Earth ChangesS


Cloud Lightning

Up to five tropical cyclones at once possible in the Pacific Ocean: How rare is that - not a record?

Jon Erdman
Weather Underground
Wed, 08 Jul 2015 00:00 UTC
Western Pacific storms
© The Weather ChannelIR Satellite: The West Pacific three storms.
Hurricane season may be quiet in the Atlantic for now, but the Pacific Ocean is pulling off an impressive feat.

At some point this week, you could see not one, not two, but as many as five tropical cyclones spinning in the Pacific Basin. Although it's not unheard of to see multiple storms at the same time, five is impressive on any scale.

Three tropical cyclones -- Chan-hom, Linfa and Nangka -- formed in the western Pacific within three days of each other last week. Two of those became typhoons, and all three remain active.

That's busy enough, but it doesn't end there.

Tropical Depression Four-E formed Tuesday night well east-southeast of Hawaii.

Another disturbance over 1,000 miles southwest of Hawaii now has a good chance of developing into a tropical depression.
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Snowflake Cold

Shanghai, China records lowest July temperature in 145 years


womenofchina.cn
Tue, 07 Jul 2015 00:00 UTC
Shanghai cold
© ICShanghai records the lowest temperature in July in 145 years, July 6, 2015.
Shanghai recorded its lowest temperature in 145 years on July 6, with the mercury dipping to 17.3 degree Celsius, close to the historic maximum temperature of 15.9 degree Celsius on July 2, 1876, according to wenhui.news365.com.cn.

The day's high was 21.2 degree Celsius, paralleling with that on July 6, 1903, and the average temperature was 18.9 degree Celsius, making it the lowest average temperature in July in 142 years since 1873.

Meteorologist Zhang Ruiyi said the record low temperature is a result of days of rains under cold air mass as the city is in the middle of the monsoon season.

The weather is expected to get cooler as three typhoons are approaching coastal China, which may bring gales and rainstorms to an already flooded coastal parts of China.
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Cloud Precipitation

Heavy rainfall in Costa Rica's Caribbean, northern regions prompt evacuations

L. Arias
The Tico Times
Wed, 08 Jul 2015 14:12 UTC
Image
© Vía Red CrossFlooding in Limón, July 6, 2015

Flooding caused by heavy rains in Costa Rica's northern and Caribbean regions has forced emergency agencies to evacuate a total of 580 people, the National Emergency Commission (CNE) reported Tuesday. The evacuees have been placed in nine temporary shelters.

The National Meteorological Institute's (IMN) forecast director Werner Stoltz said Tuesday that tropical waves increased rainy conditions in most of the Limón province as well as in the canton of Sarapiquí, in northern Heredia province, and in Turrialba in Cartago province.

President Luis Guillermo Solís is considering upgrading the alert for these regions from Yellow to Red — the most serious in the country's three level emergency system. CNE maintains a Green or Preventive Alert for the northern region, as the meteorological institute forecasts that heavy rains will remain in these regions for up to 36 hours.

Preliminary data from local emergency committees in Limón indicate that flooding is currently blocking all access to eight communities in the canton of Matina, eight in Valle La Estrella and one in Central Limón.
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Fire

'Unprecedented' wildfires force out 13,000 evacuees from Saskatchewan, Canada


CBC News
Mon, 06 Jul 2015 07:56 UTC
wildfire at La Ronge airport
© Prince Albert Fire Department/TwitterThis was the situation at the La Ronge airport on the weekend.

Biggest ever exodus of its kind in Saskatchewan, Red Cross says

In what's being dubbed the biggest evacuation effort in Saskatchewan's history, Premier Brad Wall said the number of evacuees affected by raging wildfires in the province's northern regions is "unprecedented."

"This particular fire event is different for our province just because of the amount of hectares that are currently burning, which is, by the way, about 10 times the average year," Wall told reporters mid-afternoon on Monday.

Wall noted that the number of affected communities also "make this [situation] particularly unique and dangerous."

More than 13,000 people have been forced from their homes due to northern Saskatchewan blazes, according to Red Cross.

There were 112 fires burning in the province Monday, the Saskatchewan Environment Ministry said.

The escalating situation forced the Saskatchewan government to bring in a Sikorsky S-64 skycrane helicopter from Montana.


Comment: A couple of months ago two cold temperature records were broken in Saskatchewan, Canada.

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Attention

3 dead sea mammals wash ashore at San Francsico's Ocean Beach

Leslie Brinkley
abc7news.com
Mon, 06 Jul 2015 13:52 UTC
Image
One man came across a dead sea lion pup, an elephant seal and a dolphin that washed ashore Ocean Beach Monday afternoon.
There was a disturbing sight at Ocean Beach in San Francisco. Monday three large marine mammals washed up dead on the beach.

Joey Deruy took his usual walk along Ocean Beach near the Golden Gate Park windmills. At 3 p.m. he came upon a dead sea lion pup but kept walking. A few minutes later, he tripped upon the carcass of what appeared to be a huge elephant seal.

"So many dead animals, it felt really tragic," Deruy said.

Then a bit further down the beach he found a dead dolphin.

"Just so many, a variety of exotic animals dead like that I think is just very peculiar. Where the dolphin was, there was actually more dolphins... still swimming by the one that had died and beached," he said.


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Snowflake

It may be summer... But snow is forecast for the Scottish Highlands

Jon Hebditch
Aberdeen Press and Journal
Tue, 07 Jul 2015 06:16 UTC
summer snow in scotland
Snow could be set for some areas of the Highlands
Despite being the start of July, snow has been forecast in Scotland tomorrow.

The met office says the country's highest peaks could see a dusting of the white stuff while some of the most sheltered Highland glens could have frost on Thursday morning after temperatures dip to 3C.

The weather comes about a week after temperatures rose to 30C around Inverness and the north west Highlands.

Wild weather including storms and flash-floods have hit the north and north-east this week alongside several sunny spells.

It's expected the snow spell will be short-lived.

Comment: Snow in summer? Earlier this week the Russian town of Vorkuta was hit by a blizzard, while other regions that have experienced unusual snowfalls this summer include Norway, which had 5 times more snow in June than normal, and "unprecedented" snowfalls on Scottish mountains.

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Windsock

Typhoon Chan-hom targets Okinawa, Taiwan

Jon Erdman
Weatherchannel
Tue, 07 Jul 2015 17:30 UTC
Image
Typhoon Chan-hom is slowly strengthening and still poses a significant threat to the far southwest islands of Japan, including Okinawa, as well as Taiwan and eastern China late this week.

Chan-hom's center is now about 657 miles southeast of Kadena Air Base on Okinawa and moving west-northwest around 15 mph.

Chan-hom is expected to continue to track west-northwest around the southwest side of high-pressure aloft.

Like Super Typhoon Dolphin in May, Chan-hom may undergo a period of rapid intensification in this zone of the Philippine Sea.

With the upper-level ridge extending rather far to the west over or near southwest Honshu Island, Japan, and the jet stream remaining well to the north, Chan-hom will be a threat to the southwest Japanese islands (including Okinawa), Taiwan and eastern China late this week, possibly as a strong typhoon.
Image
Note: The red cone depicts the potential forecast path of the center of Chan-hom. Impacts such as gusty winds, high surf, and heavy rainfall extend some distance away from the center of a tropical cyclone.
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Bizarro Earth

Bangkok suffering worst drought in 10 years, may run out of tap water in a month

Alisa Tang
Reuters
Tue, 07 Jul 2015 00:07 UTC
bangkok drought
© The Straits TimesHit by drought and seawater contamination, Bangkok's tap water may run out in a month
Bangkok's tap water supply may run out in a month, as the country waits for long overdue rains to replenish sources depleted by drought and threatened by seawater creep, the chief of the capital's water authority said.

Thailand is suffering its worst drought in more than a decade. In an effort to maintain water levels in the dams that supply water for agriculture in the provinces as well as taps in the capital Bangkok, the government has asked farmers to refrain from planting rice since last October.

Despite these measures, water levels are critically low in the three key reservoirs that flow into the Chao Phraya River, one of the two main sources of Bangkok's tap water.

The quantity of water collected in the three dams totaled 5 billion cubic meters last November, compared to the normal 8 billion cubic meters, said Thanasak Watanathana, governor of the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority. As of Monday, there was about 660 million cubic meters left, according to the Royal Irrigation Department.
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Fire

Idaho governor declares disaster emergency due to fast-moving Cape Horn wildfire

Laura Zuckerman, Shelby Sebens
Reuters
Mon, 06 Jul 2015 22:50 UTC
wildfire cape horn idaho
Cape Horn Fire in Bayview, Idaho
A fast-moving wildfire in Idaho that destroyed several upscale homes and forced 200 residents to flee prompted the governor on Monday to declare a disaster emergency that would free up federal funds to help fight the blaze.

The Cape Horn fire has charred more than 2,000 acres (810 hectares) since breaking out on Sunday in a resort area in northern Idaho where there are clusters of multimillion-dollar homes on the banks of Lake Pend Oreille.

"We will continue to support the impacted jurisdictions in protecting lives, property and businesses," Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter said in issuing the declaration.

The Idaho fire was among nearly 40 large wildfires raging across the parched Western United States on Monday, including a blaze in Oregon that officials have deemed the biggest wildfire of the season for the U.S. Pacific Northwest.
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Question

Tens of thousands of nesting birds desert colony on Seahorse Key, Florida


News and Record
Tue, 07 Jul 2015 18:21 UTC
Image
© John RaouxIn this Friday, June 19, 2015 photo, Vic Doig, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist observes empty bird nests in Seahorse Key, off Florida’s Gulf Coast
The din created by thousands of nesting birds is usually the first thing you notice about Seahorse Key, a 150-acre mangrove-covered dune off Florida's Gulf Coast.

But in May, the key fell eerily quiet all at once.

Thousands of little blue herons, roseate spoonbills, snowy egrets, pelicans and other chattering birds were gone. Nests sat empty in trees; eggs broken and scattered on the muddy ground.

"It's a dead zone now," said Vic Doig, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist. "This is where the largest bird colony on the Gulf Coast of Florida used to be."

For decades, Seahorse Key has been a protected way station for myriad bird species. It's part of the Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge, which was established in 1929 as a sanctuary for birds devastated by decades of hunting for their colorful plumage. Accessible only by boat, today it's a rare island off Florida not dominated by human activity and development.
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© John RaouxIn this Friday, June 19, 2015 photo, a broken bird egg shell is seen in Seahorse Key, off Florida’s Gulf Coast.
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