Gross! Millions Of Dead, Rotting Fish Is Australia's Latest Climate Change Disaster

Dead fish cover a river in Australia. Receded floodwater
and an intense heat wave are blamed for this gross disaster.

 This is a great week to thank your lucky stars you do not live in Menindee, New South Wales Australia.

Along the Darling River there, millions of fish died and are rotting in this enormous, disgusting pack. The Associated Press said highly variable weather is to blame. Record heat blanketed the region, and fish need more oxygen in hot weather. 

But the hot weather helped recent floods recede, and that reduced the oxygen levels in the water.  

As the Associated Press reported:

"Police Assistant Commissioner Brett Greentree said keeping the town's water supply put was the main priority and removing the dead fish was the next pressing issue. Trained contractors had been contacted about removing the fish with nets, but dates for the work haven't been set."

Well, they better get on it pretty quickly, this seems like it can only get worse. Unfortunately, this might be a task too big for anybody.

"I'm certainly not making promises that all the millions of fish will be removed by contractors because that is really a logistical nightmare," Greentree said, as reported by the AP.

Authorities  have been supplying safe drinking water to the town.....

As CNN reports:

"Heat waves across Australia have become more frequent and intense as climate change worsens and global temperatures continue to rise. 

Expert and government agencies have warned that Australia will continue to see spikes in extreme rainfall and heat, as well as more dangerous fires."

The town with millions of dead fish is small, with about 500 residents. So this has to be pretty overwhelming for them. 

Smaller fish mass die-offs have been reported in other towns in the region. 

 

Will Brief Vermont Spring Yield Back To Winter?

Somewhere beneath this snowbank and snow drifts in 
St. Albans, Vermont, a perennial garden awaits 
spring weather to bloom again. Given the forecast
for the next week or two, that wait will go
on for awhile yet. 

Most of Vermont had a nice warm spring day Wednesday, although, as explained yesterday, the northern Champlain Valley kind of missed out on that. 

Today, spring rains are falling across Vermont.  Not a nice day, but hey, spring-ish, right?  

So does that mean we're over the winter weather? Uh, no.

There's always flashbacks to winter well into April, sometimes in May in Vermont, so it's no surprise that more snow or a mix is in the forecast.  Winter is being a little more persistent than it has in recent years, I guess. 

THE WEEKEND

We're still looking at a storm that looks as if it will produce a mix of slush, snow, ice and yuck Saturday and Sunday. This, by no means will be anything as big as the snowstorm we had mid-month. But it will still cause a few problems. And like most storms this time of year, it's kind of unpredictable.

The current thinking is we'll be cruising along late Saturday morning or early afternoon with temperatures above freezing - at least in the valleys  - when the initial burst of precipitation arrives. Oh, goody, rain, right?

Probably wrong. The arriving storm will bring a surge of deep moisture that will collide with relatively dry air over us. As the snow arrives aloft at first, it will evaporate into the dry air, cooling it.  Then as moisture continues to flow in, the now cooler air will be chilly enough for snow, not rain. 

Sometime on Saturday, we could see a pretty heavy burst of snow which could at least temporarily slicken the roads. Though most of the snow accumulation will happen on either grassy surfaces or on existing snowpack. 

The National Weather Service in South Burlington says they're thinking that more warm, wet air will continue to flow in Saturday night. That would change the snow back to rain, or rain and a little sleet in the valleys. Mountains would continue to get a an ugly mix of snow, sleet, freezing rain and perhaps a bit of rain. 

Vermont Agency of Transportation traffic cam along
Interstate 89 in Williston this morning shows us 
what we have to put up with in the odd season between
winter and spring: Fading snow, brown grass, 
mud and roadside litter that accumulated all winter. 

Projected accumulations are so, so subject to change I almost don't want to mention it.  But people like early estimates, so here we go.  I imagine a lot of valleys could get one to three inches of glop, mostly from that initial burst of snow Saturday afternoon or evening.  

The early guess is some of the mountains would get two to six inches of schmutzy snow. 

Those of you (like me!) with travel plans on Sunday should be OK.  I imagine there will be some lingering issues in mid and high elevations in the morning, which should get cleared up. At this point, with fingers crossed, main roads in the valleys should be just wet Sunday morning and through the day, as scattered, light rain showers continue through the day. 

MIDWEEK STORM?

Some of you might have seen some breathless posts on social media of a possible bigger snowstorm next Wednesday or so. 

Let's seriously underline the word "possible."  Yes, some of the computer models suggest a decent snowstorm for Vermont that day. But a lot of other models either take the storm out to sea so that it entirely misses us. Or they give us a bit of light rain and snow.  We won't know for a few days how this will play out. 

Unfortunately for people chomping at the bit for spring, it looks like it will be reluctant in these parts. Long range forecasts call for generally below normal temperatures and odds slightly tilted toward above normal precipitation. That would mean more chances of snow to delay the daffodils even more. 

Snow Cover, Terrain Cheated Champlain Valley Out of A Gorgeous Spring Day Today

Bare ground around Bennington, Vermont helped 
temperatures warm up to 61 degrees there Wednesday afternoon.

 You start to get these days in March. Where it really warms up and you think spring is on the way. 

It was 61 degrees in Bennington. Rutland was 55 degrees. Even in northern Vermont, Montpelier managed to reach 50 degrees. All these readings were warmer than forecast. 

The Champlain Valley, though, was stuck in the low 40s all day. Though that's not terrible, the Champlain Valley is usually a banana belt region of the state, Is usually not the ice box of Vermont. What happened?

It was mostly a mix of snow cover and terrain.

The snow is pretty much gone in Bennington. Around the valley floor in Rutland, the snow cover is  patchy at best. In the Champlain Valley, there's certainly bare patches. But there's still quite a bit of snow on the ground, and parts of Lake Champlain are frozen. 

The Montpelier area still has quite a bit of snow on the ground. But the chillier air hugging the ground in the Champlain Valley couldn't quite make it over the mountains to Montpelier, so even they were relatively warm. 

Several thousand feet above us, winds were from the south today.  That warmed the atmosphere, making it possible for low elevations in much of Vermont to warm up. Especially where snow cover is lacking. 

Bare patches are forming, but snow cover in the northern
Champlain Valley was one ingredient that helped
that part of the state stay chiller than the 
rest of Vermont. 

Meanwhile, dense cold air hugging the ground in Quebec was able to easily flow southward into the Champlain Valley. 

It was partly the weight of this dense air that prompted north winds that pulled the chillier air into the space between the Adironadacks and Green Mountains in northern Vermont, 

Strong March sun would have heated bare ground, helping to beat back the cold air from Quebec. 

But the snow and patches of lake ice reflected the sun's heat to some extent, so the northern Champlain Valley could only reach the low 40s. 

It was still nice, but it was not the gorgeous snow melter that at least I hoped for. 

The snow cover outside my St. Albans, Vermont home is interfering with outdoor work I want to get going on. Today's insistence on relatively chillier air is, in my worst moments, has me thinking the snow cover here in permanent. (Not really) Especially since we have a chance of more snow this weekend. 

This cold dense air might have some implications late tonight as the next storm moves in. As I noted this morning, the precipitation should be exclusively rain. But lingering cold, dense air could open the door for a bit of freezing rain in the pre-dawn hours Thursday. 

This won't amount to much, and stiff south breezes should scour out the cold-ish air out of the Champlain Valley by daybreak. 

Enjoy Today, Stormy Days/Nights Coming To Vermont

A nice sunset Tuesday evening foretold a very nice late
March day in Vermont, but don't get used to that. 
Lots of unsettled weather is on the way. 

 I hope Vermont maple sugar makers got a good night's rest last night. I have a feeling there's going to be a great run today. 

Temperatures got down into the upper teens and 20s last night. This afternoon, it'll be in the 40s, with a few spot 50 degree readings possible in the warmest valleys. The sun will be out most of the day, so that's a recipe for a great, needed sap run.

The rest of us should enjoy today's weather, too. because this will be the nicest day we've had in awhile. And it will be awhile before we have conditions this pleasant again. 

A series of storms and relatively cold shots of air are on the way. While none of the storms and cold days appear as it they'll be any kind of record breakers, we'll have to wait to see some classic spring weather. At least after today. 

THURSDAY

The first storm tomorrow will be almost completely rain. Although it will be on the mild side, Thursday will not be a nice day with rain most of the time and a stiff south breeze in sone spots. 

Rainfall for most of us will be about a quarter or a third of an inch.  Areas along and north of Route 2 could see a half inch or more. 

Even with melting snow, this won't be enough to cause any real flooding, but you'll see stream and river level rise with this one. Just a muddy, wet, typically icky March day. 

FRIDAY:

We'll get a bit of a break between systems Friday, though it will be slightly on the chilly side. Highs will only make it into the 30s to low 40s, which is a bit cooler than normal for late March. 

WEEKEND

It still looks like we'll have a  messy storm that will act in many ways like the last few. 

Like the last several storms a strong system will head into the Great Lakes Saturday, then begin to weaken over southern Ontario and Quebec.  Meanwhile a new storm would form along the coast, helping to lock colder air in. 

If this were hitting a few weeks ago, the storm would be mostly snow, and we'd see potentially a decent 6 to 12 inch dump from this. 

Just one of many varying predictions of a storm on
approach toward New England. This map is depicts
how things would look Saturday morning. 

But it's late March, and it's warmer.  Lower elevations have a better chance of seeing at least some rain, while higher spots see mostly snow. Nobody's really guessing on projected snow accumulations yet. 

The biggest question in the valleys is, will this be mostly a cold rain, or mostly a slushy snow? Or an even split?

Hopefully how this works out will be better defined as we get closer to the event. But we do have a risk of slick roads Saturday and Saturday night, especially in higher elevations.  I don't think there's a big flooding risk, even if low spots see mostly rain. 

Even if it rains it will be too cold to see any rapid snow melt. And it'll be snowing in the mountains, so we won't see any runoff from higher elevations. 

The weather will slowly improve on Sunday.

BEYOND THE WEEKEND

Longer range forecasts are always iffy. That's extra true in the spring when the seasons are transitioning.  Old winter weather patterns are fading, and summer weather systems are still a distant dream. It basically means anything is possible. 

Around Tuesday, the computer models disagree on whether a new storm system will exist in the Northeast or not. Never mind whether it would be strong or weak, or what kind of precipitation it would generate. 

Flip a coin on that one, folks. 

In general, I don't see any real nice spells of spring weather coming at least into early April. But the warm weather will get here eventually. I think. 

A First Heads Up: Another Vermont Storm This Weekend. Snow? Rain?

Despite some recent thawing, still a fair amount of snow
on the ground today in St. Albans, Vermont. Will
a fairly substantial forecasted weekend storm melt some
of this snow, or will it add to the snow cover. Still
a lot of questions as to what might happen. 

 Just a heads up that another fairly substantial storm is coming to Vermont this weekend. But will it be mainly rain or snow?  

That's still the big question mark.

The storm itself is going to set up a lot like the last one on March 14-15, and the one before that on March 3-4. Like those two earlier storms, the main system will want to head up toward the eastern Great Lakes while a new storm develops along the coast. 

Storms that go by to our west tend to give us rain or mixed precipitation even in mid-winter. But when a second storm forms along the coast, that tends to lock in the cold air, so we in Vermont end up with mostly snow. 

This time, though, it's far from a slam dunk for snow. Especially in the valleys. We're getting into late March now. It's getting harder and harder to get cold enough for a snowstorm. Yes, it's surely possible to get a lot of snow this time of year. Even in the warmer valleys. But it's less likely. 

Second of all, this storm won't be as strong as the one that came through mid-month. I'm pretty sure nobody is going to get three feet of snow like last time. Even if it stays all snow in the mountains. On top of that, there's not oodles of cold air available, which makes it even harder to get a good snowstorm.

A lot can change between now and when the storm actually gets here. But for now, the forecast seems to indicate that valleys will get a cold rain out of this, while Vermont mountains have the potential to see quite a bit of snow. 

It's pretty typical in mid to late March to see storms that depend on elevation.  Often, a chilly rain will drench the valleys while the ski areas get a late season dump. 

The most extreme example of this came in March, 1947. On that occasion, we had a storm head into the eastern Great Lakes while another formed along the New England coast. The two storms consolidated, much like what is in the forecast for this weekend. The southern Green Mountains were buried. Peru, Vermont received 47 inches of snow. Meanwhile, valleys in Vermont had mostly rain.

Nothing that dramatic will happen this weekend, but you get the idea. We still have several days to go, so the forecast could change bit time. We could see some more power outage issues this weekend in mid to high elevations due to wet snow.

And, if the temperatures are a little colder than expected, valleys could share in a wintry experience. 

Stay tuned on that, 

Before we get there, tomorrow will be a spectacular day for Vermont maple sugarers. After a hard freeze tonight with temperatures well down in the 20s, high temperatures Wednesday afternoon will get well into the 40s in the valleys. A few spot 50 degree reading are possible. 

A "preview" storm on Thursday will bring mostly rain to Vermont. Most places will see less than half an inch of rain. Areas north of Route 2 could see up to three-quarters of an inch. This, combined with melting snow, will probably cause some rises in rivers, but it very likely won't be enough to touch off any flooding. 

I'll update things as warranted as we get closer to the event.

Scenes From The Chaos And Beauty Of Vermont's Mid-March Snowstorm, Through Videos

Vermont was pretty much ground zero for the snowstorm
on March 14-15. Most places had at least eight inches
of new snow, with up to 42 inches in the far southern
Vermont Green Mountains. 

 For those of you who don't like snow, the big mid-March snowstorm that swept into Vermont is already a fading memory, except for those of you in the southern Green Mountains who measured the new snow depth in feet, not inches.  

In low elevations, even though temperatures have barely been seasonable, the snow is melting fast. 

The snow depth in my yard in St. Albans, Vermont was 17 inches just as the last snow flakes of the snowstorm fell on March 15. By late Monday afternoon - less than a week later - that depth was down to four inches. with widening bare patches spreading from beneath trees. 

Still, the heavy, wet snow on March 14 and 15 brought both frustrations and beauty. The roads were tricky for sure and the soggy snow was backbreaking to shovel, to say the least. Power outages spread across most of Vermont. 

But the snow, amid gusty winds, plastered the trees into an undeniable winter wonderland. 

Sunset after the snow ended on March 15 in 
St. Albans, Vermont. 

Day Two of the storm offered more of the same early in the morning. But the snow ended by noon, at least around my place, and the cleanup began in earnest.

 That cleanup was aided a bit by the March sun's warmth cutting through the clouds just a bit, to melt any ice beneath the snow on the driveway, and unburdened the roof.

By evening, the sun came out in all its glory, revealing a bright, white, beautiful winter landscape. 

From there, after enjoying the gorgeousness of the whole thing, we were ready for the snow to start melting. 

The forecast the next day - Thursday - indicated we'd begin that melting in earnest. Instead, it snowed all day. Not much, but enough to make one think the snow would never start receding. Would we be buried in snow forever?

Nope! Next day, Friday, it rained for a change. The March meltdown began in earnest. By the time the rain ended, half of the new snow was gone. Spring will probably arrive after all

So I have three videos to share that gives you the experience. 

The first was taken during the first, and main day of the snowstorm.....

Click on this link, or if you see the image below, click on that:

Now, the second day of the snow. The morning began rough, with people struggling the roads and me struggling to shovel heavy, wet snow. But at least there were signs that the snow would melt, as the ice on the mostly-cleared driveway melted away, and the snow began sliding off the roof. And as the sun came out in the evening, it was really just gorgeous. Again, click on this link, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

Or maybe it won't melt. The next day brought more steady, but light snow. It made it seem we'd be mired in deep snow forever. Once again, click on this link, or if you see the image below, click on that:

Antarctic "Doomsday Glacier" Label Is An Exaggeration, But Still A Big Problem For World.

They call it the "Doomsday Glacier" but how much is
this disintegrating ice shelf in Antarctica going to raise
sea levels. Could be a lot - eventually 

 Scientists are beginning to get a better handle on trouble with a so-called "Doomsday Glacier" In Antarctica that is falling apart a lot faster than climate experts would like. 

As the Associated Press tells us, polar scientist Britney Schmidt of Cornell University created a robot to poke around this glacier, whose real name is the Thwaites ice shelf. 

 Reports the Associated Press: 

"Before, scientists had no observations from this critical but hard to reach point on Thwaites. But with the robot named Icefin lowered down a slender 1,925 hole, they saw how important crevasses are in the fracturing of the ice, which takes the heaviest toll on the glacier even more than melting. 'That's how the glacier is falling apart. It's not thinning and going away. It shatters, said Schmidt, lead author of one of two studies in Nature."

That shattering accelerates the overall erosion of the ice shelf, scientist said.  

The glacier is about the size of Florida. People call it the Doomsday Glacier because if it all melts, global sea levels would rise by two feet, not including sea level rise from other sources. 

The good news is that it will take a few centuries for all of the Thwaites ice shelf to melt.  

On a geological scale, however, the changes with Thwaites are super rapid. Warmer water is eating away at the ice shelf from below. 

More from the AP:

"'Thwaites is a rapidly changing system, much more rapidly changing than we started this work five years ago, and even since we were in the field there years ago,' said Oregon State University ice researcher Erin Pettit."

Petitt wasn't part of the study mentioned above. But she continued:  "I am definitely expecting the rapid change to continue and accelerate over the next few years."