Earth ChangesS


Cloud Precipitation

Flash flooding hits parts of Fiji

Repeka Nasiko
Fiji Times
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 14:35 UTC
Flash flooding in Western division due to heavy rain
© FBC NewsFlash flooding in Western division due to heavy rain
Rain water flooded the streets of Lautoka City and most parts of the Western Division, forcing authorities to issue an advisory for the traveling public.

Reports of flash flooding were recorded in Rakiraki, Tavua, Ba, Nadi and Lautoka during yesterday's heavy downpour.

The Sugar City had drains clogged up, causing water to spill on to main streets.

Yesterday, motorists had to manoeuvre their vehicles through floodwaters during the pouring rain.

Lautoka City Council CEO Jone Nakauvadra said drainage was an issue for the city.

"The problem with us is we are located downstream so all of the water flows through our drainage systems in town towards the sea," he said.
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Wolf

Young girl killed by pit bull terrier in Duncan, Oklahoma

Dallas Franklin
kfor.com
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 14:19 UTC
PIT BULL ATTACK
A young Oklahoma girl was killed in a dog attack over the weekend.

Jason Dodge told KFOR he left his 3-year-old daughter, Rylee, at home with his mom.

He had only been gone about 20 minutes when he got the terrible phone call that Rylee had been mauled by a dog.

Dodge says he had just taken in the pit bull 5 days earlier from a friend and that there were no warning signs that the dog could be vicious.

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Seismograph

Shallow 4.3 magnitude earthquake rattles Greece, tremors felt in Athens


RT
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 23:08 UTC
Greece earthquake
© earthquaketrack.com
A 4.3 magnitude quake that shook Greece on Monday night was felt in Athens. Witnesses reported a strong tremor in the capital city.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake struck 25 kilometers (15 miles) northeast of Athens at a depth of 10 kilometers, just before 8.30pm local time.

According to the EMSC - an independent provider of real-time earthquake warnings - the tremor was felt over an area inhabited by 3.6 million people

Witnesses close to the epicenter near Marathon, in southeast Attica, told the agency it felt like a bomb exploded nearby. "It sounded like someone dropped a bomb and then everything started shaking," one person who was three kilometers from the epicenter reported.

Reports from central Athens and the suburbs described the quake as strong but quick.
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Road Cone

SOTT Focus: California Mudslides, a Sign of Worse to Come?

Niall Bradley
Sott.net
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 20:21 UTC
oprah mudflow
Oprah Winfrey surveys the damage from the mudflow on her property in Montecito, southern California
13 years to the day since the La Conchita landslide killed 10 people following a deluge, the same stretch of southern California between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles was hit with another deluge that produced instant and devastating mudflows. With the area torched by the Thomas Wildfire the preceding month, the heavy rain that fell on 9-10 January produced instant run-off from higher ground that washed away everything in its path, all the way down to the ocean.

As more dead bodies are found in the disaster zone, local authorities have gradually increased the death toll - which currently stands at 20 - while they report that another 8 people remain missing. The surge also injured about 200 people and destroyed or damaged about 500 homes in Montecito, Santa Barbara County - located just a few kilometers from La Conchita - and washed out a 30-mile stretch of the 101 Freeway.

From above, the debris flow appears to have converted the wealthy neighborhood - which is home to mega-stars like Oprah and Ellen - into a brown swamp.

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Snowflake

Snow blankets parts of central and northern Greece (VIDEOS, PHOTOS)

Tasos Kokkinidis
Greek Reporter
Sun, 14 Jan 2018 15:22 UTC
Near Karpenisisi
Near Karpenisisi
A weather front called 'Theseus' has brought a wave of cold and wet weather to Greece.

Many central and northern parts of the country have been covered by a blanket of snow as temperatures have plummeted.

In Thessaly heavy snowfall has created problems on roads. In areas of high altitude in the region of Larisa, Volos and Trikala snow ploughing vehicles are working overtime to clear the roads.

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Eye 2

Signs and Portents: Two-headed snake found outside Branson, Missouri

Erin Heffernan
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Sat, 13 Jan 2018 14:57 UTC
This two-headed western ratsnake found last fall in Stone County is currently on display at the Missouri Department of Conservation's Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery in Branson.
This two-headed western ratsnake found last fall in Stone County is currently on display at the Missouri Department of Conservation's Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery in Branson.
A two-headed snake — or is it snakes? — found this fall by a southwestern Missouri teenager is now on display at a hatchery outside Branson, the Missouri Department of Conservation announced Friday.

The unusual reptile, a nonvenomous western rat snake, was found in October by Terry Lowery under the deck of his family's home in Hurley, about 45 minutes south of Hurley, according to the department.

After the family took photographs of the young dual-headed snake, they contacted the Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield, and zoo staff forwarded them to the Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery operated by the Department of Conservation.

The hatchery near Branson is primarily a trout-raising facility producing hundreds of thousands of trout a year, but its staff agreed to observe the snake.
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Attention

Thousands flee as Mayon volcano erupts in Philippines

Alex Green and Afp
Daily Mail
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 14:16 UTC
Mayon volcano in the Philippines could explode in the next few days, spraying lava, hot rocks and gases as fast as 60mph on to surrounding towns
Mayon volcano in the Philippines could explode in the next few days, spraying lava, hot rocks and gases as fast as 60mph on to surrounding towns
Thousands fled their homes in terror as lava oozed from a rumbling Philippine volcano today - as experts warned this 'quiet eruption' could lead to a hazardous in the next few days, spewing lava and hot rocks at 60mph.

Lava is slowly flowing out of the Mayon volcano's crater along with a spectacular 1,000 metre (3,280 foot) ash plume rising into the sky, the nation's volcanology institute said.

More than 12,000 people have been ordered to evacuated from a seven kilometre (four mile) danger zone around the crater, as officials warned them of potentially destructive mudflows and toxic clouds.

It is considered the nation's most active volcano

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Fire

Australian birds have weaponized fire: Astonishing research indicates black kites are purposefully spreading wildfires

Richard Warnica
National Post
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 03:41 UTC
Raptors, including the whistling kite, are intentionally spreading grass fires in northern Australia, a research paper argues. The reason: to flush out prey and feast

Black kites
© Bob GosfordBlack kites (Milvus migrans) visit a grass fire in Borroloola, Northern Territory, Australia, in 2014.
Dick Eussen thought he had the fire beat. It was stuck on one side of a highway deep in the Australian outback. But it didn't look set to jump. And then, suddenly, without warning or obvious cause, it did.

Eussen, a veteran firefighter in the Northern Territory, set off after the new flames. He found them, put them out, then looked up into the sky.

What he saw sounds now like something out of a fairy tale or dark myth. A whistling kite, wings spread, held a burning twig in its talons. It flew about 20 metres ahead of Eussen and dropped the ember into the brittle grass.

And the fire kicked off once again.
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Snowflake

Erie in Pennsylvania on pace for snowiest season with 136.5″ of snowfall so far this winter


Weather Nation
Sat, 13 Jan 2018 21:35 UTC
Erie, PA on pace for snowiest season
Erie, PA on pace for snowiest season
Snow. Something Erie, PA is probably tired of talking about this season. In fact, the city is on pace for the record snowiest season on record.

So far this winter season, the city has received 136.5″ of snowfall...an incredible 88″ more than a normal year.

The city was clobbered with more than 60″ of snow in a single lake effect snow event in December, prompting a state of emergency for the city. December, by far, was the big player in the seasonal snow, with nearly 121″ in that month alone!
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Snowflake

Nearly two feet of snow wallops Wilmington, Massachusetts

Lizzy Hill
Wilmington Town Crier
Sat, 13 Jan 2018 19:27 UTC
snow
Thursday's snowstorm brought almost two feet of snow in some areas of town, with snow falling from 7 a.m. on Thursday through into the night. Wilmington DPW, however, was ex­pecting the snow to start at 3 a.m., so they delayed their start plowing until about 10:30 a.m.

Operations Manager Jamie Ma­galdi explained that the excessive winds make it hard to quantify exactly how much snow fell, but he provided an average of 17.5 inches throughout the day. This storm fell in the midst of an extremely cold week, with temperatures in the negative degrees, which made the cleanup and the aftermath of the storm particularly difficult.

Magaldi shared that the town had a total of 90 workers plowing from Thursday morning to Friday afternoon.

"We had 45 staff and 45 contractors," he said.

The equipment they use ranges from snow plows to front loaders to sidewalk cleaners.
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