Strange Anomalies

12 Kislev 5778

Why is "the strongest storm on Earth" not being reported outside weather.com?

Powerful Bering Sea Storm Produces 90 MPH Winds in Alaska's Aleutian Islands 

A rapidly intensifying storm brought wind gusts in excess of 90 mph to Alaska's Aleutian Islands during the weekend while also presenting spectacular views on satellite imagery. 

The storm easily met the criteria for what meteorologists call bombogenesis, which is an atmospheric pressure drop of 24 millibars in 24 hours. In general, a lower atmospheric pressure correlates with a more intense low-pressure system. 

In the case of this weekend's storm, the pressure dropped an incredible 55 millibars in 24 hours (1002 millibars 10 p.m. Friday Alaska time to 947 millibars 10 p.m. Saturday Alaska time). The pressure reading continued to drop and was at 944 millibars early Sunday, making it the strongest storm on Earth based on pressure at that time. 

The storm was weakening as of Monday afternoon with the pressure slowly rising into the 960-millibar range. 

Winds gusted up to 92 mph and 91 mph at Adak Island and Dutch Harbor, respectively, as the storm swept into the Bering Sea late Saturday into early Sunday. The winds on Atka Island gusted in excess of 70 mph at least once per hour for 12 consecutive hours (11 p.m. Saturday Alaska time to 11 a.m. Sunday Alaska time). 

NOAA's Ocean Prediction Center reported that wave heights at a buoy near the Aleutians peaked at 52.2 feet during the storm.

Here is further proof that a magnetic pole reversal is in the works.

Space weather forecasters and aurora chasers often talk about the "planetary K index" (Kp). It's like a Richter Scale for geomagnetic storms, ranking global geomagnetic activity with numbers ranging from 0 (low) to 9 (extreme). When Kp shoots above 5, a storm is in progress and auroras ring the Arctic Circle. When Kp is near 0, you wouldn't expect to see anything. Yet on Nov. 24th, Kp was 0 when aurora tour guide Oliver Wright witnessed a magnificent display over Abisko, Sweden:

"The sky went completely crazy with vivid greens and pinks," says Wright. "Totally not what we expecting to see with the Kp score as low as it was. " What happened? Wright himself solved the mystery: "We have just been looking at magnetometer data from the nearby town of Kiruna. Locally, there was a magnetic disturbance corresponding to a K index of 7--a strong geomagnetic storm.  (Source: Spaceweather.com)

If you know of other unreported or under-reported anomalies, please tell us about them in the comments section below.