Earth ChangesS


Cloud Lightning

Tropical Storm Hilary hitting Southern California as Southwest braces for its wrath - first such storm in 84 years

Gina Martinez
CBC News
Mon, 21 Aug 2023 09:19 UTC
A car is partially submerged in floodwaters as Tropical Storm Hilary moves through Cathedral City, California on August 20, 2023.
© GETTY IMAGESA car is partially submerged in floodwaters as Tropical Storm Hilary moves through Cathedral City, California on August 20, 2023.
Southern California and the Southwest were preparing for possible "catastrophic and life-threating flooding" as Tropical Storm Hilary continued north after making landfall in the northern part of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula on Sunday. Flooding was already impacting many areas, and numerous rock and mud slides were reported.

Hilary is the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years.

It strengthened to a Category 4 hurricane before weakening to a tropical storm prior to making landfall. The storm is still expected to bring heavy rainfall along its path through Monday morning, according to the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center.

"The potentially historic amount of rainfall is expected to cause life-threatening to catastrophic flash, urban, and arroyo flooding including landslides, mudslides, and debris flows through early Monday morning," the NHC said.

Hilary dumped more than half the average annual rain on some desert and mountain areas, including Palm Springs, which saw nearly 3 inches of rain by Sunday evening. Thousands of people across Southern California had no power due to the storm and Palm Springs lost 911 service Sunday night, CBS News Los Angeles reported.

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Boat

Floods submerge streets outside of Buenos Aires, Argentina


Reuters
Fri, 18 Aug 2023 08:32 UTC
Strong storm left neighborhoods flooded in La Plata
© Eva Cabrera.Strong storm left neighborhoods flooded in La Plata
Heavy rains lashed La Plata in Argentina, causing flooding that affected streets and houses, disrupting the lives of residents.

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Seismograph

Hurriquake in California: State is hit by 5.1 magnitude earthquake as Hilary hits LA and San Diego

Alice Wright
The Daily Mail
Sun, 20 Aug 2023 23:12 UTC
earthquake california
The quake centered in Ventura County was felt across parts of Southern California on Sunday afternoon, August 20, 2023
California has been hit by a 5.1 magnitude earthquake as Hurricane Hilary hits LA and San Diego with 80mph winds.

The quake centered in Ventura County was felt across parts of Southern California on Sunday afternoon. The center is reported to have been four miles southeast of Ojai, about 80 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

Shaking was reported in Malibu, Porter Ranch, parts of Los Angeles, Manhattan Beach and other locations.A tornado warning has also been issued for San Diego and the surrounding Alpine and Descanso areas.

The National Weather Service released the warning at t 3:39 p.m. on Sunday local time, and will last until 4pm.

The United States Geological Survey, which reports and records earthquakes, said there were at least four aftershocks of magnitude-3.0 or greater.

Comment: More from the area:





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Cloud Precipitation

Tropical Storm Hilary makes landfall in northern Mexico

Nouran Salahieh, Gene Norman and Dakin Andone
CNN
Sun, 20 Aug 2023 18:58 UTC
mmmmmmm
© Screenshot: Twitter
Tropical Storm Hilary made landfall in Mexico Sunday over the northern Baja California Peninsula, according to the National Hurricane Center, which warned of "catastrophic and life-threatening flooding" as the storm makes its way into Southern California and the southwestern US.

Hilary has maximum sustained winds of 65 miles per hour as it barrels north-northwest at a speed of around 25 mph, according to the center. It was about 215 miles south-southeast of San Diego as of about 11 a.m. local time Sunday.

At least one death is already attributed to the storm. A person died when their vehicle was swept away near Santa Rosalía in Mexico, along the Baja California Peninsula, Mexican officials said in a news release Saturday.

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Attention

Shark attacks man while he was relaxing in shallow sea water in Spain

Ben Ashton
Metro (UK)
Sat, 19 Aug 2023 13:29 UTC
Blue shark
Blue shark
A man has described the terrifying moment he was attacked by a shark while cooling off in the sea in Spain.

He entered the ocean for a dip as temperatures soared to 31C on Thursday in the Oliva municipality, around 50 miles south of Valencia on the east coast.

But while relaxing within metres of the shoreline in the shallow water, which was no more than knee deep, he saw a 'shadow' nearby.

Within seconds, a blue shark lashed out and went for him, sinking its teeth into his foot.
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Tornado1

Rare west coast hurricane, Hilary, strengthens to Category 4 on path to California

Stephen M. Lepore
The Daily Mail
Thu, 17 Aug 2023 17:23 UTC
Hurrican hilary california
© The Weather ChannelProjected path of Hurricane Hilary
LA and San Diego brace for first tropical storm to make landfall in 84 years on Sunday. No tropical storm has made landfall in Southern California since September 25, 1939

Hurricane Hilary grew rapidly to Category 4 strength off Mexico's Pacific coast, with it set to lash the south west of the US with heavy rain by the weekend.

The National Hurricane Center said Hilary's maximum sustained winds had risen to 140mph at midnight and was expected to intensify through Friday morning.

No tropical storm has made landfall in Southern California since September 25, 1939, according to the NWS. World War II had started just 24 days earlier.
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Fire

Evacuations ordered after winds whip Northern California wildfire near site of 2022 deadly blaze


Associated Press
Wed, 16 Aug 2023 10:50 UTC
Klamath fire
© Roger Matthews/Caltrans/APFire: Klamath National Forest
Rural areas near California's border with Oregon were under evacuation orders Wednesday after gusty winds from a thunderstorm sent a lightning-sparked wildfire racing through national forest lands, authorities said.

The blaze in Siskiyou County, dubbed the Head Fire, was one of at least 20 fires - most of them tiny - that erupted in the Klamath National Forest as thunderstorms brought lightning and downdrafts that drove the flames through timber and rural lands.

Forest Supervisor Rachel Smith told The Associated Press:
"This has been a fire that has moved extremely quickly. Just in a matter of a couple of minutes yesterday afternoon the fire grew from just 50 acres (20.2 hectares) to nearly 1,500 acres (607 hectares). This is the kind of growth that historically we have not experienced on our forest prior to the last couple of years."
An overflight late Tuesday measured the fire at 4.2 square miles (10.8 square kilometers), slightly smaller than initial estimates after it grew rapidly in just a few hours. A forest statement said fire behavior also decreased during the night.

Firefighters were working to protect homes near the confluence of the Scott and Klamath rivers, a very lightly populated area about 20 miles (32.2 kilometers) from the California-Oregon state line and about 50 miles northwest of Mt. Shasta.
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Cloud Lightning

Best of the Web: Maui wildfires death toll climbs to 480 locals claim, as Hawaii morgue workers run out of body bags

Ruth Styles
Daily Mail
Fri, 18 Aug 2023 12:11 UTC
Maui residents say the actual wildfire death toll so far is likely closer to 480 and reveal the MPD's morgue office (pictured) ran out of body bags in the early days of the ongoing search and recovery operation in Lahaina
Maui residents say the actual wildfire death toll so far is likely closer to 480 and reveal the MPD's morgue office (pictured) ran out of body bags in the early days of the ongoing search and recovery operation in Lahaina
Maui authorities are dramatically underplaying the number of people known to have died in the inferno that ripped through Lahaina last week - with locals telling DailyMail.com that the actual death toll is at least 480 and that morgues had run out of body bags.

The figure is quadruple that of the official number of 111 - and some of the relatives of the victims have been left to uncover the remains of their loved ones themselves due to the glacial progress of the search and recovery operation.

On Tuesday, Maui mayor Richard Bissen said just 25 per cent of the stricken town had been searched, although he expected that figure to increase to 85 per cent by Saturday.

But DailyMail.com photos taken on Wednesday showed hundreds of cars and vehicles still unsearched - with just a handful marked with an orange X to show they'd been looked at.

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Fire

Canada wildfires: State of emergency declared in British Columbia as firefighters combat blazes

Maroosha Muzaffar
Independent (UK)
Sat, 19 Aug 2023 11:35 UTC
Homes are pictured near the McDougall Creek
© Ben Nelms/CBCHomes are pictured near the McDougall Creek Wildfire as it burns in West Kelowna, B.C. on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023. B.C. Premier David Eby announced a provincewide state of emergency after a significant number of homes were destroyed by the fast-burning wildfire.
The premier of the Canadian province of British Columbia has declared a state of emergency, citing what he described as the worst wildfire season ever as thousands of individuals have been evacuated from cities to the east of Vancouver.

David Eby said on Friday night: "Over the past 24 hours, the situation has evolved rapidly and we are in for an extremely challenging situation in the days ahead."

He continued: "We are facing the worst wildfire season in our province's history. This unprecedented situation has come to a head this evening. In just the last 24 hours, the situation has evolved and deteriorated quite rapidly."

Amidst blustery conditions in the hills and mountains above West Kelowna, firefighters are battling the uncontained McDougall Creek wildfire, which has spread over 10,500 hectares of land. This volatile situation has prompted the evacuation of thousands of residents.

West Kelowna, a municipality with a population of 36,000, is situated approximately 300 kilometres [180 miles] east of Vancouver. Evacuations were also being carried out north of nearby Kelowna, a city with a population of about 150,000 also on Okanagan Lake, the local media reported.


Comment: Related: Canada wildfire: Evacuees flee Yellowknife as fire nears northern city

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Fire

More than 3,000 people flee wildfires in popular French tourist spot

Jasper King
Metro (UK)
Tue, 15 Aug 2023 11:25 UTC
mmmmm
A popular part of France is the latest area to be hit by devastating wildfires with more than 3,000 tourists evacuated from a holiday spot.

The blaze ripped through 500 hectares of land in the holiday region of Pyrenees-Orientales, close to Spain's border.

The fire broke out on Monday afternoon at 5pm and spread rapidly near the villages of Saint-Andre, Sorede and the seaside resort of Argeles, due to the 'extremely hot weather, drought and strong winds of up to 180km/hr'.

It has so far gutted around 30 homes, incinerated cars and destroyed a campsite in the commune of Saint-Andre.

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