Earth ChangesS


Snowflake

Summer-only ski resort in Japan opens 2025 season with record snow depth of 31 FEET

Julia Schneemann
SnowBrains
Sat, 03 May 2025 10:51 UTC
The impressive snow wall on the 11km road to Gassan’s ski area.
© @iam_saki912The impressive snow wall on the 11km road to Gassan’s ski area.
While most ski resorts across the Northern Hemisphere are winding down operations, Gassan, Japan, has just started its season last month. Tsukiyama Ski Area at Mount Gassan opened for its 2025 ski season on Friday, April 11, offering one of the world's rare opportunities to ski in summer. Located in the town of Nishikawa in central Yamagata Prefecture on Japan's main island of Honshu, the resort lies about six hours north of Tokyo and attracts skiers well after most resorts have closed. The access road to the resort is covered in too much snow during the winter months and only gets cleared in April. The road alone is a popular sightseeing destination, as the impressive snow walls tower higher than busses.

Unusually deep snowfall during Japan's 2024 - 25 winter means that this year is no exception and not only is the pass road lined by towering masses of snow, but more importantly the resort kicked off the season with an incredible snow depth of 950 centimeters (374 inches). The resort is known for accumulating massive snowpack in winter, which delays its ski season until the spring thaw makes access and lift operations possible, but this year's snow depth is well above average for this time of year. It also marks the highest snow depth anywhere in the world right now. The snow depth has reduced in the last three weeks since the opening weekend but is still measuring an impressive 890 centimeters (350 inches) as of May 3.

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Tsunami

Two students found dead after flash flood caused by heavy rain in Pattani, Thailand

Bright Choomanee
The Thaiger
Sun, 04 May 2025 10:42 UTC
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Two female students who were swept away by a flash flood while exploring Sai Khao Waterfall in Pattani province have been found dead. Their bodies were discovered a kilometre apart despite challenging search conditions. Emergency services resorted to rappelling and drone technology in the search effort.

The incident occurred yesterday, May 3, at 3.15pm, as officials from Na Pradu in Khok Pho district informed that heavy rain had caused a flash flood in Sai Khao National Park. The flood swept away two female tourists in front of their friends. A rescue team from Pho Ngoen, park officials, and local support units were immediately dispatched to assist.

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Cloud Precipitation

Massive hailstorm, flash flooding shuts down metros in Paris


9news.com.au
Sun, 04 May 2025 10:13 UTC
: Hailstorm triggers flash floods in Paris, metro stations shut, flights affected
Hailstorm triggers flash floods in Paris, metro stations shut, flights affected
A huge hail storm has rolled through Paris, France, forcing tourists and locals to run for cover.

Footage of the severe hail was posted on social media.

Several days of unseasonably hot weather was broken by the dramatic storm, which produced marble-sized hailstones.

French media reported several metro stations were forced to close amid flash flooding.

A low-pressure system moving through France and Portugal was behind the extraordinary storm.

The UK has also seen it's warmest start to May on record, with 29C recorded in London.

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Volcano

Lava spews into air as Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts for 19th time since December

Hayley Vawter
FOX Weather
Sat, 03 May 2025 10:08 UTC
Lava shoots into the air during Kilauea's 19th eruption since Dec. 23, 2024.
Lava shoots into the air during Kilauea's 19th eruption since Dec. 23, 2024.
Kilauea on Hawaii has erupted for the 19th time in four months.

Timelapse footage from the U.S. Geological Survey showed the eruption happening Thursday night.

The video captured the beginning of the fountaining, with short bursts of lava peaking up from the vent of the volcano, along with thick steam.

As the video progresses, the fountains of lava become larger and more frequent, until the molten rock is continuously erupting from the volcano.

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Lightning

Lightning strike kills 2 dozen livestock in Pakistan, another kills 38 goats in Madhya Pradesh, India


The International News ( Pakistan)
Sun, 04 May 2025 09:41 UTC
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Lightning struck the mountainous Koh-i-Siri area of Tanawal, killing around two dozen livestock, including buffaloes, cows, and sheep.

The lightning which was followed by a windstorm and heavy rain late Friday night, caused widespread damage in the Tanawal region. Trees were uprooted, and standing wheat crops also suffered significant losses, according to locals.

"The animals, which were tied outside the cattle pen, were struck by lightning and died on the spot," said Mohammad Shaukat.

He added that the caretaker of the livestock remained safe as he was sleeping in the waiting room of a nearby shrine.

Meanwhile, in a separate incident, the Paras police seized a large quantity of narcotics smuggled from Peshawar to the Kaghan valley.

Comment: Devdiscourse.com reported on the following incident that happened a day later in India:
A tragic incident unfolded in Madhya Pradesh's Ashok Nagar district when a lightning strike claimed the lives of 38 goats. Police reported that the event occurred on Saturday afternoon in Dungasara village, located within Naisarai police station's jurisdiction.

Punit Dixit, in-charge of Naisarai police station, described how the weather took a sudden turn with thunder and lightning that afternoon. At approximately 2 pm, a lightning bolt struck, instantly killing the group of goats sheltering under a tree.

Fortunately, there were no human casualties reported at the scene. Despite the official report of 38 goats dead, locals have suggested that more than 50 goats may have fallen victim to the lightning strike.

(With inputs from agencies.)


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Fire

Israel hit with 'largest ever' wildfires - videos


RT
Thu, 01 May 2025 17:10 UTC
wild fire
© Mostafa Alkharouf/Getty ImagesThe flames and smoke rising in the wildfire between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared a national emergency over the situation.

Israeli firefighters continue to battle wildfires that have been raging near Jerusalem for two days. Emergency services have described them as some of the "largest ever" in the country's history.

The fires broke out on Wednesday along the main highway connecting Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, spreading quickly due to the heat and strong winds.

The key highway and several other roads in the area were shut down, with people in at least ten communities forced to evacuate from what witnesses described as "walls of flame."

More than 160 firefighting teams and 12 aircraft were deployed to contain the wildfires.

On Wednesday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that "we are now in a national emergency, not just a local one," adding that "defending Jerusalem" was a priority.

Comment: See also:
Best of the Web: Israel deploys troops to control massive wildfires near Jerusalem

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Seismograph

6 magnitude earthquake strikes off Indonesia's Sulawesi Island

Saadet Gokce
Anadolu Agency
Sat, 03 May 2025 16:35 UTC
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A strong earthquake with a Richter scale magnitude of 6.0 hit off Sulawesi Island in Indonesia on Saturday, the US Geological Survey reported.

The earthquake struck at 19.51 local time (1251GMT), approximately 165 kilometers (102 miles) from Gorontalo City, according to the USGS.

The earthquake had a depth of 97 kilometers (60 miles), with the epicenter 35 kilometers (21 miles) northwest of Pohuwato, according to Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

The earthquake has no potential for causing a tsunami, the agency added.
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Cloud Precipitation

Severe hailstorms pummel parts of Spain turning streets white

Eliana Nunes
The Sun (UK)
Fri, 02 May 2025 10:50 UTC
Emergency trucks cleared the ice from the streets
Emergency trucks cleared the ice from the streets
As the UK sweltered through its hottest ever start to May yesterday, Spain was battered by yet another round of severe hailstorms.

Typically sunny Piedrabuena, central Spain, has been hit by rain and hail showers, leaving streets coated in white.

Spain has started May with heavy rainfall as a powerful Atlantic front has swept across the country, bringing widespread showers, hail and cooler temperatures.

The State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) has issued orange alerts for severe storms, strong winds and hail in central and eastern areas of the peninsula,

These include Aragón, Castilla-La Mancha and the Valencian Community.

In Ciudad Real, towns were blanketed by a thick layer of hail after a violent morning storm.

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Doberman

Four-year-old boy dies in stray dog attack in Andhra Pradesh, India


etvbharat.com
Sat, 03 May 2025 10:42 UTC
mmmmmm
Representational (File photo)
A tragic incident had taken place in the Nandyal district of Andhra Pradesh, in which a boy aged four years was attacked by stray dogs, leading to his eventual death. The harrowing incident happened in the Hanumannagar Colony of the Bethancherla town. The victim, who was identified as Mohiddeen, was the younger son of Hussain Basha and Asha, who had two sons and a daughter.

On Friday evening, the victim boy was playing outside with another child near their home when a pack of stray dogs attacked them. While the other child narrowly managed to escape from the dogs, Mohiddeen became the victim of the attack. The boy tried to flee the spot, but the dogs attacked him swiftly. He was seriously injured and died on the spot.
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Eye 2

Signs & portents: Rare two-headed snake hatched in California

Kelli Bender
People
Fri, 02 May 2025 10:28 UTC
Two-headed California king snake.
© East Bay Vivarium/InstagramTwo-headed California king snake.
A California king snake is turning heads with its heads.

On March 26, the East Bay Vivarium in Berkeley, Calif., announced that it had recently hatched a two-headed snake.

"Announcing our two-headed California Kingsnake! This Lampropeltis getula californiae hatched with two heads and is doing very well. He just reached his 6-month birthday," the reptile store captioned an Instagram post featuring photos of the snake and the creature's X-rays

According to ABC 7 News, the East Bay Vivarium held off on sharing news of the two-headed snake's arrival when the rare reptile hatched, because two-headed snakes often don't survive long after hatching.

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