Spring Snowstorm Buries Ashland, Cancels School

Many people across the Northland are digging out once again, but some areas had it worse than others. Eyewitness News went out to Ashland where there was more than a foot of snow in some parts of town.

We found Richard Starosta snowblowing Thursday. He doesn’t stop at his sidewalk; he clears the way for his neighbors.

“It’s something I’ve done for years,” Starosta said. “I got the snowblower and they don’t have one.”

It’s hard work when you’re clearing off half a block that’s a foot high.

“The snow is wet and heavy,” Starosta said. “That makes it hard to do.”

Some work outside beats the alternative for some. School was canceled for Ashland Schools.

“I got to sleep in,” high school student Hunter Weber said.

We also found some kids making snow angels and building snowballs.

While not everyone is as excited about the white stuff, others have just learned to call it home.

“I like it here,” Starosta said. “I really do.”

http://tinyurl.com/pmxc85q

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Plane crashes near Bethel, Alaska

On April 8, a Cessna 208 Caravan plane operated by Hageland Aviation crashed near Bethel, killing two pilots: Derrick Cedars, 42 of Bethel and Greggory McGee, 46 of Anchorage.

Around 5:15 p.m., Alaska State Troopers in Bethel were notified the plane was overdue in the vicinity of Three Step Mountain. Within the hour, the wreckage of the plane was seen near a fishing weir, burning. The two pilots were on a training mission.

The Alaska Army Guard in Bethel dispatched a Blackhawk helicopter with local fire personnel and Alaska State Troopers. Troopers observed a large debris field and charred willows around the crash site. The two pilots were found dead in the crash.

“When you have a family as close as ours at Hageland Aviation, you hope you never receive this sort of news. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of Greggory and Derrick as well as all those who have had a chance to work with them,” said Hageland Aviation President Jim Hickerson.

Cedars was Hageland’s lead aviation pilot and is survived by his wife and two children. McGee is survived by his wife.

The National Transportation Advisory Board has been on the scene investigating the cause of the crash.

Four people died in another Hageland Aviation Cessna 208 near St. Mary’s in November. Soon after, Era changed its name to Ravn, though officials deny that the crash had anything to do with the change.

http://tinyurl.com/ncl8xbn

**URGENT**ANOTHER CME TO STRIKE THE MAGNETOSPHERE 19th_20th April

ANOTHER CME TO STRIKE THE MAGNETOSPHERE

  ON 19th_20TH APRIL 2014

***BE ON ALERT***

Orange Alert Peru evacuates 4,000 near active Ubinas Volcano

Peruvian authorities on Thursday began evacuating some 4,000 residents near the Ubinas Volcano, after detecting an increase in volcanic activity.

Peruvian news website RPP said Agriculture and Irrigation Minister Juan Manuel Banites traveled from Lima to Arequipa, the country’s second-largest city, to supervise the evacuation process.

The minister said it would take about three days to complete the evacuation procedure.

The evacuation process includes transporting some 30,000 heads of livestock to safety, the minister told the news outlet. The residents “are no longer willing to separate themselves from their belongings” because in past years when area residents were forced to abandon the animals for a long period, “they suffered huge losses,” the minister added.

Steady volcanic exhalations of smoke and ash, with plumes rising as high as 4,800 meters, and ground tremors, led authorities to declare an orange alert and move residents to temporary shelters.

The Ubinas Volcano, located 1,200 km south of the capital Lima, in Peru’s Moquegua region, is currently Peru’s most active volcano. Endite

http://tinyurl.com/pol4j8t

Severe heatwave continues in Bangladesh

No immediate respite from the sweltering heat seems to be in sight

The moderate heat wave sweeping the country may not ease in the next week, says the Met office.

 

It said on Thursday the heat wave that Bangladesh had been experiencing for last several days might continue for a few more days.

 

Met office Forecast Officer Arif Hossain said a mild to moderate heat wave was sweeping Rangamati, Noakhali and Patuakhali districts and Dhaka, Rajshahi, Rangpur and Khulna divisions.

 

“This weather can sustain for 5-7 more days,” he said.

 

According to the Met office, Jessore was the warmest at 39.4 degrees Celsius on Thursday.

 

Dhaka had 37.2 degrees Celsius, Rajshahi 39.2, Sylhet 34.5, Barisal 36.8, Syedpur 37, Khulna 39, Rangamati 38, Noakhali 36.1 and Faridpur 38.5 degrees Celsius.

 

The Met office said mercury might rise a bit on Friday in the country and shower or thunder shower might happen at one or two places in Dhaka, Rajshahi and Sylhet divisions.

 

Weather in other places may remain dry on the day.

 

In its forecast for the month, it said there might be one or two depression in the Bay of Bengal in April. One depression may turn into cyclone, it added.

 

North, northwest and central parts may witness moderate to severe Nor’wester on two or three days and in other parts, moderate Nor’wester might happen on three or four days.

 

A severe heat wave may sweep the north and northwester parts and two or three light to moderate heat wave in other parts.

http://tinyurl.com/ng8n8e6

Hail wreaks Easter travel havoc in Mexico City

A freak spring hailstorm has caused havoc for thousands of people trying to leaving Mexico City for Easter weekend.

 

The heavy storm hit Wednesday evening on the mountain pass west of Mexico City, halting all movement on the main highways toward cities such as Toluca, Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta.

 

Thousands of people spent the night trapped in their cars before officials finally opened the road after dawn on Thursday. Many missed flights from Toluca’s international airport.

http://tinyurl.com/pao8zol

Cyclone Ita’s tail causes severe damage in New Zealand

ROADS are closed, roofs blown off, and thousands of homes and businesses left without power as storms lash much of the country.

 

The fire service had received 844 emergency calls by 4pm local time on Thursday, with about a quarter coming from the West Coast of the South Island.

 

Winds of up to 140km/h from the tail end of Cyclone Ita caused havoc in Buller, blocking roads and knocking out power to almost all the region’s 4500 customers.

 

Buller Electricity chief executive Erik Westergaard says only the small town of Karamea has power, and that’s through a diesel generator.

 

“I had to go outside because a pole was about to fall over and the wind picked me up and shifted me 10m across the road,” Mr Westergaard told AAP.

 

As he spoke, a sheet of iron blew over the building and landed on the fence surrounding the Westport substation.

 

“We’ve got three crews out in the field, but they can’t go anywhere because trees are blocking the road, but we know they’re safe.”

 

Further south, Cobden Bridge at Greymouth was closed because of strong winds and a welfare centre has been set up so stranded motorists can spend the night at Greymouth Baptist Church.

 

Earlier, about 15,000 Auckland customers of Vector Energy had lost power after fallen trees and other debris knocked out power.

 

Vector’s crews were gradually restoring power as the storm moved south and by 7pm about 2300 customers were still facing a blackout.

 

Hundreds of people in the Rotorua area were also without power after gales and heavy rain brought down trees and power lines.

 

Numerous roads were closed in Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Coromandel during the day by fallen trees and power lines, and flooding.

 

By the evening, New Zealand Transport Agency said State Highway 2 between Western Drain and Awakeri in Bay of Plenty was still closed by fallen trees.

 

Coromandel’s Kopu-Hikuai Road reopened as far as the Whangamata turn-off, but remained closed from there through to Tairua.

 

Senior Sergeant Rupert Friend, of Waikato Police District, said there was still surface water in areas where roads were open and he urged extreme caution by all drivers “as now it is dark the surface water is harder to see”.

 

The bad weather also caused Interislander ferry sailings to be cancelled and a landslip that resulted in two Oriental Parade properties in Wellington being evacuated.

 

MetService meteorologist Dan Corbett said the weather would gradually improve over Easter weekend as the tropical low drifted south.

 

“The intense band of rain and strong to severe gales will sink south to engulf central parts of New Zealand by the end of Thursday, followed by slowly improving weather in the far north,” he said.

 

“The wet and windy weather will still affect eastern parts of the South Island early on Good Friday, but it will improve gradually here too as the tropical low drifts south away from the country.”

http://tinyurl.com/phruly9

**URGENT REMINDER**CME TO STRIKE THE MAGNETOSPHERE 18th April

CME TO STRIKE THE MAGNETOSPHERE

  ON 18th APRIL 2014

***BE ON ALERT***

**EXTREMELY URGENT**MASSIVE DIP SPIKES ON THE MAGNETOSPHERE

MASSIVE DIP SPIKES ON THE MAGNETOSPHERE @ APPROX 16:00 & 16:15 hrs UTC. FURTHER EARTHQUAKES, VOLCANO ACTIVITY & ADVERSE WEATHER PATTERNS WILL BE GREATLY INFLUENCED BY THE COSMIC RAYS STRIKING THE EARTH’S CORE

***BE ALERT***

MAGNITUDE 3.3 AUSTRIA

http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=372898

Subject To Change

Depth: 5 km

Distances: 94 km SW of Vienna, Austria / pop: 1,691,468 / local time: 16:55:57.0 2014-04-17
58 km N of Graz, Austria / pop: 222,326 / local time: 16:55:57.0 2014-04-17