A City is Frosted

More than 100,000 Toronto homes -- and about 60,000 households elsewhere in Ontario -- remain in the dark as crews struggle to restore service following a weekend ice storm that may have contributed to six deaths.

Temperature in Toronto will reach to minus 13 degree C and keep stay below zero for at least 5 days.Wind direction  brings cold air mass from west and north to southern Ontario. My weather station in my balcony shows the temperature minus 6 degree C and dropping.The sky is clear  which indicates to a high pressure in air which cause stability and no movement in air.Under current circumstances low temperature will dominates for a while in southern Ontario and beyond. Here are some pictures from my neighborhood.

Freezing rain covers Toronto

Toronto went  below zero C last night and caused the city to experience a very icy condition across the city. A day before the ice storm the city temperature went well above 3 C. As a result, part of the previous snow melted and refrozen 24 hours later. Toronto roads are slippery and some old trees could not tolerate heavy weight of ice and fell down on streets and power lines.Some areas across the city, black out and power shortage is a major problem. Because of ice storm TTC stops using street cars to save the energy.250,000 of Toronto residents are without power(here). Toronto continues to have below zero C temperature so black ice will predominate on the city streets for more days to come.The park and street trees are covered with icy crystal clear freezing rain.

Longest Night Or Birth of Sun

Iranians across the world celebrate first day of winter. First day of winter is also longest night for northern hemisphere which in Iran Called Yalda or birth of sun.

Because of the tilt in the Earth’s axis of rotation ( 23 degree), the sun appears to rise and fall in our sky over the course of a year. It’s not the sunitself moving, but the Earth moving relative to the sun.

On other word the  northern hemisphere spend more time in its own shadow during winter and the southern hemisphere is more exposed to sun. At the same time north pole is completely deprived  from sun rays (night) while in the south pole sun covers the entire Antarctica for months. The long night for people of the northern hemisphere means winter and for the southern hemisphere it means summer.Since then length of days gradually increase and apparent sun,s movement indicates that sun moves northward on sky.

On Dec. 21, the sun stops moving southward, pauses, and then starts moving northward. This pause is called the "solstice," from the Latin words "sol" for "sun" and "sisto" for "stop." Similarly, on June 21 the sun stops moving northward and starts moving southward.

 That's why Yalda is celebrated as Birth of Sun among Iranian communities.


Check the following video clip which I made using Google Earth to explain winter solstice.

Earth rotation and winter solstice

Earth needs more Nelson Mandela

Monument that marks the capture site of Nelson Mandela in South Africa.Courtesy of Earth Pics
On 5 August 1962, police captured Mandela along with Cecil Williams near Howick,Howick is a town located in the uMgungundlovu District of KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. The town is 1050 m above sea level, and about 88 kilometres from the port city of Durban

“As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison.”  Nelson Mandela

Mandela was born on 18 July 1918 in the village of Mvezo in Umtatu, then a part of South Africa's Cape Province

 Here is an image of Cape Town, South Africa, from space.This photo was taken on May 9, 2013, by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield while living and working aboard the International Space Station.

Chronology life of Nelson Mandela in a glance

1918 Born in the Eastern Cape
1943 Joins ANC
1956 Charged with high treason, but charges dropped after a four-year trial
1962 Jailed for five years for incitement and leaving country without a passport
1964 Charged with sabotage, sentenced to life
1990 Freed from prison
1993 Wins Nobel Peace Prize
1994-99 Serves as president
2004 Retires from public life
2010 Last major public appearance at football World Cup in Johannesburg