Earth ChangesS


Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills 3 family members and 2 goats in Telangana, India


New Indian Express
Tue, 21 May 2019 09:21 UTC
bolt
Lightning struck a farmer's family, leaving three members dead and one injured in Vikarabad district, located around 90 kms from Hyderabad on Monday.

The victims were standing under a thatched platform in the field located on the outskirts of Rajapur village of Dharur mandal in the district, taking cover from the unexpected heavy rain.

The victims were identified as Khaja Bee(38), her daughter Tabassum(16) and son Akram(12), while the head of the family Fakruddin received injuries in the incident. Two goats belonging to the family also died due to lightning. According to police, Fakruddin along with his second wife Khaja Bee and her two children went to their maize field located on the outskirts of the village.

Comment: Three days prior to the above incident lightning also killed 2 people and 2 cattle in the same Indian state while 2 woman were fataly struck in Odisha on the 16th of May. In Bangladesh strikes killed a total of at least 6 people on the 19th of May and 2 family members died after being hit by a bolt on the 14th.

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Tornado1

Tornado season: Giant twister spotted in central Texas as thunderstorms with golf-ball sized hail roar through Great Plains


RT
Mon, 20 May 2019 09:51 UTC
Tornado Ballinger Texas Mau 2019
Ominous moment caught on camera where a strong tornado slowly starts approaching Ballinger in West Texas.
A large tornado was filmed moving across a field in Texas as powerful thunderstorms sweep through the Great Plains. With tornado season in full swing, more than a dozen states have experienced outbursts of severe weather.

The imposing twister was spotted in the town of Ballinger in Runnels County, central Texas, making its way across an empty field. Several structures can be seen in the background but it was unclear how far they were from the tornado.


Comment: Accuweather storm chaser, Reed Timmer recounts his up-close encounter with a tornado in McCook, Nebraska, one of several major tornadoes that touched down across the region.

More storm photos:

Nebraska tornado May 2019
© (Twitter/@Sturms112010)A tornado tore through a field between McCook and Culbertson, Nebraska Friday evening, May 17, 2019.
twin tornadoes Nebraska May 2019
© Twitter/@terrellstormsA rare occurrence of twin tornadoes touched down near Farnam, Nebraska on May, 17, 2019.
tornado Minneola Kansas May 2019
A tornado spotted near Minneola, Kansas, on Friday evneing.


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Cloud Precipitation

Heavy rain and flooding hit parts of the Arabian Peninsula


Al Jazeera
Mon, 20 May 2019 18:01 UTC
Vehicles drive through a flooded road following heavy rains in Sanaa, Yemen.
© Yahya Arhab/EPAVehicles drive through a flooded road following heavy rains in Sanaa, Yemen.
Thunderstorms kicked off across much of the southern Arabian Peninsula this weekend after hot and humid conditions in the region.

In Oman, images out of Muscat's international airport showed very strong downpours on Sunday evening. Visibility was reduced to several hundred metres and flights were delayed while the storms moved through.


A bit further south in Oman, the town of Sur has picked up 66mm of rain in the last 48 hours. This is well above average for the month of May when the town would normally only see about 1.7mm.
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Cloud Precipitation

Newborn baby among family missing in Oman flash flood


Khaleej Times
Mon, 20 May 2019 17:43 UTC
FLOOD
© Royal Oman Police
Their car was swept way in a flooded wadi.

A family of 6, including a 28-day-old baby boy, were reported missing after their car was swept away in a flooded wadi in Oman.

According to the Times of Oman, the Indian family are feared dead after their day trip took a turn for the worst. The father of the family -- Sardar Fazal Ahmed -- recounted how the tragedy unfolded. The Oman-based expat said that he managed to hold on to a palm tree branch and pull himself out of the fast-flowing waters in Wadi Bani Khalid.

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Cloud Precipitation

Adapt 2030 Ice Age Report: Oroville update - will it over top again?


Adapt 2030
Sun, 19 May 2019 17:15 UTC
Oroville Dam
Oroville Dam

A look at the fast rising reservoir inflow totals at Oroville Dam as there is a possibility that it will fill to capacity like it did in 2017, using the emergency spillway.

Guardian changes lexicon to make climate change more scary.


Sources
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Sun

Australia to import wheat for first time in over a decade after the "Worst drought in 116 years"

Cap Allon
Electroverse.net
Mon, 20 May 2019 12:42 UTC
drought
Solar Minimum of Cycle 13 (116 years ago) was the last time Australian wheatbelts had it this tough, as a severe drought shaves more that 20% off domestic grain production.

Australia is normally the biggest wheat exporter in the Southern Hemisphere, but the prolonged drought has fried its grain crop in recent years. In 2018, output tumbled 20% to just over 17 million tonnes, the lowest in more than a decade, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

On May 9, 2019 the Australian government had no choice but to import 60,000 tons of wheat from Canada.

The cargo is expected to arrive in the next 6 to 8 weeks and will be processed at Manildra Group's Shoalhaven Starches plant in NSW.

Comment: From across the world some recent articles exploring similar themes of how increasingly extreme weather events are impacting crop production:

Persistent cold weather slows planting in France

Floods, hail and bad weather affect fruits and vegetables in Italy

Devastating drought in the state of Yucatan, Mexico - much of the harvest lost

North Korea drought: Lowest rainfall in 100 years leaves millions at risk of starvation

Total catastrophe for U.S. corn production: Only 30% of U.S. corn fields have been planted - 5 year average is 66%

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Cloud Grey

Persistent cold weather slows planting in France

Cap Allon
Electroverse.net
Fri, 17 May 2019 12:31 UTC
plants
Corn sowing in France slowed again this week, losing its lead to last year, after persistent cold weather continues to hamper the central European nation's planting efforts.

France was battered by a brutal cold front during the second half of April and first half of May — the key planting window — with the mercury hitting all-time lows and effectively slamming the brakes on sowing efforts.

France is the third largest corn exporter in the world, meaning a delayed or poor harvest will have a pronounced impact on global markets.

Severe frosts have been widespread these last four-or-so-weeks, from the lowlands to Brittany to South Ouest, with farmers regularly lighting frost-fires in an attempt to protect fragile crops.

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Cloud Precipitation

At least 14 dead after flash floods in Bamako, Mali


Floodlist
Mon, 20 May 2019 12:15 UTC
floods
The Red Cross in Mali reported that at least 14 people have died in flash flooding that hit the country's capital, Bamako, on 16 May, 2019.

According to the Red Cross report, the flooding struck after a sudden torrential downpour that lasted several hours. Six communes in the city were affected, in particular Niamakoro where 10 fatalities were reported. Flood water was up to 2.5 metres deep in some locations.

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Apple Red

Floods, hail and bad weather affect fruits and vegetables in Italy

Maria Luigia Brusco
Fresh Plaza
Tue, 14 May 2019 18:35 UTC
Heavy rain, flooding in Puglia, Emilia-Romagna
Heavy rain, flooding in Puglia, Emilia-Romagna
After the strong hailstorm recorded on Sunday May 12 in the Italian regions Basilicata and Apulia, new 'water bombs' mixed with hail affected the same areas. The situation is worrying for stone fruit, watermelon and table grapes. It was a very wet awakening, Monday May 13, in the provinces of Forlì-Cesena and Ravenna (Emilia Romagna). The plentiful rains have swollen all the rivers and some have overflowed. The most difficult situation is in the territory of Cesena with flooded orchards and closed bridges and roads.

"The damages on peaches, apricots, nectarines and some goji plants are enormous, with damaged fields and fruits that will rot in a few days. We had just finished with the thinning of the apricots and waited for them to be completely ripe to proceed with the harvest", says Anna Camarda, a farmer from Basilicata who has her crops in Metaponto. "The varieties of apricots affected are Vitillo and Thirintos (early apricot), while for peaches it is Sagittaria. The citrus orchards in bloom are also affected."
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Cloud Lightning

SOTT Focus: The Guardian Officially Goes Full Climate Alarmist Language


Wuwt.com
Sun, 19 May 2019 15:01 UTC
Climate change terms
The Guardian's editor has just issued this new guidance to all staff on language to use when writing about climate change and the environment...and it is full-on alarmism. No holding back punches now, because it's a crisis, so let's start writing like one! Josh helps us understand the real message.

Guardian new language on climate change
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