serve local needs during an extended road closure. Should fuel run short at any time, it will be barged in as needed." The town's 4,000 residents depend on barges for most delivered goods, rather than the highway. Schools in the town remain open, as do airport and port facilities.
The avalanches have not disrupted crude oil throughput because the pipeline is buried beneath the avalanche area. They have also had no effect on the tanker loading terminal or deliveries. "The original TAPS (trans-Alaska pipeline system) design engineers took the terrain and conditions into account. There are valves in the area that we are monitoring, but they are not compromised by avalanche or flooding. We are flying into the area regularly for surveillance and accessing surveillance info from the City of Valdez as well."
Valdez was recently named by Weather.com as the snowiest city in the nation, with an average annual snowfall of 326 inches. (video at link)

Extreme Weather Causes Snow Rollers Throughout The Midwest - Snow rollers are being spotted in open fields throughout the Midwest. The unique snowballs and rolls are RARE as they require a specific combination of conditions to form. Extreme cold and high winds throughout the region have provided the perfect environment for the rare formations.
The naturally occurring snow balls form where ice or ice-encrusted snow exists in a uniform layer over the ground. The surface layer serves as a platform where the balls are formed and can easily travel. The second layer, which rests on top of the ice, must be wet snow that is fluffy and loosely packed. This condition can be difficult to meet as wet snow is often quite dense.
In addition to the snow and ice, snow rollers require strong winds to form and propel the snowballs. As the wind scoops under the snow and pushes it along, the snow is shaped into unique formations. Some of the more common shapes are balls, donuts, and long formations that resemble jelly rolls.
The unique formations often vary in size, depending on the amount of snow and how far they roll. The smallest are the size of a dime, but the largest can grow up to several feet wide. The average size is usually closer to 12 inches. Although the formations appear similar to snowballs, they are not tightly packed. While they are interesting to look at or photograph, they usually cannot be picked up or held. The rolled snowballs come in a variety of shapes and sizes. However, the most interesting and beautiful rollers have several distinct and visible layers. As the inner layers are the most fragile, the balls often have a hollow center. Therefore, the rolls with all layers intact are even more difficult to find.
The lines trailing behind the rolling snow can be interesting, as well. The trails are often similar to those left by rocks sliding through the desert in Death Valley. (photos at link)

January may be THE COLDEST START OF THE YEAR SINCE 1982. Most of the Midwest are suffering through the coldest January since the 1980s.

EXTREME HEAT & DROUGHT / WILDFIRES -

California Drought Could Impact World Food Prices - Southern California, where many fruits and vegetables for the country are grown, is experiencing a recording-breaking drought. The current drought in California, which started three years ago, is believed to be THE DRIEST PERIOD IN THE STATE'S HISTORY.

Drought continues in Kansas - The U.S. Drought Monitor map for Kansas shows that 95% if the state is dry with around 47% in a moderate drought and 34% in a severe drought.

Australia - Drought challenge to Yass farmers. Drought is threatening to take hold in the Yass region, with farmers already finding feed scarce because of late frosts last year.

HEALTH THREATS -

Hong Kong begins culling 20,000 chickens - after the H7N9 bird flu virus was found in poultry imported from mainland China.

FDA did not act after deeming animal feed antibiotics ‘high risk’ to humans - Based on the US Food and Drug Administration’s own safety analyses, 30 antibiotic feed additives formerly approved for “nontherapeutic use” on food animals would not meet current agency health standards if submitted for approval today, a new report shows.
Nontherapeutic use of antibiotics means they are not used to treat diseases, but are rather used for growth promotion in animals or to counteract disease amid crowded or unsanitary conditions for livestock and poultry in industrial farming. The FDA documents show that 18 of the 30 additives were found to be “high risk” for “exposing humans to antibiotic-resistant bacteria through the food supply.” The other 12 were not supported with enough evidence from the drugs’ manufacturers for the FDA to definitively determine their safety. In fact, 26 of the products did not even meet the FDA’s own safety standards from 1973.
Further, the FDA has not revoked any of the antibiotic additive approvals or required any drug manufacturer to resubmit a product for a new safety assessment following the agency’s reviews, though two were voluntarily withdrawn by their makers. It is difficult to determine how widespread the use of these antibiotic additives has been, given that the FDA does not offer sales data on specific products. However, at least nine of the 30 additives are being marketed today and all of the products - outside of the two already withdrawn - remain FDA-approved despite the agency’s own damning reviews. “This risk was recognized by FDA in 1977 when it proposed to withdraw approvals for animal feed additives containing penicillin and most tetracyclines.” Yet the use of the two antibiotics continues because the FDA never followed through with its own assessment.
Last December, the FDA announced a plan to phase out some antibiotics that promote weight gain. That proposal was criticized because the agency planned on making them “voluntary” – not mandatory. A microbiologist said the FDA’s inaction in regard to the additives’ continued use is “a breach of their responsibility and the public trust.”
In response to the report, the FDA issued a statement saying that “based on its review of this and other information, the Agency chose to employ a strategy that would more broadly address the concerns about the production use of medically important antimicrobials in food-producing animals.” The FDA “is confident that its current strategy to protect the effectiveness of medically important antimicrobials, including penicillins and tetracyclines, is the most efficient and effective way to change the use of these products in animal agriculture.”

Pesticide linked to Alzheimer's - DDT, once widely used, may increase the chances of developing Alzheimer's disease, new research suggests.

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Monday, January 27, 2014

Global Disaster Watch - daily natural disaster reports.

**You may not be interested in war,
but war is interested in you.**
Leon Trotsky

LARGEST QUAKES so far today -
5.1 SOUTHEAST OF EASTER ISLAND

Yesterday, 1/26/14 -
5.0 NEAR S COAST OF PAPUA, INDONESIA
5.3 GREECE
5.2 MINDORO, PHILIPPINES
6.0 GREECE
5.2 MYANMAR
5.1 TONGA
5.1 VANUATU
5.5 PERU-ECUADOR BORDER REGION
5.2 SOLOMON ISLANDS

Greece - A very strong 6.0 earthquake has hit the Greek island of Kefalonia. The srong quake damaged roads, buildings in Cephalonia. The quake, which struck at 3.55 p.m., was felt in several parts of Greece and as far away as Karditsa in the north.
No casualties have been reported from the earthquake that rocked the Ionian island of Cephalonia on Sunday, though the tremor damaged parts of the road network and a number of older buildings. The quake, which struck at 3.55 p.m., was felt in several parts of Greece and as far away as Karditsa in the north. It has been followed by a series of aftershocks measuring between 3.5 - 4.4. Rockfalls have closed down some of the island's roads and a number of old buildings in the village of Pallikis, including a retirement home, suffered damage. The residents of the retirement home have been evacuated while the extent of the damage is assessed.
The epicenter of the quake was some 11 kilometers from the island's main town of Argostoli and 2 kilometers north of the town of Lixouri. In both towns there were reports of broken windows at stores and residences. The local soccer ground has reportedly also suffered a deep rift, as have parts of the road network. Emergency crews have been dispatched by the Public Power Corporation to restore damages suffered by parts of the electricity network that caused blackouts. Authorities declared a state of emergency and ordered that all schools remain closed on Monday. (photo at link)

TROPICAL STORMS -
Current tropical storms - maps and details.

No current tropical storms.

SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -

UK weather - Tornado ‘lifts cats into air’ as storms and rain sweep across country, bringing further risk of flooding.

HEAVY SNOW / EXTREME COLD -

United Kingdom - Temperatures are expected to plummet later with the Met Office warning the UK to prepare for icy, frozen surfaces. Parts of the country are also braced for snow. Meanwhile, some communities in England and Scotland are being warned to expect more flooding after rain swept across much of Britain on Sunday.
The Environment Agency still has 14 flood warnings in place, meaning immediate action is required, with the majority in south-west England. A severe weather warning issued by the Met Office covers much of the country and is due to last until 10:00 GMT on Monday morning. Forecasters said people should be aware of the potential for travel disruption as untreated surfaces freeze. Only some western and southern coastal areas are excluded from the warning.
"Our main concern as temperatures dip down fairly close to freezing will be the risk of ice. As the morning goes on there will mainly be sleet across any higher ground, rain at lower levels." The heaviest rain on Monday would be in the northern half of the UK. But flood warnings were in place for the Midlands, North East, South East and South West. There were also 149 flood alerts - indicating flooding is possible - issued FOR EVERY REGION of England.
In Scotland, river levels on the Nith in Dumfries continued to rise. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency warned Whitesands residents to remain vigilant. Motorists on the higher routes across parts of central Scotland were warned to prepare for snow and gale-force winds. "The public should be aware of the potential for disruption to travel as well as difficult driving conditions with a risk of blizzards at times." The weekend weather caused power outages in south-east England where more than 1,000 homes were left without electricity.
In Surrey - one of the counties hit by power cuts - eyewitnesses in Chobham reported a "mini-tornado" so strong it lifted feral cats into the air like "paper bags". There were reports of a second tornado further north in Warwickshire where some families had to seek overnight shelter at a community hall. The BBC Weather Centre said it was unable to confirm any tornadoes had struck without expert verification.
The weather caused some travel disruption in parts of the UK over the weekend. The heaviest rainfall was in Wales, where about 22mm (0.9in) came down in 12 hours. The line between Machynlleth and Pwllhelli remains closed following recent flooding, while a recent major landslip means a very limited service is running between Horsham and Dorking.

Winter Weather, Extreme Cold Hits Chicago; Hundreds of Flights Canceled.

'GLOBAL WEIRDNESS' / CLIMATE CHANGE -

Severe weather leads to record $3.2 billion in Canadian insurance payouts - Catastrophic weather disasters in 2013 resulted in the HIGHEST PAYOUT EVER for Canada's property and casualty insurers.

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Sunday, January 26, 2014

Global Disaster Watch - daily summary of the latest natural disasters.

**The Constitution only guarantees the American people
the right to pursue happiness.
You have to catch it yourself.**
Benjamin Franklin

LARGEST QUAKES so far today -
5.2 VANUATU
5.5 PERU-ECUADOR BORDER REGION
5.2 SOLOMON ISLANDS

Yesterday, 1/25/14 -
5.5 SOLOMON ISLANDS
6.1 JAVA, INDONESIA

1/24/14 -
5.0 TONGA
5.0 NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
5.4 BANDA SEA
5.3 NORTH OF ASCENSION ISLAND

Japan - A powerful earthquake originating in what seismologists call the Nankai Trough off the Pacific coast could cut off tap water to roughly 8.32 million people in Osaka, or 94 percent of the prefecture’s residents.
The outage would be caused by damage to tap water infrastructure stemming from the intense oscillation, tsunami and liquefaction. An intense temblor would cut power to a combined 2.34 million households (55 percent) in the prefecture, and gas to 1.15 million (34 percent). Damage to buildings, distribution networks and other infrastructure would surpass ¥28 trillion. Any tsunami induced by the quake would put a combined 11,000 hectares of the area under water, roughly 3.6 times that estimated by the central government.
Osaka also assumes the quake would trigger tsunami that would reverse the flow of the Yodo northeast toward Kyoto and reach the prefectural border in about two hours. The water intakes at 12 points along the river might be rendered useless, and direct damage to water pipelines is also feared. One option would be to open dams upstream to push the seawater back out, which would resolve the tap water problem in 40 days.
Aside from drinking water, about 48 percent of Osaka’s cellphone networks could be damaged. The prefecture has about 20,000 relay stations. Train services of all types might be disabled, the report says. In one scenario, 1.91 million people could face evacuation while 1.46 million others are left stranded in the city. A university professor urged residents to get prepared. “Numbers of this scale cannot be ignored. Residents of the prefecture must raise their alert levels and get prepared.”

US earthquake fault zone alive and active, study finds - The New Madrid fault zone in the United States' midsection is active and could spawn future large earthquakes, scientists reported Thursday. 200 years ago the New Madrid fault wreaked havoc with huge earthquakes that made the Mississippi River flow backwards.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Current tropical storms - maps and details.

No current tropical storms.

Australia - The Bureau of Meteorology says a cyclone could form off the Pilbara coast as early as next week. A low is developing in the South East Timor Sea and expected to cross into Australian waters tomorrow. Forecasters predict the low to move off the West Kimberley coast on Australia Day and then track parallel to the Pilbara on Monday.
It is possible a cyclone will form on Tuesday when the system is over water. "There it has the chance to turn into a cyclone. That's something we're going to be watching closely in the next few days." The threat of a cyclone follows a torrent of stormy weather in northern WA over the past week. A tropical low that entered the mainland near Darwin early last week dumped RECORD AMOUNTS OF RAIN across the Pilbara and Kimberley, causing flooding.
Extremely heavy rain was experienced throughout the Goldfields overnight, as that low continued to move further south. Leonora was hit with 155mm and more than 100mm was dumped in Kalgoorlie-Boulder. Leinster recorded 78mm. Gindalbee station received 176mm in the rain gauge. The Bureau of Meteorology has also confirmed Tuesday was Broome's WETTEST DAY IN MORE THAN A DECADE. 171mm fell on Tuesday, making it the rainiest January day since 1997. It was also one of the wettest days recorded in the town overall. The Great Northern Highway in the Pilbara re-opened after being closed between Meekatharra and Newman due to the flooding.

Philippines - Fear of landslide gives survivors of Tropical Storm Sendong, living in sitio Calaanan in Barangay Canitoan, difficulty sleeping at night. “I cannot sleep in this house, I am afraid that another landslide would take place and kill my family,” said a resident of LGU-Crayola resettlement site in a hinterland area in Calaanan. She added that the thought of her family being covered with mud and rocks haunt her every time it starts to rain, especially during the low pressure area (LPA) that developed into tropical depression bringing with it incessant rains for two weeks.
“Every night I think about being covered with mud.” 34 families live in a relocation zone on a hill beside the mountain. A landslide on Tuesday last week that damaged homes. The cascading rocks and mud almost buried a two-year-old daughter as it hit a house. “There was something like an explosion when the mud and rock hit the backdoor of our house, my daughter was standing nearby.” They lived in Barangay Carmen before Tropical Storm Sendong devastated their home in December 2012.
Another resident from the same relocation site said while she was cooking on that same day, some small amount of mud started drifting toward her. She tried to shovel the mud but eventually stopped because it started coming in bulk. She asked her husband not to work after the landslide to help her shovel the mud but they did not shovel it because the mud amassed excessively. He stopped working for a week now to look after his family, that sleeps now, along with other eight families, in the AICID building, in another nearby evacuation site. “I sleep in the relocation site because I am afraid especially when it is raining.” The makeshift lavatory at the back of her house was covered with mud and is now rendered useless.
Eight houses in buildings 1 and 2 were damaged due to the landslide. The relocation site is a landslide-prone area. “Even if the houses were concrete it could not sustain against the landslide.” More landslides in the area are possible. The landslides happened because of the relentless rain due to Agaton that eventually weakened the soil. The houses at the foot of the mountain are unsafe. The houses should be five meters away from the foot of the mountain, and the slope should be 45-degrees with a “bench.” “This area is not suitable for a relocation site.”

SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -

Forecasters are warning of more heavy rain across parts of the UK, bringing further risk of flooding to some areas left struggling by recent storms. The Met Office has issued an amber warning for rain in south-west England on Sunday between 06:00 GMT and 14:00. Rain and strong winds are also forecast for parts of the South East, Northern Ireland, Wales and much of Scotland.
On Saturday, storms battered the Midlands region, with buildings struck by lightning and trees uprooted. The Environment Agency has 10 flood warnings in place for the south east and south west of England, meaning flooding is expected and immediate action is required. More than 100 flood alerts - meaning flooding is possible - have also been issued, more than half of them in the South East.
The Met Office said Sunday's amber warning meant areas of the Somerset Levels that are currently under water should "be prepared for further flooding". It said between 10 and 20mm of rain was expected to fall on saturated ground on Sunday. It has yellow warnings - the lowest of its three alert levels - in place for wind, snow and ice for most of Scotland. Ice and snow warnings are also in place for northern England, while people in Northern Ireland are warned to expect rain and high winds.
The higher-level amber warning is for rain in South West England, and yellow rain warnings are in place for London and the South East and south Wales. On Friday, Somerset County Council declared the situation there a "major incident" and asked the armed forces to consider helping villagers who had been cut off. The council warned that precautions to stop damage to property and risk to life "need to be taken now".
Sedgemoor District Council also declared a major incident on the Somerset Levels. The "biggest pumping operation ever" is continuing there, but much of the water has been going into already swollen rivers. "We've been banging on to the [Environment] Agency to clean the rivers out. First and foremost we need more pumps. I was shouting out for them a week before Christmas, but the agency said no."
The Environment Agency said it has 62 pumps operating non-stop in the Somerset Levels to drain an estimated 65 million cubic metres of water off an area spanning about 25 square miles. "The country has faced an EXTRAORDINARY COMBINATION OF WEATHER CONDITIONS OVER THE LAST SIX WEEKS. Our thoughts go out to those communities that have, and in some places continue to, experience flooding." Since 1 January, 569 flood warnings and 30 severe flood warnings have been issued. Winds of more than 50mph were reported with unconfirmed reports of tornadoes hitting in Cambridge, Nuneaton and Retford. South West Trains services were suspended on parts of the network after several trees fell on lines. Some of the Met Office weather warnings continue into Monday.

HEAVY SNOW / EXTREME COLD -

U.S. - Extreme winter weather causes massive semi, vehicle pileup. Another round of extreme winter weather, including subzero temps and whiteout conditions, has hit some areas of the United States, which is being dubbed by some as “Polar Vortex Part 2.”
In Northwestern Lake County, Indiana, more than two feet of lake-effect snow fell in less than 10 hours on Tuesday (Jan. 21), causing white-out conditions, and clogged traffic. "Traffic was slowed to a crawl or stopped on I-80/94 and I-65 for much of the day as motorists encountered dangerous white-out conditions and snow falling at a rate of 3-plus inches an hour.” The clogged roadways made it difficult for both INDOT crews and Indiana State Police to access these highways.
INDOT crews were on the roads in full call-out in the hardest-hit areas, plowing and salting 24 hours per day, alternating in 12-hour shifts. In a massive pile-up the involving more than a dozen semis near Michigan City, three people were killed and more than 20 were injured as a result of the continuing winter weather. The crash occurred Jan. 23 afternoon on eastbound I-94 near W 400 N, about three miles east of the Michigan City, Indiana, exit. Police say 46 vehicles, including 19 semi-trucks and several passenger cars that were crushed between and underneath the semis, were involved in the accident. (photos at link)

Wisconsin - Extreme weather causes second train to derail this week. A train derailment closed the Five Points Intersection and Academy St. in Janesville Wednesday morning. Two train cars carrying grain were knocked off the tracks around 5 a.m. The extremely cold temperatures caused a switch to malfunction. "If you have real cold weather, sometimes that steel gets brittle or causes switches to malfunction." said the Wisconsin Railroad Commissioner. He doesn't think people should be worried because railroad companies constantly monitor tracks for problems. "They invest an awful lot of money in [maintenance], making sure the tracks are safe, making sure that brush is cleared, there are no obstructions, that kind of stuff. And they take that pretty seriously."
On Sunday, 19 cars carrying coal derailed in Caledonia. No one was hurt in either incident.

EXTREME HEAT & DROUGHT / WILDFIRES -

California - Drought drains the Russian River. This time of year, the Russian River should be roaring but as it stands, it's barely whispering. "I don't sleep at night, number one," said the Sonoma County Water Agency spokesman. "I also think we have a dire situation on our hands."
Rock and dirt are now exposed on much of the river bed that in normal years would be underwater; a string of buoys that usually sits on top of the water to warn swimmers not to go any farther now sits on gravel. The river HASN'T BEEN THIS LOW IN LATE JANUARY SINCE THE 1950s. The situation is much different that it was eight years ago, when the river flooded.
The lack of water especially in the upper Russian River has already had a ripple effect in nearby communities because the river is the main source of water for Cloverdale, Healdsburg, Geyersville, Hopland and Ukiah. "Because the river is so low it is not recharging the ground water in a way it would normally this time of year when we would normally have literally a 100 times this flow."
On Wednesday the Cloverdale City Council ordered a 25 percent reduction in water use. Healdsburg did the same the day before. Residents are now prohibited from washing their patios with hoses and watering lawns will be restricted. Water officials say restrictions could get worse if it stays this dry. They add it will take 13 inches of rain this winter to match the rainfall totals of 1977, which was a bad drought year.

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Friday, January 24, 2014

Global Disaster Watch - the latest earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tropical storms, wildfires and record-breaking weather.

**If you can't say something kind,
at least be vague.**

LARGEST QUAKES so far today -
5.0 NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
5.4 BANDA SEA
5.3 NORTH OF ASCENSION ISLAND

Yesterday, 1/23/14 -
5.1 SOLOMON ISLANDS
5.0 OFFSHORE EL SALVADOR
5.7 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
5.9 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
5.1 KEPULAUAN BABAR, INDONESIA
5.5 FLORES SEA

'Virtual earthquakes' used to forecast Los Angeles quake risk - The simulation predicts that seismic waves from a major quake occurring along the southern San Andreas Fault will get funneled towards Los Angeles.

5 biggest earthquakes to hit British Columbia, Canada - (that we know of). British Columbia has a history as Canada's hub of seismic activity, with fully half of the country's top 10 temblors taking place in that province.

British Isles - Earthquake-hit New Ollerton is currently the 'most seismically active' town in the British Isles. The town has experienced 30 earthquakes in 50 days.

New Zealand - Quake causes hospital leak. Palmerston North Hospital officials are reassuring the public the site is safe after Monday's 6.3 earthquake caused water to leak down the walls.
A metal eagle sculpture with a 45-foot wingspan was sent sprawling to the floor at Wellington Airport in New Zealand after the earthquake hit. Power has been restored to quake homes.
Quakes are part of life in lower North Island. It was a shaky 24 hours in the lower North Island, with hundreds of aftershocks after Monday's quake near Eketahuna. The lower North Island has been warned to to except more aftershocks but it is very unlikely there will be a magnitude 6 or greater earthquake in the next month.
The quake turned chimneys into projectiles.

VOLCANOES -
Volcano risk? Ask the birds. - Tiny birds, bees and butterflies are to be tracked from space from next year to give us advance warnings of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.

Indonesia - Legislator urges government to declare national disaster status. "It is time for the government to declare the national disaster status in Indonesia, particularly related to Mount Sinabung eruption" that has been ongoing.

Source of Galapagos eruptions is not where models place it - Images gathered by scientists using seismic waves penetrating to a depth of 300 kilometers (almost 200 miles) report the discovery of an anomaly that likely is the volcanic mantle plume of the Galapagos Islands. It's not where geologists and computer modeling had assumed.
The team's experiments put the suspected plume at a depth of 250 kilometers (155 miles), at a location about 150 kilometers (about 100 miles) southeast of Fernandina Island, the westernmost island of the chain, and where generations of geologists and computer-generated mantle convection models have placed the plume. The plume anomaly is consistent with partial melting, melt extraction, and remixing of hot rocks and is spreading north toward the mid-ocean ridge instead of, as projected, eastward with the migrating Nazca plate on which the island chain sits.
The findings "help explain why so many of the volcanoes in the Galapagos are active." The Galapagos chain covers roughly 3,040 square miles of ocean and is centered about 575 miles west of Ecuador. Galapagos volcanic activity has been difficult to understand, because conventional wisdom and modeling say newer eruptions should be moving ahead of the plate, not unlike the long-migrating Yellowstone hotspot. The suspected plume's location is closer to Isabella and Floreana islands. While a dozen volcanoes remain active in the archipelago, the three most volatile are Fernandina's and the Cerro Azul and Sierra Negra volcanoes on the southwest and southeast tips, respectively, of Isabella Island.
The plume's more southern location, adds fuel to his group's findings, at three different sites along the globe encircling mid-ocean ridge (where 85 percent of Earth's volcanic activity occurs), that Earth's internal convection doesn't always adhere to modeling efforts and raises new questions about how ocean plates at the Earth's surface interact with the hotter, more fluid asthenosphere that sits atop the mantle.
"Ocean islands have always been enigmatic. Why out in the middle of the ocean basins do you get these big volcanoes? The Galapagos, Hawaii, Tahiti, Iceland — all the world's great ocean islands – they're mysterious." The Galapagos plume, according to the new paper, extends up into shallower depths and tracks northward and perpendicular to plate motion. Mantle plumes, such as the Galapagos, Yellowstone and Hawaii, generally are believed to bend in the direction of plate migration. In the Galapagos, however, the volcanic plume has decoupled from the plates involved.
"Here's an archipelago of volcanic islands that are broadly active over a large region, and the plume is almost decoupled from the plate motion itself. It is going opposite than expected, and we don't know why." The answer may be in the still unknown rheology of the gooey asthenosphere on which the Earth's plates ride. . In their conclusion, the paper's five co-authors theorize that the plume material is carried to the mid-ocean ridge by a deep return flow centered in the asthenosphere rather than flowing along the base of the lithosphere as in modeling projections

TROPICAL STORMS -
Current tropical storms - maps and details.

No current tropical storms.

New storm wrecks Philippines typhoon victims' shelters - Residents wait for evacuation on the roofs of houses, which are partially submerged by floods brought by tropical depression ‘Agaton’, in Butuan in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao on January 20.
The United Nations warned more needed to be done to help millions displaced by the Philippines' deadliest typhoon, after a new cyclone tore down flimsy shelters. More than 1,000 survivors of Super Typhoon Haiyan fled to the safety of government buildings in the town of Guiuan on the weekend as a fresh tropical storm flattened tents and ripped the roofing off other temporary shelters.
Guiuan, on Samar island about 600 kilometres (372 miles) southeast of Manila, was the first area to be devastated when Haiyan hit on November 8. It left nearly 8,000 people dead or missing and more than four million others homeless across the central islands. The government is building temporary housing while looking for safe relocation sites for survivors of coastal communities ravaged by giant waves unleashed by Haiyan, warning the rebuilding would take years.
A UN aid appeal for nearly US$800 million last month for Haiyan relief is about 42 per cent funded, but the component for shelters was “only a fifth funded". British aid group Oxfam also warned the temporary shelters given to Haiyan survivors were no match for the extreme weather in the Philippines, which is hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons each year, along with frequent earthquakes.
“In one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, it's critical we quickly provide safe homes... for those continuing to live in dangerous and difficult locations." Government officials are working in villages to evacuate residents after floodwaters brought by tropical depression ‘Agaton’ swamped their homes in Kabadbaran, Agusan del Norte, in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao on January 19. The government said the new storm had killed at least 40 people on the southern region of Mindanao, outside of the areas devastated by Haiyan. But in Guiuan, which lies close to Mindanao, up to 30 tents collapsed, while standing water also soaked through the floors of others. (photo gallery at link)

Tropical Depression Agaton - From low pressure area (LPA) to tropical depression to LPA - to tropical depression again? Or even stronger? Weathermen on Tuesday raised the possibility that Tropical Depression Agaton, which has weakened into an LPA, might morph back with the same name and threaten communities anew in eastern parts of the Visayas and Mindanao.
Forecasters said the LPA had a 50-50 chance of turning into a tropical cyclone a second time. Agaton, which claimed at least 60 lives and displaced some 20,000 families in Mindanao since it struck on Friday before it was downgraded back to an LPA, was almost stationary at 465 kilometers east of Davao City as of mid-Tuesday. It was being influenced by two high pressure areas in the Pacific Ocean. “It remains strong because it is still over the sea.”
Pagasa maintained its warning of flash floods and landslides, possibly triggered by the LPA in Eastern Visayas, Caraga, Northern Mindanao, Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental. In Agusan del Sur province, the rain was no longer as heavy on Tuesday as in the past days, but landslides and flash floods caused by a swelling Agusan River sent thousands more residents fleeing to safety. The number of evacuees had risen to 16,796 families from 10,000 the day before. They are staying in at least 75 temporary shelters.
The Agusan River breached the critical level of 4.55 meters, prompting authorities to order residents to leave their houses along the river and in landslide-prone villages. “There’s an ongoing forced rescue operation in all riverside villages in the city.” Floodwater remained in waist- and chest-deep levels in 83 villages of Butuan where hundreds of houses were submerged. The number of fatalities was pegged at 26 persons, with five missing and 65,649 families (310,594 persons) displaced throughout the five-province region.
Commercial flights in and out of Butuan, the regional capital, were canceled. In Manila, at least 32 flights to Butuan, Surigao and Cagayan de Oro cities in Northern Mindanao were canceled at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) on Tuesday. Many were worried about their families back home due to reports of floods and landslides in the city and other parts of Misamis Oriental. Some 2,810 shipping passengers were also stranded in ports due to bad weather.
In Davao del Norte province, the Saug River overflowed after days of heavy rain, flooding half of the town of Asuncion. The provincial board of Compostela Valley on Tuesday declared the province under a state of calamity. Two days before, municipal officials of Compostela Valley, Monkayo, Montevista and New Bataan made similar proclamations as bad weather damaged crops and infrastructure facilities.

New Zealand - Rare seabird washes up in Christchurch. It's thought to have been blown thousands of kilometres off course by Cyclone Ian, which wreaked havoc on Tonga recently.

SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -

Floods inundated France and Italy this January.

HEALTH THREATS -

The Food and Drug Administration is conducting new studies of the safety of caramel coloring in soft drinks and other foods, even though previous research has shown no identifiable health risk. The agency's announcement comes in response to a study by Consumer Reports that shows varying levels of 4-methylimidazole — an impurity formed in some caramel coloring at low levels during the manufacturing process — in 12 brands of soda from five manufacturers.
The FDA says it has already studied the use of caramel as a flavour and colour additive for decades and it has no reason to believe the coloring used is unsafe. The agency said it is also reviewing new data on the safety of 4-methylimidazole but did not say what that data is. There are no federal limits on the amount of 4-methylimidazole, which the FDA says can also form in trace amounts when coffee beans are roasted or some meats are grilled.
The Consumer Reports study urged the agency to set a maximum level of the substance when it is artificially added to foods or soda, to require labeling when it is added and to bar products from carrying the "natural" label if they contain caramel colours. "There is no reason why consumers need to be exposed to this avoidable and unnecessary risk that can stem from coloring food and beverages brown." Though studies have not been conclusive about whether 4-methylimidazole is a carcinogen, California includes it on the state list of carcinogens and a state law mandates a cancer warning label on products that have a certain level of the substance. In reaction to that law, Coke, Pepsi and other soft drink makers have directed their caramel-colour suppliers to reduce the levels of 4-methylimidazole. It is not found in all caramel colorings.
Over an eight-month period, the study found that single servings of two products purchased in California, Pepsi One and the beverage Malta Goya, exceeded the 29 micrograms of 4-methylimidazole that are the threshold in California but carried no warning. Consumer Reports has asked the California attorney general's office to investigate. A PepsiCo spokeswoman said the company is "extremely concerned" about the study and believes it is factually incorrect. She said the average amount of soda consumed daily by those who drink it is less than a 12-ounce can, so the samples actually do not exceed the limit of 29 micrograms a day. "All of Pepsi's products are below the threshold set in California and all are in full compliance with the law."
The drinks tested were Sprite, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola, Coke Zero, Dr Pepper, Dr. Snap, Brisk Iced Tea, A&W Root Beer, Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Pepsi One and Goya Malta. Consumer Reports said there was no significant level found in Sprite, and consistently low levels were found in Coke products.

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Thursday, January 23, 2014

Global Disaster Watch - the latest earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tropical storms, wildfires and record-breaking weather.

Sorry my schedule for updating is still a bit erratic.

**Always keep your words soft and sweet,
just in case you have to eat them.**

LARGEST QUAKES so far today -
5.0 SOLOMON ISLANDS
5.0 OFFSHORE EL SALVADOR
5.7 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
5.9 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
5.1 KEPULAUAN BABAR, INDONESIA
5.5 FLORES SEA

Yesterday, 1/22/14 -
5.0 KURIL ISLANDS
5.5 VANUATU REGION
5.4 TONGA

VOLCANOES -
Indonesia - Sinabung volcano (Sumatra) - eruption continues with no clear trend. The eruption of the volcano located in Karo District, North Sumatra Province, has displaced at least 26,088 people. Until 2010, Indonesia's Sinabung volcano was dormant, with no confirmed eruptions in the historical record.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Current tropical storms - maps and details.

No current tropical storms.

Australia - 'Cyclone like' weather system brings torrential rainfall and storms to the Goldfields and Esperance regions. The Bureau of Meteorology is warning residents to expect further storms and torrential rainfall, as a 'cyclone like' system continues to move south.
Yesterday, a deep tropical low dropped a large amount of rain throughout the northern Goldfields, causing flash flood warnings and road closures. The Kalgoorlie-Boulder airport and many homes in the region lost power. "This system to me is QUITE BIZARRE because it does look, from the satellite pictures, it looks very similar to a cyclone. This [system] one here started up around Kununurra and again has been dragged down and is going to head or keep heading in a southerly direction and down through the south east, dropping lots and lots of rain in its wake."
However, the weather system lashing the region is good news for some pastoralists. The Gindalbee station in the Goldfields has received 176 millimetres in the rain gauge and it is one of the best starts to the year she has ever seen. In Leonora, 155 millimetres was recorded, and more than 100 millimetres has dumped in Kalgoorlie-Boulder. The Bureau of Meteorology says the deep tropical low is expected to move slowly south today. Emergency services say despite the rain, there have been few calls for help. (photos)

HEALTH THREATS -
A surge in cases of the deadly new strain of bird flu has been reported in China at the beginning of 2014. Only a handful of people had been infected with H7N9 since June, but health officials have reported 73 cases so far this month. Influenza researchers argue the winter season and preparations for Chinese New Year may be driving the increase. The World Health Organization called for vigilance, saying the virus was likely to remain present for some time.
H7N9 made the jump from infecting domestic chickens and ducks to infecting people at the end of March 2013. Within a month, 126 cases and 24 deaths had been recorded. H7N9 does kill a high proportion of infected people and is capable of evolving resistance to anti-viral drugs with relative ease. Up to five million people get severe cases of seasonal flu each year, causing up to half a million deaths. By comparison 209 cases of H7N9, causing 55 deaths, seems small. The global concern is not what this bird flu is doing now, but how it might develop.
So far there have been no cases of sustained human-to-human transmission; however, the virus could mutate, allowing it to spread more easily in people. If that happened, the virus would pose a much greater global threat; for now, there is no sign of this. The virus was stopped in its tracks as control measures, such as closing live poultry markets, were introduced.
"We need to remain vigilant, but so far the virus does not seem to have mutated in any way. Some people will be looking very closely at the Chinese New Year, when there will be lots of people travelling. It will be crowded on trains and they'll also be travelling with chickens."

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Global Disaster Watch - the latest earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tropical storms, wildfires and record-breaking weather.

**We must learn to live together as brothers
or perish together as fools.**
Martin Luther King Jr.

Short, late update today.

LARGEST QUAKES so far today -
5.0 KURIL ISLANDS
5.5 VANUATU REGION
5.4 TONGA

Yesterday, 1/21/14 -
5.0 WEST CHILE RISE
5.2 KURIL ISLANDS
6.0 TONGA

1/20/14 -
5.2 STATE OF YAP, MICRONESIA
6.2 NORTH ISLAND OF NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand - Quakes to continue for weeks. Aftershocks have continued to rock the region overnight following Monday's strong 6.2 magnitude quake north of Wellington. It was felt throughout most of New Zealand, with reports of people feeling the quake from as far away as Invercargill and Auckland. Reports of minor damage are flooding in. The quake cut power and phones, stopped trains and sent people onto the streets.

Earthquake felt across large parts of southern Italy - An earthquake shook southern Italy on Monday, sending residents onto the streets, but there were no immediate reports of injuries.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Current tropical storms - maps and details.

No current tropical storms.

Cyclone June - The tail-end of Cyclone June reached the far northern tip of New Zealand early Tuesday. Gusts of 74 kms per hour were recorded.

Tropical cyclones Lingling and June - Lingling, a first-category tropical cyclone that grew in the Philippines, was "an EXTRAORDINARY TROPICAL CYCLONE. This is the first time for Lingling to appear in the northern part of Indonesia.” Data on tropical cyclones show that from 1977 to 2012, 10 tropical cyclones formed in the northern part of Indonesia.
Lingling formed in the eastern waters of the Philippines and was moving at 65 kilometers per hour at 7 a.m. local time on Saturday. Although itwais quite close to North Sulawesi, the tropical cyclone will not pass through Manado or other parts of Indonesia. “Among the impacts of the tropical cyclone are an increase in wind speed and high waves.” Waves of between 3 and 4 meters in height have the potential to occur in the Sulawesi Sea, North Halmahera waters, Sangihe and Talaud Islands waters, Bitung-Manado waters and parts of the Pacific Ocean north of Halmahera. Waves of 4-6 meters in height could also occur in the Sulu Sea and eastern Philippines waters.
Tropical cyclone potentials growing in around the Arafuru Sea or to the north of Darwin have not developed into cyclones. As a result, Cyclone June formed around New Caledonia or the southern part of Fiji and was moving toward New Zealand at 78 kilometers per hour. “From the direction it is moving, Cyclone June will not hit Indonesia and will cause neither heavy rain nor strong winds in the country.”

HEAVY SNOW / EXTREME COLD -

Winter storm blankets U. S. under heaps of snow. The storm stretched from Kentucky to New England.

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Monday, January 20, 2014

Global Disaster Watch - the latest earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tropical storms, wildfires and record-breaking weather.

**An individual has not started living until he can rise above
the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns
to the broader concerns of all humanity.**
Martin Luther King Jr.

There will be no update on Tuesday this week.

LARGEST QUAKES so far today -
6.2 NORTH ISLAND OF NEW ZEALAND
5.1 KURIL ISLANDS

Yesterday, 1/19/14 -
5.1 NEAR N COAST OF PAPUA, INDONESIA
5.0 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5.0 NORTH INDIAN OCEAN
5.0 KURIL ISLANDS

1/18/14 -
5.4 NORTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
5.4 BONIN ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION

New Zealand - Central New Zealand, including the capital Wellington, was shaken by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake on Monday, but there were no reports of injuries, and damage was mostly superficial.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Current tropical storms - maps and details.

* In the Western Pacific -
- Tropical depression Lingling is located approximately 344 nm west of Koror.

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New Caledonia cleans up after Tropical Cyclone June - New Caledonia's north is cleaning up after the area was struck by Tropical Cyclone June on Saturday. The system caused flooding and cut a number of roads. The storm also felled trees and cut power some communities. Saturday's flight schedules were also affected, with international flights delayed and some domestic services cancelled. The fast-moving cyclone weakened into a depression as it veered southwards and moved into cooler waters.
Tropical cyclone June is expected to move onto the upper North Island later today. Since 2000, New Zealand has missed a number of major tropical storms, but the most recent damaging one was Cyclone Wilma in early 2011, which caused damage to parts of Northland and Coromandel. A number have reached New Zealand but have fizzled just a few hours before reaching land. Cyclone June is not expected to be as strong as Cyclone Wilma.

Tonga - Lack of water supplies in Ha'apai causing health issues for people in Tonga, a week after Tropical Cyclone Ian devastated the country's northern islands.

Indonesia - Extreme weather pounds Yogyakarta. Yogyakarta residents have been urged to remain cautious as extreme weather, caused by a meeting of tropical cyclones, is expected to hit several areas in Yogyakarta at the end of the month.
The Yogyakarta chapter of the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency’s climate forecast official said that the meeting of a tropical cyclone from northern Java with another cyclone heading toward the north from the southern part of the island was predicted to take place this week. As a result, there would be an arrangement of clouds over Java Island that will produce heavy rains and high waves in coastal areas. In high-altitude areas such as Sleman regency, there is expected to be higher rainfall.
"The weather even will be quite extreme. The height of waves is expected to be between 4 and 7 meters. This is very dangerous for small boats." Many local fishermen, however, are still going out to sea despite the high waves. “It’s a lobster season now. They are selling at quite a high price.”

SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -

France - Two people have died and more than 150 people have been airlifted to safety after floods hit south-eastern France. One man died in his basement and another was swept away in his car while a third person was missing in a boat in the Var area. Some 4,000 homes have been left without power.
A local official told a news conference that there had been "RECORD RAINFALL. The situation is very worrying, and it's not going to get any better tonight," he told reporters on Sunday, amid forecasts of further rainfall. By Sunday evening, 155 people had been airlifted from the worst-hit areas and the evacuation of residents by boat was continuing.
One woman, who was evacuated by helicopter with her five-year-old daughter, said she had seen a huge wave wash her empty car away. "It was really staggering. We had called the fire brigade who told us to move the furniture upstairs... We had very little time, the house flooded very quickly." Some 100mm (4in) of rain has fallen in the Mediterranean resort of Nice since Thursday evening, compared with the average of 85mm for the entire month of January. An orange alert was declared by the French authorities in response to the flooding.

HEAVY SNOW / EXTREME COLD -

Polar Vortex Expected to Return for Super Bowl XLVIII? - Since the very moment MetLife Stadium was chosen to host Super Bowl XLVIII, there has been seemingly endless concern about potential weather threats. In fact, the concern is so great that the NFL has even planned ahead to reschedule the game in the event of an extreme weather situation.
“[If] it’s necessary due to matters of public safety or there are impracticalities, then rescheduling scenarios have to be considered,” the executive V.P. of events said in mid-December. “Saturday would be as early as we would consider at this point. We have contingencies that take us into Monday and Tuesday. There are postponement scenarios or rescheduling scenarios for 256 regular-season games each year. Same thing for Super Bowls since the beginning of Super Bowls. We’ve had those in place. … The fact is we’ve been in cold weather cities before, we’ve been in situations where snow has fallen ahead of the Super Bowl.”
What would be considered extreme enough to prompt a rescheduling of the NFL's premiere event and one of the most popular sporting events on the planet? Well, that's a subjective question, but the polar vortex and blizzard experienced by much of the Northeast over the first two weeks of the New Year might be enough to warrant rescheduling consideration. And, as fate would have it, early indications are that's exactly the kind of weather facing Super Bowl XLVIII.
A meteorologist who works for the National Weather Association predicts that from Tuesday, January 21st through early February, the Northeast will experience its second Polar Vortex of the New Year with temperatures of 20-30 degrees below average. The worst of this second round of the Polar Vortex is expected to hit sometime over the next 10-14 days — the tail end of which is just in time for Super Bowl XLVIII.

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