India: Though not for first time in the state, red rain in parts of Kannur on Thursday did create some panic and curiosity among the residents in the district. The strange phenomenon happened around 6:50am and lasted for 15 minutes. People in the 1km area in and around Edachery in Puzhati panchayat panicked as their courtyards turned blood red after rain.
Kannur block panchayat president Shaija M, who collected the sample of the rainwater, said the water was as dark as black coffee and had the smell of raw beetroot. "I thought someone killed some animal and its blood got mixed with water on the courtyard," she said. Akshay Sajeevan, another resident in the locality, said in his compound the colour of rainwater was a bit lighter. According to meteorological department, though red rain is a rare phenomenon, but it is no way harmful. "I assume this is due to atmospheric pollution. The pollutants in the air get dissolved in rainwater resulting in red rain," said M Santhosh, director of meteorological department, Thiruvananthapuram.
Normally such rains occur during the beginning of monsoon. This time it happened in the middle of the monsoon as monsoon is weak. The residents are now planning to give the sample of the red rainwater to the health department for analysis.
Earth Changes
© Thinkstock
The quake struck at 10.36pm, 60km south-west of Opunake in Taranaki, at a depth of 230km.
It was felt strongly around the west coast of the lower North Island, and was widely felt from the Bay of Plenty to Canterbury.
No tsunami was generated by the quake.
Waiouru resident Adrienne Murphy told the Herald it was the "biggest shake we have felt in years".
Residents in Wellington reported being startled by shakes, which lasted for about 15 seconds.
Some said the shakes were strong enough to topple household appliances, but the central Fire Service communications centre said it had received no reports of earthquake-related damage.
Wellington resident Sam Rowe said he felt the walls of his house shaking.
"It shook for about 5 to 10 seconds - things rattled but nothing was knocked over. It wasn't that severe ... and our power's still on."
© NOAA
A haboob looms over Phoenix, as seen from the National Weather Service office on July 5, 2011.
A haboob looms over Phoenix, as seen from the National Weather Service office on July 5, 2011.
A haboob is a type of intense dust storm carried by strong winds that are usually the aftermath of a thunderstorm.
Recent thunderstorms that have dotted the Four Corners region have produced more dry lightning strikes than substantial rainfall.
That will change starting Tuesday when the door is opened for monsoon moisture to start streaming northward.
The initial surge of moisture will help ignite a cluster of thunderstorms across southeastern Arizona and southern New Mexico Tuesday afternoon.
The desert areas of southern Arizona, including Phoenix, may then become the target of a haboob Tuesday night as these thunderstorms track westward. Gusty winds racing away from the thunderstorms would trigger the massive dust storms.
The added moisture in the air will also allow the thunderstorms to drop substantial rainfall Tuesday afternoon and night.
The same can be said across more of the Four Corners region as the week progresses and the monsoon moisture spills northward.
© NOAA/Courtesy of Kevin Gould
An ominous line of clouds portends the approaching derecho in La Porte, Ind., on the afternoon of June 29.
An ominous line of clouds portends the approaching derecho in La Porte, Ind., on the afternoon of June 29.
To qualify as a derecho - the Spanish word for "straight," and pronounced deh-REY-cho - a storm must pack wind gusts of at least 58 mph (93 kph) throughout, and must cause wind damage across an area at least 240 miles (400 kilometers) wide.
Although the full power of the recent storm is still emerging, it appears it exceeded the qualifying requirements. The derecho moved approximately 450 miles (724 km) in six hours, at an average speed of 75 mph (120 kph). It swept southeast from northwestern Indiana, across Ohio, and into Pennsylvania and West Virginia, according to preliminary numbers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Storm Prediction Center.
Parts of Auckland were hit by surface flooding this afternoon, as a severe thunderstorm rolled through the region.
The Fire Service was inundated with more than 150 calls over a few hours this afternoon, mostly from central and west Auckland and the North Shore, but also from Waihi to the east.
Most of the reports were for surface flooding, and several business had to shut shop for the day while rain poured through damaged roofs.
One was central Auckland strip club Calendar Girls where the upstairs section was flooded and water trickled through the ceiling to the downstairs bar.
Hobson St in central Auckland was closed about noon after high winds lifted a section of roof.
Link to video
The Fire Service was inundated with more than 150 calls over a few hours this afternoon, mostly from central and west Auckland and the North Shore, but also from Waihi to the east.
Most of the reports were for surface flooding, and several business had to shut shop for the day while rain poured through damaged roofs.
One was central Auckland strip club Calendar Girls where the upstairs section was flooded and water trickled through the ceiling to the downstairs bar.
Hobson St in central Auckland was closed about noon after high winds lifted a section of roof.
Link to video
© USGS
Tuesday, July 03, 2012 at 10:36:16 UTC
Tuesday, July 03, 2012 at 10:36:16 PM at epicenterTime of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location
39.963°S, 173.705°E
Depth
236.1 km (146.7 miles) Region
OFF WEST COAST OF THE NORTH ISLAND, N.Z.
Distances
57 km (35 miles) SSW of Opunake, New Zealand
64 km (39 miles) SW of Hawera, New Zealand
104 km (64 miles) SSW of New Plymouth, New Zealand
115 km (71 miles) W of Wanganui, New Zealand
New Zealand GeoNet lists the earthquake at 7.0
Before (above) and after (below): The devastating Colorado wildfire can be seen in two overhead images in the Colorado Springs neighbourhood of Mountain Shadows
- 32,000 evacuated from Colorado Springs including Air Force Academy cadets as inferno spread
- About 300 homes reportedly destroyed in Waldo Canyon Fire, which has been named the No. 1 priority for emergency crews
- Obama to tour the disaster-stricken area on Friday to meet firefighters working around the clock
The photos revealed the Mountain Shadows area of Colorado Springs, where dozens of homes can be seen decimated by the fast-moving fire.
The raging wildfire that has encroached on the state's second-largest city and threatened the U.S. Air Force Academy.
Mayor Steve Bach said a more accurate account will be available later in the day of the damage from a blaze that has burned out of control for much of the week and forced more than 30,000 evacuees to frantically pack up belongings and flee.
© John Nelson
61 years of tornado tracks: The map, by John Nelson of IDV Solutions, shows the path of the violent storms, with the brightness of the lines indicating the intensity
61 years of tornado tracks: The map, by John Nelson of IDV Solutions, shows the path of the violent storms, with the brightness of the lines indicating the intensity
For this map shows the course of every single tornado that has hit the U.S. over the last six decades, and as you can see, few places on the East side of the continent have escaped the path of the deadly winds.
The neon-coloured map was created as a side-project by mapping manager John Nelson, in a case of taking his work home with him, as he works for data-visualisation software maker IDV Solutions.
A C-130 tanker plane dispersing flame retardant
The C-130 from an Air National Guard wing based in Charlotte, N.C., was carrying a crew of six and fighting a 6.5-square-mile blaze in the Black Hills of South Dakota when it crashed Sunday, killing at least one crew member and injuring others.
President Barack Obama offered thoughts and prayers to the crew and their families. "The men and women battling these terrible fires across the West put their lives on the line every day for their fellow Americans," he said in a statement.
The crash cut the number of large air tankers fighting this summer's outbreak of wildfires by one-third.
The military put the remaining seven C-130s on an "operational hold," keeping them on the ground indefinitely. That left 14 federally contracted heavy tankers in use until investigators gain a better understanding of what caused the crash.
A great white shark was spotted off La Jolla Shores Monday afternoon, prompting the closure of the beach for the remainder of the day.
The 14-foot great white was seen by a lifeguard who was on a paddleboard at 3:15 p.m., authorities said.
The sighting was made about 50 feet off the coast, in front of the lifeguard tower.
The beach was closed to swimmers from the Marine Room to Scripps Pier, San Diego lifeguard Lt. Greg Buchanan said. Lifeguards issued frequent warnings to beachgoers over a loudspeaker.
Crews searched the water for the shark from personal watercraft, a boat and a helicopter.
The 14-foot great white was seen by a lifeguard who was on a paddleboard at 3:15 p.m., authorities said.
The sighting was made about 50 feet off the coast, in front of the lifeguard tower.
The beach was closed to swimmers from the Marine Room to Scripps Pier, San Diego lifeguard Lt. Greg Buchanan said. Lifeguards issued frequent warnings to beachgoers over a loudspeaker.
Crews searched the water for the shark from personal watercraft, a boat and a helicopter.
Comment: So there you have it America, there are few resources to put out the fires burning your homes but trillions are available to line the pockets of international corporate interests in imperial plunder abroad.