Weather & Earth Science News

Whilst it's not exactly impossible, one thing we're not expecting at the moment is the coldest Easter ever - indeed, it could yet be the warmest (okay, highly unlikely!).  Headlines like this really are completely made up.  Easter isn't until the end of March and there's a lot of weather to come before then, though the first half of March at least doesn't look like being especially warm (though not record breaking cold either!).  That February has been so cold is largely due to the prolonged spell of dull, gloomy weather with low daytime temps but with it not much colder at night: good frosts down here have been as rare as sunny days.  A different story in the Highlands though where it's been both warm, sunny and frosty!   Kinlochewe has been the warmest place in Britain this month with 13.9c on the 17th (it was 13.3c there yesterday) whilst Aviemore saw -10c on the 22nd and yesterday morning it fell to -8.3c in Braemar.   Here the temp has...

Second round of heavy snow in US, two dead Red alert as Pilbara cyclone intensifies off the coast of WA.  Meanwhile, SE Qld awash again after heavy rain but it's not entirely bad news as in Vic, bushfire threat eased by heavy rain Weather extreme provoked by trapping of giant waves in atmosphere - itself believed to be a consequence of a lowering of the temperature differential between the Arctic and Equator, caused by 'global' warming (the Arctic is warming faster than other areas). Scientists produce densest artificial ionospheric plasma clouds using HAARP - still no signs of them bouncing HAARP signals off 'chemtrails' to create hurricanes though! Wind turbines will create more carbin dioxide, scientists say - mainly as a consequence of the peat moors on which they, and, more especially, hundreds of miles of access roads, are built drying out.  And we may need to start rethinking wind power - it's not quite so limitless after all (b...

Wild weather brings floods, 'mini tornado' to parts of NSW with a a huge gallery of pictures as storm leaves path of destruction in Kiama - and first hand reports of the tornado damage on UKweatherworld here .   Meanwhile, thousands still isolated by second flood in a month whilst up in Qld, school children rescued as flash flood strands bus as heavy rain claims man's life .   In contrast, down in Victoria, Melbourne equals heatwave record .   Biggest snowstorm of the season socks Denver metro area .   Elsewhere, storm leaves four dead in America And some good examples of why you should never believe headlines without checking out the details.   First, it was reported that there was record snowfall in Kansas - but what they mean is, it was the most to have ever been recorded falling at that specific location on that specific date (21st February).  Not such a big deal after all.   And on Iceagenow, they've been getting e...

In Australia, more floods leave two dead, thousands told to evacuate across NSW , but in contrast there a drought fear for Victoria as rain in short supply and water storage drops - some places there have had their driest six months on record. Floods sweep through Greece and Italy, one dead # From Minnesota to North Carolina and New England, states brace for winter storm   Meanwhile, all England gets is a few snow grains .... although to be fair there's been a light dusting in parts of the SE and some heavier snow showers affecting the NE this morning.   The Daily Mail as usual has pictures, warning us that snow flurries and 'stilleto sharp' winds are set to chill Britain until Wednesday with lows of minus 11 (in Aviemore) Cyclone Haruna makes landfall in Madagascar   And interestingly, the forecast is for more snow in polar regions, less for the rest of us .   Hmmm, that's just what you need to start an ice age!

Winter returns to Britain - only 3.1c here yesterday and may be even colder today.  Cloud means little in the way of frosts, but the ground is drying out and if we get any snow it should settle, though only expecting at best a dusting in Evesham. Meanwhile, as snow halts a major gold tornament in Arizona this weather is officially ridiculous says Rory McIlroy, whilst winter storm blankets US Great Plains with snow as 'thundersnow' storm in US Midwest blamed for two deaths Roofs torn off homes as storm batters northern NSW New Zealand rain radar activity could be 'swarm of insects' In Greece, torrential rain causes flooding in Attica Caves point to thawing of Siberia In the Caribbean, deepest undersea vents discovered by UK team Exoplanet Kepler 37b is tiniest yet - smaller than Mercury

Winter storm brings rare tornado to Northern Calif., dumps snow on mountain highways Snow disrupts school, transportation in China Madagascar and the Philippines flood threat from tropical storms Lightning increases migraine likelihood, new study claims And now it's an 'uneven' global sea-level rise predicted - so maybe the previous varying predictions will ALL prove correct!

A nice bright frosty start here in Evesham - one of the few this winter.   But not so bright elsewhere as fog disrupts flights at Heathrow and London City Airport. And it's not just Britain where sunshine seems to have been at a premium this year, as Finland experiences cloudiest winter in 25 years whilst winter will be 'da r kest on record' in Germany Will the US see more blizzards but less snow in future? In Arkansas, house destroyed, 2 people injured in Bismark storm And incredible pictures of trees encased in ice after violent winter storms on the shores of Lake Ontario Heavy rain in Queensland causes part of marine business to wash away as river bank collapses at Bundaberg with fears that  Qld sink hole could swallow more buildings Heavy snow impacts traffic in East China In Japan, smog from China spurs new govt guidelines on going outside Scientists explore new technologies that remove atmospheric carbon dioxide Whilst reduced...

Meteorite fragments found at Chebarkul Lake in Russian Urals - questions on how large and heavy it was remain.  Whilst probably more than the 10 tonnes initially estimated by the Russians, if it was a normal stony chondrite meteor it should have been somewhat less than the 10,000 tonnes suggested by NASA. Heavy rainfall to continue in south-east Queensland Indonesia sees at least 15 dead in floods and landslides but is cloud seeding preventing further flooding in Indonesia?   I doubt it.  One I missed last week: snow covers most of Spain, more cold weather expected I'm not sure I'd want to park my car there: new pictures reveal daredevil drivers flock to Icelandic Volcano and leaving their vehicles in the path of flowing lava

Russia sends clean-up team to meteorite-hit Urals where around 1,200 people have reported injuries (mainly from flying glass).   Meanwhile, asteroid misses Earth by 17,000 miles after meteor strikes Russia . Incidently, it's been suggested that Russian meteor largest in a century - since Tunguska in 1908.  Initial estimates put the size of the rock at 10-40 tonnes making it at best only half the size of  TC 3  which hit the Sudan in 2008 .   However, estimates have since changed somewhat (see the comments below the Nature piece linked above) and now stand at around 7,000 tonnes .  So yes, it would be the largest impactor since Tunguska. Rescuer tells how Cairngorm avalanche victims were buried in snow 'like liqiud concrete' for hours Mercury shows off its colourful side

Meteorite hits Russian Urals: fireball explosion wreaks havoc, over 500 injured - it sounds like a large stoney meteor exploded as it entered the atmosphere, showering more meteorites over a fairly large areas and shattering windows with the resulting shockwave (broken glass appearing to be the main cause of injuries).   Similar to the Tunguska event, on a smaller scale but over a more populous region. There are live updates from Russia Today here - latest reports say a 6m wide crater has been discovered, presumably from one of the larger fragments.  Suggestions that it was 'shot down' by the Russian military seem rather dubious since there was no way they'd have known it existed until it entered the atmosphere. And (probably) conincidently, this evening asteroid 2012 DA14 set for record breaking Earth pass - at least, we hope it'll pass ......! Cairngorms avalanche: third person dies - a considerable avalanche risk looks likely over the weekend whilst...

More snow in Britain today, mainly in the north and over higher ground, with most turning to rain later.  A light flurry or two expected in Evesham but that's all.   Temps did dip to -0.1c overnight though - the coldest it's been during this latest "cold spell"! Pictures as snow and floods batter Venice before Valentine's day Epic glacier collapse video: is global warming to blame?  Not this time . Cryosat spots Arctic sea ice loss in autumn whilst Arctic sea ice near record low in January (although N Hemisphere snow cover was the 6th highest ever recorded) Carbon sponge could soak up coal emissions And something I've always asserted to be the case, for me at least: warm weather makes it hard to think straight .   The warmer I get, the stoopider I become......

In the US, the whopper of a storm didn't rank high in history after all In Australia, Pilbara's dust causes social media storm Torrential rain, lack of preparedness batter Tanzania Sunlight stimulates release of climate-warming gas from melting Arctic permafrost Isotope patterns in ancient volcanic sulfur tell which global cooling episodes were caused by volcanic eruptions Wind power is now cheaper than coal in some countries - or, put another way, it's more expensive than coal in some other countries.  I though it was meant to be cheap?

Peru, Chile and Bolivia hit by floods after heavy rain whilst in Argentina severe storm, floods hit City, BA province A couple of cm of very wet slushy snow in Evesham overnight, mostly melting now and leaving the roads and pavements very wet .....   Seems like this will be a winter of wet snow here - not had any 'dry' snow at all and most has fallen with the temperature above freezing.   I think we'll ignore the Daily Mail's nonsense headline - very few places saw more than a couple of inches of snow, many saw none, and cold weather (such as it is - not even had a frost the past few nights here) is currently expected to last ........ a couple of days!    Though to be fair, there's no especially mild weather on the horizon: expect the rest of the month to be very normal.   Which, being as it's winter, means occasion frosts and maybe some more snow at times. In the US they had real snow: Anxiety grows as thousands remain stranded an...

Deadly winter storm heads for Atlantic Canada whilst in the US, storm's heavy snow and high winds lash at the northeast Meanwhile, in Britain, is snow hell on the way ?  Is the Pope a 8 foot tall, 6 legged, tree-dwelling wombat from the Mato Grosso?  It's true to say though that the heaviest snow fall in southern England for 2 weeks is on the way.  3 years, 2 weeks, southern England, Britain - all same thing in the wonderful alternate universe of Raoworld ......   We currently have cold drizzle and tomorrow looks like being rather wet, with a chance of rain turning to snow in the evening.   Unlikely to be particularly disruptive though. And snow returns with a traffic-halting vengeance in Germany

There's chance we could see a fair bit of snow in parts of Britain on Sunday and the early part of next week, though exact details remain uncertain.  But it'll be nothing like in America where southern Ontaria residents warned to brace for major winter storm and the  US north-east braces for 'historic' snowstorm - up to 2ft expected in places.  Mind, we're currently expecting up to a foot in places in Britain. Severe weather slams India and Pakistan Minor earthquake shakes north Wales homes whilst on the other side of the world, aftershocks hit Solomon Islands relief work  Are public attitudes to climate change as fickle as the weather?  Yes. Which is obvious really - how can the world possibly be warming when we've just had yet another cold winter? Forget short term climate change such as ice ages, what drives the shift from iceworld (which we are currently in) to greenhouse world?  New evidence suggests episodic purging of 'carbonate capaci...

Mag 8.0 quake off Solomon Islands triggers deadly tsunami - five people reported killed In NI they've had wild weather: snow, storms and surf Barra plane 'truck by lightning' during high winds - but successfully landed at Britain's most beautiful 'airport' Heavy rain kills 40 in Pakistan As in Australia, NZ saw recording breaking temperatures in January Looking like something out of Star Wars, our new Halley Antarctic research station up and running   Last stand Neanderthals queried - new dating suggests that they died out in Spain earlier than thought

Stunning pictures as a gigantic ocean tornado swirls over the Mediterranean (I suspect they were taken with a good telephoto lens and the waterspout is rather further from the yacht than it appears) An interesting development as rain tracked with mobile network potentially enabling us to monitor rainfall in areas not covered by radar. UK sees return of snow, gales and ice as rare thundersnow phenomenon wakes Britons - and we even had a brief little flurry in Evesham this morning.  Labrador, Newfoundland's west coast hammered by snow, wind On the Vistula in Poland, melting ice floes prompt flood alerts Two years after the tsunami, stepped-up seismic activity raises concern that big quake may be looming in Japan Could big waves be big news for the Western Isles? MP blasts 'insulting' Environment Agency claims over 'wrong type of rain' - and I agree, although I'm not sure it's an official EA claim?  It's certai...

After a rather mild week, wintry weather returns today, with severe gales and heavy snow expected to bring blizzards to parts of the Highlands.  High winds cause travel chaos across Scotland as weather warnings issued .  Snow showers look likely to spread to other parts of Britain over the next couple of days, though nothing more than sleet expected here in Evesham.   All in all, pretty normal for February.  And there's no reason to suppose it'll be the coldest in decades, whatever the media may imply . Three rescued after avalanche in Cairngorm mountains Heavy rain causes flooding in Wellington Tanzania: storm destroys 50 houses, crops in Hai

Wind storm pummels Quebec, Atlantic Canada and in Brunswick  power remains out for 9,000 after wind storm Huge storm front sweeps southeast Queensland whilst Bundaberg residents return home to assess flood damage US drought drives down cattle count Global increases in extreme rainfall linked to global warming - it's previous been provisionally linked with increases heavy rainfall in Britain, though the Met Office admit more research on that is still needed. Planting trees may not reverse climate change, but it will help locally - and could lead to cooler, wetter summers.  Er, isn't that what we're getting already?!  Sabotage suspected at toppled wind turbine as second is brought down - wasn't me, honest guv! And whilst waking to a bright snoy morning on Earth is nice, imagine living on a scorched world with snow smoky and black .  That's the planet HD 209458b for you.

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the worst natural disaster to hit Britain in modern times.  A North Sea storm on the 31st January 1953 caused a massive tidal surge to inundate large parts of the east coast of England overnight and into the 1st February.  307 people died on land with another 177 perishing at sea, including over 130 aboard a ferry in the Irish Sea.   On the continent, over 3,000 died in the Netherlands and Belgium as sea defences were totally overwhelmed. Great Flood of 1953: 60th anniversary events held Legacy of Britain's great flood Heroism and tragedy in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex flood 1953 flood rescue airman gets Hunstanton honour Princess Victoria disaster: Larne service marks 60th anniversary Gallery of images And from the Met Office, 1953 east coast flood - 60 years on Meanwhile, MPs call for urgent action to reduce flooding inland - er, dredge rivers, keep culverts and brooks clear of debris and stop building on flood plains? Man d...