Earth ChangesS


Cloud Precipitation

Hailstorms, unseasonal rains damaged 476,000 hectares of crops in February across India

Maharashtra has been the worst hit so far
© Javier CandeiraMaharashtra has been the worst hit so far.
Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, informed the parliament today that hailstorms and unseasonal rains have caused huge damage, especially to northern states in India. Hailstorms and unseasonal rain caused damage to 4.76 lakh hectares of crop in February in Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Karnataka.

While responding to an unstarred question regarding damage to crops due to unseasonal rains and hailstorms, he said Maharashtra has been the worst hit so far, with the state having the highest share of crop areas affected. Maharashtra is followed by Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh (see Table). Around 300,000 hectares of crops like jowar, gram, wheat and horticulture crops like orange, grapes, bananas, and vegetables were damaged.

Cloud Precipitation

Rare hailstorm kills girl and scores of animals in Ghana

hail
Four communities in the Krachi East Municipality have suffered from a rare hailstorm accompanied by strong winds that ravaged property, killing a girl and scores of domestic and wild animals.

The affected communities are Ayiramu, Katanga, Yabrae and Kparekpare, where Abena Manu, a six year old girl, was trapped by a falling wall, which killed her instantly with two others being injured in the millieu with broken bones..

The injured are recuperating at the Worawora Hospital in the Biakoye District.

The large ice pellets also killed ducks, fowls, goats, lambs as well as bush rabbits, grass-cutter and partridges.

Attention

Siberian tiger rampages through Russian village killing dogs

Parents were afraid to let their children out of the house even to go to school on dark mornings as she 'was not afraid of street lights, or people shouting'
Parents were afraid to let their children out of the house even to go to school on dark mornings as she 'was not afraid of street lights, or people shouting'
A tiger terrorised a Siberian village roaming the streets and killing fierce guard dogs before dragging them away to feed her hungry cubs.

Parents were afraid to let their children out of the house even to go to school on dark mornings as she 'was not afraid of street lights, or people shouting'.

Rangers sedated and captured the endangered animal amid fears locals in the village of Aleksey-Nikolskoye, north of Vladivostok, would shoot her.

They were puzzled by the big cat's behaviour in entering a village to kill chained up dogs instead of hunting prey in the wild, as they are usually wary of humans.

Comment: View also: Two dogs die in attacks as deep snow pushes British Columbia cougars out of forests


Attention

Rare Irrawaddy dolphin found dead in Cambodia

The dead dolphin was found near a dam.
© Rasmei NewsThe dead dolphin was found near a dam.
An Irrawaddy dolphin was found dead on Saturday in Stung Treng province, near the border of Laos' Don Sahong region, where Lao authorities are constructing a hydropower dam.

Environmental activist Chum Huot said yesterday that villagers in the Preah Rumkel community found the dead dolphin and he suspects that it died due to a lack of food resources.

"This dead dolphin could have died due to a lack of food because of the construction of the Don Sahong hydropower dam upstream," he said. "The currents are now unfavourable and there is a lack of fish for the dolphins."

Tek Vannara, executive director of the NGO Forum, said the dam was just two kilometres upstream from where the dolphin was found dead.

Cloud Lightning

Woman dies after lightning strike in Nepal

lightning
A woman from Letang municipality-9 in the district died while two others got injurywhen the lightning occurred last night.

The lightning coupled with rainfall struck 32 year old Gita Ghimire, who later succumbed to injury during the treatment at a local Pathari Hospital.

Two others injured in the incident are- Gita's sister-in-law, Menuka Ghimire, and neighbour Dhan Bahadur Rai.

Police Inspector at Area Police Office, Letang, Khagendra Khadka informed that the injured ones were undergoing treatment at BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences.

Snowflake Cold

More than 700,000 animals in Mongolia die from severe wintry weather

DEAD ANIMAL
A total of 710,740 animals have died so far this year in Mongolia due to the extreme wintry weather known as "dzud", the country's meteorology service said Wednesday.

The dzud is a brutal weather phenomenon in Mongolia where a dry summer followed by a frigid winter kills vast numbers of livestock either by starvation or cold.

Snowfall covered up to 50 percent of the country, with 66 administrative subdivisions in 12 provinces experiencing dzud or near dzud conditions, Mongolian National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring said in a statement.

Cloud Lightning

At least two dead as severe storms batter Southwest US

US Southwest storm damage
© KLTVAuthorities have confirmed that at least two people were killed during severe thunderstorms in the Southwest Saturday night
Authorities have confirmed that at least two people were killed during severe thunderstorms in the Southwest Saturday night.

'Please be aware that there was one fatality at the Brushy Creek campground and not four, as was mistakenly reported initially,' Marion County Sheriff David McKnight said on Facebook.

Authorities said the deceased 'was a 40 year woman from southeast Texas'.

Another death was reported by Longview Police.

Police told KLTV that a 41-year-old man was killed during the storms at the Flamingo Mobile Home Park when a tree fell on his mobile home.

His 12-year-old son was rescued and was taken to the hospital. The child's injuries are still unknown.

The severe storms started to move through the area around 10.30pm Saturday night and continued until around 6am Sunday morning, according to KTSB.

The storms produced large hail, sometimes in excess of two inches in diameter, damaging wind gusts over 70mph.

A video showed golf ball-sized hail in the De Berry, Texas, area.

Comment: Severe hailstorm causes damage for many across Arkansas (VIDEOS)


Cloud Precipitation

Severe hailstorm causes damage for many across Arkansas (VIDEOS)

Multiple reports of windows broken due to the hail storm
© Brandon CarterMultiple reports of windows broken due to the hail storm
An early evening severe weather event Saturday night will have insurance adjusters busy this week.

Several reports of broken windshields and roof damage have been reported as anywhere from pea-sized to baseball sized hail moved through the state.

KATV viewers sent in dozens of videos and pictures as the storms pushed through around 7 p.m. Saturday night.


Ice Cube

Some birds migrated north looking for spring - then spring froze

American Robin
© Bruce Di Labio / OTTwpAmerican Robin eating Sumac fruit since there are no worms out yet.
Birds have migrated north in large numbers in recent weeks - an early gamble that is now forcing some to do a U-turn, and others to starve.

A number of people in Ottawa have heard Canada geese fly over noisily, beginning in late February's mild spell.

"Thousands of geese showing up in eastern Ontario. A lot of them are actually still here," birder Bruce Di Labio said. But with snow covering the cornfields and freezing temperatures at night, they aren't going any farther north.

Binoculars

Snowy owl makes 'extremely rare' visit to Norfolk, UK

Norfolk Snowy Owl
© Dave Andrews ‏Norfolk Snowy Owl
A snowy owl has made an "extremely rare" visit to Norfolk this weekend - thousands of miles away from its usual feeding ground.

The birds usually live in the far north around the Arctic circle and rarely venture south of northern Scotland.

But the RSPB has today confirmed the magnificent white bird - made famous as Harry Potter's owl, Hedwig - has been spotted at Snettisham in West Norfolk.

Photographs posted on social media show the nestled in grassland.