Earth ChangesS


Cloud Lightning

Lightning strikes Manila Bay, Philippines kills three swimming children

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Three children from Baseco Compound in Port Area, Manila, were killed when a lightning bolt hit the Manila Bay while they were swimming Friday afternoon during a thunderstorm, a report on "24 Oras" said.

The victims—Nilson Huit, 13; Junjun Rial, 17; and MJ Aregatas, 12—were declared dead on arrival at a nearby hospital.

The report said the two survivors immediately asked for help after the incident.

Police Sr. Insp. Joey Estucia, commander of the police station in the compound, said the three were already dead by the time they arrived.

According to the doctor who looked into the victims, the three were not directly hit by the lightning.

Weather bureau PAGASA warned the public against swimming in open water during thunderstorms.

Snowflake Cold

Summer snowfall in parts of Montana

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© William KennedyPicture of the mountains by Kiowa Camp Blackfeet Reservation
Get this... it's snowing in parts of Montana right now!

Jason Reid sent us a photo of the snow flying about six miles north of Babb, right along the Rocky Mountain Front.

The photo was taken at around 6:15 p.m. on Friday.

This is not unexpected, so let's not panic. We have been expecting some higher-elevation snow for several days now.

A cold front has moved through north-central Montana and strong northwest winds are carrying in much colder air.

Snow levels will fall to near 6,500 feet in the next few hours, with up to one inch of slushy accumulation in the mountains.

This includes Logan Pass, parts of the Going To The Sun Road, and Kings Hill Pass in central Montana.

I am NOT expecting snow in Great Falls or at lower elevations.

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© Jason ReidViewer photo of snow flying near Babb, MT on August 21, 2015

Snowflake Cold

August snowfall in western Alberta as frost advisories issued

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© skibanff.comThis is the image coming from Sunshine Village's Rock Isle Lake webcam at 12:58 p.m. MT on Friday.
It's not expected to stick around, but snow was falling at the outer edges of Calgary and many areas west, south and north of the city late in the day on Friday.

Environment Canada's Bill McMurtry says most of the snow was reported at higher elevations in the Rockies and Foothills.

"We are anticipating that snow will continue for the remainder of the afternoon and evening period," he told CBC News. "As the system moves off to the east towards Saskatchewan and Manitoba we'll see skies clear overnight and that will end the precipitation."

Webcams belonging to the Lake Louise Ski Resort and Sunshine Village show the snow already accumulating in higher elevations.


Bizarro Earth

Unusual weather phenomenon in Finland, as city area experiences highest and lowest temperatures on same day

unusual weather in Finland
© Tommi Parkkinen / Yle
The coldest and the warmest places in Finland on Friday were one in the same spot in the southeastern city of Lappeenranta.

Residents of the Konnunsuo area of Lappeenranta experienced an unusual weather phenomenon on Friday when they had both the coldest and the warmest temperatures recorded in the country.

The Finnish Meteorological Institute measuring station at Konnunsuo recorded a temperature of 3.1 degrees Celcius just before 6 AM, the lowest anywhere in the country.

By afternoon, the thermometer had climbed to 25.6 degrees, the highest official temperature of the day.

Arrow Up

Scientists on 3 continents now have evidence: Some chimps have entered the Stone Age.

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© Zoom Dosso/Getty Images.
They're not as far behind us as we thought.

Chimpanzees may be even smarter than we thought they were.

According to a fascinating report from Collin Barras of the BBC, archeologists in Africa, South America and Southeast Asia, have been digging up crude stone tools that date back thousands of years — tools that were fashioned by non-human primates.

Which means something kind of extraordinary (emphasis mine):
"The tools are crude. A chimpanzee or monkey stone hammer is hardly a work of art to rival the beauty of an ancient human hand axe. But that's not the point. These primates have developed a culture that makes routine use of a stone-based technology. That means they have entered the Stone Age."
That's right: We now how pretty solid evidence to suggest that at least some chimps are now firmly in the Stone Age.

For reference, here are a few of the things humans did during the Stone Age:

Health

10-year-old girl attacked by shark on Florida beach

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© Jeff Langlois/ZUMAPRESS.comSpinner sharks are seen near the shore Tuesday morning at Midtown Beach.
Authorities say a shark bit a 10-year-old girl on her leg near the south end of Jacksonville Beach.

The Jacksonville Beach Police Department says that the girl was bitten below her knee Wednesday afternoon and that her injuries were not life-threatening.

WJAX-TV reports there was not a lifeguard working where the girl was swimming.

"It's always a good idea to swim near a lifeguard," Jacksonville Beach Ocean Rescue Capt. Rob Emahiser told WJAX. "They're going to be the first guy to see something. They have a height advantage up on the tower."

The girl was in about two feet of water, and the shark was estimated to be about three feet long. WJAX reports the girl was taken to Wolfson Children's Hospital.

It was the second shark bite this summer at Jacksonville Beach. The first was June 26 when a woman was bit while swimming. On July 19, authorities sounded a warning when a helicopter spotted two large sharks near the beach.

Comment: Shark attacks seem to be on the rise lately. People would be wise to be very careful swimming in ocean waters, especially shallow waters close to the beach, which is where shark attacks most commonly occur:


Bizarro Earth

San Francisco's recent earthquake raises fears that it could be a signal of a 'big one' coming soon

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© AFP
A 4.0 earthquake on August 18 along the Hayward fault line in northern California has caused worry among some residents that the "big one" may be coming.

It was the first seismic event to take place along the fault line since 1868- when a massive 7.0 earthquake that was dubbed "the great San Francisco earthquake," hit.

The name was later passed on to the 7.9 quake in 1906 along the San Andreas, but the Hayward quake remained a legend having claimed the lives of 30 people and caused millions in damages.

Cloud Precipitation

13 dead, 13 missing in central China floods, mudslides; one million affected

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© AFPRescuers distribute drinking water to residents along a flooded street in Wenling, eastern China's Zhejiang province, August 10, 2015.
Flooding in three central Chinese provinces has left at least 13 people dead and 13 others missing and disrupted the lives of nearly 1 million people, state media reported Thursday.

Heavy rains and flooding struck Sichuan, Guizhou and Hunan provinces starting Sunday, causing widespread damage, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Worst-hit was Sichuan's Xuyong county, where mud and debris filled streets up to the second floor of some buildings and about half a million people were affected.

Mudslides also destroyed dozens of homes and cut power and communications to the area, which lies in a flood plain at the base of steep mountains.



Cloud Lightning

Lightning hits crude oil tank in Crystal Beach, Texas

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© Patrick P / FacebookLarge fire on Crystal Beach
Crystal Beach firefighters say a crude oil tank caught fire Thursday morning due to a lightning strike.

Firefighters say the fire took place at a facility on Monkhouse road on Crystal Beach.

The facility sits just behind Karen Stevens' backyard.

"It's very scary," says Stevens. "Very scary."

Firefighters temporarily evacuated Stevens and her neighbors.

"We grabbed clothes and we ran," she says. "Just with what we had on our back."

Galveston County says the oil tank was holding 400 barrels of crude oil, but it was decommissioned four years ago.


Cloud Lightning

Oil refinery in Texas City hit by lightning, catches fire

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© John BronkhorstImage of the refinery fire in Texas City, Texas, Thursday morning.
Strong storms moved through the Houston area Thursday morning, where a lightning strike was blamed for an oil refinery fire and streets were quickly flooded by heavy rain.

A Valero refinery in Texas City erupted into flames when a lightning bolt struck a transformer at the site, according to Click2Houston.com. No injuries have been reported, nor are nearby residents in any danger, the report added.

The Texas City Fire Department told the Associated Press that the fire would be monitored and allowed to burn itself out.