Earth ChangesS


Attention

At least 19 people killed after Typhoon Hagibis slams southern Japan - Tokyo simultaneously hit by 5.3M earthquake - UPDATE

Simon Denyer and Akiko Kashiwagi
Washington Post
Sat, 12 Oct 2019 17:57 UTC
The storm has damaged houses in Ichihara, Chiba prefecture
The storm has damaged houses in Ichihara, Chiba prefecture
High winds and record-breaking rains battered Tokyo and large swaths of central and eastern Japan on Saturday evening, leaving two people dead and nine missing after several rivers burst their banks and landslides buried houses.

Life in the capital had ground to a halt even before Typhoon Hagibis made landfall just before 7 p.m. local time on the Izu Peninsula southwest of the capital, with public transport suspended, shops shuttered and the streets empty.

The storm disrupted the Rugby World Cup, with two games just outside Tokyo canceled, and played havoc with the build-up to Sunday's Formula One Grand Prix in Suzuka.

For several hours, typhoon rains drenched one of the world's most densely populated urban areas, with tens of millions of people trapped indoors watching with concern as rivers filled to dangerous levels. The government sent out a series of high-level alarms telling people first to evacuate —and then just to do whatever they could to save their lives.



Comment: Hagibis is passing over several prefectures still trying to recover from Typhoon Faxai, which wreaked havoc in Japan just over a month ago...

Powerful Typhoon Faxai kills three, injures 40 and wreaks havoc on Tokyo transport system

Update: RT reports on 13th October:
At least 19 people were killed and 16 are missing after Typhoon Hagibis slammed Japan, with flooding covering large areas leaving people surrounded by water. Some half-a-million homes are without power.

The typhoon hit Japan's northeast coast, killing at least 19 people in areas including the Chiba, Gunma, Kanagawa and Fukushima prefectures near Tokyo, according to local media. Some 150 people were injured.

Many areas throughout the region have been flooded, with waters reaching five meters in depth. Around 260 people are trapped in a nursing home in the city of Kawagoe City, some 50km northwest of Tokyo, with rescuers using boats to save them.


A railway bridge over the Chikuma River in Nagano Prefecture collapsed on Sunday morning.


Train operations have been suspended in many parts of the country due to flooding on the tracks.


Around half-a-million homes remain without power, while rescuers and residents are trying to remove debris after the typhoon raged overnight.

The storm, which the government said could be the strongest in 60 years, brought record-breaking rainfall, with some areas hit by 939.5mm of rainfall over 24 hours.




The typhoon is expected to weaken and move off Japan's mainland on Sunday afternoon. Flood warnings have been lifted for Tokyo, where a rugby match between Japan and Scotland is set to take place on Sunday.



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Snowflake

Blizzard brings more than 2 feet of early snow to North Dakota towns


Grand Forks Herald
Sat, 12 Oct 2019 17:13 UTC
The North Dakota Highway Patrol posted a photo from 8 a.m. Friday showing road conditions on Hwy 20 2 miles south of Devils Lake.
The North Dakota Highway Patrol posted a photo from 8 a.m. Friday showing road conditions on Hwy 20 2 miles south of Devils Lake.
A fall blizzard continued to hammer eastern and central North Dakota late this week and some areas have reported staggering amounts of snowfall.

Snow began accumulating in towns across North Dakota Thursday morning as storm developed over the state. More than 48 hours later, some areas are reporting more than 2 feet of snow.

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Tornado1

'Explosive' Typhoon Hagibis has Tokyo area in its sights after rapidly gathering strength in Pacific

Daniel Traylor and Magdalena Osumi
Japan Times
Sat, 12 Oct 2019 17:02 UTC
Typhoon Hagibis
© KyodoAn image captured by the Himawari-8 weather satellite shows Typhoon Hagibis located in the south of Japan as of 9 a.m. Wednesday, October 9, 2019. | KYODO

Typhoon Hagibis, which the U.S. military's forecasting agency has put on par with a Category 5 hurricane, is approaching Japan's main island of Honshu after a rapid intensification in the Pacific and could make a direct pass over the Kanto region this weekend.

The storm, which tracked near the Ogasawara islands through Wednesday, is forecast to continue moving toward Honshu, weakening only slightly before a possible landfall on Saturday night or early Sunday morning.

More precise forecasts for its path are still difficult, and a turn to the west toward central Japan or the east toward the sea remain among the possibilities.
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Propaganda

A Very Ugly Rewrite Of Climate History

Tony Heller
YouTube
Fri, 11 Oct 2019 16:53 UTC
CARTOON
In this video I highlight reprehensible behavior by some of the world's best known climate scientists.

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Cloud Lightning

Was that lightning? Rare thundersnow seen in southern Manitoba

Mike Koncan
Global News
Sat, 12 Oct 2019 11:46 UTC
Thundersnow Oct. 11 2019.
© Global NewsThundersnow Oct. 11 2019.
Thunderstorms are common in the prairies, but thundersnow? That doesn't happen very often.

But the rare weather phenomenon has been part of the early blast of winter pummeling southern Manitoba.

Thunderstorm activity associated with a Colorado Low's winter storm began Friday morning close to the American border.

Around the Vita area, thunderstorm activity was observed and radar imagery shows thunderstorms taking place in an area of mixed precipitation or ice pellets and snow as well.

These thunderstorms continued and moved further north.


Comment: Also filmed further south recently in Nebraska:



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Attention

Super-typhoon Hagibis: Japan braced for its most powerful storm in 60 years


BBC News
Sat, 12 Oct 2019 05:35 UTC
Huge waves are pounding sea walls as the storm approaches
© EPAHuge waves are pounding sea walls as the storm approaches

Japan is bracing itself for what could be its heaviest rain and winds for 60 years as Typhoon Hagibis edges closer.

Winds reaching 180km/h (111mph) could cause floods and landslides, the Japan Meteorological Agency has warned.

Tens of thousands of homes are already without power and one person died when a car overturned in high winds.

Shops, factories and train networks have been shut down while the Rugby World Cup and the Formula One Grand Prix are facing disruption.

Hagibis is due to make landfall near Tokyo later on Saturday.

Authorities have issued evacuation advisories in areas at particular risk, while supermarkets are running low as people stock up before the typhoon hits.

Even while the storm was still out to sea, tornado-like winds battered Chiba, east of Tokyo, damaging homes and toppling a car, killing its occupant.
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Snowflake

Manitoba, Canada is getting pummeled by an early winter snowstorm

Vincent Plana
Daily Hive
Sat, 12 Oct 2019 00:09 UTC
Manitoba early snow
© Lawrence_Bear/Twitter
Despite it being early October, many parts of Canada are seeing a flurry of winter conditions — the worst of which are in Manitoba.

Calgary has already seen its fair share of snowfall and Vancouver managed to break several weather records for its cold temperatures this week, one of which was 103-years-old.

Now, much of Manitoba, including Winnipeg, is seeing blizzard-like snowfalls. Environment Canada issued a winter storm warning as parts of southern Manitoba are pummeled with snow.

The weather agency says that parts of Manitoba have already received between 20 to 40 cm of snow, with an additional 20 cm expected over the next 12 hours.

The snowfall is also accompanied by very strong winds, with gusts between 80 to 100 km/h.

"Travelling will remain difficult if not near impossible into Saturday as the heavy accumulating snow, strong winds, and temperatures near zero result in treacherous conditions," says Environment Canada's website.

"The combination of heavy, wet snow and strong winds will likely result in more downed trees and power lines."

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Ice Cube

Record-setting blizzard set to blast American midwest

Brian Kahn
Gizmodo
Fri, 11 Oct 2019 12:50 UTC
Blizzard
© Gizmodo Australia
The American midwest is skipping autumn and heading right to winter to end the week.

A potentially record-setting blizzard is bearing down on the region and could dump snow from Colorado to Minnesota. The Dakotas sit near the epicentre of the storm and could see up to three feet of October snow (yes, you read that right).

Add in gusty winds and you have a recipe for life-threatening conditions. For a region that's already dealt with one freak early season snowstorm, the latest blast of winter is hardly welcome.

Snow has already fallen across parts of the Rockies and Front Range as of Thursday late morning. Multiple accidents and pileups have been reported in the Denver metro area. Highways have been shut down as police struggle to respond amid worsening conditions.

After topping out at 27 degrees Celsius on Thursday, Denver will struggle to reach freezing on Friday. As of mid-afternoon local time, temperatures hovered at just -5 degrees Celsius with a wind chill of -10 degrees Celsius.

The chaos in Colorado is just a preview of what's to come, though. As the storm pushes eastward, frigid air will continue to drop out of Canada and sweep across the Midwest. Along with rapidly dropping temperatures, the storm will usher in winds upwards of 100km/h and heavy snow.
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Snowflake

Over a foot of new snow blankets parts of Alaska


Anchorage Daily News
Thu, 10 Oct 2019 17:11 UTC
Jim Meehan with state DOT/PF plows
© Bill Roth/ADNJim Meehan with state DOT/PF plows the parking lot between Hatcher Pass Lodge and Independence Mine on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019. This area has received more than twenty inches of snow in the past week.
A weather system bringing snow to the Susitna Valley created "very difficult driving conditions" north of Talkeetna overnight into Thursday, according to the Alaska Department of Transportation.

A weather spotter at Chulitna reported snow tapering off as of Thursday morning but about 16 inches on the ground, according to the National Weather Service. Another spotter at Hatcher Pass Lodge said that much new snow had fallen near Independence Mine but it was still coming down heavily as of midmorning.

The National Weather Service canceled a winter weather advisory for the Susitna Valley — including the communities of Talkeetna, Willow and Cantwell — that called for 2 to 4 inches more snow and total storm accumulation of 6 to 16 inches with the highest amounts from Chulitna to Broad Pass at Mile 201 of the Parks Highway.

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Attention

Italy's Mount Etna bursts into volcanic activity


Sputnik
Fri, 11 Oct 2019 16:52 UTC
etna
Mount Etna's volcanic activity has increased, sending plumes of ash and smoke into the sky, the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology said on Friday.

An eruption was registered at some 04:30 GMT by special cameras. The eruption included small eruptions and releases of ash. The grey smoke is currently visible over the mountain.

Experts from the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology assess the situation as stable. However, the incident resulted in a partial closure of airspace over the city of Catania.

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