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Fri, 05 Nov 2021
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Ice Cube

Larsen C ice shelf set to break off very soon

Larsen C ice shelf
© AP photo/NASA
In a matter of days, the Larsen C ice shelf will crack apart and a gigantic iceberg the size of Delaware will calve into the ocean. This will be the climax of months of anticipation as the crack grew longer and larger.

When the crack was first observed in mid-2016, it was a tiny silver. But in November, it started to grow with impressive rapidity. It was thought to be all-but-certain than an iceberg consisting of 9 to 13 percent of the 19,000 square mile ice shelf's mass would form in 2017.


After a few months of inactivity, the crack accelerated once more, growing more than 10 miles in less than a week. Only 8 miles separate the 125-mile long crack from the edge of the shelf.

The 1,900 square miles will be the third largest iceberg ever recorded when it breaks up, but it isn't likely to last for more than a few years before breaking apart and sinking into the ocean.

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Rainbow

'Fire rainbow' seen over Grand Rapids, Michigan

Fire rainbow over Grand Rapids
© Ellen Bacca
Ellen Bacca took the pic. above in downtown Grand Rapids Monday. It's a "fire rainbow" also known as a circumhorizontal arc.

It's actually not a rainbow caused by rain and you would be looking at a rainbow with the sun at your back. This occurs when sunlight passes through a band of high clouds with 6-sided crystals in the shape of plates.

The sun has to be at least 58 degrees above the horizon to see a circumhorizontal arc. That means today (one day from the Summer Solstice) you could see a circumhorizontal arc between 11:41 am and 3:50 pm and in Grand Rapids you can only see a fire rainbow from April 18 to August 23rd, when the sun climbs to 58 degrees above the horizon.

North (and south) of 55 deg. latitude, you'll never see a fire rainbow. In London, England (51.5 deg. latitude), they only have a total of 140 hours a year when the sun is high enough to see a circumhorizontal arc.

Cloud Precipitation

Large hailstones pound Scotland County, Missouri

Hail in Muscatine

Hail in Muscatine
Some brief power outages and several downed tree limbs were all that law enforcement had to report following Saturday's severe weather that hit northeast Missouri, but the real damage reports started rolling in Monday at local insurance offices.

The National Weather Service reported "Severe thunderstorms tracked across eastern Iowa, northeast Missouri, and north central Illinois Saturday afternoon and evening. Large hail, torrential rain, and damaging winds up to 65 mph were reported. Very large hail fell in Muscatine, IA and Antioch, MO, where golf ball and baseball size hail was reported respectively."

The heavy rains and high winds did minimal damage in Scotland County, but hail ranging in size from golf ball to as big as baseballs, was reported, leading to hundreds of claims for hail damage to vehicles, homes and businesses.


Arrow Down

At least 11 killed by mudslide in Guatemala after heavy rains

 Residents stand at a house damaged by a mudslide in San Pedro Soloma, Guatemala, June 20, 2017.
© Reuters

Residents stand at a house damaged by a mudslide in San Pedro Soloma, Guatemala, June 20, 2017.
At least 11 people have died in western Guatemala after heavy rains caused a mudslide that swamped homes, spilled onto a highway and buried two buses early on Tuesday, emergency services said.

The buses were hit following the collapse of part of a hillside in the municipality of San Pedro Soloma, national disaster center Conred said in a statement.

Ten of the fatalities were in a bus that was buried, and another was inside one of the homes, Conred added. Nine people were injured, it said.

Emergency services were working with local officials to establish how many homes may have been buried and how many people are missing, the statement noted.


Attention

Yellowstone Supervolcano is hit by 464 earthquakes in just one week

A swarm of hundreds of earthquakes have hit Yellowstone National Park, the highest number within a single week in the past five years.

A swarm of hundreds of earthquakes have hit Yellowstone National Park, the highest number within a single week in the past five years.
Hundreds of earthquakes have hit Yellowstone National Park in the space of a week, according to experts. A total of 464 quakes have been recorded over the past week at Yellowstone, which sits above one of the world's most dangerous supervolcanoes.

This is the highest number of earthquakes at the park within a single week in the past five years. The recent activity has raised fears that the supervolcano is about to blow.

If it were to erupt, the Yellowstone supervolcano would be one thousand times as powerful as the 1980 Mount St Helens eruption, experts claim - although they say the risk is 'low'.

Cloud Lightning

9 killed by lightning strikes in West Bengal, India

lightning
Heavy monsoon rains coupled with thunder and lightning on Monday claimed at least nine lives in several districts of Bengal, police said. Five persons from West Bengal's Hooghly district died after being struck by lightning while three more were injured, police said. "Three people from Chinsurah and two more from Dhaniakhali died due to lightning.

Three more from Chinsurah were also injured," Hooghly Superintendent of Police Sukesh Jain said. There were more deaths in East Burdwan district as heavy rains and lightning lashed the state on Monday evening.

Sun

Heatwave in France sees temperatures reach 38C (100F)

paris sunset

File photo
Almost all of France (apart from the south east) is now roasting under temperatures up to 38C as heatwave alerts are extended to 66 departments.

Most of France is sizzling under scorching temperatures with 66 departments now on heatwave alert, including the entire greater Paris region of Ile-de-France, national weather agency Meteo France said.

The weather agency extended the orange alert from 16 departments to 66 on Tuesday, meaning the sweltering temperatures are now affecting vast swathes of France.

The mercury is predicted to rise to nearly 40C in the west of the country with temperatures in the southwestern seaside town of Biarritz expected to reach a whopping 38C.

Attention

Dead 12 meter-long white whale washes ashore in Hatay, Turkey

DEAD WHALE
A 12 meter-long white whale washed ashore in the southern Turkish province of Hatay on June 20, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

Locals who live in Hatay's Karaağaç neighborhood noticed the dead whale due to its odor and informed the local authorities.

Following news of the dead whale, officials from the marine sciences faculty of İskenderun Technical University and coast guard crews arrived at the scene.

Officials could not remove the body of the whale due to the bad weather and sea conditions. According to initial reports, scratches and slits were also detected on the whale's body.

Wolf

Two separate attacks by pit bull terriers send children to hospital in Dallas, Texas

pit bull
Two separate dog attacks over the weekend sent two young kids to the hospital with serious injuries.

Investigators in Farmersville say a family's pitbull suddenly attacked their 4-year-old daughter early Sunday afternoon. She was bitten in the face and rushed to Children's Medical Center in Dallas.

The incident happened at the home on Windom Street near Highway 78 and 380. The dog was taken by animal control officers to the pound.

About 4 hours later, a 5-year-old boy was attacked by another pit bull less than a mile away.

Tornado2

Large water spout filmed off Singapore's East Coast

Waterspout off Singapore coast
© Yik Lim
A large water spout was spotted off Singapore's East Coast on Sunday morning (Jun 18).

Mediacorp news hotline caller Yik Lim, who shared a photo of the water spout, said it appeared "only briefly, but it was quite a huge one". He and his wife saw it at about 9.15am from their condominium in Marine Parade, before morning showers.

Rudi, another caller told Channel NewsAsia he could see the water spout from the DBS Asia Hub at Changi Business Park.

A water spout is a weather phenomenon usually observed during intense weather conditions associated with thunderstorms, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said on its website.