We've had a very strange day today. We've had whiffs of sulphur on the air, and ash in our rain, and not a single airplane has passed overhead. The airport is about an hour's drive from here, so we usually hear and see the planes coming and going. But not today. Air traffic is put on hold for a couple of days due to the volcanic eruption on Iceland. You can read more about it here: The Times on the volcanic eruption The Times on cancelled planes The people on Iceland are having a hard time. Several hundred people are evacuated becasue of flooding danger. My thoughts are with them and I hope for the best.
I didn't hear much about it until later this afternoon having been out for the day. Some of Marks colleagues are stranded in Germany, another friends partner is stranded in Ireland, another in the US. Our news says airports will reopen tomorrow at 1pm, but what if the cloud of ash is still drifting around?? And what always amazes me is that people complain that their planes can't take off! Okay, fly the darn plane, and lets see if it crashes!! Surely safety comes first, not the inconvenience? I have to agree with you Droopy. Our thoughts are with those people - a worrying time ahead for sure.
I hadn't heard about the eruption. Volcanic ash isn't something you want being sucked into the jet engine, hope the air clears soon.
Here's a news report about the volcanic ash and how it is affecting the UK: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20100415/tuk ... a1618.html Every airport in the UK has shut down. I really feel for those in Iceland. Let's hope the volcano stops erupting soon.
The news of the eruption has filled the news and talk shoes all day here and I am like EJ--I can't get that people are complaining. Of course it's a great inconvienence, but come on--safety first. It has been proven what will happen if airplanes fly through those ash clouds. A Dutch one did a few years ago and the plane dropped like a rock. The free fall did clean the ash out of the turbines and they wewre avle to re start...but had they been flying at a lower altitude or making an approach or take-off the result would have been different. I just hope that the volcano will calm now and that the particles can work their way out of the atmosphere over the coming months. Our airports are closed for in- and outbound flights for the time being because of this. I hope that there won't be too much "acid rain" to follow. The ash cloud has a bifurcation almost above Nederland with a branch going northwards over Scandnavia and the other across centeral and southern Europe. We'll see how this turns out. Best of wishes to those in Iceland especially.
I didn't hear a word of it until I got home, from a friend whose trip to London is cancelled (he's not complaining, mind you). What a worrisome thing. Besides flying airplanes, the people need to breathe...thinking of all who are impacted in so many ways. Many weird atmospheric and geological things have been happening lately...
I heard on the evening news that all flights between DFW International Airport here in Dallas/Ft.Worth and Europe have been suspended for who knows how long. And other major airports with flights between the states and Europe have been affected too. Humans make plans, then nature laughs and says I am still in charge.
Air traffic in northern Norway is allowed again today. I read that around 260,000 people will be affected every day because of the halt in air traffic. And Iceland has only 300,000 inhabitants. It's a small country. The geologists are saying that the outbreak is increasing, so who knows what will happen over the next few days? What worries me even more is that the biggest volcano on Iceland, Katla, is situated quite near this outbreak. Let's all hope it never happens.
Droopy--I am hoping that the present uitbarsting that is so near to Katla has a sub-terrestial connection and is actually releasing pressurte so that the big one will not blow. Fingers crossed. We can see the cloud here but I do not smell the sulphur yet but it quite dark with intermittent bits of sun. I have heard that there will be more sun later. One think that I can see is that there is a distince difference between volcano cloud and regular weather clouds when it comes to forcasting on the little home weather station and tevevision. At any rate this morning we have a combination of volcano ash cloud and normal weather cloudcover. The regular clouds are due to clear by noon. It is sort of windy at WK 3-4. I wonder how it will feel this morning when I stop by the lottie to check on the Mother Duck.
