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Fri, 15 Oct 2021
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One dead, one in stable condition after mudslide in Hawkins County, Tennessee

Highway 70 North in Hawkins Co., TN

Highway 70 North in Hawkins Co., TN
A mudslide in Hawkins County has killed one person and injured another.

The Hawkins County Emergency Management Agency director told WVLT News that one person died instantly, while another was transported to a local hospital where, according to WJHL, he is in stable condition.

THP identified the man who died as 62-year-old Steven Lawson, of Jonesborough. Troopers said Lawson was traveling south on State Highway 70 when his Chevy pickup truck left the road when it was washed away by the slide.


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2 killed, 1 injured as landslide hits vehicle in Kashmir, India

landslide
Two persons were killed while another sustained injuries after their vehicle was hit by a landslide on the Mandi-Baila road in Mandi tehsil of Poonch district on Thursday.

The police told Greater Kashmir: "A Tata mobile vehicle went towards Baila village, where it refilled fuel in the towers of a private telecom company. On its way back to Mandi town, it was hit by a landslide at about half-a-kilometer from the town area."

The vehicle was severely damaged and one of the men travelling in the car, identified as Makhan Singh, son of Romesh and a resident of Akhnoor, Jammu, was killed on the spot, Senior superintendent of police, Poonch, Ramesh Angral said, adding that the locals and police team started a rescue operation and managed to shift two injured persons to the sub-district hospital, Mandi.


Cloud Precipitation

18 trillion gallons of rain in California in February with more on the way

California rain
© Mark Boster / For The Times
Orange County Public Works' Shannon Widor surveys damage where Trabuco Creek overflowed the Trabuco Canyon Road bridge last week.
California has already received an 18-trillion-gallon soaking this month - enough water to fill 27 million Olympic-sized pools - and the state's wild winter isn't over yet.

A series of storms, including a moisture-packed atmospheric river that slammed the state last week, has brought consistent rainfall in February that has reached nearly half the volume of Lake Tahoe.

Los Angeles has received its fair share of the rain, with more than 4 inches falling on the Southland since Feb. 1. San Diego has had more than 10 inches of rain this month, passing its average for the entire winter season, according to the National Weather Service.

The totals are likely to increase this week - though not by much - as another storm rolls into the region Wednesday night. That low pressure system is expected to bring less than a quarter of an inch of precipitation through Thursday, said Lisa Phillips, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

Comment: History says California overdue for biblical, catastrophic flooding


Question

Recent reports of mysterious mass bird deaths in Ukraine, Crimea and Mexico

dead starlings
In early February we learned of two cases of mysterious mass deaths of birds in Ukraine and Russia, while back in mid-January a similar report came out of Mexico.

The first incident was reported on February 8th and involved large numbers of dead starlings found on a road alongside the Dnieper River in Ukraine. Here are some of the images from that event:

Snowflake

Resorts and skiers at Snowbasin, Utah overjoyed at 'unprecedented' snow levels - 8 feet dumped in 18 days

snow
A surprise storm brought more snow to Northern Utah on Wednesday, and skiers and snowboarders were quick to take advantage.

"It is phenomenal, there is a lot of snow," said Jack Schlaf, a skier up at Snowbasin Wednesday.

Davy Ratchford, the general manager of Snowbasin, said the resort at one point got 15 inches of snow in 24 hours.

"Everybody takes the day off of work, it's called the powder flu," said Schlaf.

Many were on the mountain to get their fill of the mid-week fresh powder.

"Oh it was fabulous, super deep," said skier Randy Pearson.

Ratchford said Snowbasin has gotten eight feet of snow in 18 days, which is unprecedented.


Windsock

'Never ever seen this': LA to London flight breaks speed record due to furious jet stream

Virgin Atlantic's Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner broke speed records.

Virgin Atlantic's Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner broke speed records.

A Virgin Atlantic plane accidentally flew at the speed of sound during a record-breaking flight from LA to London


A Virgin Atlantic flight from Los Angeles to London reached the ground speed of 1289km/h with the help of strong winds, according to reports.

The blistering speed was reached while at 35,000 feet, or 10.7km, above Pennsylvania. The Boeing 787 twin-jet aircraft was given a boost by a furious jet stream, the high-altitude air current along which storms travel, Fox News reported.

"Never ever seen this kind of tailwind in my life as a commercial pilot," tweeted Peter James, a jet captain.

Monday's record was above the speed of sound which is 1234km/h - however, whether air travel breaks the sound barrier is dependent on its airspeed, not ground speed. Commercial aircraft are not designed to fly at supersonic speeds.


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Landslide following a week of heavy rainfall hits illegal Peru mine, kills 7

Seven people are dead after a landslide hit an illegal mining site in Peru.

Seven people are dead after a landslide hit an illegal mining site in Peru.
A landslide has hit an illegal mining site in southern Peru, killing seven people, local media reports.

The incident occurred in Ituata district, Carabaya province, on Wednesday.

The landslide hit tents where miners were staying. The body of a 50-year-old woman was found, reports said.

Other people remained missing. The reports quoted Aniceto Vilca Peralta, a civil defence official, as saying a total of seven people were killed.

The landslide followed a week of heavy rains.

Source: Australian Associated Press

Cloud Precipitation

26 killed as torrential rain triggers flash flood, roof collapse in Pakistan

Earlier, the Balochistan government issued flood emergency alert to Lasbela and other effected areas and called out the Pakistan Army for the rehabilitation activities.
© Balochistan Insights
Earlier, the Balochistan government issued flood emergency alert to Lasbela and other effected areas and called out the Pakistan Army for the rehabilitation activities.
At least 26 people were killed on Thursday in the incidents of roof collapse and flash floods, triggered by torrential rains that lashed several cities in Pakistan, according to a media report. At least 10 people were killed in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

Four people, including two children and a woman, were killed in landslide and roof collapse incident in Dir, the Express Tribune reported. Uninterrupted rainfall has flooded the provincial capital Peshawar while flash flood submerged villages near the southwestern town of Lasbella, in Balochistan province, it said.


Binoculars

Wrong place, wrong time: Warbler that should be wintering in southern Asia turns up in Greater Manchester, UK

Hope Carr Nature Reserve, Leigh. Blyth's Reed

Blyth's Reed at Hope Carr Nature Reserve, Leigh.
Bird watchers are all aflutter after a rare species was spotted at a nature reserve.

Several sightings of Blyth's reed warbler have now been confirmed at a United Utilities nature reserve in Leigh.

Blyth's reed warblers are a very rare sight in Britain and even rarer in the North West.

Birding experts at Leigh Ornithological Society believe the sightings at Hope Carr Nature Reserve are the first in Greater Manchester and the first time the tiny bird has been spotted in the UK at this time of year.

It usually spends the winter in India, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka.


Snowflake Cold

Saskatchewan sees the coldest February in 80 years

Canada cold
© Environment Canada
Seasonal forecasts and pegging below seasonal temperatures for much of western Canada over the next three months.
If it feels the like coldest February you can remember, you're likely not wrong.

This month, Saskatchewan has been plagued with daily extreme cold warnings. Temperatures have dipped into the minus 40s, with wind chills so frigid that forgetting your tuque can mean frostbite in minutes.

As of Wednesday, Regina had 9 days where the temperature had not warmed up past -20 C. Temperatures overnight have been brisk - in the minus 30s or even minus 40s - but there has not been much recovery in temperatures during the daytime.

Saskatoon has fared even worse, with 10 days with daily highs below -20 C. To put that in perspective, a normal year would have us seeing daily highs in the minus single digits and lows in the minus teens, so these conditions are 10 to 20 degrees below normal in many areas.