170,000 evacuated amid nuclear meltdown worries in Japan

170,000 people have been evacuated due to the potential for what may be a currently-happening nuclear meltdown in one of the reactors.

Another reactor has been placed on the emergency list.

At this time, anyone having relatives or loved ones within 150 miles of the Fukushima nuclear plant, contact them as soon as possible.

This has potential for a nuclear meltdown.

Daylight Savings Time 2011

Daylight savings time is tonight. Set your clocks forward 1 hour tonight.

Weather to the MAX: Mount St. Helens Eruption 1980

Mount St. Helens, located in Washington State, was sleeping peacefully on the morning of May 18, 1980. However, in just a while, the mountain blew out as lava and smoke poured out of the volcano. Long dormant, Mount St. Helens was erupting.

A 5.1 earthquake had occurred near or around Mount St. Helens. This actually caused the eruption.

As the mountain erupted, it blew out a whole side of itself, as if caused by a massive bomb.

Below is a photograph taken by the USGS.

Mount St. Helens released massive amounts of ash in the air and warped the Earth's climate for years to come. Below is a USGS image of the ash distribution.

Some people in Washington State awoke to 2-5 inches of ash covering their lawns and houses.

Following the eruption, over a course of 2 months, over 10,000 seismic events occurred in the Mount St. Helens area.

Mount St. Helens also shrunk to a much smaller degree.

Weather Explained: Pacific Ring of Fire

What is the 'Ring of Fire', and where is it?

The Ring of Fire is the edge of the Pacific tectonic plate. On those edges, other tectonic plates rub against each other. The earth is pushed up or down. Volcanoes are formed on the edge of this Pacific Tectonic Plate.

The Ring of Fire are the volcanoes surrounding the Pacific Ocean. Below is an image of the Ring of Fire.

Image from the USGS.

The red area are the edges of the tectonic plates.

Why is it called the 'Ring of Fire'?

Volcanoes produce fire and lava, and with so many volcanoes surrounding the Pacific tectonic plate in an awkward circle-like formation, it became known as the Ring of Fire.

Are these volcanoes active?

Some are very active, while others are dormant. Mount St. Helens in Washington State, US is included in this Ring of Fire.

Japan Real-Time Radar

March 13 Weather for Japan

Tokyo: 61 degrees and clear skies. Winds SSW 4-7 MPH. Wind chill 45.

Sunday Night:

Tokyo: Clear, Low 43. Wind S 4-7 MPH. Wind chill 41.

Weather Explained: Shift in Earth's axis

(Note: The Earth's axis shifted 4 inches from the March 11, 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami)

So the axis shifted. Will the weather go crazy now?

No. Not at all. 4 inches compared to the Earth is incredibly small. Any changes would be unrecognizable to the human eye or experience (wind, rain, etc.)

For the weather to go crazy, the Earth has to pretty much turn upside down or shift an incredible amount more than 4 inches.

My weather seems to be different than forecasted. Is this due to the shift?

No. Meteorologists are not prophets, and likely never will be. It is expected for the temperature to be slightly different than forecasted or rain to occur even if it wasn't forecasted. Recently, Chicago had bands of heavy lake effect snow that weathermen did not forecast.

Bulletin from Pacific Tsunami Center

EVALUATION

A WIDESPREAD DESTRUCTIVE TSUNAMI HAS OCCURRED, AND TSUNAMI WAVES
HAVE NOW CROSSED THE ENTIRE PACIFIC. FOR ALL AREAS - WHEN NO
MAJOR WAVES ARE OBSERVED FOR TWO HOURS AFTER THE ESTIMATED TIME
OF ARRIVAL OR DAMAGING WAVES HAVE NOT OCCURRED FOR AT LEAST TWO
HOURS THEN LOCAL AUTHORITIES CAN ASSUME THE THREAT IS PASSED.
DANGER TO BOATS AND COASTAL STRUCTURES CAN CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL
HOURS DUE TO RAPID CURRENTS. AS LOCAL CONDITIONS CAN CAUSE A WIDE
VARIATION IN TSUNAMI WAVE ACTION THE ALL CLEAR DETERMINATION MUST
BE MADE BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES. DUE TO LOCAL EFFECTS SOME AREAS MAY
CONTINUE TO EXPERIENCE SMALL SEA LEVEL CHANGES FOR AN EXTENDED
PERIOD LASTING HOURS OR EVEN DAYS.

FOR ALL AREAS COVERED BY THIS CENTER...THE TSUNAMI WARNING IS
CANCELLED.

THIS WILL BE THE FINAL BULLETIN ISSUED FOR THIS EVENT UNLESS
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE.

THE JAPAN METEOROLOGICAL AGENCY MAY ALSO ISSUE TSUNAMI MESSAGES
FOR THIS EVENT TO COUNTRIES IN THE NORTHWEST PACIFIC AND SOUTH
CHINA SEA REGION. IN CASE OF CONFLICTING INFORMATION... THE
MORE CONSERVATIVE INFORMATION SHOULD BE USED FOR SAFETY.

THE WEST COAST/ALASKA TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER WILL ISSUE PRODUCTS
FOR ALASKA...BRITISH COLUMBIA...WASHINGTON...OREGON...CALIFORNIA.

Final Wave Heights of Japanese Tsunami 2011

GAUGE LOCATION LAT LON TIME AMPL PER
------------------- ----- ------ ----- --------------- -----
CORRAL CL 39.9S 73.4W 0602Z 1.25M / 4.1FT 32MIN
ARICA CL 18.5S 70.3W 0619Z 1.25M / 4.1FT 14MIN
TALCAHUANO CL 36.7S 73.1W 0533Z 1.06M / 3.5FT 36MIN
CALLAO LA-PUNTA PE 12.1S 77.2W 0444Z 1.67M / 5.5FT 24MIN
IQUIQUE CL 20.2S 70.1W 0544Z 0.72M / 2.4FT 10MIN
SAN FELIX CL 26.3S 80.1W 0536Z 0.51M / 1.7FT 06MIN
DART 51406 8.5S 125.0W 2000Z 0.18M / 0.6FT 22MIN
CALDERA CL 27.1S 70.8W 0446Z 1.41M / 4.6FT 16MIN
DART 32401 19.3S 74.7W 0338Z 0.10M / 0.3FT 28MIN
DART 32412 18.0S 86.4W 0158Z 0.09M / 0.3FT 28MIN
COQUIMBO CL 30.0S 71.3W 0438Z 1.46M / 4.8FT 32MIN
ATICO PE 16.2S 73.7W 0405Z 0.33M / 1.1FT 36MIN
MANZANILLO MX 19.1N 104.3W 0117Z 1.45M / 4.8FT 34MIN
CABO SAN LUCAS MX 22.9N 109.9W 1906Z 0.22M / 0.7FT 12MIN
LA LIBERTAD EC 2.2S 80.9W 0239Z 1.23M / 4.0FT 18MIN
DART 32413 7.4S 93.5W 0106Z 0.13M / 0.4FT 18MIN
EASTER CL 27.2S 109.4W 0124Z 0.73M / 2.4FT 06MIN
SANTACRUZ GALAPAGOS 0.7S 90.3W 0038Z 1.77M / 5.8FT 26MIN
JACKSON BAY NZ 44.0S 168.6E 2325Z 0.35M / 1.1FT 46MIN
WAITANGI CHATHAM NZ 43.9S 176.6W 2230Z 0.67M / 2.2FT 54MIN
OWENGA CHATHAM NZ 44.0S 176.4W 0020Z 0.81M / 2.7FT 22MIN
LOTTIN PT NZ 37.6S 178.2E 2209Z 0.33M / 1.1FT 32MIN
NORTH CAPE NZ 34.4S 173.0E 2001Z 0.25M / 0.8FT 34MIN
CHRISTCHURCH NZ 43.6S 172.8E 0016Z 0.27M / 0.9FT 22MIN
ACAJUTLA SV 13.6N 89.8W 0004Z 0.20M / 0.7FT 20MIN
SPRING BAY AU 42.5S 147.9E 2259Z 0.19M / 0.6FT 74MIN
QUEPOS CR 9.4N 84.2W 0001Z 0.18M / 0.6FT 16MIN
SANTA BARBARA CA 34.4N 119.7W 2345Z 0.99M / 3.2FT 14MIN
BALTRA GALAPAGS EC 0.4S 90.3W 2354Z 0.82M / 2.7FT 26MIN
ACAPULCO MX 16.8N 99.9W 2254Z 0.77M / 2.5FT 26MIN
BITUNG ID 0.4N 125.2E 1727Z 0.26M / 0.8FT 26MIN
LANGARA POINT BC 54.2N 133.1W 1539Z 0.52M / 1.7FT 26MIN
RIKITEA PF 23.1S 135.0W 2014Z 0.21M / 0.7FT 30MIN
RANGIROA PF 14.9S 147.7W 1822Z 0.29M / 0.9FT 08MIN
PAPEETE TAHITI 17.5S 149.6W 1822Z 0.39M / 1.3FT 26MIN
SUBIC BAY PH 14.8N 120.3E 1517Z 0.07M / 0.2FT 54MIN
HONIARA SB 9.4S 160.0E 1436Z 0.26M / 0.8FT 50MIN
NUKU HIVA MARQUESAS 8.9S 140.1W 1824Z 1.48M / 4.8FT 14MIN
NUKUALOFA TO 21.1S 175.2W 1751Z 0.37M / 1.2FT 30MIN
RAROTONGA CK 21.2S 159.8W 1813Z 0.29M / 1.0FT 08MIN
WINTER HARBOUR BC 50.7N 128.3W 1505Z 0.47M / 1.5FT 30MIN
FISHING ROCK RAOUL 29.3S 177.9W 1733Z 0.09M / 0.3FT 20MIN
PORT SAN LUIS CA 35.2N 120.8W 1654Z 1.88M / 6.2FT 22MIN
CRESCENT CITY CA 41.7N 124.2W 1657Z 2.02M / 6.6FT 20MIN
VANUATU 17.8S 168.3E 1542Z 0.69M / 2.3FT 22MIN
LUGANVILLE VU 15.5S 167.2E 1537Z 0.54M / 1.8FT 54MIN
LAUTOKA FJ 17.6S 177.4E 1545Z 0.33M / 1.1FT 76MIN
CHARLESTON OR 43.3N 124.3W 1545Z 0.49M / 1.6FT 24MIN
NORTH SPIT HUMBOLDT 40.8N 124.2W 1553Z 0.54M / 1.8FT 26MIN
KAUMALAPAU HAWAII 20.8N 156.9W 1531Z 0.91M / 3.0FT 06MIN
LOMBRUM MANUS IS PG 2.0S 147.4E 1529Z 1.04M / 3.4FT 62MIN
PAGO PAGO AS 14.3S 170.7W 1556Z 0.34M / 1.1FT 16MIN
ARENA COVE CA 38.9N 123.7W 1540Z 0.82M / 2.7FT 22MIN
PORT ORFORD OR 42.7N 124.5W 1534Z 0.52M / 1.7FT 16MIN
MANUS PG 2.0S 147.4E 1425Z 0.93M / 3.1FT 34MIN
HONOLULU OAHU 21.3N 157.9W 1410Z 0.71M / 2.3FT 32MIN
KANTON KI 2.8S 171.7W 1425Z 0.05M / 0.2FT 10MIN
CHRISTMAS KI 2.0N 157.5W 1447Z 0.56M / 1.9FT 52MIN
KAWAIHAE HAWAII 20.0N 155.8W 1413Z 1.22M / 4.0FT 14MIN
HILO HAWAII 19.7N 155.1W 1409Z 1.41M / 4.6FT 36MIN
BETIO TARAWA KI 1.4N 172.9E 1225Z 0.21M / 0.7FT 24MIN
NAURU 0.5S 166.9E 1156Z 0.20M / 0.7FT 24MIN
NAWILIWILI KAUAI 22.0N 159.4W 1343Z 0.76M / 2.5FT 12MIN
DART 51407 19.6N 156.5W 1337Z 0.15M / 0.5FT 14MIN
KAHULUI MAUI 20.9N 156.5W 1327Z 1.74M / 5.7FT 52MIN
BARBERS PT HI 21.3N 158.1W 1308Z 0.70M / 2.3FT 64MIN
TERN FR. FRIGATE US 23.9N 166.3W 1224Z 0.38M / 1.2FT 16MIN
JOHNSTON US 16.7N 169.5W 1206Z 0.20M / 0.7FT 72MIN
DART 52402 11.7N 154.2E 0931Z 0.29M / 0.9FT 22MIN
DART 46403 52.7N 156.9W 1127Z 0.09M / 0.3FT 60MIN
LEGASPI PH 13.1N 123.8E 1116Z 0.25M / 0.8FT 58MIN
KWAJALEIN MH 8.7N 167.7E 1111Z 0.55M / 1.8FT 48MIN
NIKOLSKI AK 52.9N 168.9W 1109Z 0.27M / 0.9FT 64MIN
HANASAKI HOKKAIDO J 43.3N 145.6E 0656Z 1.83M / 6.0FT 24MIN
MIDWAY 28.2N 177.4W 1048Z 1.27M / 4.2FT 12MIN
TOSASHIMIZU SHIKOKU 32.8N 133.0E 0946Z 0.84M / 2.8FT 28MIN
ADAK AK 51.9N 176.6W 1034Z 0.35M / 1.2FT 22MIN
YAP FM 9.5N 138.1E 1013Z 0.15M / 0.5FT 88MIN
DART 21415 50.2N 171.8E 0845Z 0.27M / 0.9FT 52MIN
WAKE US 19.3N 166.6E 0928Z 0.39M / 1.3FT 14MIN
NAHA OKINAWA JP 26.2N 127.7E 0901Z 0.25M / 0.8FT 60MIN
SAIPAN US 15.2N 145.7E 0916Z 0.65M / 2.1FT 30MIN
OMAEZAKI HONSHU JP 34.6N 138.2E 0818Z 1.42M / 4.6FT 56MIN
DART 21419 44.5N 155.7E 0716Z 0.40M / 1.3FT 20MIN
DART 21413 30.5N 152.1E 0659Z 0.76M / 2.5FT 32MIN
DART 21401 42.6N 152.6E 0643Z 0.67M / 2.2FT 40MIN
DART 21418 38.7N 148.7E 0619Z 1.08M / 3.5FT 06MIN

LAT - LATITUDE (N-NORTH, S-SOUTH)
LON - LONGITUDE (E-EAST, W-WEST)
TIME - TIME OF THE MEASUREMENT (Z IS UTC IS GREENWICH TIME)
AMPL - TSUNAMI AMPLITUDE MEASURED RELATIVE TO NORMAL SEA LEVEL.
IT IS ...NOT... CREST-TO-TROUGH WAVE HEIGHT.
VALUES ARE GIVEN IN BOTH METERS(M) AND FEET(FT).
PER - PERIOD OF TIME IN MINUTES(MIN) FROM ONE WAVE TO THE NEXT.

NOTE - DART MEASUREMENTS ARE FROM THE DEEP OCEAN AND THEY
ARE GENERALLY MUCH SMALLER THAN WOULD BE COASTAL
MEASUREMENTS AT SIMILAR LOCATIONS.

Countries in the overall Tsunami Warning (Now Cancelled)

JAPAN / RUSSIA / MARCUS IS. / N. MARIANAS / GUAM / WAKE IS. /
TAIWAN / YAP / PHILIPPINES / MARSHALL IS. / BELAU / MIDWAY IS. /
POHNPEI / CHUUK / KOSRAE / INDONESIA / PAPUA NEW GUINEA /
NAURU / JOHNSTON IS. / SOLOMON IS. / KIRIBATI / HOWLAND-BAKER /
HAWAII / TUVALU / PALMYRA IS. / VANUATU / TOKELAU / JARVIS IS. /
WALLIS-FUTUNA / SAMOA / AMERICAN SAMOA / COOK ISLANDS / NIUE /
AUSTRALIA / FIJI / NEW CALEDONIA / TONGA / MEXICO /
KERMADEC IS / FR. POLYNESIA / NEW ZEALAND / PITCAIRN /
GUATEMALA / EL SALVADOR / COSTA RICA / NICARAGUA / ANTARCTICA /
PANAMA / HONDURAS / CHILE / ECUADOR / COLOMBIA / PERU

Those are all the places that, in the end, were covered by the tsunami warning, which is now cancelled.

Japan Earthquake causes Japan, Earth's axis to shift

The incredible 8.9 earthquake off the coast of Japan made the coast of Japan shift by 8 feet.

Additionally, the Earth's axis shifted by 4 inches.