Cassini Spacecraft Reveals Unprecedented Saturn Storm

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Scientific American - John Matson, 1/17/13

Saturn storm, 2011

A true-color image captured by Cassini in February 2011 shows the head of the storm overtaking the fainter, turbulent tail. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI

Just as regions of our planet have monsoon season, or tornado season, so too does Saturn have its own stormy season.

Once every Saturn year or so—which corresponds to roughly 30 Earth years—a giant, churning storm works its way through the clouds of Saturn’s northern hemisphere, sometimes encircling the entire planet like a belt. Lasting a few dozen days or more, these storms have been documented as far back as 1876.

Sydney Sizzles in Record Heat as Fires Threaten Victorian Towns

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Bloomberg - 1/18/13, Jason Scott

Sydney, Australia’s largest city, posted its highest temperature ever recorded today, reaching 45.8 degrees Celsius (114.4 degrees Fahrenheit), as wildfires burned in five of the nation’s states, destroying homes.

The record, reached at 2:55 p.m. local time today, eclipses the previous high of 45.3 degrees on Jan. 14, 1939, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. Canberra, the national capital, posted its second-highest temperature of 41.6 degrees Celsius.

To read the rest of this story, visit Bloomberg.com.

What’s causing Australia’s heat wave?

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Science Alert - 1/18/13, Australian Bureau of Meteorology 

KLH49_heatwave_istock

Although Australia's temperature has gone above 48 degrees before, the current heat wave has been far from typical. Image: KHL49/iStockphoto
 

Australia has started 2013 with a record-breaking heat wave that has lasted more than two weeks across many parts of the country. Temperatures have regularly gone above 48°C, with the highest recorded maximum of 49.6°C at Moomba in South Australia. The extreme conditions have been associated with a delayed onset of the Australian monsoon, and slow moving weather systems over the continent.

Australia has always experienced heat waves, and they are a normal part of most summers. However, the current event affecting much of inland Australia has definitely not been typical.

To read the rest of this story, visit Science Alert. 

Heavenletter #4438 - If I Can Love You with All My heart, Can You Not Love Yourself?

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Heaven Letters Published on: January 18, 2013

God said:

This is the day to stop finding fault with yourself. Yes, please stop finding all this endless fault with yourself. If you clap your hand against your head because of something you said or did, or did or didn’t, if you feel remorse every day, this Heavenletter is definitely for you.

 

It is time for you to give yourself a break.

 

Of course, you make mistakes. Of course, you wish you would have done or said differently, yet, haven’t you had enough of that?

 

Iago Spreads Snow from South to Mid-Atlantic

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Weather.com - 1/18/13, Chris Dolce

Snow Totals So Far

Winter Storm Iago will continue to spread both snow and rain across the South and into the Mid-Atlantic Thursday evening into early Friday.

Iago dumped up to 4 inches of snow in central Mississippi on Thursday morning. Portions of northern Alabama received 1 to 3 inches of snow on Thursday afternoon accompanied by isolated occurrences of thunder and lightning. Up to a foot or more of snow was reported in the mountains of southwest Virginia on Thursday evening.

To watch the video and read the rest of this story, visit Weather.com.

Geomagnetic storm / Solar Watch – January 18, 2013

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Source: The Watchers - 1/18/13, By The Watcher

Two Coronal Mass Ejections (CME’s) are expected to impact the earth in the next 24 hours and a G1-Class Geomagnetic storm will be possible shortly after. Solar activity is expected to go quiet again after these active regions rotate off the earth-facing disk over the next 36 hours.   Video by SolarWatcher http://solarwatcher.net Related posts: Brief G1 geomagnetic storm over Solar wind  reached near 700 km/s and this helped stir up a brief G1 Level Geomagnetic Storm (Kp=5) at high latitudes during the early hours of Wednesday morning. Migratory animals are affected at this and higher levels and aurora is commonly visible...

Two Coronal Mass Ejections (CME’s) are expected to impact the earth in the next 24 hours and a G1-Class Geomagnetic storm will be possible shortly after. Solar activity is expected to go quiet again after these active regions rotate off the earth-facing disk over the next 36 hours.

 

 

Hawaiian lava lake hits new record high

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Source: The Extinction Protocol - 1/17/13

January 17, 2012 – HAWAII – The orange glow atop Hawaii’s Mount Kilauea was a little stronger yesterday (Jan. 15) than it has been in recent weeks. The volcano’s lava lake lapped over the inner ledge of its vent, reaching a new high and bring molten rock closer than ever to the floor of Halema’uma’u crater. The level was about 80 feet (25 meters) below the crater floor, the highest level reached since the summit vent blasted open in March 2008, the U.S. Geological Survey reports. The lava lake last surged on Oct. 23, 2012, when the high mark was measured at 100 feet (31 m) below the crater floor. Since fresh lava appeared atop Kilauea in 2008, the lake level has varied from near the crater to out of sight, more than 650 feet (200 m) beneath the crater floor.

 

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