Landslides, Heavy Rain, Flooding Threaten United States/Ghana World Cup Match in Natal, Brazil

Torrential rains have plagued the site of the opener, Natal—a coastal city of nearly 1 million people in northeastern Brazil—for three days, inundating streets, blocking off roads and triggering landslides that destroyed or damaged 20 to 40 homes and forced the evacuations of at least 50 people, according to local media. In response, the city declared a state of emergency Sunday, mobilizing emergency responders to deal with impacts from the heavy rain.

At least four other structures are threatening collapse at the site of the landslide. A retaining wall under pressure from the rain also collapsed in the city, enveloping six homes in earth, G1 reports. Multiple ponds and lakes are well past capacity and continue to spill over into the streets.

Nearly 9 inches of rain fell in Natal from 8 a.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Sunday alone, according to INMET,Brazil's governmental meteorological department. But more than 13 inches are said to have fallen since the rain began Friday, first shutting down a FIFA-sanctioned fan fest at Fortress Beach in Natal, and then soaking the city's opening match between Mexico and Cameroon, NBC Sports reports.

http://www.wunderground.com/news/united-states-ghana-world-cup-match-heavy-rain-natal-20140615

Pilger, Nebraska Twin Tornadoes: How They Happened and How Unusual They Were

From that loop, it appears there were three separate tornadoes:

• Tornado A first formed west of Stanton, Nebraska, then soon weakened north of Stanton as it curled toward the north.
• Tornado B then formed east of Stanton and appears to have been the one that hit Pilger, Nebraska.
• Tornado C then formed just southeast of the Pilger tornado, then wrapped northward tracking close to, or interacting with, tornado B.

According to tornado warnings and statements from the National Weather Service near Omaha, tornadoes from this supercell were sighted for at least one hour and 10 minutes from 3:46 p.m until 4:56 p.m. Central time, and continued for 30 minutes after the end of the radar loop above.

Schematic of a supercell's rear-flank downdraft and updraft.

The process of tornadogenesis in a supercell remains an active area of research, with the supercell's forward-flank downdraft (rain-cooled air), rear-flank downdraft (a surge of less cool, dry air at the western edge of the supercell) and low-level mesocyclone/updraft all possibly playing roles.

When the rear-flank downdraft surges and completely surrounds the updraft, cutting off warm, moist air, the first tornado will slowly fizzle and curl toward the left (for an east- or northeast-moving supercell). 

However, just to the southeast of the weakening tornado, a second tornado may form where the two downdrafts and the updraft meet. In this manner, you can have multiple tornadoes simultaneously form from the same storm: one typically weakening, while the other is maturing or strengthening.

http://www.wunderground.com/news/pilger-nebraska-twin-tornadoes-how-they-happened-20140617

Florida More Vulnerable to Tornadoes Than Midwest, Study Suggests

Though the findings mark 30 years of tornadoes, Florida has seen far fewer fatalities than several other states in recent years, which is making some meteorologists question the study's validity.

"From 2008 through June 16, 2014, there have been two tornado-related fatalities in Florida. In 2011 alone, 245 Alabamians lost their lives from tornadoes, and another 158 were killed in Joplin, Missouri, according to data from the Storm Prediction Center," said weather.com senior meteorologist Jon Erdman. "Florida's deadliest tornado outbreak claimed 42 lives in central Florida on Feb. 22-23, 1998."

(MORE: How You Can Help the Victims of the Pilger Tornadoes)

Konrad's work makes sense and fits with earlier research on tornado fatalities, said Florida State University meteorology professor James Elsner and Barb Mayes Boustead, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration meteorologist and tornado chaser.

Visibility is another problem for tornadoes in the Southeast. Because of atmospheric conditions, the region tends to get more tornadoes at night, making them harder to see, Konrad said. It also means some people may be asleep and miss warnings.

The South also has more trees and buildings to block the view of oncoming tornadoes, Konrad said. And they also tend to come from low-hanging clouds, making them harder to see.

Florida tends to get tornadoes more in the winter, while the Southeast tornado season is February through April, Konrad said. The Midwest generally sees them in the spring and summer.

http://www.wunderground.com/news/florida-midwest-tornado-study-20140617

Powerful Storms Bring Tornadoes, Flooding to Great Lakes, Dakotas

A line of powerful thunderstorms rolled through the Dakotas and Great Lakes region Wednesday, flooding roadways and knocking out power to thousands.

The storms will continue moving into the northeast Wednesday evening, bringing a threat of high winds to cities such as Pittsburgh, Charleston, W.V., and Washington, D.C.

Michigan

A fresh wave of severe thunderstorms has moved across Michigan, knocking out power to at least 65,500 homes and businesses and bringing heavy rains that caused road flooding.

DTE Energy Co. says at least 40,000 of its customers lost power, while CMS Energy Corp. reports about 22,000 blackouts and Lansing Board of Water & Light about 3,500. Most are expected to have power back by sometime Thursday.

Wednesday's storms knocked down trees and power lines and flooded roads. The National Weather service reports an 81 mile-per-hour wind gust at Adrian and says 1.71 inches of water fell in Washtenaw County near Ann Arbor in one 4-hour span.

They came a day after a funnel cloud briefly touched down in Iosco County in the northern Lower Peninsula, damaging buildings and vehicles.

http://twitter.com/whatudomatterss/status/479358050130591744/photo/1

http://www.wunderground.com/news/powerful-storms-bring-tornadoes-flooding-great-lakes-dakotas-20140618

Climate change now a mainstream part of city planning: Global survey

An increasing number of cities around the world now include preparations for climate change in their basic urban planning -- but only a small portion of them have been able to make such plans part of their economic development priorities, according to a unique global survey of cities released today.

The Urban Climate Change Governance Survey (UCGS), based on responses from 350 cities worldwide, underscores the extent to which city leaders recognize climate change as a major challenge -- even as they are trying to figure out how their responses can create jobs, growth, and cost savings in areas ranging from cities' transportation networks to their distribution of businesses.

"Climate change isn't an isolated issue," says Alexander Aylett, a postdoc in MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP), and the lead author of today's report. "It has large implications for all other aspects of urban life. What we are seeing is cities starting to build it into the DNA of how they approach urban planning."

According to the findings, 75 percent of cities worldwide now tackle climate-change issues as a mainstream part of their planning, and 73 percent of cities are attempting both climate mitigation and climate adaptation -- that is, they are trying both to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and to adapt to long-term changes that are already in motion. But only 21 percent of cities report tangible connections between the response to climate change and achieving other local development goals.

Aylett calls it a "cliché" that environmental and economic progress cannot coexist, citing a number of cities where jobs and growth have derived from climate-change efforts. Portland, Ore., he observes, developed incentives, training, and regulations to help sustainable construction firms grow, while a pilot program called Clean Energy Works Portland employed 400 workers to reduce home energy use, reducing carbon emissions by 1,400 metric tons annually.

Urban planners in Alberta, as Aylett notes, have studied the cost savings associated with limiting metropolitan sprawl and concluded that denser development could save $11 billion in capital costs over the next 60 years, and $130 million in annual maintenance. But most cities, he suggests, have simply not yet identified ways to link climate planning and economic development in the first place.

"It isn't so much that it's hard to reconcile economic and environmental priorities," Aylett says. "It's that we're not trying."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140529092812.htm

Warming climates intensify greenhouse gas given out by oceans Date: June 8, 2014

Rising global temperatures could increase the amount of carbon dioxide naturally released by the world's oceans, fuelling further climate change, a study suggests.

Rising global temperatures could increase the amount of carbon dioxide naturally released by the world's oceans, fueling further climate change, a study suggests. Scientists studied a 26,000-year-old sediment core to find out how the ocean's ability to take up atmospheric CO2 has changed over time, and found that when silicon was least abundant in ocean waters corresponded with relatively warm climates, low levels of atmospheric iron, and reduced CO2 uptake by the oceans' plankton.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140608152726.htm

Arctic warming linked to fewer European and U.S. cold weather extremes, new study shows

Date:

June 15, 2014

Source:

University of Exeter

Summary:

Climate change is unlikely to lead to more days of extreme cold, similar to those that gripped the United States in a deep freeze last winter, new research has shown. The Arctic amplification phenomenon refers to the faster rate of warming in the Arctic compared to places further south. It is this phenomenon that has been linked to a spike in the number of severe cold spells experienced in recent years over Europe and North America.

El Niño expected to benefit U.S. agriculture, economist says

Jay O'Neil, an instructor and specialist at the university's International Grains Program, says what happens with El Niño will affect worldwide crop production. El Niño, which is the warming of the sea temperatures off the coast of Peru, is expected to affect crops during September, October and November.
"El Niño is generally favorable to crop production in the United States because it brings extra rain and moisture into the core crop-growing areas," O'Neil said. "We're just coming out of a four-year drought cycle in the United States and we'd like to get back to what we call trend-line yields and big crop production so there's plenty for everybody."

Better crop production in the U.S. would also mean lower food prices. However, other countries would experience harsher growing conditions because of El Niño. O'Neil says South America is expected to be dryer than usual, which would have an impact on the global food market.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140616111018.htm

NASA Satellite Shows Two Stunning Atmospheric Phenomena off Baja California

NASA’s eyes in the sky are important parts of weather-monitoring efforts, with satellites tracking hurricanes as they barrel across the ocean and storm systems as they sweep across the country. But sometimes they just find really cool stuff in the atmosphere.

Such is the case with an image taken by the MODIS instrument aboard the Aqua satellite (with a hat tip to Climate Central board member and University of Georgia professor Marshall Shepherd on Twitter). On June 8 it spotted a wow-worthy combo of atmospheric phenomena off the coast of Baja California: von Kármán vortices and a glory. Not meteorologist? Let’s break down what these terms are then.

The von Kármán vortices, named for Hungarian-American physicist Theodore von Kármán, appear as a set of eddies following each other in a line. To explain how they form, it helps to remember that air is a fluid, just like water. Just as a rock can perturb water flowing around it in a stream, an island or some other obstacle can perturb the clouds and air flowing over it.

The aptly-named glory happens when light from the sun is scattered backwards by water droplets in clouds. To an observer on the ground, they appear as a halo of rainbow colors directly opposite the sun in the sky. They are most often seen in thin clouds or fog from mountains or other high ground and from airplanes.

For a satellite looking down at the Earth, the set-up is a little different: A satellite takes scans in swaths perpendicular to its path across the sky. These swaths cut horizontal cross sections of the glory, according to NASA’s Earth Observatory, making the glory appear as a long band of color.

Regardless of whether you’re a meteorologist or just your Average Joe, it’s safe to say the image is pretty spectacular. So next time you want to browse through NASA’s satellite images, look closely and you may see something equally amazing.

http://www.weather.com/news/science/nasa-satellite-shows-two-stunning-atmospheric-phenomena-baja-california-20140612

Severe Weather Forecast: Tornado Threat High in the Dakotas, Severe Storms Pushing into th

Severe weather, including tornadoes, did not take a break on Tuesday. A dangerous supercell that rolled through northeastern Nebraska produced large, slow-moving tornadoes Tuesday night. Storm chasers spotted a large wedge tornado near Coleridge, Nebraska, where several homes have reportedly been damaged. 

(MORE: Multiple Tornadoes Spotted in Nebraska Tuesday)

In addition, heavy rain and flash flooding continued in parts of the Plains. Roads became impassable in Mankato, Minnesota, early Wednesday morning as a cluster of thunderstorms rolled through.

Unfortunately, more severe thunderstorms are likely in the days ahead. Here are the details on current and forecast severe weather for the next few days

New Tornado Maps Show Latitudes, Longitudes Hit Most Frequently

Brice, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in El Paso, Texas, crunched the number of tornado touchdowns between 1950 and 2013. Then he plotted the Storm Prediction Center's data on two separate maps to show the latitudes and longitudes that have seen the most twisters during that time span.

(MORE: The 10 Deadliest Tornadoes in American History)

Shortly after posting the two maps Monday on social media, they were rapidly distributed by meteorologists and weather geeks alike because they show a fascinating, fresh take on old statistics.

In the first map that filters tornado touchdowns by longitude, a line just east of 98 degrees west appears to have the most twisters in the 63-year span studied – a line of longitude that has seen more than 2,000 tornadoes during the time frame. This line cuts right through the middle of the Great Plains, and Brice's map shows the surrounding lines have also seen more than 1,500 tornadoes each.

http://www.weather.com/safety/tornadoes/tornado-maps-latitude-longitude-20140610

San Angelo, Texas, Storms Cause Major Damage; NWS Office Has Communications Problem

Severe weather hammered the San Angelo, Texas, area Wednesday night, spawning at least one tornado, damaging buildings and leaving nearly half the population without power.

A supercell thunderstorm raked through the north and east sides of the city of almost 100,000 Wednesday night, said weather.com meteorologist Jon Erdman. Damaging winds from the supercell's rear-flank downdraft, with a measured gust to 73 mph at a Weather Underground station, led to some structural damage and widespread power outages.

(MORE: Check the Severe Weather Threat for Your Area)

As the storm closed in on San Angelo, the city's National Weather Service office began experiencing communications problems. Many meteorologists reported a radar outage in the area, and NWS San Angelo had to turn its duties over. NWS Midland shouldered the responsibility of issuing watches and warnings during the event.

http://www.weather.com/safety/thunderstorms/san-angelo-texas-storms-20140612

http://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10203982336140740&id=1292991550&set=o.9650818782&source=48&locale2=en_US&__tn__=E

Great Lakes Ice Free, At Last, in June!

Lingering patches of ice in parts of southern Lake Superior in late May and early June were the most widespread on record for that time of year dating to at least the early 1980s.

June daytime air temperatures predominantly in the 60s and 70s, along with a handful of wet June days helped melt remaining chunks of floating ice.

Despite this, Lake Superior water temperatures continue to be quite cold, generally in the upper 30s and 40s.

One of the coldest winters on record, followed by a persistently chilly spring, were the culprits for this persistent lake ice.

December through March was the coldest such period on record in Marquette and Hancock, Michigan. High temperatures at the National Weather Service near Marquette failed to rise above freezing from Dec. 6-Feb. 18, a record 75-day streak. There were a record 65 days of subzero cold lows at NWS-Marquette, including a record latest subzero cold low on April 16 (-5 degrees).

(RECAP: One of Coldest Winters)

By March 5, just under 96 percent of Lake Superior was ice covered. That same week, Lake Michigan (93.29 percent) and Lake Huron (96.3 percent) also reached their maximum ice cover.

On May 15, the U.S. Coast Guard wrapped up what it said was the nation's largest domestic ice operation after over five months of ice-breaking operations in the northern Great Lakes. One eastbound crossing of ice-choked Lake Superior by the Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw took nine days. Normally, this is a one-day voyage.

http://www.weather.com/news/great-lakes-ice-free-june-20140613

Tropical Update: Tropics Take A Breather

- Currently no tropical cyclones anywhere in the world

- Weak disturbance near Florida bringing showers and thunderstorms there; not currently showing signs of tropical development

- Eastern Pacific system could eventually develop, but not doing so yet

http://www.weather.com/news/tropical-update-atlantic-pacific-hurricane-season-20140513

New Mexico Wildfire: Weather Conditions to Improve Thursday

Another day of hot and dry conditions are ahead for firefighters battling a large blaze in western New Mexico that has already torched more than 13,250 acres of land, but there is hope in sight. Forecasters with the National Weather Service said storms moving across the Southwest have helped raise humidity levels, and the winds are expected to die down by Thursday, giving firefighters the window needed to directly attack the flames.

The Assayii Lake fire has been burning for nearly two days, making its way across grazing areas in the Chuska Mountains that Navajo families rely on for raising livestock, just east of the New Mexico-Arizona border. The blaze which has consumed more than 20 square miles of pinon and juniper forest along with grazing lands that tribal livestock owners have used for centuries.

At least four structures have been destroyed by the fire, and officials say about 50 homes near Naschitti and Sheep Springs are threatened. 

On Wednesday, planes dropped fire retardant on the southern part of the blaze, while crews began building a line along the western and northern flanks. They were also trying to protect a communication tower to the north.

http://www.weather.com/safety/wildfires/new-mexico-wildfire-20140618

Deadly Tornado's Track Seen from Space (Photo)

A new satellite image reveals the damage wrought by an EF4 tornado as it tore through Arkansas on April 27.
The tornado track runs from the upper right to the lower left of the image, traveling through the towns of Mayflower and Vilonia, Arkansas. This image, released yesterday (May 6), was taken on May 2 by NASA's Advanced Land Imager on the Earth-Observing-1 satellite, according toNASA's Earth Observatory.
The storm that spawned this tornado came from a system that moved in from the Rocky Mountains, pushing a cold front with it, according to the National Weather Service office in Little Rock, Arkansas. The interaction of cold air with moist, warm air created the perfect breeding ground for thunderstorms, and the NWS warned that tornadoes and hail were possible. [Video: Deadly Tornado Outbreak Seen from Space]

http://www.livescience.com/45390-tornado-track-arkansas-photo.html

Deadly tornado all but wipes Nebraska village off the map

Just several blocks wide and home to roughly 350 people, Pilger took a direct hit from one of an estimated four tornadoes that the U.S. National Weather Service tracked across northeastern Nebraska on Monday afternoon.
At least one person, a 5-year-old child, was pronounced dead at an area hospital that also received more than a dozen others who were injured in Pilger, Stanton County Sheriff Michael Unger said in a press release. Another person in neighboring Cuming County also died. The circumstances of both deaths were not immediately known.

Brian Reeg, from the neighboring town of Winside, stood bewildered in a lot where nothing remained of his church but a pile of rubble. "I just came to see if I could help," he said, surveying the wreckage. "This is where I was baptized, where I was married and went to church my whole life."

Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman declared a state of emergency for the stricken region. The state Emergency Management Agency said National Guard troops would be deployed to assist local authorities as cleanup efforts begin.

Storms also hit cities and communities in southern Wisconsin, smashing cars, windows, and trees, lifting a roof off a home, and cutting power to the University of Wisconsin at Platteville, officials and local media said on Tuesday.

The university said on its website that it would be closed on Tuesday due to extensive storm damage. "No major injuries have been reported, but some buildings sustained structural damage. Power is still out on campus and across much of the city."

A tornado touched down around New Glarus outside of Madison, and part of a roof was lying in the middle of a highway, a preliminary report from the Green County Sheriff's Office said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/slideshow/idUSKBN0ER2VW20140617#a=1

Penguins Once Thrived in Warmer Temps, But Now Face Climate Crisis

Since the last ice age, penguins have basked in warmer Antarctic climates because less ice makes it easier for the birds to breed and hunt for food, a new study reveals. But there's a key caveat: Current climate change is happening too fast for their food supply to keep up with demand.

Declines in some species of penguins have been happening for the past 1,000 years, but are getting worse as climate change accelerates, the study found.
Researchers examined how populations of penguins changed since the end of the last ice age, some 11,000 years ago. The scientists looked specifically at three current Antarctic penguin species: gentoo, Adelie, and chinstrap. All three of these species prefer ice-free waters to look for food, and ice-free land to nest and raise youngsters. [See photos of the amazing penguins of Antarctica]

L

Is Climate Change Response 'Fight or Flight' or 'Rest and Digest'? (Op-Ed)

http://www.livescience.com/46173-fight-or-fiight-climate-response.html

Is Climate Change Response 'Fight or Flight' or 'Rest and Digest'? (Op-Ed)

Humans have evolved to sense some crises instinctively — like the sight of a fire or a snake — and respond with fight or flight. But human response to slowly unfolding emergencies — like climate change — may be akin to that of a frog in a pot of water being heated slowly. 

The news on climate change is relentless and mostly focused on the negative impacts. This tends to raise stress and kick the amygdala and the SNS constantly. Society needs solutions and visions for a sustainable future in order to balance the SNS response and keep us in the PSNS as much as possible. Mindfulness of the PSNS must guide our every action from turning on the faucet for brushing our teeth in the morning to turning off the light at night for bedtime. We need fundamental and comprehensive behavioral changes. Such changes can provoke stress, arousing the SNS. We have to find our way back quickly to PSNS so we can rest and digest the impacts of our action, and respond with mindful actions each day.
We ignore our psychological impacts of climate change at our own peril. It is not just the fight or flight response that the SNS tends to engender. It also can produce the freeze response and that is the most prevalent "wait-and-see" attitude towards climate change that we see even from the richest of countries like the United States and Canada. 

If you're a topical expert — researcher, business leader, author or innovator — and would like to contribute an op-ed piece, email us here.

View full size image

The freeze response is almost appropriate for farmers in developing countries who have low incomes and who sometimes pay the price for the excesses of the Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic (WEIRD) countries, since the people with fewer resources hardly contributed to the mess we are in. 
Sadly, the nouveau riche of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) also are living up to the same standards of consumption as the WEIRD nations. So we all are in it now, with total consumption almost certain to trend upward in the coming decades. Most of the poor are forced to live in the SNS and it is mostly the climate variability and the extreme events they have to worry about. Can we expect them to worry about 2030 or 2050 when most don't even know where their next meal is coming from?
In the meantime, many people and organizations are trying to change the world and save the planet. But PSNS may help us realize the real meaning of what the poet Rumi meant when he said: "Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself."
Wisdom comes from the PSNS and not from SNS. The poor may have no choice but the rich can at least begin to rest and digest the consequences of their actions and mindfully steer towards a habitable planet for all.
The author's most recent Op-Ed was, "Pause in Global Warming Comes Served With Unwelcome Side Dishes." This Op-Ed was adapted from "Climate Change Response: Fight or Flight? or Rest and Digest?" onGudde-Blog. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. This version of the article was originally published on Live Science.

Carsten Peter storm chaser

Carsten Peter, a World Press Photo award winner and regular contributor to National Geographicmagazine, specializes in going to extremes: scuba diving in a glacier on Mont Blanc, crossing the Sahara on a camel, caving in Borneo. He searches for wild places where his survival depends on his wits and his skills as a technical climber, paraglider, caver, diver, and canyoneer.

He is enthusiastically obsessed with devising innovative photographic techniques to capture never-before-seen images from some of the scariest environments on the planet. His many adventures include braving toxic caverns and acid waterfalls to shoot within the deepest ice shafts on Earth, rappelling into active volcanoes with turbulent lava lakes and superheated thermal caves, and breaking altitude records while flying his motorized paraglider.

In addition to his World Press award—for his coverage of tornadoes while storm-chasing in the U.S. West—he has received an Emmy Award for his videography from inside an active volcano in the South Pacific. His images have been published in National Geographic and other magazines.

www.carstenpeter.com