Earth ChangesS


Cloud Precipitation

Tropical Storm Usagi hits southern Vietnam - Longest and heaviest ever recorded rainfall in Saigon history


VietNamNet Bridge
Mon, 26 Nov 2018 14:16 UTC
Ho Chi Minh City floods
© Dtinews/VNAHuynh Tan Phat Street in Ho Chi Minh City is deeply submerged on the evening of November 25
Many areas in HCM City and some neighbouring southern provinces have been submerged due to heavy rains as Typhoon Usagi weakened into tropical pressure over the weekend.

Torrential downpours that lasted pretty much the entire day caused serious flooding in many districts including District 4, 7, Binh Thanh, Binh Tan, Go Vap by 10pm on Sunday. Electricity was cut in these areas to ensure safety.

According to a report from the HCM City's Department of Transport, 39 streets had been deeply submerged by Sunday afternoon.

"The high floods have caused accidents and knocked down trees," the report said. A tree fell onto Nguyen Van Tan, 60, while he was driving a motorbike on Nguyen Van Linh Street in Binh Chanh District. He died in hospital soon after that due to serious injuries, the report said.

Heavy rains and strong winds have also been reported in some other southern provinces including Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Ninh Thuan, and Khanh Hoa.


Comment: It was reported that rainfall of more than 350 mm (14 inches) fell around Ho Chi Minh City (commonly known as Saigon) causing widespread flooding and travel disruption.

According to Le Dinh Quyet from the Southern Hydro-Meteorological Center, the bout of rain caused by Usagi was the longest and heaviest ever recorded in Saigon history.

See also: Falling tree kills man as severe floods again hit Saigon, Vietnam

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Snowflake Cold

Snowmageddon: 6,000 flights grounded or delayed in US as Thanksgiving storm rages on


RT
Mon, 26 Nov 2018 19:40 UTC
airplane grounded snowstorm
© GettyImages / John MooreSnow chaos: 6,000 flights grounded or delayed as Thanksgiving storm rages on. A cancelled flight waits in a snow storm at the Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey.
After a record-cold Thanksgiving, temperatures continued to plummet as heavy snowfall across the Midwest grounded or delayed over 6,000 flights, wreaking havoc on Americans' holiday travel plans.

The Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend is usually the busiest travel day of the year, as millions of Americans return home from visiting relatives. However, much of the country was snowed in this year, leading to over 1,200 flight cancellations and 5,000 delays, according to FlightAware.com.

Comment: With a grand solar minimum on the way, storms like this are becoming more and more commonplace.

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Cloud Precipitation

November to remember: This year's was wettest on record in Washington DC

Jack Moore
wtop.com
Mon, 26 Nov 2018 18:48 UTC
A car drives through the pouring rain on Sunday,
© WTOP/Dave DildineA car drives through the pouring rain on Sunday, July 22, 2018, in Annapolis, Maryland.
If you got rained on walking into work today, here's some cold comfort for you: Those were record-breaking raindrops.

With four days in the month left to go, November 2018 is now officially the rainiest November on record in D.C., breaking a 141-year-old record, according to the National Weather Service. And the unusually wet month means D.C. is now sitting at the No. 3 spot in terms of the rainiest year on record.

Shortly before 11 a.m. Monday, D.C. hit 7.31 inches of rain for the month, breaking the previous record of 7.18 inches of rain set in November 1877. The rain data is recorded at Reagan National Airport.
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Cloud Precipitation

Seven killed, thousands displaced in flash flooding in Iraq - Death toll reaches at least 25 (UPDATE)


Al Jazeera
Fri, 23 Nov 2018 14:36 UTC
Some 3,000 Iraqis were left homeless after floods hit the Shirqat region. 23 November 2018
Some 3,000 Iraqis were left homeless after floods hit the Shirqat region. 23 November 2018
At least seven people, including children, have been killed and thousands have been forced to flee their homes after heavy rains triggered flash floods in northern Iraq.

Officials told the dpa news agency on Friday that the seven people were killed when floods hit the al-Houreya village in Salahuddin province.

Ali Dodah, the mayor of Shirqat, a town 260km northwest of Baghdad and around 80km south of Mosul, said rains had flooded houses and farms with "some 3,000 people now homeless".


Comment: Update: The Gulf Times on the 26th November reports:
At least 21 people have died and nearly 180 have been injured after heavy rains accompanying sweeping floods battered Iraq over two days, the Iraqi Health Ministry said yesterday.

Women and children were among the dead, the Health Ministry said.

While some drowned, others died in car accidents, were electrocuted, or were trapped when their houses collapsed.

Local media reported that as many as 300 homes have been badly damaged by the floods, especially in Nineveh and Kirkuk provinces. The country's north has borne the brunt of it, and the UN office in Iraq said that the downpour had forced tens of thousands of people out of their homes.

An estimated 10,000 people in Salahaddin province and 15,000 people in Nineveh are in desperate need of help, including families living in displacement camps, the UN said.

In the Al-Sharqat district in Salahaddin, about 250 kilometres north of Baghdad, thousands of homes were left totally submerged by the rains.

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi announced in statements earlier that he was establishing a "crisis cell" of security forces and local authorities to co-ordinate a response.


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Cloud Precipitation

Eleven provinces in Iran hit by flood, 4 gone missing


Tehran Times
Sun, 25 Nov 2018 16:06 UTC
Four have, unfortunately, gone missing in floods
Four have, unfortunately, gone missing in floods hitting 11 provinces across the country over the past three days, Rescue and Relief Organization head Morteza Salimi said on Sunday.
Provinces of Isfahan, Ilam, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, Khuzestan, Fars, Kermanshah, Gilan, Lorestan, Mazandaran, and Sistan-Baluchestan are inundated by flood, YJC quoted Salimi as saying.

Some 307 received relief services in the aforesaid provinces, Salimi, said, adding that sadly 4 individuals have gone missing in the northern province of Gilan.

Salimi went on to say that in seven provinces including Ardebil, Isfahan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Zanjan, Fars, Qazvin and Markazi are covered with snow as well.

Eleven rescue and relief teams have been dispatched to the areas affected by snow storms, he concluded.


Comment: Just 2 weeks prior: Flash floods hit 10 provinces of Iran

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Cloud Precipitation

Cyclist is swept to his death by flash flood in São Paulo, Brazil as record rainfall hits the city

Janet Tappin Coelho
Daily Mail
Mon, 26 Nov 2018 15:33 UTC
Horrific moment cyclist is swept to death by flash flood in Brazil
Horrific moment cyclist is swept to death by flash flood in Brazil
This is the horrific moment a cyclist is swept to his death in flash floods in Brazil as witnesses form a human chain in a desperate bid to save him.

Marcelo da Silva, 43, was trapped with his bike in swirling waters as a torrential downpour hit São Bernado do Campo, a suburb of São Paulo, on Friday afternoon.

Footage shows him clinging to his bike even as horrified onlookers scream at him to let it go.

He tries to stand but the force of the water knocks him over and drags him under before strong currents rushing down the main street pull him further away.

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Fire

Queensland bushfires: Hundreds evacuated amid 'unprecedented' weather conditions


BBC News
Mon, 26 Nov 2018 04:40 UTC
Queensland bush fire
© Facebook/Shaz MorrisQueensland bush fire.
Hundreds of Australians have evacuated their homes due to bushfires amid "unprecedented" weather conditions in the state of Queensland, officials say.

About 40 bushfires are burning across the state following a heatwave, said Queensland Fire and Emergency Services.

The most serious blaze, 450km (280 miles) north of Brisbane, has destroyed at least two homes, damaged four others and prompted evacuation orders.

The conditions have been described as "highly unusual" for this time of year.

The largest bushfire is about 50km long and has burnt through approximately 11,000 hectares in the Deepwater National Park.

It began on Saturday and is expected to remain a threat in coming days. Most of the other bushfires are being contained, authorities said.

Unlike in Australia's drier south, intense fire conditions are unusual in Queensland in late November because it is the wet season.


Comment: Thundersnow, bushfires, heatwaves, dust storms: What is going on with Australia's weather?

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Tornado2

Three tornadoes sweep across southern Italy - Second outbreak in one week


Il Globo
Sun, 25 Nov 2018 23:51 UTC
Southern Italy tornado
© Iginio Pingitore
A bad tornado has hit the Cape of Leuca, Apulia on Sunday, November 25, affecting many municipalities with Tricase Porto being the most affected zone.

The whirlwind, which appeared after sudden hail, caused the collapse of the facade of the church of San Nicola which in turn damaged surrounding houses.

In Marina Serra the rectory also collapsed, while along the coast toward Tiggiano many walls and have trees have fallen.

Solar panels, street lights and street signs have also been damaged.

Another tornado hit between the communes of Botricello and Cropani Marina, Calabria, between the provinces of Catanzaro and Crotone.

The force of the wind has ripped off some building roofs and damaged a series of greenhouses.

At this point no people have been hurt; however there have been many calls for rescue made to the Provincial Command of firefighters of Catanzaro.

A third tornado hit in the late morning on Sunday in the zone of Crotone, Calabria.


Comment: This is the second tornado outbreak to hit the region since November 20, when at least three destructive tornadoes formed over southern Italy.

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Bizarro Earth

145 stranded pilot whales die on New Zealand beach

Nick Perry
The News Tribune, NZ
Sun, 25 Nov 2018 02:48 UTC
Stranded Pilot Whales
© Department of Conservation via APIn this Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018 photo, pilot whales lie beached at Mason Bay, Rakiura on Stewart Island, New Zealand. As many as 145 pilot whales have died after the mass stranding which was discovered by a hiker on Saturday, Nov. 24, 2018.
All of the 145 pilot whales that stranded themselves on a remote New Zealand beach have died.

However, conservation workers are hoping to save some of the eight pygmy killer whales that remained stranded Monday at the other end of the country in an unrelated event.

A hiker discovered the pilot whales in two pods about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) apart late Saturday on Stewart Island. About 75 were already dead and conservation workers decided to euthanize the others due to their poor condition and remote location.

Only about 375 people live on Stewart Island, which is also called Rakiura. The whales were found at Mason's Bay about 35 kilometers (22 miles) from the main township of Oban.

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Bizarro Earth

Amazon rainforest deforestation 'worst in 10 years', says report

Karen Graham
Digital Journal
Sun, 25 Nov 2018 02:14 UTC
Brazil has released its worst annual deforestation figures in a decade amid fears that the situation might worsen when the avowedly anti-environmentalist president-elect Jair Bolsonaro takes power.
Amazon Deforested
© CARL DE SOUZA, AFP/FileThe Amazon, which is being deforested at an annual rate of some 52,000 square kilometers (20,000 square miles) -- an area the size of Costa Rica -- is vital to the exchange of oxygen for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, a check on global warming.
You would think that with all the warnings about deforestation and its impact on climate change, deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest would continue its decline.

Actually, it has gotten worse - much worse. In a report released by the Ministry of the Environment (MMA) and Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications (MCTIC) on Friday, about 7,900 square kilometers (3,050 square miles) of the world's largest rainforest was destroyed between August 2017 and July 2018 - an area about five times the size of London.

This loss of the rainforest amounted to a 13.7 percent increase over the year before, based on satellite data. Environmental Minister Edson Duarte said illegal logging was to blame, adding that the loss of rainforest came about despite an increase in its budget and in operations carried out by its environment agency Ibama.
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