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Madrid, Spain, hit with hailstorms and flash-floods


The Local, Spain
Thu, 11 Jun 2015 17:12 UTC
Madrid hailstorm
© rafa_luque / Flickr
People run for cover in Madrid's Plaza Mayor.

Freak weather conditions for June caused chaos in Madrid on Thursday when the capital was hit by electric storms, torrential rain and even hail.

Around mid-morning the skies darkened and then the heavens opened causing torrents of water to flood streets and overflow drainage systems.

Some metro lines were forced to close and roads across the city turned into gushing waterways causing flashfloods.

Those unlucky enough to be caught in the downpour sought cover as they were pelted with hailstones.

Across Madrid people recorded the adverse conditions and posted the images to social media.

Here is a selection of the best footage:


Comment: Check out: SOTT Earth Changes Summary - April 2015: Extreme Weather and Planetary Upheaval

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Question

'Dolphin frenzy' - Super pod surround South African fishing boat

Ben Hooper
upi.com
Fri, 12 Jun 2015 15:40 UTC
Image

Super pod of dolphins off Cape Town
A South African man boating off the coast of Cape Town captured footage of hundreds of dolphins chasing bait fish around his vessel.

Robbie Ragless, who shared the video on YouTube, said he was on a fishing trip with a group of people Friday when their boat was surrounded by the "dolphin frenzy."

"An incredible experience getting so close to dolphins chasing bait fish just off Robben Island, Cape Town," Ragless said in the video's description.

Ragless told Eyewitness News the dolphins showed up around midday.

"We just saw the frenzy on the horizon and didn't know it was coming straight for us and caught ourselves right in the middle of it, which was quite cool," he said.

He said it was difficult to count the dolphins.

"I didn't even know -- we thought there were maybe a thousand, but there could have been more of them," he said.

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Snowflake

Heavy snowfall expected in Brooks Range, Alaska

Weston Morrow
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Wed, 10 Jun 2015 15:14 UTC
Image
© Wikipedia
Brooks Range, Alaska
Visitors to Denali National Park may get more than they bargained for today, as the National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for the area.

The weather advisory went into effect at 6 p.m. Wednesday and was scheduled to last through noon today.

Snow topped the list of concerns precipitating the need for a weather advisory, according to meteorologists at the National Weather Service station in Fairbanks. Meteorologists estimate the park will receive 4 to 8 inches of snow.

The Weather Service estimates the snow will fall about 2,500 feet above sea level, which would leave the visitors center and much of the beginning of the park road clear of snow. A significant portion of the park road lies above 2,500 feet, however, as the road's elevation begins climbing early and rises significantly near Sable Pass.
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Binoculars

Birdspotters in frenzy after extremely rare Hudsonian Whimbrel seen in Britain


Daily Express, UK
Fri, 12 Jun 2015 14:52 UTC
Image
© Jake Gearty/Solent News
An extremely rare bird which has only been seen a handful of times in the UK
More than 1,000 bird watchers have travelled to Pagham Harbour near Chichester, West Sussex, in the last four days to catch a glimpse of the Hudsonian Whimbrel.

It is thought to be the only bird of its kind in the UK and only 10 others have been seen in this country since 1950.

The bird is so rare because it is native of North America and is hardly ever seen in Britain.

Tim Webb, communications officer for the RSBP said: "It is definitely confirmed that it is here and is still here.

"On these shores this is about the eleventh one in our recorded history, which goes back to about the 1950s.

"This Hudsonian Whimbrel is the only one in the UK right now to our knowledge.
"It is incredibly unusual and rare for this species to be seen in this country.
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Binoculars

Snowy egret from the Americas turns up in South Africa

Melanie Gosling
iol.co.za
Fri, 12 Jun 2015 14:09 UTC
Image
© Trevor Hardaker
OFF COURSE: This snowy egret has migrated from North America.
The average birdwatcher would be forgiven for calling it a little egret.

Serious birders know better: the white bird that has been quietly wading among the shallows of the Black River along the M3, Cape Town, this week is a snowy egret, native to North and South America, and way off course to end up at the tip of Africa.

Word went out on Monday, and watchers and "twitchers" started converging on the river banks. Five of them flew down from Gauteng on Thursday on the 6am flight to see the bird and to tick it off their lists.

"Twitchers" will go to great lengths to see a rare bird. For many, the snowy egret was a "lifer" - a first-ever sighting of a bird. And it is quite special. This is only the second time a snowy egret (Egretta thula) has been seen in Africa.

Trevor Hardaker, chairperson of Birdlife South Africa's National Rarities Committee, said the only other recorded sighting of a snowy egret in Africa had been in Cape Town in 2002. "Everyone's very excited."
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills 6 labourers in Chandrapur, India


zeenews.india.com
Fri, 12 Jun 2015 11:19 UTC
Image
Six farm labourers were killed and four others injured when lightning struck them at a village in Chandrapur district, police said today.

The labourers were engaged in sowing work at a farm in Wadgaon village under Koparna taluka of the district when lightning struck them last evening, Range police said.

There was a heavy downpour accompanied with lightning and high velocity winds. The six labourers took shelter in a nearby hut where lightning struck them.

All of them died on the spot, police said.

The four others who sustained severe burn injuries were rushed to government's Primary Health Centre, they added.

Source: Press Trust of India
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Bizarro Earth

Dozens of dead penguins have shown up on the coast of Uruguay


Phys.org
Thu, 11 Jun 2015 00:00 UTC
penguins

Rescued penguins wait to be fed on July 28, 2007, in the department Maldonado, Uruguay
Dozens of penguins have shown up dead over the past three days on the coast of Uruguay, a government official said Thursday.

One group of young specimens was found in the Rocha area 210 km (125 miles) east of Montevideo, and then another at a beach in the resort town of Punta del Este, said Graciela Fabiano of the National Directorate of Water Resources.

The agency has no penguin monitoring program but at this time of year penguins do tend to show up on the coast, sometimes dead, and the movement is associated with migratory patterns, she said.
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Fire

Canadian wildfire smoke covers 17 states and causes red sun

Angela Fritz and Jason Samenow
The Washington Post
Wed, 10 Jun 2015 10:01 UTC
A smoky sunset over the District, June 9, 2015 (Richard Barnhill via Flickr)
© Richard Barnhill
A smoky sunset over the District, June 9, 2015 (Richard Barnhill via Flickr)
A thick haze of smoke drifted over the D.C. region late Tuesday afternoon, driven south from Canada's burgeoning wildfires by the high-level winds of the jet stream.

There are six large wildfires burning in Alberta and British Columbia, according to the Remote Sensing Applications Center in Salt Lake City. These fires are pumping copious amounts of smoke high into the atmosphere, which is then hitching a ride on the global jet stream to paint our skies pink and orange.

Comment: See also: Hundreds evacuated from northeastern Alberta as wildfires rage through crude-producing region

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Wolf

Canine craziness: Dozens injured after stray dogs' attack in Turkey


national.bgnnews.com
Thu, 11 Jun 2015 17:08 UTC
Image

Treatment for dog bite
At least 55 people, many of them children, have been attacked by stray dogs in Turkey's eastern Van province within the last 24 hours.

Seven dogs have been put down on suspicion, and samples were sent to the Veterinary Control Institute in eastern Elazığ province, Van Provincial Directorate of Food, Agriculture and Livestock said.

The directorate said that 30 people were treated at various hospitals for dog bites Wednesday.

An additional 25 were attacked later, bringing the total to 55 since Wednesday noon, officials said.

The directorate said that victims were given rabies vaccines and discharged after being kept under observation.

The attacks were reported in Bostaniçi, Esenler, Yenimahalle and Şerefiye streets of the province, which has a center population of less than 500,000.
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Question

Mystery booms shake houses in Dinwiddie County, Virginia

Wayne Covil
wtvr.com
Thu, 11 Jun 2015 16:26 UTC
Image

Stephanie Groves, of Ettrick, said she first worried she might be experiencing an earthquake.
Several viewers contacted WTVR CBS 6 News after they reported hearing loud booms early Wednesday morning. People in Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, and Prince George said the activity was so intense it shook their homes. The constant booms, as people described them, began around 8:10 a.m. and lasted for about 10 minutes.

"It was boom, boom, boom," William Britton, of Chesterfield, said.

"It was consistent, hear a loud boom, a few seconds later, hear another loud boom. A few seconds later another loud boom and it went on for a few minutes," Roland Britton said.Stephanie Groves, of Ettrick, said she first worried she might be experiencing an earthquake.

Those who heard the loud and constant noise have no clue what it was. But one man does not think it was not military activity.

"I'm used to hearing Fort Pickett from time to time, [but] his is nothing like it," said Britton.
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