Weather Worries after North Dakota Train Derailment and Fiery Explosion Dave Kolpack Published: Dec 31, 2013, 6:26 AM EST Associated Press









Published: Dec 31, 2013, 8:11 AM EST Associated Press1 / 29Mount Sinabung sinabung spews volcanic material as seen from Karo, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2013. Officials raised the alert status of Sinabung to the highest level after a series of overnight eruptions. (AP Photo/Dedy Zulkifli)
KARO, Indonesia — A rumbling volcano in western Indonesia that has been spewing lava and clouds of gas high into the sky let out a new, powerful burst Tuesday, prompting warnings for airplanes and triggering panic among villagers, officials said.(MORE: 20 Most Amazing Volcanoes)Nine eruptions Tuesday sent lava and searing gas tumbling out of Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra province, said Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. The volcano started spitting clouds of gas and lava as high as 7,000 meters (23,000 feet) in the air late Monday, but no casualties were reported.Play Video
Living in Shadow of a VolcanoHe said more than 19,000 people have been evacuated from villages in a danger zone 5 kilometers (3 miles) around the crater to temporary shelters since authorities raised the alert status for Sinabung to the highest level in November.Gray ash covered villages, farms and trees as far as 70 kilometers (43 miles) southeast of the mountain.The 2,600-meter (8,530-foot) Mount Sinabung has sporadically erupted since September. An eruption in 2010 killed two people and caught scientists off guard because the volcano had been quiet for four centuries.Transportation Ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan said airlines had been notified to avoid routes near the mountain.(WATCH: Volcano In Space)Mount Sinabung is among about 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia, which is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific „Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Photographer Gets Up Close and Personal with Volcanoes1 / 26
Pu’u O’o vent summit cone of Kilauea in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. © G. Brad Lewis
Florida’s Mangrove Forests Expand with Climate Change
Tia Ghose, LiveScience.com Published: Dec 31, 2013, 7:25 AM EST From our partners0Matt Stock/U.S. Department of the InteriorMangrove forests typically grow in tidal regions in tropical and subtropical climates.Fewer deep freezes, attributable to Earth’s warming climate, have caused mangrove forests to expand northward in Florida over the past three decades, new research suggests.”Mangroves showed the largest increases in regions where cold snaps became less frequent over the past 30 years,” study co-author Kyle Cavanaugh, an ecologist at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Maryland, wrote in an email.The findings, published today (Dec. 30) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest that climate change could alter ecosystems even more dramatically in the years to come.(MORE: Major News for Electricity in U.S. Homes)Play Video
NYC Greenhouse Gas Emissions Drop Mangrove forests typically grow in tidal regions in tropical and subtropical climates. They serve a vital ecological function: The trees and shrubs that live in these regions can thrive in salty water, shifting sands and hot temperatures, and tree roots trap sediments, slowing the lapping of water and allowing other life to flourish.To see how climate changes have affected Florida’s mangrove forests, Cavanaugh and his colleagues looked at 28 years of satellite data from Florida’s East Coast. They found that the area taken up by mangrove forests in the northernmost latitudes had doubled over the last few decades, while the southern stretches changed little.This expansion wasn’t connected to changes in average temperature, sea level rise, rain or land use. Instead, the regions with expanding mangroves experienced fewer cold snaps – periods when the temperature dips below 25 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 4 degrees Celsius).(WATCH: Highway Crumbles Into Pieces)The new results imply that mangrove forests may expand quickly with global warming in the coming decades. Though what this means for surrounding communities and the life that depends on the forests isn’t yet clear.”Right now we don’t have enough information to determine if this is good or bad for humans,” Cavanaugh said. „As mangroves expand they displace salt marsh. Both of these habitats are important ecologically and economically, and both are threatened by rising sea levels and coastal development.”With further global warming, mangrove expansion probably won’t be confined to Florida.”There is evidence that the ranges of mangroves in other parts of the world are also restricted by cold temperatures,” Cavanaugh said.And because water-dispersed plants can often travel farther than those dispersed by wind or plants, the mangrove expansion could be very rapid, the authors write in their paper.MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Fantastic Florida Sunsets1 / 13
Sunset at Naples, Florida (eleephotography/Flickr)
Crop Circle Appears in Salinas, Calif. Field By Sean Breslin Published: Dec 31, 2013, 8:18 AM EST weather.com1 / 3A very intricate crop circle appeared in a field in Salinas, Calif. on Monday, Dec. 30, 2013, as seen from above. Nobody knows who created it or why. (Photo courtesy of 111th Aerial Photography Video)
Residents of Salinas, Calif. were baffled and amazed by a mysterious crop circle discovered in a field Monday morning.
(MORE: Did Weather Cause a Train to Derail and Erupt?)Play VideoAmazing Designs in the Snow!As seen in the photos above, the design is highly detailed, but the locals still have no idea who created the masterpiece, according to a Sky News report.The crop circle was carved into a barley field just east of Salinas, and the Monterey Herald reports the creation spanned nearly an acre of the field. The report also mentioned the owners of the farm hired security guards to monitor the property, but reporters were escorted to see the masterpiece up-close.”I don’t know what it is supposed to be … but it is beautiful,” said Julie Belanger, who spoke to NBC News after flying over the design to take pictures.Whether created by human or extraterrestrial, weather conditions for the circle-carving were nearly ideal, with clear skies and cool temperatures, according to weather.com senior meteorologist Jon Erdman.MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Beautiful Fields of the World1 / 64
Wild poppies are covering meadows and fields near the northern Slovakian village of Matiasovce 11 June 2007. (JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)
Power Outages Linger in New England, Michigan As States Prepare for New Storm Published: Dec 31, 2013, 7:23 AM EST Associated Press
Major Storm to Welcome 2014 PORTLAND, Maine — With frigid temperatures descending upon the region, cold and weary utility crews worked Monday to finish restoring electricity for customers who’ve been in the dark for more than a week as another winter storm takes aim at the region.For John Phillips, an Ellsworth resident who has been living without electricity since Winter Storm Gemini hit the weekend before Christmas, the novelty of living like „Little House on the Prairie” wore off long ago.(MORE: Snowstorm Targets Northeast, Midwest)„Being without lights makes it pioneer-like,” Phillips said Monday. „It gets old after a day or two, I can assure you.”A Sunday snowstorm caused an additional 6,000 power outages in Maine and brought the month’s snow total in Portland to 26.2 inches, more than double the snowfall in the typical December.Play Video
Driving Tips in the WinterAnd the new year could start the way the old one ended, with another snowstorm projected for Thursday and Friday.The anticipated snowstorm brought the possibility of still more power outages for utility crews who’ve been run ragged since an ice storm that started the weekend before Christmas caused a slow-moving disaster. Subzero and single-digit temperatures Monday night were going to add to the misery.”We’re concerned about our crews. A lot of these guys are tired. They’re away from their families. They’re getting as much rest as they can but it takes a toll,” said Bob Potts from Bangor Hydro Electric Co.More than 100,000 utility customers lost power during the ice storm.In Michigan, angry residents packed a Lansing City Council meeting Monday night to slam the municipal power company’s handling of widespread outages from an ice storm nine days earlier.The Lansing Board of Water & Light said about 800 homes and businesses remained offline Monday in the aftermath of the Dec. 21 storm. In all, about 40,000 of its customers, or 40 percent, lost power at one point or another.Play Video
Rating Winter from 1 to 10Residents lined up to give short, angry speeches accusing the power system’s management of failing to communicate and lagging in its response to the outages.”Let’s hold them accountable for their incompetence,” said Kyle Shumaker, 28.Consumers Energy Corp. and DTE Energy Co., the state’s largest utilities, say they have fully restored power to those affected by the storm. In all, 666,000 Michigan homes and businesses were blacked out and at least five people died in the storm.Over the weekend, Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero directed police and fire personnel to conduct door-to-door welfare checks in areas without power. They’re expected to continue until service is restored, MLive.com reported.(MORE: Arctic Blast for Midwest)„As this crisis continues, please help us reach out to your neighbors, especially senior citizens, disabled citizens and families with young children, who may still be trying to stay in a cold home,” Bernero said.Michigan authorities blame the storm for three crash deaths and the deaths of two people from carbon monoxide fumes emitted by emergency generators.In eastern Maine, nearly 400 customers remained in the dark Monday night and Bangor Hydro expected to finish its restoration work by New Year’s Day — 10 days after the power outages began.Central Maine Power had restored power to all of those that lost it in last week’s ice storm, but another 5,000 customers lost electricity Sunday night. All but about 700 customers had their power back by Monday night.Phillips, who serves as mayor in Ellsworth, wasn’t immune to the power outages that left the entire city in the dark for a time.Play Video
Stay Warm AND SAFE This Winter!”It’s very frustrating to see everyone get their power back, but we’re still out,” said Phillips, whose generator went kaput on Christmas Eve.He brought in a portable unit to run a furnace to keep his house warm and prevent pipes from breaking and said he was spending $50 to $60 a day in generator fuel.Andrew Sankey, director of the Hancock County Emergency Management Agency, said that utility crews have done their best under tough circumstances to restore power and emergency management officials have done their best to provide shelter for those who need it.”These circumstances have the potential to bring out the best in people,” he said Monday. „Communities come together. Neighbors check on each other.”The ice has caused other problems, including closing a major bridge across the Penobscot River.(WATCH: How to Avoid Frostbite)The Maine Department of Transportation closed the Penobscot Narrows Bridge Sunday after one vehicle was destroyed and four to five sustained damage by ice chunks falling 300 feet from above. No one was hurt.Crews weren’t able to knock off the ice from the cables using a crane Monday, but transportation officials determined that the remaining ice will stay there because of the low temperatures and the bridge reopened Monday night, said spokesman Ted Talbot. The bridge will be closed again sometime this weekend to attempt to clear the remaining ice.MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Winter Storm Gemini Photos1 / 80
Jim Ridley uses a flashlight to get his mail Thursday, Dec. 26, 2013, in Litchfield, Maine, where he has been without electricity since Monday’s ice storm. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
NHL Winter Classic: Will Snow Blanket the Ice in Ann Arbor? By Jon Erdman Published: Dec 31, 2013, 7:15 AM EST weather.comEric King floods the ice during the 2014 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic Build-Out on December 29, 2013 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Photo by Dave Sandford/NHL via Getty Images)A potential record-breaking crowd for an outdoor hockey game will pack Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich. for the sixth edition of the National Hockey League’s Winter Classic on New Year’s Day.Current ConditionsClick on city for more forecast detailsAnn Arbor, MI
15°FCloudyUnlike the past few iterations of the Winter Classic, slushy ice from temperatures hovering near or above freezing will not be an issue this year – but frigid temperatures will.High pressure centered over southern Canada will keep a fresh supply of Arctic air in place over southern Michigan on New Year’s Day. Afternoon high temperatures may not rise out of the teens, with a northeast breeze producing wind chills possibly into the single digits.In short, this could be the coldest of the six NHL Winter Classics played so far.It’s not just about the cold this year.A band of light snow should spread into southern Michigan New Year’s Eve into New Year’s Day.Therefore, don’t be surprised to see light accumulations of snow during the game itself New Year’s Day. (WATCH: Midwest Forecast | Detroit’s 60-Second Forecast)At a minimum, falling snow at Michigan Stadium during the NHL’s signature outdoor game should be a spectacle to watch (1 p.m. ET on NBC).This isn’t the first outdoor hockey game at Michigan Stadium. In December 2010, in-state rivals Michigan and Michigan State faced off in „The Big Chill at the Big House”.Last year’s Winter Classic was canceled due to the NHL’s lockout.Faceoff of the 2012 game in Philadelphia was pushed back a few hours due to concern over warm temperatures, as highs surged into the middle 40s. One year earlier, it was rain, not snow, that shifted the 2011 Winter Classic to a night game at Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field.This Winter Classic won’t be the single coldest outdoor regular-season NHL game, however.Ten years ago, the 2003 Heritage Classic was played just before Thanksgiving in Edmonton, Alberta between the host Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens. Despite wind chills in the 20s below zero, over 57,000 fans turned out at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium.MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Snowy NFL Games Dec. 8, 20131 / 13
(Left to right) Tackle Michael Oher, guard Marshal Yanda and center Gino Gradkowski of the Baltimore Ravens stand on the snow-covered field during the national anthem before playing the Minnesota Vikings at M&T Bank Stadium on Dec. 8, 2013 in Baltimore, Md. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
First Snowstorm of 2014 to Target Midwest, Northeast By Nick Wiltgen,By Jon Erdman Published: Dec 31, 2013, 6:29 AM EST weather.comMajor Storm to Welcome 2014
Major Storm to Welcome 2014
What to Expect for New Years Celebrations
Winter Storm Kicks Off 2014We won’t get far into 2014 before the year’s first snowstorm takes aim on parts of the Midwest and Northeast. And while this storm is still a few days away, there are already some indications that this could pack quite a punch.
New Year’s Day





































Follow Storm brought snow to Mauna Kea and set new rain record in Hilo. That’s a lot of rain.
SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) – A volcano in eastern El Salvador belched more ash and gases on Monday after a big eruption on Sunday that drove more than 1,600 people into emergency shelters. No major injuries or damage were reported.The Chaparrastique volcano, which is about 140 km (87 miles) east of San Salvador, the capital, spewed ash over a wide area known for its coffee plantations on Sunday.”The Chaparrastique volcano is still producing gases combined with small emissions of ash, which is normal after an eruption,” El Salvador’s environment ministry said on its Twitter page.In all, 1,635 people are in seven temporary shelters, emergency services said. Some people on the volcano’s slopes have refused to leave, emergency services said.It was not clear to what extent El Salvador’s coffee crop, already blighted by an outbreak of leaf rust, might be affected by the eruption. Coffee officials said they were meeting on Monday to evaluate the damage.El Salvador’s international airport was operating normally on Monday, although more than 36 international flights into and out of the country had been suspended on Sunday because of the eruption, the airport and airlines said.El Salvador has 23 active volcanoes. Chaparrastique is considered one of the most active, with 26 eruptions in the last 500 years, the environment ministry said.In a 1976 eruption, lava gushed from the volcano. Chaparrastique shook violently in another event in 2010.(Additional reporting by Ulises Rodriguez; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)View galleryA family gathers at a school being used as a shelter for residents evacuated from the surrounding ar …View gallery
A child is embraced by his father who covers his face with a mask, for protection from the ashes spe …View gallery
A girl covers her face with a mask for protection from the ashes spewed by the Chaparrastique volcan …View gallery
Rescue workers monitor the activity of the Chaparrastique volcano in the municipality of San Miguel …View gallery
The Chaparrastique volcano spews ash in the municipality of San Miguel December 29, 2013. REUTERS/St …View gallery
A dead cat lies on a road covered with ash near the Chaparrastique volcano in the municipality of Sa …View gallery
A soldier stands guard as the Chaparrastique volcano spews ash in the municipality of San Miguel Dec …
Train collision in North Dakota sets oil rail cars ablaze
FARGO, North Dakota (Reuters) – A BNSF train carrying crude oil in North Dakota collided with another train on Monday setting off a series of explosions that left at least 10 cars ablaze, the latest in a string of incidents that have raised alarms over growing oil-by-rail traffic.Local residents heard five powerful explosions just a mile outside of the small town of Casselton after a westbound train carrying soybeans derailed, and an eastbound 104-car train hauling crude oil ran into it just after 2 p.m. CST (2000 GMT), local officials said. There were no reports of any injuries.Half of the oil cars have been separated from the train, but another 56 cars remain in danger, said Cecily Fong, the public information officer with the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services. The collision destroyed both engines on the oil train. Both trains were operated by BNSF Railway Co, which is owned by Warren Buffett’s Bershire Hathaway Inc.The incident threatens to stoke concerns about the safety of carrying increasing volumes of crude oil by rail, a trend that emerged from the unexpected burst of shale oil production out of North Dakota’s Bakken fields. Over two-thirds of the state’s oil production is currently shipped by rail.”Approximately 10 cars are fully engulfed resulting in heavy smoke in the area,” the Cass County sheriff said in a statement, adding that local fire and hazardous material teams are battling the blaze. The sheriff said it was not yet clear how the collision had occurred.View galleryA plume of smoke rises from scene of a derailed train near Casselton, North Dakota December 30, 2013 …City officials said they had heard a series of explosions following the collision, including one as recently as 3:40 p.m. CST, more than an hour after the incident. Residents within 10 miles were asked to remain indoors to avoid contact with the smoke.The derailment occurred about a mile west of Casselton, a small town just west of Fargo, between an ethanol plant and the Casselton Reservoir, Fong said.RAIL CROSSROADSNorth Dakota is home to a raging shale oil boom that produced nearly 950,000 barrels of oil a day in October. It is also a major grain producer and long accustomed to a high volume of rail traffic.But shipments of oil have surged lately, most of it the light, sweet Bakken variety that experts say is particularly flammable.Trains carried nearly 700,000 barrels a day of North Dakota oil to market in October, a 67 percent jump from a year earlier, according to the state Pipeline Authority.This summer, a runaway oil train carrying Bakken crude derailed and exploded in the center of the Quebec town of Lac-Megantic, killing 47 people. The incident fueled a drive for tougher standards for such shipments, including potentially costly retrofits to improve the safety of tank cars that regulators have cited as prone to puncture.In early November, two dozen cars on another 90-car oil train derailed in rural Alabama, erupting into flames that took several days to fully extinguish.The Association of American Railroads recently proposed costly fixes to older tank cars that do not meet its latest standards but continue to carry hazardous fuels such as oil.The fixes include protective steel jackets, thermal protection and pressure relief valves, which could cost billions of dollars. Oil shippers, likely to be saddled with the costs of retrofits, oppose some of the changes proposed by the association.(Additional reporting by Jeanine Prezioso and Selam Gebrekidan in New York; Editing by Gary Hill, Jonathan Leff, Bob Burgdorfer and Lisa Shumaker)
New Year on ice as weather stalls Antarctic air-sea rescue

The MV Akademik Shokalskiy has been stranded 100 nautical miles east of the French base Dumont d’Urville for a week, hemmed in by impenetrable pack ice that three separate breakers have been unable to breach.The Australian government’s supply ship Aurora Australis on Monday came within 10 nautical miles of the marooned vessel — which has 74 research scientists, tourists and crew on board — but was forced to turn back by snow showers and freezing winds.Russia’s foreign ministry said a decision had been reached overnight to evacuate all 52 passengers by a helicopter on board the Chinese icebreaker Xue Long, which remains nearby after its own aborted bid to reach the Akademik Shokalskiy.The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), which is coordinating operations, said severe weather continued to block efforts Tuesday.”This rescue will be a complex operation involving a number of steps and subject to factors such as weather,” AMSA said.”The helicopter is unable to fly in the current weather conditions, and will hold off on the rescue until conditions improve. Weather conditions are unlikely to start improving until tomorrow and decisions related to carrying out the rescue may be made at short notice.”AMSA said a landing site had been marked on the ice beside the Russian ship, adding that only passengers and none of the ship’s 22 crew would be evacuated.View galleryMap showing the area in the Antarctic where a Russian research vessel carrying 74 people has been tr …”The passengers are expected to be rescued by helicopter in groups of 12 and will be initially transported to the Xue Long,” AMSA said.”The Aurora Australis will then use its barge to transfer all 52 passengers on board their vessel. The barge can take up to 22 people at a time.”It would be „a couple of weeks” before they were returned to land, with the Aurora Australis needing to head to Australia’s Casey Antarctic base to refuel before heading to Hobart with the passengers, AMSA said.Ship’s doctor Andrew Peacock said the passengers were frustrated but „resigned to keep waiting” and trying to keep their spirits high, with a New Year party planned in the ship’s bar.”(We’re) passing the time reading, preparing for a possible helicopter evacuation, continuing ocean studies dropping probes beneath the ice, (watching) movies in the auditorium and working on a new song for New Year’s Eve celebrations, which will be a nice dinner and time at the bar,” Peacock told AFP.”We know this is a serious event and we are inconveniencing others. We are not morose or upset, just frustrated and we have no option but to settle in and keep morale high.”The ship is stocked with two weeks’ worth of fresh food and another fortnight of dehydrated rations. But Peacock said drinks were running low, with „just enough alcohol left to celebrate” the arrival of 2014.”We are preparing for evacuation to a dry ship so a few drinks seems reasonable, but we also have to be ready at a moment’s notice for the helicopter arrival so staying sober is important,” he said.Peacock said passengers had been upset by speculation on social media that they were not on a „serious science-based” expedition or had been negligent in some way, which he said could „not be further from the truth”.”We were caught as we left to go north en route to home by a new breakout of ice dragged across to this area by strong southeasterly winds. This was a fairly rare event in this specific location,” he said.”The scientists and passengers are very unhappy about the way this has played out but we can’t be expected to just sit and be sad or unhappy,” he added, defending upbeat photo and video posts from the ship.Oceanographer Erik Van Sebille recorded one such log from his cabin Tuesday where he was preparing for evacuation.”It’s really a concept of hurry up and wait. Everything must be ready to go as soon as possible, but in the meantime it’s a long, long wait ahead.”
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