Weird Weather Where You Are. What IS Normal Anymore?

thunder snow





Tornado Outbreak

Winter Rays

An unusual optical phenomenon in extreme cold climate regions. Today was the first day of -20 degree weather in Fairbanks, Alaska. There were sun dogs and other fun, colorful geometric shapes in the sky. This was taken after dark, a 7-shot HDR exposure using Artizen software. The light is coming from standard street lights at a nearby elementary school. The ice in the air creates a diffraction effect that makes it appear the lights are shining straight up. The oppsite of a daylight phenomenon that makes a pillar of bright, shimmering light straight down. Note that the light source doesn't have to be visible to still create the effect. This can easily be mistaken for the northern lights by an inexperienced viewer.

Wonderland

Yesterday, cruising along the Alaska Highway between the border and Northway, Alaska, actually for over 100 miles in all, we could stop anywhere and watch the distant mountains morphing into a variety of weird shapes, at times even disconnecting from earth and partially floating in the cold air. It's a fascinating sight and unique chance to easily photograph something which has no conventional physical reality but is nonetheless very real. The Fata Morgana, or Mirage is a lensing effect caused by overlapping air masses of different temperatures.
You can just sit and watch the mountains change through a variety of astonishingly strange shapes.
Alaska's eastern Tanana Valley showcases this weird effect in a uniquely frequent and vivid manner, during the coldest months of winter.

Ray Of Light on Revelstoke Mountain

This photo was taken from the Revelstoke Mountain ski hill (actually Mount MacKenzie) on December 30th, 2010, at 3:26 PM, facing west as the sun set behind the mountains. The ray of light is real and not an artifact of the photo. You could see the ice crystals floating through the ray. It was so amazing that everybody stopped skiing and stared in wonder!

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Mammatus Clouds

Happy New Year! I just wanted to share the attached picture of a strange bit of cloud formation I saw on New Year's Eve, at about 5:30 pm. I was in El Granada, heading west towards Highway 1 when I spotted what looked like a hole ripped in the cloud cover, along with a "funnel" of broken clouds pointing down. I'm not sure if this was created by wind somehow, or by a small plane heading for the nearby Half Moon Bay airport, but it was certainly intriguing to look at -- unfortunately, the only camera handy was my cellphone, so the image isn't very sharp. Anyone else see this? Or want to guess what may have caused it? Comments (10)

Add a comment | Start a topicThis is about the strangest phenomenon that I have ever seen in all my days. No, no Photoshop here. I imagine this is what the moon looks like. Everything looked red and nearly everyone was outside looking at the ominous and eerie sky. Truly weird. The strangest thing is that all of these pictures were taken in the last five days!  http://www.amymuse.com/2010/03/strange-weather-in-iraq-this-week.html

Heavy surf slams into the 72-foot-tall Ram Island Ledge Light, Friday, Dec 3, 2009, at the mouth of Portland Harbor, in Portland, Maine. A quick moving storm with winds approaching 50 miles per hour brought record breaking warmth to Portland where the temperature reached 68 degrees (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)












































"freakin weird weather" http://www.flickr.com/photos/digiart2001/3663413435/

A contact in Australia just alerted me to
what he describes as "very strange
weather taking place over the south
west of Australia". He told me to go to
the national weather satellite images if
I could not open the images he
attached (See left). By the time I had
discovered the e-mail and checked,
the large clearly defined ring had
mostly dissipated but still was just
visible on a time loop which was
spiraling counter clockwise (Low
Pressure system). http://www.colinandrews.net/Cloud-Radar-Circle-Australia-2010-0116.html





Water Spout http://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=11355.0





Notice The Blotches instead of jet stream storms, there are specific areas that are showing storms in more circular form.  These have been larger in past images.  This one is from today, from http://www.weather.gov/radar_tab.php





HAARP information galore!!!!!
http://www.dutchsinse.com/blog/?p=660

Blizzard Blasts Chicago

Blizzard blasts Chicago, shuts down power, schools and roads

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By WBEZ – 23 mins ago

By City Room and The Associated Press, WBEZ Chicago

For a city that's used to its fair share of snow storms, the Blizzard of 2011 has done something few blizzards have done before in Chicago: it's shut down much of this muscular, hearty and vibrant American metropolis.  Throughout the Chicago region, schools are closed, roads are impassable, employees are working from home, and transportation networks are snarled.

Overnight, the massive storm system dumped more than 17 inches at O'Hare Airport, with four to eight more inches possible by late this afternoon.

As a result, emergency officials throughout the region were urging people not to travel at all on Wednesday, unless absolutely necessary.  As of early Wednesday morning, six Metra lines were not operating, and remaining Metra lines were running a Sunday schedule. The CTA's Yellow Line Skokie Swift line was also shut down, as was the Brown Line from Kimball to Western.  In Northwest Indiana, the South Shore Line was running limited service to limited stops.

"The next 24 hours will be extremely challenging for everyone," CTA President Richard Rodriguez on Tuesday. "Customers should anticipate crowded trains and buses."

Gridlock on Lake Shore Drive

But the biggest transportation impact in Chicago could be seen along Lake Shore Drive.

City officials said early Wednesday that multiple lanes of cars and buses became stuck on the northbound lanes of the city's iconic lakefront roadway because of abandoned vehicles, multiple accidents and generally poor traffic conditions.

Ramps were closed in both directions just before 8 p.m. on Tuesday evening and motorists were directed off of Lake Shore Drive so crews could clear away snow, according to Roderick Drew, spokesperson for the City of Chicago's Office of Emergency Management.

However, the closures and the conditions left hundreds of other motorists stranded on Lake Shore Drive, unable to move or reach their destinations for hours.  The logjam continued into early Wednesday morning, long after rush hour, with some motorists reporting being stuck for more than 6 hours in their cars awaiting assistance or direction from emergency vehicles.

Talk radio stations blistered with calls from confused and angry motorists, most of whom were left idling along the Drive as the blizzard intensified.

The gridlock prompted Raymond Orozco, the Chief of Staff to Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, to issue an apology on Wednesday.  "While we wanted to help people quickly, we needed to help people safely," he said.

The drive remained closed as of Wednesday, though the City says all motorists have now been evacuated and most vehicles have been removed.  Those looking to reclaim vehicles left on Lake Shore Drive were urged to call 311.

Forecast:  Storm expected to continue until late Weds

After a brief respite, snow has returned in force Wednesday morning.  The National Weather Service has issued a blizzard warning until 3 p.m. Wednesday.

"The road conditions are going to be very, very, very, very bad," said Bill Wilson, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service. "Snow will be heavy, so be careful shoveling it. It'll be kind of a wet snow."

40 people in the Chicago-area died of heart attacks sparked by shoveling snow during the major blizzard of 1999, according to the National Weather Service.

Wilson said visibility will be near zero, thanks, in part, to blowing snow.

Public health officials are encouraging people to check on family and friends and to stock up on food and water. The National Weather Service says Chicago could be in for its third worst blizzard since record-keeping began in 1886.

Many schools closed

Meanwhile, the blizzard bearing down on Chicago prompted Chicago Public Schools interim CEO Terry Mazany to announce the closing all of the city's public schools on Wednesday.  That's the first time in more than a decade that the district has closed schools due to winter weather.  The last time classes were cancelled was during a similar storm on January 4th and 5th of 1999.

Hundreds of school districts across the region, as well as colleges and universities, cancelled classes for Tuesday night and Wednesday.  Many of Chicago's normally vibrant theater and performing arts stages were dark as well.

Air travel halted

The blizzard also has prompted airlines to stop flying in and out of Midway International Airport, while more than 1,300 flights have been canceled at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, according to Karen Pride of the City of Chicago's Department of Aviation.  While O'Hare officially remains open, the department says that most of the airlines have said that they will either limit or halt flights on Wednesday. Southwest Airlines has canceled all flights in and out of Chicago's Midway Airport from Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday afternoon.

Municipal voting, Illinois legislature postponed

Meanwhile, the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners has announced it will close down early voting sites in each ward on Wednesday. The only early voting site that will remain open is located at the Election Board offices at 69 W. Washington St. downtown. The ward election sites are expected to re-open on Thursday.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn issued the preemptive emergency declaration Monday well in advance of the monster storm, and later activated 500 members of the Illinois National Guard. In another preemptive move, the Illinois General  Assembly cancelled this week's sessions because of the expected problems in traveling. The legislature will not reconvene until Feb. 8.

Another early victim of the incoming storm was the Illinois Pork Producers Association 2011 Illinois Pork Expo in Peoria, that event has been rescheduled to Feb. 15 and 16.

read more here:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_localwbez/20110202/ts_yblog_localwbez/blizzard-blasts-chicago-shuts-down-power-schools-and-roads