Earth ChangesS


Windsock

Storms blow little auk seabirds from the Arctic into Falkirk, Scotland

Little auks
© SSPCA Little auks
Stranded Arctic seabirds similar to penguins have been found in Falkirk after being blown inland by the recent storms.

Several little auks, which usually winter far out at sea in Europe and North America, were found in the Falkirk area, including in Callendar Park, this week.

The SSPCA say they were "weak and thin" when officers rescued them after being contacted by members of the public.

The cute birds usually live on the open sea, however, it is believed they have been swept ashore by recent storms Eva and Frank.

Colin Seddon, manager of the Scottish SPCA's National Wildlife Rescue Centre, said, "We have rescued many little auks from all over Scotland this past week, including several found in the Falkirk area, which have been caught out by the recent storms.

"These birds normally winter far out to sea and have been blown inland. The little auks we have rescued were found weak and thin and would have had great difficulty taking off once grounded."

Ice Cube

CCTV shows moment huge blocks of snow fall off shop roof onto pedestrians in Turkey

Snow falls on shoppers
© LiveLeak/DHACalm before the storm: Shoppers mill about on the High Street oblivious to the danger
This is the breath-taking moment a group of unwitting shoppers are felled by a MASSIVE snowfall .

The clip shows pedestrians milling about on a busy high street in Turkey.

Out of nowhere, a few flakes of snow begin to fall from the shop roofs above.

Then suddenly several tonnes of the white stuff descends from the heavens.

One man gets hit with such force that he collapses to the ground.


Tornado2

Waterspout filmed near Castellabate, Italy

Waterspout
A waterspout carrying water high up into the sky was caught on camera off the Italian coast near the town of Castellabate.

The video, posted to Facebook by Cantina Belvedere-Castellabate, shows the arched whirlwind stretching from the water to the bottom of a cloud.

The waterspout Monday came as severe weather battered the country.

There was no damage reported from the waterspout.


Cloud Precipitation

East coast of New South Wales hit with the heaviest rain in 154 years: 8 inches in 24 hours

Floods New South Wales
Residents across New South Wales have been evacuated and rescued as heavy rain continues to batter the east coast. Above is an emergency crew member wading out to a car caught in flood waters in Newcastle
Newcastle has faced its wettest January day in more than 150 years after torrential rain batters the east coast forcing residents to abandon their homes, as flash flooding hits Sydney.

The Bureau of Meteorology said Newcastle, north of Sydney, experienced the most rainfall on a January day since records started back in 1862, also logging its wettest day since June 2007.

In the 24 hours leading up to 9am on Wednesday, Newcastle record more than 200mm of rain.


Major flood warnings have been issued across the state's east after the town of Dungog, in NSW's Hunter region, was inundated with water and locals were told to leave their homes, the ABC reported.


Sun

Mystifying sun dogs appear in Galo, Belarus

Sun dog
© Yury Shevtsov
Look at these mystifying sun dogs surrounding the sun in Galo, Belarus.

They form like a giant eye in the sky. Eerie.

Photographer Yury Shevtsov was lucky enough to catch this eerie three suns phenomenon in the sky of his city, Galo.

On January 3, 2016, eerie sun dogs appeared around the sun.

The mysterious parhelia are linked together by a luminous ring known as a 22° halo creating a giant eye in the sky.

Sun dogs are a member of a large family of halos, created by light interacting with ice crystals in the atmosphere.

Sun dogs typically appear as two subtly colored patches of light to the left and right of the Sun, approximately 22° distant and at the same elevation above the horizon as the Sun.

They can be seen anywhere in the world during any season, but they are not always obvious or bright.

This video features the three suns phenomenon over Bolshereche, Russia on January 4, 2016:


Wolf

Boy mauled to death by 3 pit bull terriers in Yuba County, Califorina

Pit bulls
Griffin-Heady said that her half-brother loved her dogs. 'He laid in the bed with them, he played with them, he wanted one of their puppies,' she stated
A nine-year-old boy in northern California was mauled to death while he was home alone by his half-sister's three pit bulls.

Alexandria Griffin-Heady, 24, left her half-brother, Tyler Griffin-Huston, 9, alone inside her Yuba County trailer to go to work Sunday.

A few hours later she returned home from her security guard shift and found the boy had been viciously attacked by the dogs. She called 911 and he was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

The three dogs, a mother and two offspring that Griffin-Heady had raised since they were puppies, have been seized and placed in an animal shelter, the Sacramento Bee reported.


Sun

Three suns in St Petersburg, Russia, thanks to frost

Three suns St. Petersburg, Russia
© Марк / YouTube
Citizens of St Petersburg in Russia woke up to an out of this world sight - three suns in the sky. People took to social media to share the unbelievable vision.


Windsock

Christmas Eve power outages in Modesto, California likely caused by microburst, not tornado

Modesto microburst
© Brian StruxnessPowerlines were downed Thursday, Dec. 24, 2015, on Coffee Road in Modesto. The National Weather Service said the damage was caused by straight-line with winds up to 80 mph

Nearly 200 homes are still without power on Christmas after a dozen utility poles fell on Coffee Road in Modesto.

National Weather Service officials say they were brought down by a microburst, not a tornado.

Coffee Road had what some are calling a catastrophe on Christmas Eve.

"Huge explosion. It sounded like a bomb went off. Everything went black immediately," Brad Layson said.

A large cypress tree fell over into the road, taking out 12 power poles with it. Families woke up to a very cold Christmas morning.
"You can't wake up in the morning and make your coffee or breakfast. Your heat. You're used to it being 75 and now it's 48 inside your house. It's pretty cold," said Joshua Schell.

Modesto Irrigation District had to replace power poles, saying 150 to 200 customers would be without power for much of Christmas.

Comment: Meteorologists are currently investigating what appeared to be straight-line wind damage in South Los Angeles yesterday, that some reported as a 'tornado'. A couple of months ago a sudden microburst caused damage near Rome, New York State.


Fire

Man dies after house explosion and fire in Wolverhampton, UK - second in same area within a week

map of Wolverhampton house explosions
© ITV News CentralThe explosion happened just streets away from the site of another house explosion last week.

Man confirmed dead at scene as fire crews tackle blaze after explosion at property in Rylands Drive


A man has died after reports of an explosion at a house in Wolverhampton.

Fire crews were alerted at around 3.15pm on Tuesday afternoon after an explosion was reported at the property in Rylands Drive, in the Penn area of the city.

An ambulance crew, a paramedic area support officer, a senior paramedic officer, the West Midlands CARE Team and the Hazardous Area Response Team were in attendance. The Midlands Air Ambulance from Cosford was also initially sent to the scene.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: "Wearing personal protective clothing and using breathing apparatus, the Hazardous Area Response Team entered the building with the fire service where they found the body of a man.

Comment: See also: 'Almighty bang' as gas explosion reduces house to rubble in Wolverhampton, UK


Bizarro Earth

Earthquake recorded near North Korean nuclear site

North Korean Quake
© USGS
A 5.1 magnitude earthquake has been recorded in North Korea, according to USGS, in the vicinity of a known nuclear site. South Korea has convened an emergency meeting over fears of a possible nuclear test.


Comment: North Korea claims fully successful 'hydrogen bomb' test