Earth Changes

Wind and storm surge watches issued for Florida as Alberto continues northward trek

Jenny Staletovich
Miami Herald
Sat, 26 May 2018 12:45 UTC

National Hurricane Center

Wind and storm surge watches went up across the Florida Gulf coast late Friday as Alberto continued creeping north.

The western tip of Florida's Panhandle was at the center of the projected impact zone and while Alberto's strongest winds were expected to stay well offshore until then, forecasters cautioned the path potentially could shift over the next few days. Either way, much of the state, including the Florida Keys and mainland South Florida, was likely in for a holiday weekend drenching from a storm that formed before hurricane season officially begins on June 1.

Along the the southwest coast, surf and surge could also pile seawater atop the rain. And once it does makes landfall, forecasters were concerned it could stall and trigger worse flooding.

"When it gets inland, it will be a slow mover, so this could be a horrific flooding event up there," National Hurricane Center spokesman Dennis Feltgen said.

Unnoticed snake bite leads to the death of breastfeeding mother and her baby in Uttar Pradesh, India

Medical Xpress
Fri, 25 May 2018 14:51 UTC

India accounts for 46,000 of the 100,000 snakebite deaths around the world each year.

An Indian woman who was bitten by a snake in her sleep and unknowingly breastfed poisoned milk to her daughter has died along with the child, police said Friday.

The 35-year-old woman from Uttar Pradesh state did not realise she had been bitten when she woke and breastfed her daughter.

The three-year-old girl and the mother fell ill on Thursday and both died before they could reach hospital, police inspector Vijay Singh told AFP.

The family spotted the snake in another room but the creature escaped.

Adapt 2030 Ice Age Report: Signs in the skies of the Eddy Solar Grand Minimum

Adapt 2030
Sat, 26 May 2018 13:19 UTC

Signs are appearing our skies that the atmosphere is changing as predicted with the gran solar minimum. Rare anti-solar arcs over Norway, Cyclone over Yemen and Oman, Green flashes in UK and Norway. Hawaii has blue flames as the Earth cracks and methane ignites and CO2 didn't cause warming in 1950-1980 even though it was increasing in concentration. A look at Wheeler's drought clock, another repeating cycle as well the grand solar minimum.

Sources

13-minute-long hailstorm hits Hongyuan County, China (Photos)

Yao Lan
Ecns.cn
Fri, 25 May 2018 13:04 UTC

Photo take on May 24, 2018 shows hailstones hitting Hongyuan County, Southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The hail storm continued for 13 minutes, with the largest hailstone measuring 1.5 centimeters.

There's been no reports of injuries or deaths.

Late May snowfall hits Tianshan Mountain in Hami, NW China

Xinhua
Sat, 26 May 2018 09:19 UTC

A foal runs in snow at the Tianshan Grassland in Hami, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, May 25, 2018. A snowfall hit the Tianshan Mountain from May 24.

Comment: A day later from the same news source (Xinhua) came the following stunning photos:

Photo taken on May 25, 2018 shows tulips in snow at the Jiangbulake scenery spot in Qitai County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, May 25, 2018. A snowfall hit Qitai County on May 24. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

Methane outgassing produces eerie blue flames near Hawaii's Kilauea volcano

CBS
Sat, 26 May 2018 09:06 UTC

Blue flames burning in the lava from Hawaii's Kilauea volcano are raising new fears of explosions. Emergency officials say if fissures open west of Pahoa, lava could block the one remaining open highway. If that happens, about 1,000 people would have to be helicoptered to safety, reports CBS News' Mark Strassmann.

Residents are also eyeing another disturbing development. After three weeks of gawking at images of bright red lava bursting skyward, the Big Island's focus has shifted to something blue and worrisome: blue flames that indicate the presence of methane gas. Methane gas is a result of the lava burning plants and trees. Scientists say it can trigger explosions if ignited while trapped underground.

"It's the first time, maybe the second time I've seen the blue flames thing. It's very dramatic, very eerie," geophysicist Jim Kauahikaua said.

Lightning bolt kills 4, hurts 6 others in Negros Occidental, Philippines

GMA News Online
Sat, 26 May 2018 08:33 UTC

Lightning strike killed four sugar workers and hurt six others in Pontevedra town in Negros Occidental last Friday.

A report on GMA News by Erwin Nicavera on Saturday identified the fatalities as Rubilyn Muedan, Glenn Gotual, Marites Garzon, and Renilda Villanueva (aged between 41 to 52).

An initial police investigation showed that the victims were working at sugarcane filed when a sudden, heavy rain came, forcing them to take shelter in a hut at the middle of the plantation.

Lightning struck the hut, killing four and hurting six others inside the shelter that had no walls, the police report said.

Four of the six wounded are still recuperating while the two have been discharged from the hospital.

Comment: On the same day 3 people were killed and 5 injured by single bolt in Bangladesh while in Kenya a strike killed a student and injured 21 others.

Alberto, 2018's first named tropical system, takes aim on Gulf Coast

Jenny Staletovich
Miami Herald
Sat, 26 May 2018 00:34 UTC

© Weather Channel
Projected Path

The red-shaded area denotes the potential path of the center of the system. It's important to note that impacts (particularly heavy rain, high surf, coastal flooding, winds) with any system usually spread beyond its forecast path.

Just how rare would a May hurricane be? The last time one formed in the Atlantic basin the Beatles and the Jackson 5 topped the charts and gas cost 36 cents a gallon.

While it's still way too early to tell if Alberto will gain enough steam as it crosses the Gulf of Mexico over the weekend, there's a chance the storm could become the earliest land-falling hurricane on record.

Forecasts now call for top winds of 65 mph, 9 mph below the threshold for a Cat 1 hurricane, by Monday when it's near the north Gulf Coast. But shear is expected to drop, with some models opening a window just big enough for a more intense system to develop.

"This thing could become a hurricane," said AccuWeather senior meteorologist Dan Kottlowski, "and people should think about that possibility as it approaches the northern Gulf Coast."

If it does, Alberto would be the first since Alma appeared north of Panama in 1970 and briefly threatened the Caribbean for two days before fizzling south of Cuba.

Deadly Cyclone Mekunu lashes Oman, Yemen with flooding and high winds

Renee Duff, Courtney Spamer
AccuWeather
Sat, 26 May 2018 04:33 UTC

© AFPTV
An image grab taken from an AFPTV video shows people walking through flood water as they evacuate a flooded area during a cyclone in the Yemeni island of Socotra

Cyclone Mekunu made landfall on the Arabian Peninsula on Friday night, leaving at least one person dead and 40 others missing, according to local officials.

Landfall occurred around midnight local time about 40 km west-southwest of Salalah, which is Oman's third-largest city, according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Jason Nicholls.

Mekunu became an extremely severe cyclonic storm with winds equal to a Category 3 hurricane in the Atlantic or east Pacific Ocean prior to making landfall.

A north to northwest track first brought life-threatening impacts to Socotra, as Mekunu passed just north of the island with waves of rain and wind.

A state of emergency was declared in Socotra, a Yemeni island located between the Horn of Africa and Arabian Peninsula, after the storm flooded villages and left at least 40 missing on Thursday, according to the Daily News. Officials fear some of the missing are dead.

Comment: After rare tropical cyclone Sagar devastates Somalia, a second aims for Oman

Adapt 2030 Ice Age Report: Canada heavy snow and blizzard conditions, southern hemisphere cools, Grand Solar Minimum

Adapt 2030
Fri, 25 May 2018 21:17 UTC

Blizzard conditions sweep Newfoundland , Canada with a foot plus of snow in the last week of may. Airports are delaying flights, roads are closed, and its is considered rare and strange even by Canadians living in the Maritimes. Southern continents are also all showing below normal temperatures for the month of May. The entire Southern hemisphere is cooling one season ahead of the N. Hemisphere. Grand solar minimum timeline.