7/4/13, "Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano grounds US flights," nbcnews.com. photo, "Ash, steam and glowing rocks spewed from the Popocatepetl volcano, seen from San Mateo Ozolco, on Thursday," AFP
6/19/13, "Volcano creates shockwave in dramatic eruption," ninemsn.com.au
"Footage has emerged of Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano erupting spectacularly and sending a large shock wave over the mountain.
The volcano, located around 65km from Mexico City, erupted yesterday creating a wall of ash estimated to be at least 6km high, Informador reports.
A
time-lapse video of the moment Popocatepetl exploded shows a shock wave
sweep over the mountain followed by a large black column of ash and gas
that exits the crater and races towards the sky.
The blast was
considered a risk to the 4.5 million people who live within a 50km
radius of the volcano and the ash cloud could reportedly been seen as
far away as Mexico City.
Mexico's National Centre for Prevention
of Disasters said the highly active volcano has since returned to its
normal level of activity.
Last month the 5452m volcano broke the record for the most volcanic emissions in one day with 300 emissions.
Popocatepetl has had 15 major eruptions since the Spanish arrived and began keeping records in 1519. There were no reported injuries from the blast."
"Source: Informador"
.
5/10/13, "Tornado activity hits 60-year low," USA today, Doyle Rice
"The USA in the past 12 months has seen the fewest number of tornadoes
since at least 1954, and the death tolls from the dangerous storms have
dropped dramatically since 2011.
Just two years after a ferocious
series of tornado outbreaks killed hundreds of Americans, the USA so
far this year is enjoying one of the calmest years on record for
twisters. Through Thursday, tornadoes have killed only three Americans
in 2013; by the end of May 2011, 543 Americans had died.
The seven
people killed from May 2012 to April 2013 is the fewest in a 12-month
period since five people died in September 1899-August 1900, according
to Harold Brooks, research meteorologist with the National Severe Storms
Laboratory in Norman, Okla.
The year-to-date count of tornadoes is probably approaching the lower
10% of all years on record, said Greg Carbin, warning coordination
meteorologist with the Storm Prediction Center in Norman.
The
reason: An unusually cool weather pattern from the Rockies to the East
Coast. "Generally, the lower the temperature and/or the drier the air,
the lower the number of thunderstorms," said AccuWeather meteorologist
Alex Sosnowski.
Severe thunderstorms produce tornadoes, along with large hail and high winds.
So
far in May — usually the USA's most active month — only three tornadoes
have formed. All have been rated EF-0 on the Fujita scale of tornado
intensity. EF-0 is the weakest rating for tornadoes, with wind speeds of
about 65-85 mph.
The EF-5 tornado that ravaged Joplin, Mo., two years ago, had estimated wind speeds as high as 250 mph and killed 158 people.
The
record low in tornadoes comes less than two years after a record high
from 2010 to 2011, Weather Underground meteorologist Jeff Masters said.
"The extraordinary contrast underscores the crazy fluctuations we've seen in Northern
Hemisphere jet stream patterns during the past three years," he said.
"Call it 'weather whiplash' of the tornado variety."
Current
weather patterns are expected to continue into the first part of summer,
likely keeping 2013 well behind the curve for violent thunderstorms and
tornadoes, AccuWeather reports." via Rush Limbaugh
.
