Earth ChangesS


Fire

Huge wildfire burns 100 homes in Valparaiso, Chile


RT
Tue, 03 Jan 2017 09:45 UTC
Fire burns a house on a hill, where more than 100 homes were burned due to forest fire but there have been no reports of death, local authorities said in Valparaiso, Chile January 2, 2017
© Rodrigo Garrido / ReutersFire burns a house on a hill, where more than 100 homes were burned due to forest fire but there have been no reports of death, local authorities said in Valparaiso, Chile January 2, 2017
A raging wildfire burned 100 homes in the Chilean port city of Valparaiso, forcing the evacuation of some 400 people. At least 19 residents were harmed, mostly by smoke inhalation, after the blaze broke out on the city's outskirts, fanned by high winds.

Valparaiso residents put on masks in an attempt to protect themselves from plumes of black smoke, AP reported.

The authorities have issued a maximum red alert.

"It was hopeless. The smoke was suffocating. It stung my eyes. So, we had to evacuate," Pablo Luna Flores, a local resident who lost his home, told AFP.

Fire is seen on a hill, where more than 100 homes were burned due to forest fire but there have been no reports of death, local authorities said in Valparaiso, Chile January 2, 2017
© Rodrigo Garrido / ReutersFire is seen on a hill, where more than 100 homes were burned due to forest fire but there have been no reports of death, local authorities said in Valparaiso, Chile January 2, 2017
"The fire was coming from the other side of the hill, down below. We never thought it would spread so far," added Rosa Gallardo, who also lost her home to the fire.

Comment: See also:

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Tornado1

Five dead as severe storms including tornadoes hit southern US

Eric Chaney, Melissa Kory
The Weather Channel
Tue, 03 Jan 2017 05:28 UTC
Mount Olive storm damage
© Ryan Moore/WDAM-TV via AP Debris lies on the ground after a storm south of Mount Olive, Miss., moved through the area Monday, Jan. 2, 2017.
Four people died in a structure on Monday evening in Alabama when a tree crashed through it while another man died in Florida while trying to evacuate his home as strong storms moved through the South.

Numerous tornadoes have been confirmed, lightning has sparked several houses fires and and high winds knocked out power to more than 80,000 people in two states. Downed trees and damaged buildings were reported in at least 28 counties in Mississippi, 15 parishes in Louisiana and 15 counties in Texas, according to the Associated Press.

Florida

A Walton County man was found drowned near his submerged vehicle in Mossy Head Monday afternoon, the Walton County Sheriff reported. Sheriff's officers believe the man was trying to evacuate from a travel trailer off of W T Hulion Road.

No further information has been released pending notification of the man's next of kin.

Alabama

Four people died in a structure in Rehobeth, just southwest of Dothan in southeastern Alabama, Gov. Robert Bentley confirmed on Twitter.

The individuals were in a mobile home when a tree crashed through it, the Dothan Eagle reports.

A three-foot sinkhole opened up in Dothan on Monday morning, following severe rainfall Sunday, according to WTVY.

Emergency management officials in Jackson declared a flash flood emergency for the town of about 5,000, located 65 miles north of Mobile. The flash flood emergency was cancelled Monday evening.
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Sun

Severe weather: Sydney heatwave marks hottest year on record

Peter Hannam
The Sydney Morning Herald
Fri, 30 Dec 2016 18:31 UTC
Maroubra Beach
© Kate GeraghtyExercising early at Maroubra Beach on Wednesday.
A scorching end to 2016 will ensure Sydney registers its hottest year in more than a century-and-a-half of records.

The mercury is expected to climb to 37 degrees in the city on Thursday and 42 in Penrith, and fall just a couple of degrees shy of that on Friday, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

All of coastal NSW will endure a heatwave on Thursday, with almost all of it either ranked as severe or extreme. (See bureau chart below). Authorities have also activated the state's heatwave action plan to ensure the public takes care to limit the effects of the heat, such as by staying hydrated and limiting outdoor activity.

The surge of late-December heat means Sydney would notch the city's hottest year in records going back to 1858 "without a doubt", Joel Pippard, a meteorologist with Weatherzone, said. "To not do that, temperatures would have be below zero."

According to Weatherzone, Sydney's maximum temperatures, including Wednesday's top of almost 29 degrees, lifted the average so far this year to 23.76 degrees. That's two degrees above the long run norm, and about a quarter degree higher than the previous hottest year in 2013.

Minimum temperatures will eclipse the previous high set in 2010 by almost half a degree, and are running at an average of just over 15.5 degrees for 2016 with just a couple of days to go, Mr Pippard said.
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Cloud Precipitation

Science, politics, morality and climate change - Professor John Christy


YouTube
Thu, 29 Dec 2016 17:54 UTC
Geoff Derrick writes: The John Christie talk is one of the best I have seen for a long time, keeping things simple but very very effective in the message. It should be compulsory viewing while still in holiday mode to take 1 hour off and watch the main event. It is just simply excellent, logical observation at work here.
John Christy
© The Huntsville TimesJohn Christy, the director of the Earth System Science Center at the UAH, has also been criticized for his views on global warming.
Professor John Christy, Alabama state climatologist speaks on science, politics and morality as they relate to climate change "action".
Recorded December, 2015.

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Bizarro Earth

Threat of floods is shifting across the US: Risk increasing in the north, but dropping in the south

Stacy Liberatore
Daily Mail
Fri, 30 Dec 2016 23:02 UTC
map shifting rainfall USA
With shifting rainfall patterns and amounts of water in the ground, the risk of flooding in the US is changing across the nation. Researcher says the north half of the country is at a greater risk of flooding, while the threat has declined in the West, South and Southwest regions.

With shifting rainfall patterns and ground water amounts, the risk of flooding in the US is changing across the nation.

Researcher are now warning the north half of the country is at a greater risk of flooding, while the threat has declined in the West, South and Southwest regions.

After analyzing data from streams and NASA satellites, the team discovered that the amount of ground water in the northern area of the US has increased.

The University of Iowa engineers Gabriele Villarini and Louise Slater made the discovery by comparing data from 2,042 streams with satellite information gathered over more than a dozen of years by NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission showing 'basin wetness,' or the amount of water stored in the ground.
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Gift

The dangers of unwanted Christmas presents: Dog attacks 3 family members after owner tries to put festive sweater on it in Tampa, Florida

Cheyenne Roundtree
Daily Mail
Sun, 01 Jan 2017 16:02 UTC
Hillsborough County Animal Control currently has the dog. Eddy Durkin with Tampa Police said: 'When they Tasered the dog, it was still pulling away and was able to release the prongs from the Taser'
Hillsborough County Animal Control currently has the dog. Eddy Durkin with Tampa Police said: 'When they Tasered the dog, it was still pulling away and was able to release the prongs from the Taser'
A dog viciously attacked three members of a family after its owner tried to put a Christmas sweater on him.

Brenda Guerrero, 52, from Tampa, Florida, was in the backyard trying to put the pit bull mix, named Scarface, into a festive outfit when he attacked her, biting her on the arm.

Her husband Ismael Guerrero, 46, tried to pull the dog off his wife but then the animal started to attack him, reported WTSP.

After the couple's son Antoine Harris, 22, stabbed the dog in the neck and head, all three were able to escape back into the house.

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Snowflake Cold

Arctic air pervades U.S. from coast to coast during 1st week of 2017

Alex Sosnowski
AccuWeather
Mon, 02 Jan 2017 10:05 UTC
Arctic air map
A wave of arctic air will spread from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic coast of the United States during the first week of 2017.

The cold air will continue to invade the northwestern U.S. early this week. The cold air was accompanied by accumulating snow to near sea level in Washington on New Year's Day.

Over the Southwest, including Southern California and southern Arizona, the chilliest days will be the first part of the week as temperatures will moderate late in the week. Cold air will hang on much of the week in the Northwest.

"The main thrust of the cold air will extend from the northern Rockies to the northern Plains and the Upper Midwest," according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Evan Duffey. In this swath, a snowstorm will precede the arrival of the arctic air.

By the middle of the week, actual temperatures will bottom as low as 20 degrees Fahrenheit below-zero and will rival the coldest air of the season so far over the northern tier of the Central states. AccuWeather RealFeel Temperatures over part of the northern Plains and Rockies can dip as low as minus 40 for a time.
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Attention

Earthquakes continue at California-Mexico border, 250 small quakes since New Year's Eve

Rong-Gong Lin, II
Los Angeles Times
Mon, 02 Jan 2017 03:00 UTC
Brawley earthquakes map
© USGSThis map, generated about 5 p.m. on Jan. 1, 2017, shows the Brawley earthquake swarm that began on New Year's Eve.
A swarm of more than 250 small earthquakes have struck since New Year's Eve near the California-Mexico border, causing unease among residents and attention from scientists.

The strongest earthquake in the sequence was magnitude 3.9, striking directly underneath the town of Brawley, about 170 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

The earthquakes struck in the southern end of the Brawley Seismic Zone, a seismically active region where tectonic plates are moving away from each other and the Earth's crust is getting stretched out "and basically adding land," said Caltech seismologist Egill Hauksson.

The Brawley Seismic Zone is particularly important to watch because it is the region that connects the San Andreas and Imperial faults, both of which can produce damaging earthquakes. The seismic zone extends for about 30 miles from the city of Brawley, across the Salton Sea's southern half, and ends near Bombay Beach.

Comment: Swarm of 100 small earthquakes strikes near California-Mexico border

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Cloud Precipitation

Worst flood in 30 years say residents of Terengganu, Malaysia


New Straits Times
Sun, 01 Jan 2017 15:11 UTC
The floods in Malaysia's east coast, which some describe as the worst in 30 years, forcing the evacuation of thousands in Terengganu and Kelantan.
© THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORKThe floods in Malaysia's east coast, which some describe as the worst in 30 years, forcing the evacuation of thousands in Terengganu and Kelantan.
Floods sweeping the state constituency of Telemong have been described by residents as the worst in 30 years.

For Isa Kassim, 65, of Kampung Kuala Ping, the deluge reminded him of another major flood in 1986.

"At that time, my children were still young, ranging from one to four years. I waded through flood waters carrying my three children, while my wife had to struggle with flood waters up to her neck.

"At that time, my family and I evacuated at 9pm, as we did not expect the water to rise so fast. Only Allah knows how we fought the swift waters to save our children," he said when met by Bernama here yesterday.

Isa, who is a retired civil servant, said at that time, facilities were still lacking and many villagers had to seek shelter at the nearest neighbour's or relative's house.

"I moved to my uncle's house. We stayed and ate at his house, as there were no evacuation facilities then.


The floods in Terengganu worsens as more than 4,000 people are still seeking shelter at relief centres.
© Mohd Syafiq Ridzuan AmbakThe floods in Terengganu worsens as more than 4,000 people are still seeking shelter at relief centres.
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Seismograph

6.0 Magnitude Earthquake South of Fiji Islands


Earthquake Track
Mon, 02 Jan 2017 14:58 UTC
Graph
UTC time: Monday, January 02, 2017 13:14 PM

USGS page: M 6.0 - South of the Fiji Islands

2017-01-02 13:14:02 UTC 6.0 magnitude, 549 km depth
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