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Severe hail storms trigger disruption in Bogota, Colombia


Al Jazeera
Fri, 03 Nov 2017 21:25 UTC
Intense hailstorms have battered the city of Bogota.
© Mauricio Duenas/EPA
Intense hailstorms have battered the city of Bogota.
Violent thunderstorms have struck the Colombian capital, Bogota.

The storms brought large amounts of hail, which blanketed the city and transformed it into a winter wonderland.

The hail was so deep that it looked like snow. Children buried themselves in it, formed snowballs and built snowmen.

However, the storms also triggered flooding and tore down trees and power lines.

A dangerous mixture of water and ice flowed down some roads to the north of the city, making them impassable and causing a major disruption to transport.


Comment: See also these other recent severe hailstorm reports:-

Intense hailstorm in Cordoba, Argentina leaves hail accumulations of 1.5 m (4.9 feet) within 15 minutes

Giant hail damages cars as freak hailstorm hits Corrientes, Argentina

Severe hailstorm hits Hoedspruit, South Africa

Freak hailstorm wreaks havoc in Johannesburg, South Africa

Intense hailstorm leaves hail accumulation of 50cm in Teruel, Spain

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Attention

Dead 20 foot whale found on Arranmore Island, Ireland

Rachel McLaughlin
Donegal Daily
Mon, 06 Nov 2017 20:26 UTC
the whale washed up at Beal Chraois on the Eastern end of the island
© Arranmore Blue Ferry
The whale washed up at Beal Chraois on the Eastern end of the island
Questions are being raised over a huge beached whale on Arranmore Island which is said to be causing quite a stink.

The 20ft deceased creature is believed to have washed up on Friday last and currently lies across rocks at Beal a'Chraois on the eastern side of the island.

Arranmore RNLI crew members were alerted to the whale when a local resident noticed seabirds flocking around something white in the water.

The crew were called to action during a presentation in the Waterfront Hotel Dungloe. They were being honoured with a €25,000 cheque - the proceeds of a fundraising ball - when they had to leave the celebrations early to identify the issue.

Comment: See also these dead cetacean summary reports for this country: Another record-breaking year for whale and dolphin strandings around Ireland

For 2016, view: Record year for cetacean strandings in Ireland as fin whale washes up on Dublin beach

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Attention

Shark kills man swimming off Cuba in rare attack for the country

Jeff Tavss
local10.com
Mon, 06 Nov 2017 20:11 UTC
Shark attacks
A deadly shark attack just feet away from a Cuban beach killed a 22-year-old man.

The attack occurred Saturday night off Guardalavaca Beach near the city of Holguin in the eastern part of the country.

According to a report from a website run by the Cuban government, the man was with five other people about 10 feet off the shore when he was attacked.

While in the water at around 11:00 p.m., the group swimming in the ocean was was startled to hear the man shout that he had been bitten.
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Snowflake Cold

Days after sunny, dry weather, record-breaking snowfall strikes British Columbia's South Coast

Amy Judd
Global News
Fri, 03 Nov 2017 09:28 UTC
Snow

Coquihalla Summit
Just days after residents of B.C.'s South Coast were basking in sunny and dry weather, the first snowfall of the season hit the region.

Earlier in the week, families were taking kids and dogs to the park, strolling along the beach, biking on the seawall and even leaving the tops down on their convertibles.

But by Friday morning, Lower Mainland residents were waking up to snow on the ground.

Environment Canada says the first Arctic front of the season moved across B.C. on Thursday. It brought a blast of cold air, strong winds and the first snowfall of the season to Metro Vancouver and Greater Victoria.

Communities and highway passes in the Southwest Interior and Kootenays also received significant snowfall.

Cranbrook set a new record of 20 centimetres, breaking the old record of 15.7 centimetres set in 1984.

Comment: While it could be argued that every winter season sees a record of either early snowfall or amount of snow occurring at some specific locality, what so far has marked this year out across the Northern Hemisphere, is the number of such records (see here to search for a selection). To further emphasize the trend of early snowfall, reports started appearing in August originating from Romania, Switzerland, Russia and Labrador and Alberta in Canada.

The start of September brought snow to Georgia 3 months early, while Mount Washington in New Hampshire saw the white stuff on the first day of the month. By the middle of September early snowfall had left a 12 foot snow base on mountains in Alaska, while Mammoth Lakes in California had snow one month earlier than usual. Over several different mountain ranges in Europe it was a similar picture with the high ground in Austria receiving a foot of snow.

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Black Cat 2

Leopard drags sleeping man out of home in Uttarakhand, India


NDTV
Wed, 01 Nov 2017 10:22 UTC
Leopard

Leopard
Narayan Ram was sleeping at his home in Shi village without shutting the doors on Sunday night when the leopard struck and dragged him away, DFO RS Prajapati said.

A 51-year-old man was killed by a leopard that dragged him out of his home in Almora district in Uttarakhand when he was asleep at night, forest officials said on Monday.

Narayan Ram was sleeping at his home in Shi village without shutting the doors on Sunday night when the leopard struck and dragged him away, DFO RS Prajapati said.

On Tuesday morning, his body was found in bushes about 300 metres away from the house, he said.

The forest department has placed a cage in the area to trap the big cat, he said.

Source: Press Trust of India

Comment: See also these other reports of atypical behaviour by leopards entering homes and killing people :-

Leopard kills boy after entering house in Junnar, India: 'Very abnormal activity'

Girl killed by leopard as she slept next to her parents in India

Leopard kills 7-month-old baby in Gujarat, India

      Read More...
Attention

Woman nearly loses left hand following shark bite off MacArthur Beach State Park, Florida; two attacks on the same day in the area

Jorge Milian
fox30jax.com
Mon, 06 Nov 2017 10:06 UTC
shark bite

Shark bite
A 60-year-old Palm Beach Gardens woman nearly lost her left hand Oct. 23 after being bitten by a shark near MacArthur Beach State Park in North Palm Beach.

Susan Peteka, a former emergency room nurse, was on her daily swim around 8 a.m. when she felt a "swipe" and then realized that "blood and body tissue were flying out of me."

Peteka managed to reach the shore, but no one was on the beach. Bleeding profusely and becoming light-headed, Peteka's cries alerted the resident of a beach-side condo. The man wrapped a towel above the wound and called 9-1-1.

"I just started screaming, 'Help me, I'm going to die,'" Peteka said.

      Read More...
Windsock

Severe weather blows roofs from buildings, brings unseasonal snow and 'giant hail' to New South Wales, Australia


ABC Online
Mon, 06 Nov 2017 07:22 UTC
Storm damage in Kurri Kurri, NSW
© Nick Hansen
A tree down on a car in the main street of Kurri Kurri.
A roof collapse has sent two people to hospital as rain and hail caused widespread damage across NSW, with the bureau predicting more "giant hail" and destructive winds into the evening.

The Bureau of Meteorology warned "giant hail and destructive winds" were possible with thunderstorms over the North West Slopes and Plains, parts of the Upper Hunter and inland parts of the Mid-North Coast.

Areas that could be affected this evening are Port Macquarie, Taree, Armidale, Tamworth, Gunnedah, Moree, Narrabri, Walgett and Lightning Ridge.

The dangerous weather caused the roof of a community centre to collapse in the Hunter Valley town of Kurri Kurri, near Cessnock, just after 2:00pm.

Two people were taken to Maitland Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries while everyone else inside the centre was accounted for.
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Cloud Precipitation

Seven dead in worst floods to hit Penang, Malaysia

Shannon Teoh
The Straits Times
Sun, 05 Nov 2017 21:20 UTC
Floods in Penang, Malaysia
© THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
A sinkhole caused by a landslide in Tanjung Bungah. The state’s worst floods caused more than 3,500 people to be evacuated from Penang, mostly on the mainland.
Seven people have died and thousands evacuated as Penang was inundated by up to 4m of water after an 18-hour storm that ended yesterday morning.

The state's worst flooding caused its Chief Minister to enlist Malaysia's police and military to help with relief efforts.

At least seven people have died due to the storm, said police. Five of them have been identified.

The remaining two victims are still unknown, though one of them is believed to be a Bangladeshi man who died when his home was crushed by a falling tree. One person, a resident of Bukit Tambun, is reported to be missing.

More than 3,500 people were evacuated from Penang, mostly on the mainland, with another 2,000 in neighbouring Kedah forced to leave their homes.

Winds from the storm - which the authorities said were due to Typhoon Damrey which killed at least 27 people in Vietnam - were so strong that a ferry was washed ashore in Butterworth, the main town of mainland Penang, while a landslide-cum-sinkhole tore up a road in front of a row of newly built luxury houses on the island.


Comment: Penang recorded the highest rainfall in its history at 315mm - 45 mm more than the previous record of 270mm recorded on Sept 15, this year which also resulted in huge flooding.

      Read More...
Wolf

Newborn killed by family dog in Cleveland, Ohio


wkrn.com
Sat, 04 Nov 2017 19:34 UTC
canine attack
© Angela Antunes / CC by 2.0
Authorities say a 2-week-old girl has died after being attacked by a family dog in Cleveland.

Police say the infant was bitten shortly before 7 p.m. Friday and died about two hours later at a hospital.

Neighbors said the dog was often kept outside, and described it as being vicious and aggressive toward people and other animals.

The Cleveland police homicide unit, which is called to all deaths involving young children, is investigating.

Police haven't released the infant's name or other details about what happened.


Source: The Associated Press
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Attention

Sperm whale washes up on Oak Island, North Carolina


wric.com
Sun, 05 Nov 2017 19:05 UTC
An emaciated sperm whale washed up on the beach at Oak Island, an expert said.
© WECT
An emaciated sperm whale washed up on the beach at Oak Island, an expert said.
Hundreds of people flocked to the beach in Oak Island Thursday morning to catch a glimpse of a young sperm whale that had washed up close to shore.

According to a spokesperson for the town, the beached whale was first reported around 9:45 a.m.

Spokesperson Kyle Thomas said the whale, which is nearly 30 feet long, is located near East 22nd Street.

William McLellan, the coordinator for the UNCW marine mammal stranding program, said the whale is "terribly emaciated" and is approximately 2-3 years old.
      Read More...
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