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Fire

Wildfire in Spring Creek, Colorado burns over 94,000 acres - 3rd largest in state history

This photo, taken on June 27 around 8 p.m., show the beginning of the Spring Fire.
© Costilla County Sheriff's Office
This photo, taken on June 27 around 8 p.m., show the beginning of the Spring Fire.
The Spring Fire burning in southern Colorado continued to explode in size as acreage reached 94,125 as of Wednesday morning, according to fire officials. This makes it the third largest wildfire in state history after the Hayman Fire in 2002 and the West Fork Fire complex (technically three separate fires that merged) in 2013.

986 people are fighting the fire, which is 5 percent contained. Crews are dealing with hot, dry and windy weather conditions.

A tweet posted by officials posted Monday night said that 104 homes have been destroyed by the fire and 61 are intact.


Tornado2

Twin waterspouts filmed off Dekle Beach, Florida

waterspouts
A Florida woman captured video of a rare sight off the state's coast -- twin waterspouts swirling side by side in the water.

Stephanie Morgan English captured video Tuesday showing a waterspout pulling water high up into the air off Dekle Beach in Taylor County.

The video shows a second waterspout form to the side of the first.

"So cool!" English exclaims in the video.


Cloud Lightning

Dead baby whale found in waters off Albay, Philippines

A Bryde’s whale calf found dead in the waters off Barangay Namanday, Bacacay, Albay.
© BUREAU OF FISHERIES AND AQUATIC RESOURCES
A Bryde’s whale calf found dead in the waters off Barangay Namanday, Bacacay, Albay.
A baby whale was found dead by residents in the seawaters off a village in Bacacay town, Albay province Tuesday.

Nonie Enolva, spokesperson of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in Bicol, said the female Bryde's whale calf was found off Barangay Namanday. It was 4.2 meters long and weighed about 700 kilos.

Enolva said the cause of death, based on a necropsy conducted by the BFAR, was "starvation secondary to drowning."

Cloud Precipitation

At least 10 killed by floods in Nigeria

flood
Eight bodies were recovered and many others feared dead on Tuesday following a downpour in Rafi-Gora village and Gangare Saji in Kontagora Local Government Area of Niger state.

Confirming the number of casualties from the downpour, Director-General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Ibrahim Inga, told newsmen in Minna that seven teenage girls were washed away by the flood in Rafin-Gora market while three children also died in Anguwan Gangare Saji.

Narrating the incident, Inga said the girls were inside a shop in Rafi-Gora market while the three children in Gangare Saji fell inside a pit toilet while attempting to remove a flip flop that fell inside.

Seismograph

6.1 magnitude earthquake hits off the east coast of Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia

earthquake
A 6.1 magnitude earthquake shook off the eastern coast of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula at 01:40:08 UTC on July 6, 2018 at depth of 79 kilometers.

There has been no reports of damage or injuries.

No tsunami warning was issued.

Sun

UK heatwave: Welsh farmers 'fighting to survive'

Farmers have brought in emergency water tankers

Farmers have brought in emergency water tankers
Farmers in Wales are warning that they could be fighting to survive if the summer's dry weather continues.

Many say the grass they feed their cows effectively stopped growing weeks ago, prompting concerns about the food available to herds in the longer term.

The weeks of scorching weather follow heavy snow storms in late winter.

NFU Cymru has also warned farmers that they have "a duty of care" to animals, as forecasts predict two more weeks of soaring temperatures.

The warm weather reached a record high of 32.6C in Porthmadog in Gwynedd at the end of June and the heatwave has continued this week.

NFU Cymru President John Davies said he had heard farmers were already using their winter supplies of fodder because the lack of rain had stunted grass growth while the "intense" heat was "burning off crops".

Mr Davies said: "We've heard of farmers who are already using their winter supplies of fodder to feed livestock and with fodder already at a premium this could become a real problem later in the year."

The union has now relaunched its free fodder bank service to help members find animal feed or sell any surplus.

Comment: The present UK heatwave has already caused the earliest harvest in 40 years for farmers, with a significantly reduced yield. The heatwave seems to be extending towards the end of July, with the Met Office predicting that "the last third of July, dry, sunny and warm weather will probably dominate across the bulk of UK, especially in the south."


Cloud Precipitation

Hundreds of thousands evacuated in Japan after 'historic' rainfall, 2 dead

Japan floods
© REUTERS
A kimono-clad woman taking photos of swollen Kamo River, caused by a heavy rain, from Shijo Bridge in Kyoto, western Japan, on July 5, 2018.

Hundreds of thousands of people across a wide swathe of western and central Japan were evacuated from their homes on Friday (July 6) as torrential rains pounded the nation, flooding rivers, setting off landslides and leaving at least two people dead.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the rainfall was"historic" and warned more rain was set to batter already saturated parts of the nation through Sunday.

By Friday morning, one part of the main island of Honshu had been hit with twice the total amount of rain for a normal July.

At least two people were killed, one when he was sucked down a drainage pipe and another an elderly woman toppled by a gust of wind. Several more people were missing, including one whose car was swept away as he delivered milk in the early morning hours, NHK national television said.

A middle school boy was missing after he was swept away by flood waters in a ditch, NHK added.

"The situation is extremely dangerous," wrote a Twitter user in Kochi, a city on the smallest main island of Shikoku, where the rain has been especially intense.


Arrow Down

Car drives into sinkhole in southwestern Minnesota

Car falls into sinkhole in MN
© ABC7
A 16-year-old driver in southwestern Minnesota had to climb out his car's back window Tuesday morning after heavy rains washed out the road and he drove into a sinkhole.

The Renville County Sheriff's Office says the sinkhole was formed after a culvert beneath the township road was washed out.

The driver wasn't hurt, thanks to his seat belt and the car's airbag.

Candace Leopold, the driver's grandmother, says the teen was on his way to work at a farm north of Redwood Falls. After falling into the sinkhole, the teen escaped by climbing out of the car's back window, she said.


Cloud Lightning

Four hit by lightning during Fourth of July fireworks events at 2 locations in Illinois

lightning
Four people, including a 4-year-old girl, were struck by lightning in two separate Fourth of July gatherings for fireworks on Wednesday, authorities said.

The young girl and an 18-year-old man were first hit by a bolt of lightning as people gathered to watch a fireworks show at Robertson Field in Sheridan, Illinois, about 65 miles southwest of Chicago. Sheridan's fire chief, Kurt Tirevold, told WLS-TV that both victims were critically injured, with the girl receiving a direct hit and the teen suffering a ground shock.

A physician and two off-duty firefighters performed CPR on the girl before emergency responders arrived. They likely saved the girl's life, Tirevold said.


Witnesses told the station that even at several yards away, they felt the lightning strike, which scattered tree bark throughout the field.

Cloud Lightning

Lightning strike on Lake Mahopac, New York sends 4 to hospital

Lightning lights up the afternoon sky over Mahopac July 4, 2018.
© Frank Becerra Jr./The Journal News
Lightning lights up the afternoon sky over Mahopac July 4, 2018.
A lightning strike on Lake Mahopac sent four boaters to the hospital Wednesday afternoon.

The lightning strike occurred around 3:30 p.m. when a storm suddenly moved over the lake. Two men and two women who were on an approximately 20-foot pleasure boat in the lake did not come to shore as the storm intensified.

The lightning did not directly hit the boat, which did not appear damaged, said Mahopac fire Chief Bill Nikisher. It's more likely that the lightning struck the water near the boat, he said.

"They were out there and they said (the boat) stopped working after they got hit. One of the people said they felt tingling in their legs," said Nikisher.