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Man survives 'predatory' cougar attack in western Canada by fighting back, officers say

Mark Price
The Sacramento Bee
Tue, 26 Jan 2021 15:19 UTC
A rare cougar attack on a human has been reported in an Soo Valley north of Vancouver. The species is also known as a mountain lion and puma.
© WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE
A rare cougar attack on a human has been reported in an Soo Valley north of Vancouver. The species is also known as a mountain lion and puma.
The cougar attack on a man reported Monday afternoon in the Soo Valley north of Vancouver, Canada, "was predatory in nature," officials say.

The victim is a 69-year-old man, who suffered major injuries while fighting off the cougar, officials said. His identity has not been released.

Canada's Conservation Officer Service says the mauling happened around 3:30 p.m. Monday, near the British Columbia community of Whistler. That's about 220 miles north of Seattle.

"The man was mauled by a cougar and suffered major injuries to his face and hand," the Conservation Officer Service wrote on Facebook. "He was taken to (a) hospital via ambulance and is reportedly in stable condition."
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Snowflake

Blizzard delivers up to 14 inches of snow to Tahoe region overnight, 2 FEET at Dodge Ridge, California

Douglas Zimmerman
SF Gate
Wed, 27 Jan 2021 11:05 UTC
Between 8 and 14 inches fell overnight at Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows ski resorts.
© Brandon Skinner / Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows
Between 8 and 14 inches fell overnight at Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows ski resorts.
Up to 14 inches of snow fell in the Tahoe region overnight as an atmospheric river aimed at the Sierra mountains dumped snow at elevations above 3,000 feet.

Besides the 14 inches recorded at Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows, Sierra-at-Tahoe recorded 10 inches of fresh powder, Kirkwood 11 inches, Heavenly 12 inches, and Sugar Bowl 9 inches of snow. Further south in the Sierra, Dodge Ridge ski resort recorded 24 inches of new snowfall.

More significant snow is forecast through Friday, and an NOAA blizzard warning is in effect for the Sierra until Friday at 2 a.m. Many higher elevations expect to receive 3-7 feet of new snow from this week's storm when all is said and done.

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Attention

Nearly 400 Gray Whales have died off the west coast since 2019

Alex Fox
Smithsonian Magazine
Wed, 27 Jan 2021 10:11 UTC
A gray whale washed ashore on the beach of the Sandlake Recreation Area north of Pacific City on April 18, 2020.
© Tillamook County Sheriff's Office
A gray whale washed ashore on the beach of the Sandlake Recreation Area north of Pacific City on April 18, 2020.
Scientists say the die-off, which is entering its third year, is likely due to a scarcity of food in the animals' cold water feeding grounds

Reports of emaciated gray whales have started to come in as the whales arrive at their breeding grounds off of Baja California, Mexico. If the trend continues this will be the third hard year in a row for the North Pacific gray whale population, with hundreds turning up dead in what scientists are calling an unusual mortality event, reports Isaac Schultz for Gizmodo.

According to new research published this week in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series, the die-off began in January 2019 and as of the paper's publication, the official death toll stood at 378. The species' last unusual mortality event occurred around the year 2000 and claimed the lives of some 600 whales, according to Gizmodo.

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Snowflake

Historic snowstorm in Des Moines breaks daily snowfall record previously set in 1895

Philip Joens, Tim Webber
Des Moines Register
Wed, 27 Jan 2021 08:23 UTC
Des Moines record snow
Des Moines hasn't seen a winter storm like this week's that dropped more than a foot of snow since 2009. And the city had never recorded a snowier January 25 than Monday.

Snow started falling around noon Monday in central Iowa and didn't stop until about 10 a.m. Tuesday. The storm created hazardous conditions on roads across the state, disrupted flights into and out of Des Moines International Airport, and forced many school districts to dismiss early Monday and cancel or delay school Tuesday.

The 10.3 inches that fell by the end of Monday set a new single-day record, according to the National Weather Service. It broke a 126-year-old mark for Jan. 25, previously set when 10 inches of snow fell that day in 1895.

By noon Tuesday, the NWS said 12.9 inches of snow had fallen at the airport, the 12th-highest two-day snow total in the city's history and snowiest storm in Des Moines since a blizzard dropped 15.5 inches over Dec. 8-9, 2009.


Comment: Heavy snow and ice in the Midwest and Ohio Valley - up to 14 inches

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Snowflake Cold

China's vegetable prices hit record highs due to historically cold winter

Cap Allon
Electroverse
Wed, 27 Jan 2021 14:06 UTC
China veg prices

Asia's energy prices aren't the only commodity to have reached record highs this winter, the chill of solar minimum has also driven China's fresh vegetable prices to unprecedented levels.

A lingering "dip" in the jet stream has seen Arctic air funnel into southern Asian since early-December, 2020. The resulting cold has hampered the efforts of farmers ACROSS the continent, including in China, where on Monday the nation's wholesale price index for agricultural products -developed by China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs- surged to a new all-time high of 139.

In addition, the sub-index dedicated solely to vegetables climbed even higher, to 145, also a new record. Among the 28 types of vegetables monitored by the index, the average price surged to 6.2 yuan (96 US cents) per kg on Monday, the highest since the data became available 10 years ago. The price of cauliflowers and cabbages almost doubled compared to a year earlier.

"In the beginning of 2021, we had three cold waves. This type of cold and frosty weather has a big impact on the production and growth of vegetables, their maturity periods and yields," said a spokesman for Baishazhou Agricultural and Non-staple Products Marketplace, a major wholesale market in Hubei province.

"Some vegetables have frozen to death," the spokesman continued, "even the vegetables growing in greenhouses may freeze badly, such as red cabbages and lettuces. The quality of a number of water spinach has dropped with declining supply.

Comment: As well as natural disasters devastating crop growth, the insane response to the coronavirus crisis and losing value of currency in Western nations in particular, have made the production, availability, purchasing and distribution of food - a MAJOR global issue the likes of which we haven't seen in generations.

See related articles:

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Snowflake

Heavy snow and ice in the Midwest and Ohio Valley - up to 14 inches


Weather Nation
Tue, 26 Jan 2021 19:06 UTC
snowtot
A strong winter storm brought heavy snow to the central Plains and western Great Lakes. Some of the highest snowfall accumulations were in Nebraska and Iowa where totals were over a foot.

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Snowflake

Snow blankets sun-kissed Arizona, Nevada and California - 18 inches deep in Prescott

Barbara Goldberg
Reuters
Mon, 18 Jan 2021 14:26 UTC
Tim Ahlman shovels snow outside his home in Bellemont, Ariz. Monday, Jan. 25, 2021. A series of winter storms have dropped more precipitation in Flagstaff than the city had during last summer’s monsoon season.
© FELICIA FONSECA / AP
Tim Ahlman shovels snow outside his home in Bellemont, Ariz. Monday, Jan. 25, 2021. A series of winter storms have dropped more precipitation in Flagstaff than the city had during last summer’s monsoon season.
There is nothing weird about seeing snow in January, unless it is falling on sun-kissed expanses including Nevada's Las Vegas and Arizona's deserts, which were transformed on Tuesday into winter wonderlands.

Just days after Malibu, California, known for its balmy beaches, was blanketed with snow by an unusual winter storm, frosty flakes made their way to Nevada and Arizona - shocking for some but a welcome relief for many in the drought-plagued U.S. West.

Prescott, Arizona, home of Whiskey Row bars and live music venues, reported 18 inches of accumulation by mid-morning on Tuesday, and it was still snowing, said meteorologist Bob Oravec of the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland.

"They are actually very happy they are getting this snow," he said. "Snow pack is always good for future water management."

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Attention

Indonesia volcano eruption: Merapi ejects new ash cloud


Deutsche Welle
Wed, 27 Jan 2021 14:03 UTC
Hot volcanic material flowed for 1,500 meters (4,900 feet) down the slopes of Mount Merapi

Hot volcanic material flowed for 1,500 meters (4,900 feet) down the slopes of Mount Merapi
The Mount Merapi volcano in Indonesia erupted on Wednesday spewing ash, gas and extremely hot rock fragments for four hours, the Research and Development Center for Geological Disaster Technology reported.

There were no reports of casualties, but the Development Center kept the alert system at its second-highest level.

The explosion happened just as residents had begun to return to their nearby homes on the island of Java after fleeing previous eruptions.

The resulting lava flow was the biggest since authorities raised the danger level in November, Hanik Humaida of the local Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center said.

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Attention

4 Gray's beaked whales strand on Ruakākā Beach, New Zealand - one dies


New Zealand Herald
Tue, 26 Jan 2021 13:37 UTC
One of the four Gray's beaked whales that got stranded on Ruakākā Beach couldn't swim back out to sea and died.
© Project Jonah
One of the four Gray's beaked whales that got stranded on Ruakākā Beach couldn't swim back out to sea and died.
Flensing of a Gray's beaked whale that died on Northland's Ruakākā Beach will begin this afternoon under the supervision of the local hāpu.

Locals found four Gray's beaked whales stranded on the beach on Tuesday evening and called Project Jonah- an environmental organisation dedicated to the protection of whales, dolphins and seals.

Three whales were refloated and helped back out to sea while one kept turning around and coming to the shallows.

Several locally-trained medics who volunteer for Project Jonah went down to the beach after the three whales swam back out to sea to help those that worked on the fourth whale.
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Tornado2

1 dead, at least 17 injured after tornado strikes Alabama town

Jay Reeves and Desiree Mathurin
ABC News
Tue, 26 Jan 2021 14:12 UTC
Alabama tornado damage
© WRBC
A teenager huddling in his basement was killed and several of his family members were critically injured when a tornado blew a tree onto their home in Alabama and it collapsed on top of them, police said Tuesday.

The tornado left a swath of destruction Monday night in Fultondale, a Jefferson County city north of Birmingham. Piles of furniture, appliances and tree limbs were strewn about and vehicles ended up in awkward positions, as if a child had flung his collection of Matchbox cars into the air. One car landed upside down against some tree branches on a large pile of debris.

Police Chief D.P. Smith said several other family members trapped in the basement were critically injured, while one escaped harm. The teen was pronounced dead at the scene Tuesday morning .

"They were doing what they were supposed to be doing,'′ the chief said.

Fultondale Fire Chief Justin McKenzie said 17 people have since been hospitalized and 11 others were treated on scene, WVTM-TV reported.


Comment: Winter storms alerts in effect for 23 US states

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