A massive north swell is arriving in California and expected to build Thursday night into Friday morning, signaling a green light for the much anticipated Mavericks Invitational surf contest at notorious Mavericks near Half Moon Bay. How powerful the swell turns out to be and what type of conditions prevail remain to be seen. But it's the same swell that slammed parts of the Hawaiian islands on Wednesday and Thursday, luring throngs of spectators to the shores.
Hawaii News Now described it as "the largest swell in decades" and published a slide show showing massive waves breaking on Oahu's North Shore, near the fabled Waimea Bay. A headline atop a Honolulu Star Advertiser story on Wednesday screamed, "Surf up to 40 feet expected to roll in today."
As a result of all the publicity, nightmare traffic jams ensued on the highway leading from Oahu's south side to the north shore. The problem for surfers, however, was that strong offshore winds created stormy conditions, leaving most of the popular spots unrideable when the swell was peaking Wednesday.
Earth Changes
A strong storm system over the central Pacific will send a swell that is expected to produce massive waves along the California coastline through this weekend, forecasters warned. Kasey Montoya reports from Seal Beach for the KTLA 5 Morning News on Friday, Jan. 24, 2014.
via KTLA Los Angeles
via KTLA Los Angeles
The deaths bring the total number to 28 whales that have died in waters near Florida's coast in January, puzzling scientists struggling to understand why they continue to come ashore. Eight died earlier this week, four naturally and four after being euthanized, when a group including one pregnant female swam into shallow waters near Fort Myers, Florida.
Scientists were able to identify the group of 23 using pictures of their dorsal fins, Mase said during a conference call with reporters. Each fin is unique in the same way no two human fingerprints are the same, she said.
© Michael Hamilton, Wikimedia Commons
Male (black) and female (white) Tadorna variegata, Paradise Shellduck
Male (black) and female (white) Tadorna variegata, Paradise Shellduck
Dead birds were discovered in oxidation ponds in Kaiapoi earlier in January and contractors are now removing carcasses to contain the outbreak.
Waimakariri District Council spokesperson Gerard Cleary said on Wednesday that the ponds are monitored several times a year in the Brooklands Lagoon area and the previous check on 6 January showed no evidence of the disease.
Mr Cleary said by Tuesday, there were about 1000 dead birds on pond banks and in the water, with a further 20 showing classic symptoms of avian botulism - lethargy and partial paralysis of the feet and wings.
© AP Photo/Indiana State Police
Emergency crews work at the scene of a massive pileup involving more than 40 vehicles, many of them semitrailers, along Interstate 94 Thursday afternoon, Jan. 23, 2014 near Michigan City
Emergency crews work at the scene of a massive pileup involving more than 40 vehicles, many of them semitrailers, along Interstate 94 Thursday afternoon, Jan. 23, 2014 near Michigan City
More than 20 people were injured, including one critically, in the crush of semitrailers and mangled passenger vehicles Thursday afternoon on the eastbound stretch of Interstate 94 connecting Chicago with Detroit. At least one person was trapped in a vehicle for hours before authorities could come to the rescue, Indiana State Police said.
Snow and whiteout conditions were contributing factors, police said. A band of heavy lake-effect snow was dropping up to 2 inches of snow per hour with visibility at a quarter-mile or less at the time of the wreck, National Weather Service meteorologist Evan Bentley said. The wreck happened near Michigan City, about 60 miles from Chicago.
A red flag warning is in effect in Carroll, Benton, Washington and Madison counties. The National Weather Service says northwest Arkansas will see strong and gusty winds of up to 35 mph on Friday, along with low humidity values of 15 to 25 percent.
Forecasters warn that the dry vegetation and windy weather will combine to create dangerous wildfire conditions through Friday afternoon.
Thirty-two Arkansas counties now have burn bans in effect, and the Arkansas Forestry Commission says much of the state is at a high risk of wildfire danger.
© USGS
Citizens in both the Jazan and Asir provinces confirmed that they felt the earthquake's impact at 6 p.m.
Many said that their doors and windows rattled as a result of the tremor, according to local media sources. A security source said that the Civil Defense operations room in Jazan received dozens of calls from citizens when the earthquake struck across the Jazan province.
USGS data
© EFE
The western part of Mexico's capital was plunged into traffic chaos after a water-main break created a sinkhole on the city's outer beltway.
The western part of Mexico's capital was plunged into traffic chaos after a water-main break created a sinkhole on the city's outer beltway.
The hole, which is 2 meters (6.5 ft.) wide and 3 meters (9.8 ft.) deep, lies at the beltway interchange with two main surface thoroughfares.
Police have been deployed in an effort to ease traffic tangles, the Mexico City Public Safety Department said, adding that repairs to the water main are expected to take 12 hours.
Fox 8 News viewers captured the phenomenon in Mansfield late Tuesday and early Wednesday.
The lights are mystifying and beautiful, and yet perfectly logical.
Fox 8 Meteorologist Scott Sabol explains the light pillars in the video below.
© WFAA
A strange scene prompted a lot of calls from concerned motorists Thursday morning: Dead starlings and grackles scattered on and around the Interstate-35W south service road at Alsbury Boulevard.
A strange scene prompted a lot of calls from concerned motorists Thursday morning: Dead starlings and grackles scattered on and around the Interstate-35W south service road at Alsbury Boulevard.
A strange scene prompted a lot of calls from concerned motorists Thursday morning: Dead starlings and grackles scattered on and around the Interstate-35W south service road at Alsbury Boulevard.
"The ones we found in the grass did not have any signs of trauma we could see," said Burleson animal control supervisor Kim Peckler.
Crews collected just over 200 dead birds, and one that died a short time later. Peckler said she's never seen anything like it in her 25 years of working with animal control.
Veterinarian Bob Denton did an initial search for clues.
Comment: Yes, this is common NOW (as in, the last 3 or so years). No, this is not 'normal'.
There were two similar incidents in the Arlington/Fort Worth area last year and in 2012: Then consider that 'loud booms' and meteors have been exploding overhead with increasing regularity lately, and that investigations into some of these mass bird deaths around the world are the result of 'blunt force trauma of unknown origin'... We know that many more of these things must be exploding above the US on a regular basis because it's the rare one that is actually seen/heard.