Earth ChangesS


Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills two girls in South Africa

Se-Anne Rall
IOL
Tue, 24 Oct 2017 10:08 UTC
LIGHTNING
Two girls, aged 8 and 13, died after being struck by lightning in Bayafuthi, Msinga, on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast on Monday. Nomcebo Shabalala and Amahle Sithole were on their way to school when they were struck.

Weziwe Thusi, Acting MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) said: "This is a devastating blow to the entire community and a sad reminder that we are now in the summer season where the frequency of lightning incidents has somehow increased from what it used to be due to the reality of climate change. While this is an act of nature, it is a growing problem especially in summer and warrants that we all learn methods of adapting to these unpredictable weather patterns. We wish to assure the affected families of our support and assistance. The uMzinyathi District Disaster Centre has been directed to work very close with the bereaved families".

Cogta is appealing to residents to heed storm warnings.

The department in partnership with municipalities will continue its awareness campaigns and partner with the schools to ensure that children at a young age are armed with information on what to do to cope with the growing problems caused by natural disasters.
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Cloud Lightning

35 sheep struck dead by lightning bolt in Tamil Nadu, India


The Times of India
Tue, 24 Oct 2017 19:24 UTC
LIGHTNING
Thirty five sheep were struck dead by lightning near Vedasandur in Dindigul district on Sunday.

Police said, Balasubramanian, 55, of Renganathapuram near Vedasandur, had a herd of sheep and as it was raining on Saturday, he had locked the animals up in a thatched shed and gone home.

He returned on Sunday to find all his animals struck dead by lightning and only one sheep had escaped.

Village administration officer Alagesan came to the spot and inspected the goats with the help of a veterinary doctor.
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Gem

Rare red sprites in action: Mysterious electric tendrils lighting up the sky over Oklahoma filmed

Shivali Best
Daily Mail
Mon, 23 Oct 2017 18:53 UTC
This month, people in Oklahoma have been treated to a stunning and extremely rare display - a red sprite lightning storm
This month, people in Oklahoma have been treated to a stunning and extremely rare display - a red sprite lightning storm
This month, people in Oklahoma have been treated to a stunning and extremely rare display - a red sprite lightning storm.

The extraordinary weather occurrence is caused by electrical bursts of light above highly active thunderstorms, and appears as jellyfish-shaped clusters of red light.

Red sprites are rarely seen, yet one lucky videographer managed to catch the display six times during a storm earlier this month over Edmond, Oklahoma.

On October 6, videographer Paul Smith headed outdoors with his camera to capture some of the lightening forks on film, but instead he managed to capture something far more remarkable.

Sprawled out in the sky intermittently appears a spectacular series of bright red, jellyfish-shaped clusters of light, an extraordinary weather occurrence known as a 'red sprite'.

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Binoculars

Did Storm Ophelia bring a hawfinch invasion to the UK?

Stuart Winter
Daily Express (UK)
Sun, 22 Oct 2017 13:24 UTC
Hawfinches
Hawfinches
Days before Tropical Storm Ophelia was drowning the countryside with an eerie, orange lustre, the skies flashed with clues of oddities to come.

The heavens would soon be swirling with Saharan sands and the ashy fallout from Portugal's wildfires.

Looking upwards last Sunday, flickering wings were catching the eye.

Small squadrons of birds the shape of badly-crafted paper planes trickled over inland hilltops ever westwards, signalling their flights with the sounds of sharp nails driven into granite blocks.

Hawfinches were on the move, white wing-bars and stubby tails shining bright and formations communicating with high-pitched call notes on the very edge of human hearing.

For those listening below it was an unprecedented experience of shock and awe.


Comment: See also: Wrong place, wrong time: Red-billed quelea from Africa turns up in Scotland; storm driven?

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Cloud Lightning

Boy playing with an umbrella is almost hit by a lightning bolt in Argentina

Liz Dunphy
Daily Mail (UK)
Mon, 23 Oct 2017 13:01 UTC
It appeared as if the lightning was attracted to his umbrella although it was not clear exactly where it struck. The boy is reported to have survived the potentially deadly ordeal
It appeared as if the lightning was attracted to his umbrella although it was not clear exactly where it struck. The boy is reported to have survived the potentially deadly ordeal
A shocking video has emerged of a child playing outside with an umbrella during a storm when lightning struck.

The 12-year-old boy was filmed holding an umbrella under a drain as it dumped water on him during heavy rain in the city of Posadas, Argentina.

But as he skipped into the sodden garden a lightning bolt struck in a searing flash of light before the video cut out.

Mum Carolina Kotur told local media that he survived the harrowing incident.

She said: 'It was morning, I was with my daughter in the room calming her, because she is scared of lightning.

'My son was walking in the rain and I started filming because I was making a joke, and right next to him the lightning struck.

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Attention

Man and girl injured by bear in central Romania


Irish Independent
Mon, 23 Oct 2017 12:22 UTC
Bear attack
Two people have been taken to hospital after they were attacked by a brown bear in central Romania.

A 39-year-old man was scratched all over his body and a 14-year-old girl was bitten and scratched during the attack early on Monday in the mountainous city of Fagaras, a spokesman for Romania's emergency services said.

They were both treated at the municipal hospital.

The spokesman said the bear had left the forest and had come to the city in search of food. The animal ran off, frightened by the screams.

He said there were occasional attacks on humans in the Brasov area, home to many of Romania's bears.

Romania has between 5,000 and 6,000 wild bears.

Source: Press Association

Comment: See also this July report: Two shepherds mauled by bear in Romania; 7th attack for the country this year

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Seismograph

Strong shallow earthquake of magnitude 5.9 southwest of Africa


Earthquake-Report.com
Mon, 23 Oct 2017 11:54 UTC
chart
Most important Earthquake Data:

Magnitude : 5.9

Local Time (conversion only below land) : Unknown

GMT/UTC Time : 2017-10-23 08:32:34

Depth (Hypocenter) : 10 km
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Red Flag

Record heat, fierce Santa Ana winds set to fuel wildfire threat in California

Doyle Rice
USA Today
Sun, 22 Oct 2017 14:30 UTC
California red flag warning
© NWS
Record-breaking heat and fierce Santa Ana winds are forecast for portions of Southern California on both Monday and Tuesday, which would help fan and exacerbate any wildfires that might flare up.

"The duration, strength, and widespread nature of this Santa Ana wind event combined with extreme heat will bring dangerous fire weather conditions to Southwest California through Tuesday," the National Weather Service warned.

Red flag warnings have been posted all the way from Santa Barbara to San Diego, meaning that weather conditions are ideal for the spread of wildfires.

"Gusts can reach 70 mph in some of the north- and east-facing canyons and passes in Southern California," AccuWeather meteorologist Jake Sojda said.

Highs will be well into the 90s and could top 100 degrees in some locations early this week. Los Angeles' forecast high of 101 degrees Monday would break a record set in 1965, while the forecast high of 102 Tuesday would break a record set in 1909 when William Howard Taft was the president.

The weather service has issued an excessive heat warning and says people should limit strenuous outdoor activity.
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Windsock

Two dead as Typhoon Lan lashes Japan with 160 km/h winds and heavy rain


South China Morning Post
Mon, 23 Oct 2017 04:20 UTC
Typhoon Lan damage in Japan
© Kyodo
One man died after scaffolding collapsed at a construction site in the city of Fukuoka and another drowned after he dived into the sea to grab a rope to secure his boat

A powerful typhoon left two dead, two missing and dozens injured in Japan Monday, moving northward off the Pacific coast after millions struggled to the polls for a national election.

Authorities advised thousands living in coastal areas or near rivers to evacuate to shelters before Typhoon Lan, described as "very large and very strong", hit Tokyo and surrounding regions early Monday morning.

The typhoon left the Japanese archipelago by about 9am after making landfall in Shizuoka southwest of Tokyo six hours before, the weather agency said.

The storm, which had already dumped torrential rain over much of the country during the weekend, packed gusts up to 162 kilometres per hour, the meteorological agency said.

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Attention

Shark knocks teen girl off kayak near Normanville, South Australia

Lizx Walsh and Jill Pengelley
The Advertiser
Sun, 22 Oct 2017 13:20 UTC
Girl knocked off kayak by shark
Girl knocked off kayak by shark
A courageous father has saved his teenage daughter from a rampaging four-metre great white shark off Normanville, declaring that if he'd taken 10 seconds longer, "I'd have one less child".

Chris Williams, 56, said his family was kayaking and squidding in the pristine waters of Lady Bay on Sunday.

But the perfect afternoon quickly turned into a nightmare when Sarah, 15, alone in a double kayak, was suddenly flung into the air.

Sarah said she had been messing around with her brother and singing songs when the attack began.

"The next thing I know, a shark was hitting my kayak from below," she said. "It flipped my kayak ... as soon as I hit the water, I saw the fin and the tail and I thought: 'This is like the Jaws movie'."

Sarah said her feet touched the shark's body as she scrambled back into her kayak. "I basically used the body weight of the shark to get back up," she said.

The ferocious attack left teeth marks on the underside of the kayak. Watching it unfold only metres away in a small aluminium tinny were Mr Williams, his son Mitchell, 22, and daughter Misty, 33.
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