Tag Archive for 'weather'

It’s Raining Fish In Australia’s Northern Territory

Published on February 28, 2010 in Northern Territory. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Something fishy going on here in this Northern Territory town:

WHILE the Top End and Central Australia have been battered by torrential rains, a Territory town has had fish falling from the sky.

The freak phenomena happened not once, but twice, on Thursday and Friday afternoon about 6pm at Lajamanu, about 550km southwest of Katherine.

NEWSBREAKER Christine Balmer, who took these photos of the fish on the ground and in a bucket, had to pinch herself when she was told “hundreds and hundreds” of small white fish had fallen from the sky.

“It rained fish in Lajamanu on Thursday and Friday night,” she said, “They fell from the sky everywhere.

“Locals were picking them up off the footy oval and on the ground everywhere.

“These fish were alive when they hit the ground.”

Mrs Balmer, the aged care co-ordinator at the Lajamanu Aged Care Centre, said her family interstate thought she had lost the plot when she told them about the event.

“I haven’t lost my marbles,” she said, reassuring herself. “Thank god it didn’t rain crocodiles.”  [NT News]

Read the rest at the link, but goofy and weird stuff like this always seems to happen in the Northern Territory.  Apparently locals are speculating that a tornado may have blown the fish from lakes hundreds of kilometers away from the town.  I wonder if someone flying overhead with an airplane wasn’t just playing a massive prank on the town?

Freezing Temperatures Continue to Plague Florida

Published on January 10, 2010 in America in the News. 0 Comments Tags: , .

It is pretty amazing all the freezing temperatures currently hitting the usually warm weather state of Florida where they are experiencing frost in Miami:

Ordinarily a sunny playground that mocks the rest of winter-suffering America, Miami, Florida, was in sore need of a giant Snuggie on Sunday.

There wasn’t a scantily clad beautiful person at any of the outside tables at South Beach’s tony Balans restaurant. Everyone was crammed inside to assuage their Saturday nights with pancakes and Cuban coffee, chuckling at the heat lamps that waiters had scrambled to put up outdoors.

“Yeah, the lamps were not so good. So we brought inside all the tables to make sure our customers could manage,” said manager Mike Fernandez. “I’m from Chile and living here, you know, it’s not supposed to be like this.”

Temperatures in Miami barely got into the 40s on Sunday; normally, they’d be in the 70s.

Cold is so relative. In Aberdeen, South Dakota, the thermometer registered a low of 31 below zero Sunday. Connecticut officials opened shelters in anticipation of bitter cold. Following a rare snowfall last week in Atlanta, Georgia, temperatures hovered in the teens and drivers lacking snow savvy skidded around very small patches of ice. How is the weather where you are? Share your pictures or video

But the biggest news about the big chill is coming from the northern part of Florida, where a hard freeze watch is in effect, CNN’s meteorologist Bonnie Schneider said. That could be bad news for citrus trees that rarely survive when temperatures remain in the mid-20s or below for four hours or longer, according to Kristen Gunter, a spokeswoman for the association of companies that pick and process the oranges.

Florida citrus is a $9.3 billion industry. The state produces three-quarters of the United States’ orange crop and 40 percent of the world’s orange juice supply.  [CNN]

Picture of the Day: The Frozen British Isles

Published on January 10, 2010 in Europe. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Via Andrew Bolt.

Post-Christmas Snow Storm Hits El Paso, Texas

Published on December 30, 2009 in Southwest America. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

This is what I woke up to this morning here in El Paso:

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It was pretty cold outside with the temperature this morning at around 25F.  It wasn’t cold enough though to completely freeze over the pond I built in my backyard:

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I have three goldfish that live in the pond that have had a pretty rough winter so far, but some how some way they continue to stay warm enough in their little pond to stay alive.

Here is the view of the desert out behind my house looking towards the northeast:

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Usually I can see the Hueco Mountains that lie to the east from my house, but they were completely engulfed in clouds from the storm.  Here is the view looking towards the southeast of more of the snow:

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The drive the work wasn’t so bad though people here driving in the snow continue to amaze me.  In inclement weather they will still speed on the highway and drive without their lights on.  Unsurprisingly I saw two accidents on the way in.  It stopped snowing at around 11 AM and it is supposed to be a really cold again tonight.

It is a bit ironic that the “Sun Bowl” college football game between Oklahoma and Stanford is being played here Thursday in what is now snowy El Paso.

An Almost White Christmas In El Paso

Published on December 25, 2009 in Southwest America. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Here are a few pictures of the most recent snow storm to hit El Paso, Texas this year.  This first picture is from the west side of El Paso looking at the Franklin Mountains.

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I took a drive than up to the top of Trans-mountain Road that connects west El Paso with East El Paso and took a few more pictures of the cloud covered mountains:

Cloudy Franklin Mountain Top

From the picnic area on the top of Trans-Mountain Road the clouds had parted enough to where I could see west El Paso nestled at the bottom of the range:

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The snow up in the Franklins was not as much as we had from the snow storm earlier in the month, but it did leave enough for people to at least make a snowman:

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Yesterday on Christmas Eve I took yet another drive up Trans-Mountain Road since the storm had passed and the clouds were gone.  I was able to take this spectacular landscape picture of one of this valley that leads to the summit of South Franklin Mountain:

Snowy Franklin Mountain Valley

The snow unfortunately did not stick on the lower elevation down in El Paso like the prior storm, but at least we got sort of a white Christmas this year with the Franklin Mountains right outside my window continuing to be cloaked in snow.

Have a Merry Christmas everyone.

White Christmas This Year In El Paso?

Published on December 24, 2009 in Southwest America. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

I guess we will see if this snow sticks around or not for the actual Christmas day, but everyone seem to have a smile on their face today seeing the snow falling:

A wintry blast struck the Borderland Wednesday dropping snow and freezing rain.Over just a few short hours, the El Paso turned into a winter wonderland, just two days before Christmas.While welcomed, the chore of driving in the powder became too much for some without the proper equipment.”Oh it’s great, you’ve got to have a little bit of snow for Christmas right?” said Ray Beeman, as he helped a fellow motorist replace her windshield wipers.For those in town for the holidays, it was a welcomed treat.”I was born and raised in El Paso, but I live in Dallas,” said Elizabeth Tenorio. “It’s great to be home for one thing, and have this weather because it’s what I grew up with.”  [KFOX]

This is the third major winter storm system to hit El Paso this year with the first one hitting in October, the next one in November, and now this.

At Home In the El Paso Snow

Published on December 9, 2009 in Southwest America. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Here is a picture of the front of my house after the most recent snow storm we had here in El Paso a few days ago:

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All the roads and sidewalks were iced over and on the morning news they said that police had responded to 40 traffic accidents by 8AM that morning.  Here is what my backyard looked like:

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In the foreground covered in snow is the grass I put in along with my exercise ball I use to work out with in my backyard.  Here is a couple of plants I put in my backyard this summer that are covered in snow:

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Here is my Asian BBQ grilling area covered in snow as well:

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The snow in my backyard lasted for an entire day before finally melting away the following day.

Pictures of the Snow Covered Franklin Mountains

Published on December 8, 2009 in Southwest America. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

My daughter was born during the worst snow storm I have personally seen while living in El Paso, Texas.  Two days after the snow storm most of the snow on the desert valley floor where El Paso sits was clear of snow, but the peaks of the Franklin Mountains that bisect the city were still covered with snow:

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There was still plenty of snow to be seen on the ground in McKelligon Canyon that is literally right across the street from the hospital my wife was staying at:

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To give an idea of how close the canyon is to the hospital, here is a view towards the canyon from my wife’s hospital room during the snow storm:

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My house is along the northern end of the mountains so when I was driving home I stopped and took the below picture of the northern peaks of the Franklin Mountains with the highest peak called Anthony’s Nose capped with clouds:

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Here is the view looking back towards the south with the peak on the far left being the same peak you could see from my wife’s hospital window pictured above:

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Before driving home I decided to take a drive up and over Trans-Mountain Road that crosses the entire range.  The road’s maximum altitude is a mile high which means there was a lot more snow piled up here than on the desert valley floor:

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It isn’t very often you see yucca plants buried in almost a fit of snow that fell in the Franklins:

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I stopped at the picnic area near the summit of Transmountain Road and a lot of people brought their kids up here to play in the snow:

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Here is what the view from the picnic area looking towards downtown El Paso looked like:

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From the picnic area I was also able to see the snow capped summit of North Franklin Peak, which I have climbed beforehttp://on-walkabout.com/2009/07/on-walkabout-on-north-franklin-mountain-texas-part-1/:

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I sure wouldn’t climb this peak on a cold day like this though.  Here is a view of the Franklin Mountains from the west side of Transmountain Road:

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The mountains highest peak, North Franklin Mountain provided a stunning back drop over Transmountain Road:

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Here is a picture once again of the northern portion of the range, but this time from the west side where you can see Anthony’s Nose is still capped with clouds:

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Here is a view of South Franklin Mountain from the west side as well:

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A week after the snow storm there is still snow that can be seen on the mountains peaks, which really adds some needed color to a rather bleak desert landscape here in El Paso.  So I am enjoying it while it lasts.

October 2009 Snow Storm Hits El Paso, Texas

Published on November 1, 2009 in Southwest America. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Here is a picture of North Franklin Mountain after a snow storm hit El Paso, Texas this past Wednesday night:

Here is a closer look at the snow on the mountain:

I actually took these pictures a couple days after the big cold front hit the El Paso area.  Snow actually fell at our house, but didn’t stick, but the morning after the storm the Franklin Mountains was completely covered in snow.  I just forgot to bring my camera with me when driving to work to take pictures of the snow.  I remembered the following morning though and took these pictures as the sun rose early in the morning.  There is still a little bit of snow left on the mountains today.  Here is another picture of the snow on the mountains from the local NBC affiliate:

Talking to long time El Paso residents at work, they said they couldn’t remember the last time it had ever snowed in October in El Paso.  El Paso isn’t the only place experiencing global cooling as Sydney, Australia recently recorded its coldest October in 17 years.

Sydney Skies Turn Red Due to Dust Storm

Published on September 23, 2009 in New South Wales. 0 Comments Tags: , .

I wonder who will be first to blame this unusual dust storm on global warming?:

sydney dust storm

SYDNEYSIDERS have woken to a massive dust storm that blanketed the city in thick red dust, leaving Sydney airport in chaos, ferry services suspended and health authorities worried.

Large areas have been shrouded in dust as the state experiences severe winds and unseasonably warm temperatures.

Bureau of Meteorology spokeswoman Jane Golding said dust had settled on much of the state, including Sydney.

“We’ve had reports of low visibility up out as far up as Moree, Dubbo, Canberra’s got some raised dust in the area and Wollongong, so it’s very widespread,” she said.

The blanket of red dust began to shroud Sydney just before dawn after a cold front moved in from central Australia and western NSW.

It came as the state was experiencing unseasonably warm temperatures and followed reports of visibility reduced to just 10m in Broken Hill.

A Sydney airport spokesman said 10 inbound international Sydney flights had been diverted to Melbourne and Brisbane.

“They may get back later in the day,” he said. “We’ve got departures, they are occurring, but it’s slow.”  [Daily Telegraph]

I have never seen a dust storm as severe as this one on Australia’s east coast but I once saw a wind storm in Victoria two years ago that brought dust from the Outback that caused the sky to have a red tint to it.  The amount of dust from this storm is absolutely incredible though.

Here is a photo gallery with a bunch of photographs from this dust storm.  Here is a sample: