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© National Hurricane CenterThe year's first tropical storm, Arlene, was located in the north-central Atlantic on Thursday and wasn't expected to threaten land. In fact it could dissipate by Friday.
Tropical Storm Arlene is just the second on record to form in April, the Weather Channel said. The only other tropical storm to form during the month was Ana in 2003. Hurricane season officially starts June 1.
Arlene's maximum sustained winds were near 45 mph, with higher gusts, the National Hurricane Center said. It was located about 815 miles west of the Azores. The system poses no threat to land and is forecast to dissipate Friday.
"I have to add one more surprise to my long hurricane forecasting career," hurricane center meteorologist Lixion Avila wrote in an online forecast discussion.
"Tropical storms in April are rare and Arlene is only the second one observed in this month," since the satellite era began in the early 1960s, he added. Before that time, such storms were practically impossible to detect.
Arlene is also the farthest north a tropical storm has formed in the Atlantic so early in the season.
© Jeff CherryThis fieldfare, a species typically seen in Europe and Asia, was spotted this week in Newcastle.
On Monday, a male vermilion flycatcher - a brilliant red-feathered bird typically found in the southwestern U.S., Mexico and South America, was spotted at the Maine Audubon retreat at Hog Island in Bremen. The bird was reported by a woman in Germany who spotted it via an osprey-watching website with a camera on Hog Island.
Six birders, including Maine Audubon's naturalist Doug Hitchcox, rushed to Bremen in time to see it. Hitchcox said they had about 10 minutes to view the flycatcher with spotting scopes from a quarter-mile away before it flew off from its perch on a boathouse roof.
CBS Los Angeles reports the attack, which occurred Wednesday on the Avalon Pier, was caught on cellphone video by a tourist.
The victim, John Brady of Huntington Beach, told CBS Los Angeles Thursday from his hospital bed that he had taken a boat trip out to Catalina with his dog, Josh. He said the two were strolling on the pier when two 11-year-old pit bulls went after his dog. When he attempted to protect Josh, the pit bulls came after him, ripping out a piece of his calf and biting both his arms, he said.
Avalon Harbor Patrol officers eventually pulled the dogs off of him. Brady was airlifted to UCLA Harbor Medical Center.
"They attacked my little dog, Josh," Brady said. "Almost killed him, almost killed me."
© Mark GirardeauA Newport Beach lifeguard ties a rope around a dead humpback whale, nicknamed Scarlet, in an effort to tow the carcass out to sea Thursday.
A dead whale onshore can create a very smelly problem, lifeguards said.
"If it hits the beach, it's going to stay here until it can be chopped up and towed off," said Marine Safety Capt. Skeeter Leeper. "It's a mess and it stinks."
Lifeguards saw the massive figure heading toward shore near the Newport Pier at about 3 p.m. Thursday. At first it looked like a large boat, but on closer inspection, they realized it was a humpback whale, Leeper said.
They tied a rope around the whale's tail and used a lifeguard boat to tow the carcass about 6½ miles out to sea. The whale's massive size — about twice the size of the lifeguard boat — meant the journey took about an hour.
© Rebuild HamiltonDundas, Ont. has been hit by flash flooding along the Niagara escarpment due to heavy rains.
Hamilton Conservation Authority has put the city on a flood watch.
""Residents should continue to exercise caution near all water bodies and structures such as bridges, culverts and dams at this time," the statement said. "Elevated water levels, faster moving water, rapidly changing levels and flows, and slippery banks may pose a significant hazard."
City crews are working around the clock to deal with the wet weather, general manager of Hamilton Public Works Dan McKinnon said.
This comes after Environment Canada issued a special weather statement for Hamilton.
Between 40 and 70 mm of rain is expected to fall by tonight, the federal weather agency said.
Dundas, Ont. was particularly hard hit by the weather.
© Kotaro EbaraA photograph taken on April 21 from an Asahi Shimbun aircraft shows smoke mixed with ashes being blown out from a vent on Nishinoshima island, part of the Ogasawara island chain.
"Intensive volcanic activity will continue for a while. Lava will eventually reach to the sea," said Setsuya Nakada, a volcanology professor at the University of Tokyo's Earthquake Research Institute.
An estimated 100,000 cubic meters of lava has flowed to the surface since the eruption, according to Nakada, who observed the erupting volcano from an Asahi Shimbun aircraft.
"The volcanic activity level of Nishinoshima island is nearly the same level of that in 2014 when it was active," he added.
A disturbing video shows the shocking moment a pit bull attacked an unassuming toddler in New York on Thursday.
The three-year-old boy is recovering and has been released from the hospital, WABC reported.
The footage shows the toddler playing on a sidewalk with other children outside of a Spring Valley home when the dog runs across the street and charges at him.
The boy, who is wearing bright yellow pants, is immediately attacked by the pit bull and dragged across the ground for a few seconds as the other children run away out of fear.
Comment: Other notable dog attacks in recent days: Elderly woman attacked by own dog in South Africa
Pit bull attacks toddler in Puyallup, Washington
Fort Hall toddler nearly killed by dog pack is bitten again
An elephant brought for a temple festival ran amok and killed its mahout.
An elephant, which ran amok, killed its mahout near here on Thursday, police said.
The incident occurred as the elephant was being brought for a nearby temple festival at Parassala, police said.
The elephant suddenly ran amok and lifted the mahout with its truck and hurled him to the ground, police said.
The mahout succumbed to his injuries before reaching hospital.
Another mahout escaped by climbing atop a nearby palm tree.
Source: PTI
Comment: According to another report this is now the third mahout killed by this particular elephant.
Five persons including two siblings were killed when they got struck by lightning in three districts Thursday.
Our Noakhali correspondent reported that lightning strikes accompanied by thundershowers claimed the lives of two siblings in the district in the evening.
Anowar Hossain, officer-in-charge of Sudharam police station, said that Lipi Akter, 11, and Shariful Islam, 8, of Dakkhinchar Sulukia village were struck by lightning when they went to nearby field to call his father home during the shower.
Comment: The low pressure inside Arlene of 993mb was the lowest pressure ever recorded for a tropical or subtropical cyclone in April in the Atlantic.