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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills six boys in Odisha, India

Subrat Das and Lelin Kumar Mallick
The Telegraph (India)
Thu, 19 Mar 2015 17:03 UTC
Image
© Telegraph
School students get treatment at Capital Hospital after lightning struck them at Jaripada village in Khurda district.
Tragedy struck young cricket enthusiasts ahead of India's crucial World Cup tie against Bangladesh as lightning killed six youths at Jaripada village in Khurda district, 70km from here. The youths were playing a cricket match when the incident occurred.

Thirteen others were injured in the incident, which happened when a thunderstorm, accompanied by lightning, hit the area.

As the storm hit the area, the youths, in the age group between 14 and 20, took shelter in an under-construction building at the village. But, the lightning struck there, killing three of them on the spot. Three others died on way to Tangi hospital.

The injured have been admitted to hospitals in Khurda and Bhubaneswar. "The condition of the injured is stable, and they have been referred to private hospitals in Khurda and Bhubaneswar," said a doctor of Tangi hospital.

Around 30 people, including children, were watching the match when the thunderstorm, accompanied by lightning, struck. The deceased have been identified as Bibhuti Parida, 19, Rahul Naik, 15, S.K. Okil, 14, Ajit Behera, 15, Shahrukh Khan, 20, and Santosh Pradhan, 15.
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Arrow Down

Huge sinkholes open up as the Dead Sea shrivels

Molly Hunter
abcnews.go.com
Thu, 19 Mar 2015 16:07 UTC
Image

Thousands of sinkholes are taking over the Dead Sea.
There are more than 3,000 sinkholes on the banks of the Dead Sea -- and they're multiplying exponentially, according to environmentalists, as the body of water dries up.

"It's nature's revenge," said Gidon Bromberg, the Israeli Director at EcoPeace Middle East, an organization that brings together Jordanian, Palestinian and Israeli environmentalists to protect their shared environmental heritage.

"These sinkholes are a direct result of the inappropriate mismanagement of water resources in the region."

More than 1,400 feet below sea level, the Dead Sea is the lowest point on land. The first sinkhole was spotted in the 1980s. By 1990, there were 40, and 15 years later new chasms are breaking open every day.

"They could develop overnight. Or over time," Bromberg said. "Making them unpredictable. And very dangerous."

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Attention

Sinkhole plagues motorists in museum district of Richmond, Virginia

Shelby Brown
WVTR.com
Mon, 16 Mar 2015 23:40 UTC
Image
© WVTR
Here is a heads up for bikers and drivers traveling along North Belmont Avenue in the city. There are bright orange cones and barrels are surrounding a sinkhole.

Neighbor Judy Dart did not realize how bad it was until Sunday when she spotted a biker stopped in the area.

She went over because she thought he had been hurt.

"He said he was putting a cone there because there was a big hole, so I went over to see" Dart explained.

That's why she contacted the city.

Dart says like that biker, her husband also placed cones around the sinkhole to alert others.

"My concern is traffic coming down the street and someone hitting it and that could possibly hurt somebody" Dart said.

Treyvon Miller works at a nearby restaurant and tells us he has heard customers talking about the sinkhole.

"I don't really drive but I have noticed it. It's bad. I think they need to fix something like that immediately" Miller said.

CBS 6 contacted Richmond's Department of Public utilities to find out when the work will be done. No one responded to our calls.
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Snowflake

First day of Spring brings blanket of snow to Northern Virginia, Massachusetts

Alex Sosnowski
Accuweather.com
Wed, 18 Mar 2015 09:55 UTC
Image
© Accuweather/junebug
A storm spreading rain across the South this week will take a northward jog and spread snow to part of the Interstate-95 and I-81 corridors of the Northeast on Friday.

Spring officially arrives on Friday, March 20, at 6:45 p.m. EDT, but Old Man Winter may have the last laugh.

Colder air will invade the Northeast during the middle days of the week, and the atmosphere is likely to remain just cold enough for some wet snow before the week draws to a close.
Image
Despite the colder air, temperatures will be marginal for the storm with a close call between rain and snow along the I-95 corridor in the mid-Atlantic, Long Island and along the southern coast of New England. Much of the snow that falls in this area may melt on roads. However, there will be some exceptions.

A wintry mix of rain and snow is most likely in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Wilmington, Delaware, and Trenton, New Jersey. The storm is likely to impact travel in this area, including the potential for flight delays due to poor visibility and deicing operations. Motorists and pedestrians should be prepared for delays on Friday.

Areas farther north such as Harrisburg, Allentown and Scranton, Pennsylvania; New York City and White Plains, New York; Hartford, Connecticut; and Boston are likely to be cold enough for all or mostly snow. Airline delays due to deicing and poor visibility are likely in the New York City area and perhaps as far north as Boston. Most areas within this swath will receive 1-3 inches of snow with the greatest amount on non-paved surfaces.

Comment: See the latest SOTT video summary on the extreme weather we are having on the planet.



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Ice Cube

As snowfall records are set, ferry becomes stuck in sea ice off Nova Scotia

Andrew Freedman
mashable.com
Wed, 18 Mar 2015 20:07 UTC
Image
© Twitter/@MAFerries
The MV Highlanders pictured from a Canadian Coast Guard vessel in Cabot Strait on March 17, 2015.
While the all-time snowfall record in Boston may have received most of the media attention in the U.S., Canada has had its fair share of unusually severe winter weather this season as well.

Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland have been slammed by back-to-back-to-back-to-back (you get the point) severe winter storms, producing a broad area of sea ice cover and mountainous snowbanks along the streets of cities such as Charlottetown and Saint John.

A Marine Atlantic passenger ferry with 190 people aboard was stuck in pack ice off Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, on Tuesday, with Canadian Coast Guard ships trying to free the vessel. According to the Canadian Press, the MV Highlanders ran into heavy ice on Monday night, after leaving North Sydney, Nova Scotia, for Port aux Basques, Newfoundland.
#CCG Louis S St-Laurent assisting MV Highlanders and Blue Puttees in Cabot Strait. Slow progress in very thick #ice. pic.twitter.com/Do2HeFWiVW

— DFO_NL (@DFO_NL) March 17, 2015

In a statement to passengers, Marine Atlantic warned of travel delays.
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Bizarro Earth

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.2 - 82km NNW of Talcahuano, Chile


US Geological Survey
Wed, 18 Mar 2015 20:12 UTC
Talcahuano Quake_180315
© USGS
Event Time
  1. 2015-03-18 18:27:28 (UTC)
  2. Times in other timezones
Nearby Cities
  1. 82km (51mi) NNW of Talcahuano, Chile
  2. 83km (52mi) NW of Tome, Chile
  3. 91km (57mi) NW of Penco, Chile
  4. 96km (60mi) NNW of Concepcion, Chile
  5. 400km (249mi) SW of Santiago, Chile
Scientific Data
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Fish

Large fish kill and dolphin stranding reported on Outer Banks beaches, North Carolina

Becca Mitchell and Todd Corillo
wtkr.com
Wed, 18 Mar 2015 19:31 UTC
Image
© Corolla Beach Music
Dead dolphin.
A large number of dead fish and a dead dolphin have washed up on the beaches of the Outer Banks over the past few days.

Locals have reported that the stretch of dead fish runs for approximately three miles in the Corolla area.

The North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Division of Water Resources manages fish kill activity in the state.

Environmental Senior Specialist Jill Paxson with the Division of Water Resources says she hasn't seen the fish kill nor gotten reports of it, but says they are typically caused by one of two factors.
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Binoculars

Spectacular lost hummingbird rediscovered after 69 years in Colombia

Richard Emblin
The City Paper
Wed, 18 Mar 2015 19:15 UTC
Image
© Carlos Julio Rojas (ProAves)
Blue-bearded Helmetcrest was recently split from the other forms of helmetcrest, becoming a seriously endangered full species.
Conservationists Carlos Julio Rojas and Cristian Vásquez were trekking through the high altitude wetlands of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta when they were stopped in their tracks by a rare and beautiful find.

Given their location in the coastal range home to the "Lost City" (and many yet to be discovered archeological sites), these biologists working at the Reserva Natural de Aves 'El Dorado,' a scientific research station of the ProAves Foundation, managed to capture with a camera the Colibrí Barbudito Azul, or Blue-bearded Helmetcrest.

For bird lovers around the world, the spotting of a Blue-bearded Helmetcrest is important news, as the last time this hummingbird was seen by humans, was back in 1946.

"I saw the flash of a bird screeching past me and it perched on a bush nearby. I managed to take a quick photo of it before it flew off. I then reviewed the photo in the camera and immediately recognized the strikingly-patterned hummingbird as the long-lost Blue-bearded Helmetcrest," explains Cristian.
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Cloud Lightning

Car explodes after freak lightning strike ignites nearby gas mains in Canberra, Australia

Tegan Osborne and Ruby Cornish
ABC News
Wed, 18 Mar 2015 02:57 UTC
car hit by lightning in Australia
© Sarah Groube
The car was hit by lightning above a gas rupture on Dryandra Street, O'Connor.
A man has escaped serious injury after his car burst into flames following a freak lightning strike near a gas main in Canberra's north.

The fire began after lightning struck on Dryandra Street in Canberra's north during a short thunderstorm over the ACT about 8:00am.

Shortly after the lightning strike a car on the street burst into flames.

Firefighter Danny Brighenti said crews at the scene were initially puzzled by the blaze, which kept reigniting.

"They believed there was a ruptured fuel tank which was causing the car to reignite," he said.

He said on closer inspection, once the fire died down, it was revealed a gas main had ruptured near the car.

Nearby resident Sarah Groubes: "As we turned around the corner onto Dryandra Street we just saw this fireball on the side of the road."

Commander Brighenti said the cause of the gas leak was unclear.

He said scenarios in which cars were struck by lightning were rare, and it was possible a tree nearby was actually struck.

He said it was also unclear whether the car that caught fire was parked or moving along the road at the time of the lightning strike.

"On arrival the person had got out of the vehicle, but the car was heavily involved in fire with the surrounding trees and bushes," Commander Brighenti said.

"They're not injured ... but the car is totally destroyed."

A mountain bike and an iPhone inside the car were also destroyed.

Comment: Elsewhere today, six teenagers were tragically killed in India by lightning after "great bolts of lightning cut through the sky", and
six construction workers were killed after being struck by lightning in South Africa.

See also: SOTT Exclusive: Solar System grounding:Transformer explosions and electrical anomalies

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Magnet

Northern Lights head south: Geomagnetic storm reveals aurora borealis in Central Russia


RT
Wed, 18 Mar 2015 12:29 UTC
Image
© RIA Novosti/Igor Podgornyi
Aurora in Mikhailovsky District of the Ryazan Region.
An abnormal atmospheric phenomenon was visible throughout the relevantly low latitude of central Russia, including Moscow and St. Petersburg on Tuesday. A powerful geomagnetic storm promises to continue for a second day, also including an aurora.

Witnesses and amateur astronomers have been busily posting photos and videos of this atmospheric event - so rarely seen in Central Russia - on blogs and social media.

As a rule, the aurora borealis is visible in regions close or above the Polar Circle, for example in Russia's Arctic city of Murmansk.
Image
© www.moveinfo.ru
But sometimes extremely powerful solar flares cause this atmospheric phenomenon to be visible in much lower altitudes, as is the case now.

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