Landslide on California highway part of $1 billion in damage

California’s Big Sur coast – ‘considered one of the finest images’ by Wikipedia

The end of the California drought hasn’t been all good news for everyone, due partly to what may be ‘the largest mudslide in the state’s history’.

A massive landslide that went into the Pacific Ocean is the latest natural disaster to hit a California community that relies heavily on an iconic coastal highway and tourism to survive, and it adds to a record $1 billion in highway damage from one of the state’s wettest winters in decades, reports SFGate.

The weekend slide in Big Sur buried a portion of Highway 1 under a 40-foot layer of rock and dirt and changed the coastline below to include what now looks like a rounded skirt hem, Susana Cruz, a spokeswoman with the California Department of Transportation, said Tuesday.

More than 1 million tons of rock and dirt tumbled down a saturated slope in an area called Mud Creek. The slide is covering up about a one-quarter-of-a-mile (0.40-kilometer) stretch of Highway 1, and authorities have no estimate on when it might re-open. The area remains unstable.

“We haven’t been able to go up there and assess. It’s still moving,” Cruz said. “We have geologists and engineers who are going to check it out this week to see how do we pick up the pieces.”

Space weather events linked to nuclear testing

One high-altitude nuclear test even managed to create its own artificial aurora. Others knocked out orbiting satellites.

Our Cold War history is now offering scientists a chance to better understand the complex space system that surrounds us, says Phys.org.

Space weather — which can include changes in Earth’s magnetic environment— is usually triggered by the sun’s activity, but recently declassified data on high-altitude nuclear explosion tests have provided a new look at the mechanisms that set off perturbations in that magnetic system.

Such information can help support NASA’s efforts to protect satellites and astronauts from the natural radiation inherent in space. From 1958 to 1962, the U.S. and U.S.S.R. ran high-altitude tests with exotic code names like Starfish, Argus and Teak.

The tests have long since ended, and the goals at the time were military. Today, however, they can provide crucial information on how humans can affect space.

UK braced for drought after ‘excessively dry’ April

Credit: BBC / Met Office

Contrasting weather situations for the UK and the US, post El Niño. Even the wettest place in England is ‘bone dry’.

There are fears the UK could be braced for widespread drought this summer after “excessively dry conditions”, says ITV News.

The Environment Agency said the UK saw just 35% of its normal rainfall in April and farmers have been warned crops could fail.The unusual weather spell follows the driest winter since 1995-1996.

Minette Batters, Deputy President of the National Farmers’ Union, told ITV News: “I think many of my farming colleagues in East Anglia, in the south east are seeing excessively dry conditions.”

Farmer James Winslade told ITV News: “Arable farmers, grass farmers, dairy farmers – it doesn’t make any difference. They’re all worried. They’ve all cut grass earlier than they normally would have done and we haven’t had the rain to get the grass and crops growing back”.

English vineyards hit by ‘catastrophic’ frost, wiping out half of harvest

Emergency measures in a vineyard [image credit: BBC News]

Unexpected weather systems can arrive from the ‘wrong’ direction at the wrong time, as this BBC report shows.

English winemakers have warned that at least half of this year’s grape harvest has been wiped out by heavy frost. The air frost that hit last week caused “catastrophic” damage to buds that had bloomed earlier than usual thanks to a warm start to the year.

About 75% of buds at Denbies Wine Estate in Surrey – which produces 500,000 bottles of wine a year – were affected, its chief executive said. England has 133 wineries, which produced five million bottles in 2015.

Lake Tahoe expected to fill up with biggest physical rise in recorded history

Lake Tahoe, California/Nevada

One official said “Tahoe is the defining factor. If we’re full at Tahoe, the drought is over.” Lake Tahoe trails only the five Great Lakes as the largest by volume in the United States.

Winter’s unrelenting storms built up a substantial Sierra snowpack and are expected to fill the lake for the first time in 11 years, reports Sott.net.

Many low-lying areas that were exposed when the lake level was declining during the drought will be inundated with water. The docks will be bobbing in crystal blue waters once again.

Straddling the California – Nevada border, Tahoe is the sixth largest lake in the United States, an outdoor playground for people around the world, and the main water source for the Reno-Sparks, Nevada, area.

Five out of six US wildfires are caused by people, says study

Image credit: KNKX

Some of the blazes were accidental, and as people travel more the areas at risk are increasing.

A new study blames people for triggering five out of every six wildfires in the United States and tripling the length of the wildfire season, reports the Daily Mail Online.

Even as climate change worsens the nation’s fire season – making it longer and easier to burn more acres – researchers say human activities play an even bigger role.

Scientists looking at fire data from 1992 to 2012 found that 84 percent of all U.S. wildfires were started by people, either by accident or on purpose.

Wind power on steroids: Typhoon turbines to provide the ultimate clean energy to Japan by 2020

Vertical axis wind turbine [credit: Challenergy]

‘Wind power on steroids’ or another madcap ‘sustainability’ scheme that never gets off the ground? No mention of storage, and typhoons are far from everyday events.

In what could be the ultimate clean energy, Japan is set to start harnessing the energy of typhoons, with wind turbines that are able to withstand intense storms – and turn them into power, reports the IB Times.

Typhoon turbines, also known as the Magnus Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT), were first thought up by Atsushi Shimizu, chief executive of Challenergy Inc. After seeing the widespread destruction caused by the Fukushima nuclear disaster, he wanted to find a way to provide a safe and sustainable source of energy.

California’s record-breaking snowfalls continue : so much it’s hard to measure

There’s going to be a lot of meltwater sometime.

The snow amounts in California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range this winter are difficult to wrap your head around, reports Sott.net. In many cases topping 500 inches, they are some of the highest totals in memory.

At the Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows resort, seven feet fell in just the past week. The snow is so high that it buried chairlifts and ski patrol shacks.

The resort has received 565 inches (47 feet) this season, including a 45-year record of 282 inches in January. On Thursday, it announced that its ski area would remain open through July 4.

Since 1962, it will mark just the fourth instance of Independence Day skiing (the other years were 1998, 1999, and 2011), according to a resort spokesperson.

Study shows drastic decline of severe weather patterns in China since 1960

Great Wall of China

This runs counter to claims that a warming world leads to more extreme weather. The summer monsoon strength shows a consistent decline over the study period. But last year was an exception – possibly related to the big El Niño?

In one of the most comprehensive studies on trends in local severe weather patterns to date, an international team of researchers found that the frequency of hail storms, thunderstorms and high wind events has decreased by nearly 50 percent on average throughout China since 1960, as Phys.org reports.

The team analyzed data from the most robust meteorological database known, the Chinese National Meteorology Information Center, a network of 983 weather observatories stationed throughout China’s 3.7 million square miles. Meteorologists have been collecting surface weather data through the network since 1951 or earlier, which provided the researchers an unprecedented look at local severe weather occurrences.

California ‘bombogenesis’, biggest storm in years, kills four – BBC News

Credit: ABC News

Tough conditions for many as the southern California weather continues its winter wild streak.

One of California’s strongest storms in years – dubbed a “bombogenesis” or “weather bomb” – has hit the state, killing at least four people and bringing torrential rain and floods.

Power cuts hit 150,000 households and sinkholes swallowed cars. Hundreds of homes were evacuated amid fear of mud slides near Los Angeles. More gusts, heavy rain and flash floods are expected on Saturday but the storm is due to subside by Sunday.

NOAA & The Oroville Dam

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Over forty years ago ‘climate scientists understood that global cooling causes extreme weather, and global warming causes mild weather.’ – Tony Heller.
http://www.thegwpf.com/1975-global-cooling-extreme-weather/

Nowadays many of them seem to have ‘forgotten’ about that.

NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood

h/t Oldbrew

https://www.climate.gov/news-features/event-tracker/flooding-concerns-oroville-dam-water-levels-reach-capacity

NOAA have a good account of what has been going on with the Oroville Dam:

As mentioned previously in the Event Tracker, California is going through one of its wettest water years (October – September) on record. In particular, precipitation so far in 2017 is on a record pace for northern and central California. While the water has been a godsend in reducing and relieving drought conditions, it also has been too much of a good thing as flooding has resulted. One case in particular is the ongoing emergency at the Oroville Dam north of Sacramento. Tremendous amounts of precipitation have led to the Lake Oroville reservoir—the second largest reservoir in the state—to fill past capacity. The need to funnel water out of the reservoir and accompanying complications has led to flooding concerns and evacuations below the dam.

(top) Aerial view of the…

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Carlisle Floods Due To Poor River Maintenance, Not Climate Change

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Once again the ‘climate change’ card is played by authorities to excuse their own failings.

NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood

cflagfloodreport_12monthson

It is just over a year since Storm Desmond brought devastating floods to Carlisle.

Soon after the Carlisle Flood Action Group was formed, and they have now published a very full and highly technical account of the floods.

This is the first part of the Executive Summary:

Although Storm Desmond was severe by any account (and the report later accepts that it may have been exacerbated by global warming), the real problem was lack of river maintenance and poor management. This of course is a rerun of the Somerset floods in 2014.

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It’s official – Vancouver’s snowmageddon has been recordbreaking!

Campus snowball fight, Vancouver [image credit: Daily Hive]

Imagine the global headlines if this was record heat in summer. Cold weather gets far less international attention. Locals are used to snow but not this much all at once.

You weren’t imagining it – the snowstorm which began Friday dumped a record amount of powder on Vancouver, according to Environment Canada.

Preliminary estimates reckon a huge 12 cm of snow fell on Vancouver on Friday, breaking the previous record of 10.7 cm back in 1946, reports the Daily Hive.

OK, we know it’s not anything like the depths of white stuff they get in Toronto or Montreal, but hey, we’ll take it as that’s a 71-year record!

Michael Reagan: Climate alarmists will miss California’s drought

Image credit: UC Berkeley

The drought ended so dramatically that a state of emergency has been declared for large parts of California.
H/T GWPF

California’s drought which the New York Times characterized as “unending,” ended. This is good news for everyone other than Al Gore and his depressing band of climate Cassandras.

Well, the rains came after all to California and it was the answer to prayer for many citizens. For others the rain was a splash in the face, so to speak.

California’s seven-year drought came in very handy for climate conspirators. Their heat hysteria convinced gullible legislators that only by seizing control of the economy and tightening the noose of regulation around people’s lives could a weather wipeout be avoided.

It didn’t matter that California is a semi-arid state and periodic droughts are part of the climate package. Past droughts are in the past. The one that was just concluded was here right now and could be used to beat the extreme weather, coming-doom drum.

But now it’s rained on their parade. A drought the warmist New York Times characterized as “unending,” ended.

World Cup ski race cancelled because of too much snow

Credit: myswitzerland.com

The BBC’s report mentions a ‘cold snap’ but it’s been around for a while now in many parts of Europe.

A famous downhill race in the Skiing World Cup has been cancelled – because there has been too much snow.

Saturday’s race at the Lauberhorn course in Wengen, Switzerland, was dropped after more than 40cm (16in) of snow fell overnight. Crews worked through the night but were unable to prepare the piste in time.

After a dry start to the ski season in December, resorts are now dealing with heavy flurries as a cold snap grips Europe.

As heavy rain and snow end California’s 5-year drought, climate alarmists look foolish

Is this the US weather this winter? [Credit: Farmer’s Almanac]

The unending California drought theory seems to have bitten the dust, or the snow, as The GWPF reports.

The recent onslaught of rain and snow finally brought much-needed relief to northern California, ending a punishing five-year drought, federal officials said Thursday.

“Bye bye drought … Don’t let the door hit you on the way out,” tweeted the National Weather Service’s office in Reno, Nev., which monitors parts of the region.

Drought 2017, S Central and SE England

Tim writes,

This drought is largely about the area where I live except this is a water feeder area for large connurbations, Reading, London, Swindon. How severe this will be is open, and is a forewarning. Late rains might arrive, I hope so although regular minor droughts are part of weather, what makes climate, always has, always will.

I’m unable to go and take a photograph of the wier status quo (using crutches and a wheelchair), been eyeballed from the road, so you’ll have to take my word for the situation. (council have obstructed the footway, inaccessible to wheelchairs, no warning signs, typical England)

Image: Google dated 08/2016. River Kennet, navigable river at Newbury. Sluices highlighted.

The usual autumn and winter rains have failed this year. I’d noticed but now the Met Office figures are in and processed, river flow is low so I see trouble brewing for next summer.

Several deaths reported as cold weather grips Europe

Winter hits Europe [credit: BBC]

Britain escapes the winter cold snap for now but much of mainland Europe and even Turkey are being hit hard. [Over 60 deaths reported by Jan 11].

UPDATE: This weather event now has its own Wikipedia entry: January 2017 European cold wave

Poland, Greece, Italy and Turkey were among the countries grappling with heavy snow and freezing temperatures on Saturday, while Germany braced itself for dangerous conditions in the wake of a major storm from the north, reports DW.COM.

In Poland, at least ten people have reportedly died in the past couple of days following a brutal cold snap that saw temperatures fall to minus 14 degrees Celsius (7 degrees Fahrenheit) in some regions. Several of those deaths were caused by hypothermia, while others resulted from carbon monoxide poisoning from malfunctioning heaters.

‘Nine Nines of Winter’ begins

Another tough winter for Mongolian livestock?
[image credit: eurasianet.org]

Some unusually tough winter conditions are already affecting Mongolia as The UB Post reports. Herders have started counting the days until spring approaches in their own traditional way.

The coldest time of the year has breezed into Mongolia along with the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of sunlight annually, which [was] marked on December 22 this year. [That] is the second day of the Nine Nines of Winter, a traditional method used by Mongolian herders to determine the date during winter.

Based on the lunar calendar, herders believed that winter lasted for 81 days, and which is counted in nine sets of nine days, also known as the “Nine Nines of Winter”.

Siberia Sizzles At 58C Below

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Once again weather shows its natural variability.

NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood

h/t Patsy Lacey

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/earths-temperature-dip-still-sizzle-2017-151655070.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma

Meanwhile back in the real world:

20 Dec 2016 – Heavy snowfall in Saudi Arabia – Such snow not seen for many years. Temperature below zero.

https://www.iceagenow.info/camels-standing-snow-several-videos/#more-19496

19 Dec 2016 – Snow in the Sahara for the first time since 1979

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/745567/Snow-Sahara-Desert-first-time-37-years-Algeria

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