Earth Changes

Lightning strike claims 39th victim of year in Cambodia

Khouth Sophak Chakrya
The Phnom Penh Post
Tue, 23 May 2017 10:13 UTC

A farmer died after being struck by lightning on Sunday evening while herding his cattle home in Kandal province's Khsach Kandal district.

Chey Thom Commune Police Chief Kong An said yesterday that the victim, Mao Yean, 53, was tending to his cattle at a rice field located about 300 metres away from his home when it started to rain at around 4:30pm, and he decided to herd the cattle home.

"According to his wife, the victim was struck on his way home," An said.

According to a report by the National Committee for Disaster Management, the number of deaths caused by lightning this year has risen to a total of 39 cases as of yesterday, with an additional 46 cases of injuries.

Lightning bolt kills 3 children in Karnataka, India

Deccan Herald
Tue, 23 May 2017 10:06 UTC

Three children were struck dead by lightning, while another was seriously injured, at Aladageri village of Hirekerur taluk on Monday.

The deceased have been identified as Alfaz Khan Ahmed Khan Pathan, Afreed Khan Imam Sab Pathan and Abdul Khader Geelani Abdul Ghani Kod, all aged 14 and residents of Ranebennur. The condition of another boy, Shameer Khan Pathan, is stated to be critical.

According to police, the children had come to the Barpur Shah Wali Dargah in the village with their families. Lightning struck them when they were returning home.

Destructive storm closes US-Mexico border bridge in Nuevo Laredo

Mexico News Daily
Mon, 22 May 2017 17:55 UTC

© Excelsior
Border between USA and Mexico closed after an extreme storm destroys custom facilities in Nuevo Laredo (Mexico)

Strong winds, heavy rain shut down World Trade Bridge

A busy commercial truck crossing on the Mexico-United States border was closed yesterday after a severe storm brought strong winds and heavy rain, flipping tractor-trailers on their sides and causing damage to the World Trade Bridge in Nuevo Laredo.

The governments of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Laredo reported that damage from the storm, initially thought to be a tornado, was considerable, knocking down communications antennas and leaving many areas without electricity.

The storm struck about 8:30pm and knocked out power to Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa, Valle Hermoso and Matamoros, among other locations, delivering gusts of wind of up to 90 kilometers per hour.

At the border crossing, signs and trees were blown over and Mexican Customs facilities sustained severe damages.

The bridge, which carries more than 12,000 cargo vehicles a day between Nuevo Laredo and Laredo, Texas, remained closed this morning until further notice.

Neither fatalities nor injuries were reported as a result of the storm.

U.S. corn fields turn into lakes as late spring deluge floods Midwest

AG Web
Mon, 22 May 2017 21:23 UTC

A flooded field in northwest Ohio.

Nebraska's corn fields are so flooded that farmers are posting videos of themselves wakeboarding.

Spring downpours are pummeling U.S. grain farmers, causing soggy fields and threatening crop disease. In the past 30 days, about 40 percent of the Midwest got twice the amount of normal rainfall, with soils saturated from Arkansas to Ohio, according to MDA Weather Services. While spring showers usually benefit crops, the precipitation has come fast enough to flood some corn and rice fields and trigger quality concerns about maturing wheat.

"Bad conditions got worse with rain on Friday," said Brandon Bowser, regional manager for Harvest Land Cooperative, which has 26 agronomy locations in Indiana and Ohio. "There are lakes in some fields."

Bowser said planting was off to a fast start in the second half of April, before 10 inches (25 centimeters) of May rainfall and lower temperatures erased early optimism. He estimates about a third of his region's corn will be replanted, and surviving seedlings are at risk of blight.

"It's the worst corn replant in our area I've ever seen in 28 years," Bowser, 47, said.

A sign? Sinkhole opens in front of Trump's Mar-a-Lago, hillarity ensues

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Mon, 22 May 2017 21:29 UTC

With Trump traveling half-way around the globe, on Monday an amusing "event of nature" took place at the president's favorite "ground zero", when a sinkhole opened up in front of Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort where he has previously hosted world leaders including China's Xi Jinping and Japan's PM Shinzo Abe, prompting an advisory from the Town of Palm Beach.

The 4-foot-by-4-foot sinkhole, first reported by the local municipality, formed on Southern Boulevard directly in front of Mar-a-Lago, in the vicinity of a newly installed water main.

Two dead, four injured after lightning strikes in West Bengal, India

Millennium Post
Sun, 21 May 2017 20:59 UTC

An officer of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was killed and four others injured after lightning struck at Belpahari in Jhargram on Saturday night. A 12-year-old boy was also killed after lightning struck him at another village under Belpahari police station.

The victim, identified as Tapan Kumar Dey, was declared dead after he was rushed to a nearby hospital. The other four injured CRPF jawans are undergoing treatment. Some of the injured are said to be in a critical condition.

The officer and the jawans were posted at CRPF 165 BN camp.

The incident occurred on Saturday night when the deceased officer and the jawans were conducting vigil in the area. While the five CRPF personnel were out conducting vigil, they were struck by lightning. After hearing about the incident, locals rushed to the spot.

Jellyfish 'mega swarm' involving thousands washes up on 4 coastal areas of west Wales

Matthew Murray
BBC
Fri, 12 May 2017 20:07 UTC

The jellyfish, some of them reaching 35 inches in diameter, have stunned holidaymakers

Thousands of jellyfish have washed up on beaches in Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion in what a conservationist has described as a "mega swarm".

More than 300 barrel jellyfish washed up in New Quay, Ceredigion.

And in Pembrokeshire there have been sightings in Tenby, Saundersfoot and Newport.

Sarah Perry from Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre said: "This is definitely a mega swarm. I have never seen them this big before."

She said the creatures do wash up each year but added that this was "unusual because of the number on our shores and the size of them".

Ms Perry said she believed the recent warm weather had sparked the boom in jellyfish, which can grow up to 88cm (35in) in diameter.

Severe flooding affecting Sukhothai, Thailand; worst floods in 15 years

The Nation (Thailand)
Mon, 22 May 2017 19:47 UTC

Floodwater in Thailand

Flooding in Sukhothai's Khirimas district remained critical on Monday morning, with its main business area under water up to 60 centimetres deep and the flood death toll rising to three after the discovery of a body in a canal.

The victim was identified as tambon Nong Prading resident Sriprai Boo-on, 48.

Khirimas's 10 tambons are inundated, affecting 5,536 families and damaging about 20,000 rai (3,200 hectares) of farmland.

Besides various state offices, 11 schools were closed including Khirimas Phittayakhom School, Ban Lan Eung School, Ban Khao Thong Pha Ngab School, Ban Sam Poung School and Ban Pak Klong Reu School.

They will remain shut until the situation returns to normal, said Sukhothai Primary Educational Service Area Office 1 chief Phayom Wongpul.

Comment: A slightly earlier report from the same source contained this headline: Sukhothai hit by worst flooding in 15 years

Late winter storm ground to sky lightning with record cold and snow

Adapt 2030
You Tube
Mon, 22 May 2017 19:14 UTC

Ground to sky lightning in Oklahoma City on May 18 2017.

With atmospheric changes expected during the grand solar minimum intensification and the inter-tropical convergence zone shifting, strange occurrences in our skies are to be expected. Here we go, Ground to Sky Lightning, but the media blames it on mobile phone towers. Also record cold and snow records broken during the latest storm on record with the greatest snow depths back to 1880's. Also I included the newest research I have on the timeline and intensification for the grand solar minimum.

Sources

Thick Arctic sea ice and lots of polar bears

Adapt 2030
You Tube
Mon, 22 May 2017 19:04 UTC

A polar bear and two cubs ready to spring into the ice-cold waters

All the stories of low Arctic sea ice seem to be exaggerated as there is record sea ice off Newfoundland even with incredible pack ice 12 polar bears came ashore, a rarity and were put down by game officials as the danger to the public. Sea ice is not at record lows as they would have you believe, so much ice is there that now they are trying to confuse you with "Young Sea Ice" , hey sea ice is sea ice. It still has albedo effect and our planet has begin to cool. The mini ice age is here and intensifying.