Earth Changes
Two people died and 4 are missing after a landslide caused a house to collapse in Santa Maria de Itabira. Other landslides and flooding also caused severe damage in the city. Damage assessments are ongoing. State Governor Romeu Zema visited affected areas of the city on 21 February to closely monitor the assistance actions of the Fire Service and the State Civil Defence in the municipality
Flooding and landslides affected other areas of the state, including in the municipalities of Caparaó, Carangola and Matipó, where authorities are distributing relief supplies to affect communities. Minas Gerais Civil Defence reported rain-related fatalities in Divino (1) and Durandé (1).

An atmospheric river event known as the Pineapple Express is forecast to bring a prolonged period of wet weather and the potential for avalanches to Washington and Oregon beginning Sunday.
The effects from rain and considerable mountain snow will be felt through early this week. With the ground already saturated from previous storms, flooding is possible even from the few inches of rain the storm is forecast to produce.
Avalanche warnings have been issued for much of the Cascades across Washington ahead of this heavy snow. A "high" avalanche danger warning (level 4 out of 5) has been issued for Sunday by the Northwest Avalanche Center. Large natural avalanches are possible even at lower elevations.
Avalanches have killed 30 people across the United States this winter season, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
"This will mark the beginning of a wet period across Western Washington, as the southern periphery of the Atmospheric River will affect the region before it shifts southward over the area Monday," the National Weather Service office in Seattle warned Saturday.

An aerial photo shows the extent of flooding in Tandag City, Surigao del Sur on Sunday, Feb. 21, 2021 after a river overflowed its banks due to heavy rains from Tropical Storm Auring (international name: Dujuan).
About 51,400 people have been moved to 331 evacuation centres in the provinces of Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Dinagat Islands, and Butuan City, the disaster risk reduction and management agency said.
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Earlier this winter, Saudi Arabia, among other countries, experienced unusually cold weather, with the temperature falling below 0 degrees Celsius and massive snowfall blanketing the desert for the first time in 50 years.
Several parts of Saudi Arabia have experienced an extremely rare phenomenon for the region - a snowy winter, as blizzards hit the Middle Eastern country this week. Weather warnings have been issued for several parts of Saudi Arabia, with the Aseer region being the worst-hit by the heavy snowfall.
Comment: See also:
- Snow in Saudi Arabia in May?
- Asir region of Saudi Arabia gets covered in snow
- Hailstorms blanket parts of Saudi Arabia white
- Winter storm delivers snow to Saudi Arabia and Lebanon (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)
- Adapt 2030 Ice Age Report: Snow in Saudi Arabia & two typhoons combine in Pacific
- Heavy snowfall across Saudi Arabia
- Rare snowfall hits Saudi Arabia's Asir region
There were 944 daily-record-cold highs on Feb. 14, alone. (Happy Valentines day everyone.)
Another 567 daily-record-cold lows were set on the following day, Feb. 15.
As impressive as those numbers are, dozens of locations set records, not just for a particular day, but for any day in their history.
The powerful eruption of the highest active volcano in Europe sent torrents of lava pouring from its southeast crater, according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology.
Clouds of debris rose several kilometers above the summit.
Etna is a popular tourist destination in Italy attracting hikers eager to see the extraordinary lava flows glowing orange at night.
The snowmobiler was riding up a steep slope in the Smoky Mountains, roughly 8 miles from Galena Summit, when he triggered the avalanche, according to the Sawtooth Avalanche Center.
"We are saddened to report that a snowmobiler was caught and killed in an avalanche yesterday in the upper reaches of the Smiley Creek drainage," the avalanche center said in a Facebook post.
"The avalanche danger was rated considerable at the time of the accident," the center said. "We extend our heartfelt condolences to the victim's friends and family."
Comment: The following incident now takes the death total to 30: Snowmobiler killed, another injured in Nevada avalanche

One snowmobiler died and another was seriously injured Saturday in Nevada's Ruby Mountains.
Three men from Elko were snowmobiling near Castle Lake in the Ruby Mountains, The Elko Daily FreePress reported. The men were above Lamoille Canyon when the avalanche occurred shortly before noon, the newspaper reported.
Their names have not been released.
According to Elko County Undersheriff Justin Ames, one of the men escaped the snow and called for help.
Ames said another man suffered a broken leg and clavicle and was being flown to Salt Lake City for treatment, the Daily FreePress reported. The other snowmobiler remained buried in the snow, the newspaper reported.

Residents of Houston had to wait over an hour in the freezing rain to fill their propane tanks on Wednesday
Most of the deaths reported as of Thursday morning have come in Texas, where millions of residents lost power this week due to a failure in the state's power grid system; just under 500,000 homes and businesses remained without power as of Thursday. Deaths from the freezing weather this week have also been reported in Louisiana, Kentucky, North Carolina and Missouri, according to several news reports.
Reported deaths from the Southern winter freeze as of Thursday range from 21 to 35, as media outlets have varied on the totals as they come in. The high-end number was reported by the Columbus Telegram, a newspaper based in Nebraska.
Comment: Study reveals atmospheric rivers to double in size