7.2 Mag Earthquake Fiji - Massive 5 inch Hail Arkansas - Fruit Armageddon - Tropical Arctic?
Edit Add:
Attachments
Last edited:
Bolivia cold snap brings rare snow to tropical farm region
Bolivia's largest agricultural region, Santa Cruz, is bracing this week against a surprise wave of snow and ice, causing lasting damage to crops and killing cattle in other parts of the country.
Vast parts of the region, known for producing sorghum, soybeans and wheat, among other foods, have been covered in sheets of snow.
Torrential rains have also caused flooding in the valleys of Santa Cruz, prompting road closure, air evacuations and one confirmed death, according to authorities.
"The most important thing in this sector is going to be the replacement of seeds and fertilizers ... because now much of this production is already insurmountable," said the vice minister of civil defense, Juan Carlos Calvimontes.
In the neighboring tropical department of Beni, the frost reportedly killed at least 50 head of cattle. Families have made bonfires near the animals to protect them from hypothermia.
Further north of the country, the cold broke historical records at minus 9 degrees Celsius, while temperatures also plummeted in the southern wine-producing department of Tarija.
Weather watchers have been getting up early and staying up late to spot Noctilucent clouds.
The clouds can be spotted in summertime before sunrise and sunset.
Also known as night shining clouds, they are visible when ice crystals form high in Earth's atmosphere and are underlit by the Sun.
On Thursday and Friday they were spotted from Aberdeenshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Harris and Moray.
Marmot Basin on June 19, 2023.
Surprise storm dumps June snow at Canadian ski resorts - at least 6 inches at Marmot Basin
Tomorrow is officially the first day of summer, but many ski resorts in western Canada are waking up to multiple inches of snow blanketing the mountains.
Check out the Facebook post below from Marmot Basin, an under-the-radar ski resort located in Alberta.
The resort isn't reporting an official storm total, but there appears to be at least 6-8 inches of fresh snow:
June or January? It feels like I've been asking that question quite a bit this week.
I published an article just yesterday of 6+ inches falling on Tamarack Resort, Idaho, and another article about a dusting that fell on Beaver Creek Resort, Colorado.
Other ski resorts across western Canada got in on the summer snow action as well.
Check out the video captured by Banff Sunshine Village of flakes falling yesterday afternoon:
An update to the above on the situation in Alberta, Canada. Nearly 16 inches of snowfall in the Jasper area - more typical of the winter solstice rather than 2 days out from the summer one - methinks!Surprise storm dumps June snow at Canadian ski resorts - at least 6 inches at Marmot Basin
Tomorrow is officially the first day of summer, but many ski resorts in western Canada are waking up to multiple inches of snow blanketing the mountains. Check out the Facebook post below from Marmot Basin, an under-the-radar ski resort located...www.sott.net
Jasperites woke up to the white stuff coming down hard on Monday as a freak snowstorm created an unusual start to the week of the Summer Solstice.
Beginning overnight, as much as 40 cm of snow started falling throughout Jasper National Park, creating a flake of bemusement and an avalanche of frustration for drivers, campers, the RCMP Musical Ride team and everyone else.
"We had a developing low pressure system on Sunday over the central portion of the province. That was associated with a lot of cold air aloft flooding into the province, helping create these quite heavy showers over west-central portions of the province in Yellowhead County, including Jasper and especially the Grande Cache area, and the Hinton area all the way to the B.C. border," said Sara Hoffman, meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Rare June snowfall warning in the Rocky Mountains, Marmot Basin shares snow photos | Watch News Videos Online
Watch Rare June snowfall warning in the Rocky Mountains, Marmot Basin shares snow photos Video Online, on GlobalNews.caglobalnews.ca
While it lasted, it created havoc all around. It delayed the opening of Cavell Road and caused the temporary closure of Miette Hot Springs.
Two tour buses that tried to drive up Maligne Lake Road where a little more than a metre of snow had landed. They got stuck somewhere near Medicine Lake, so Parks Canada sent a plough up to clear the path so that the roughly 40 passengers could be transferred back down. The plough then went farther up, or at least it tried to before it got itself stuck.
"They'll have stories to tell when they get home, that's for sure. It sounds like one bus was a load of primarily German tourists. It'd be a bit of an adventure for them; they didn't get to see Maligne Lake but had a mountain adventure nonetheless," said Dave Argument, resource conservation manager with Parks Canada.
© P.Shokeir
A sidewalk is blocked off due to a downed tree on Patricia Street on June 19, 2023.
Parks Canada had its own trail crew up on Skyline. They had a tough day, Argument said, but not because of their assigned tasks. They didn't accomplish much, if any, trail maintenance. Rather, they spent a good portion of the day hiking back down.
Two groups of six campers, one at Tekarra Campground and the other at Fisherman's Bay, also required assistance after their tents collapsed due to the wet, heavy snow overnight. Suffering from the sudden cold, they called for help. That help came in the form of a boat for one group and a helicopter for the other.
"This is just a case in point for why it's important to make sure you're carrying emergency communications equipment. That's key," Argument said.
He added that this weather event effectively demonstrated why everyone must prepare for all possibilities when they come to Jasper for recreation. He suggested that people also make sure that somebody else knows your trip plan.
The unseasonal snow load also brought down an unusually high number of trees and tree branches throughout the national park and the municipality itself. Parks Canada sent out chainsaw crews to remove the deadfall from roads and improve access on trails.
The town's Operations Department had its own crews out clearing downed trees from public sidewalks and streets. It was working with ATCO and Parks Canada to address hazards and deal with trees that had fallen on power lines.
The snow then turned into rain around noon Monday, leaving Canada's weather agency to have both a snowfall warning and a rainfall warning for Jasper on the same day. Snowfall warnings were also in effect for Highway 93 from Jasper to Saskatchewan River Crossing and then on to Lake Louise as well.
The Jasper Warden Office Station reportedly received 81 mm of rain by early afternoon on Monday.
The rain accumulated so much in Edson that the town had to declare a state of local emergency due to the flooding only days after its residents returned from their evacuation orders. Going north toward Grande Cache, a mudslide on Highway 60 caused major traffic disruptions.
By Wednesday, the weather started to return to more seasonal temperatures as the actual Summer Solstice arrived. The weekend should see the thermometer in the low-to-mid-20 C range.
"It looks like a nice, very typical June weekend for the Jasper area. Maybe a chance of some scattered showers but certainly nothing like what we're experiencing now," Hoffman said.
I asked him "Dad, was it like - sheets of rain?" Couldn't resist.
Day before yesterday and today, there was heavy early morning fog. Around here, that only happens in fall and early winter. So now it is happening in June?!
“We’ve already exceeded our June normal, which is very interesting considering we started the month off well below normal,” said Sara Hoffman, a meteorologist for Environment and Climate Change Canada.