Earth Changes

Woman fatally attacked by 4 pit bull terriers in Joshua Tree, California

Brooke Beare
kesq.com
Fri, 18 Jan 2019 11:47 UTC

A 70-year-old Joshua Tree woman was fatally attacked by four dogs Wednesday night, according to a news release from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

Deputies from the Morongo Basin Station received a call about a "vicious animal attack" at approximately 10:11 p.m. Wednesday on the 59000 block of Sunflower Drive in Joshua Tree.

Upon arrival, deputies found the victim at home alone, suffering from injuries as a result of being mauled by four pit bulls. She died a short time later.

According to the Sheriff's Department the victim lived at the residence with her husband, and an adult male friend, who owned the dogs.The dogs were considered family pets, and the victim had helped take care of them over the past year, according to the news release.

More dead whales found along the southern Gulf coast in Thailand

The Thaiger
Thu, 17 Jan 2019 11:08 UTC

Two young Omura whales have been separately found on Songkhla's beaches. They were probably from the same herd. The bodies had already started decomposing when they were found.

Pak Tae Ra villagers in Ranote district alerted a regional maritime research centre that a big whale was found on the beach. The centre's chief Suthep Juela-ong found the remains of an Omura whale, weighing 800-1,000 kilograms and 5.65 metres long. It was estimated that the whale has been dead for at least two weeks, Suthep said.

The centre's officials will collect tissue samples and check the cause of death, he said, adding that the preliminary test indicated that it probably died from illness as no outer injuries were found on the body.

Comment: Also recently a beaked whale died after washing up on a beach in Guam.

Warmest first half of January ever recorded in Seattle since the 1890's

Christine Clarridge
Seattle Times
Thu, 17 Jan 2019 16:36 UTC

© Bettina Hansen / The Seattle Times
A’joure Johnson, 6, of Seattle takes a leap while visiting Me-Kwa-Mooks Park in West Seattle recently.

If you feel like it's been a mild winter so far, you're not imagining things. This has been the warmest first half of January ever recorded in Seattle, according to the National Weather Service in Seattle.

"The average high temperature at Sea-Tac (International Airport) for the first 16 days of January was 51.8°," the weather service tweeted Thursday.

Those temperature records go back to marks taken at the Federal Building in downtown Seattle since the 1890s, meteorologist Dana Felton said.

A high of 50 degrees is expected on Thursday, Felton said.

There were, however, a few cold mornings: Lows dipped to 33 degrees on Jan. 1, 32 degrees on Jan. 2 and 31 degrees on Jan. 15, he said.

The warmest day so far was last Friday, Jan. 11, when the high climbed to 61, Felton said.

"A 60-degree day is pretty rare in January," he said. "There have only been 16 in the 75 years of records at Sea-Tac."

Environment Canada issues rare special weather statement for Montreal

Daily Hive
Thu, 17 Jan 2019 14:04 UTC

Environment Canada has been busy with weather alerts and special statements throughout Montreal's cold and snowy week, and the website was back at it again this morning in a rare alert.

This morning, Environment Canada issued a special weather statement for this coming Monday - a rare release this far ahead of a storm.

"An intense winter storm is forecast to move across New England Sunday, then the Gulf of St. Lawrence on Monday," reads the alert. "It will bring significant amounts of snow and will generate very strong and frigid northerly winds that will generate blowing snow considerably reducing visibilities and making roads very slippery."

Monday's storm should invade the province of Quebec and the most affected areas should be those located near the American Border and Atlantic Canada.

The expected weather however, still depends greatly on the exact track of the storm which is "still volatile," according to Environment Canada. A track a little further north could mean that Southern Quebec may deal with a "major winter storm."

Circumzenithal arc appears over southeast Michigan

Deborah Byrd
Earth Sky
Tue, 15 Jan 2019 21:31 UTC

David Lamberti caught this circumzenithal arc on January 6, 2019. Notice the kite in the tree!

He wrote:

It was a beautiful January day in southeast Michigan. I looked up, and there it was, a beautiful circumzenithal arc. It was enormous, and the colors were very deep. It faded within 5 minutes.

Thank you, David!

Sierra resorts can count snowfall totals in feet - here's what they look like on Thursday, January 17

Alix Martichoux
SF Gate
Thu, 17 Jan 2019 20:07 UTC

Heavenly Mountain reported 12 inches of snow in 24 hours Thursday morning.

Several ski resorts in the Tahoe area, including Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows and Northstar California, reported receiving two feet of snow between Tuesday and Wednesday — and that's before the brunt of the storm hit.

The snow continued to pile up Wednesday night into Thursday morning, as the storm dumped wet, heavy 'Sierra cement' in the Tahoe basin.

The resorts started to boast about how much snow fell in their neck of the woods and the numbers were impressive all around. Sugar Bowl had received 15 inches of snow just overnight. Squaw Valley reported 28 inches of snow in the past 24 hours, Northstar had 26 inches, Kirkwood had 16 inches, and Heavenly had a foot. June Mountain Ski Area reported a 24-hour total of 36 inches at 7 a.m. Thursday.

Magnitude 6 quake jolts Nicobar Islands region

Mathrubhumi
Thu, 17 Jan 2019 19:30 UTC

A strong earthquake of magnitude 6 hit the seismologically prone Andaman and Nicobar Islands Thursday, National Centre for Seismology (NCS) said.

There was no tsunami alert issued as sea levels around the Andaman Nicobar archipelago showed no major rise, said SPS Shenoi, Director INCOIS.

The earthquake hit the region at 8.43 am and its epicentre was Nicobar Islands region.

There were no immediate reports of loss of life or damage to property, officials said.

Source: Press Trust of India

Shallow 6.1-magnitude quake hits Bismarck Sea off Papua New Guinea

Xinhua
Thu, 17 Jan 2019 19:22 UTC

An earthquake measuring 6.1 magnitude jolted Bismarck Sea near Papua New Guinea (PNG) on Thursday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

The epicenter, with a depth of 10 km, was initially determined to be at 3.3033 degrees south latitude and 146.3098 degrees east longitude.

Shiveluch volcano starts erupting in Russia's Far East

TASS
Thu, 17 Jan 2019 14:28 UTC

Volcanologists have registered increased activity at the Shiveluch volcano since the start of December

Volcanologists have registered an eruption of the Shiveluch volcano in Russia's Far East, the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) told TASS on Thursday.

"The eruption of the Shiveluch volcano has started. Lava is coming down the slopes," KVERT said.

Volcanologists have registered increased activity at the Shiveluch volcano since the start of December. Over the last weeks, the volcano has been shooting colums of ash into the air almost every day. Scientists do not rule out that this may mean that a powerful eruption is about to happen.

The volcano is 3,283 m high. It last erupted in 2010.

Volcano erupts in southern Japan, no evacuation warning

Chang-Ran Kim
Reuters
Thu, 17 Jan 2019 14:12 UTC

A smoke column rises from Shindake volcano after its eruption in Kuchinoerabu island, southern Japan, Thursday, Jan. 17, 2019.

A volcano erupted on a remote island in southern Japan on Thursday, the meteorological agency said, but the warning level was kept below the scale requiring evacuation.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the volcano on Kuchinoerabujima island, roughly 1,000 km (620 miles) southwest of Tokyo, erupted at 9:20 a.m. (0020 GMT). Live images showed thick black smoke billowing out of the mountain.

The eruption had released pyroclastic flows, or flows of super-heated ash and gas, Kyodo News said, but the flows had not reached residential areas.