Earth ChangesS


Tsunami

Heavy rains drench Southern California, spawn flash flooding, mud flows - 8 inches of rainfall in 9 hours

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Torrential rains unleashed widespread flash flooding and mud flows across Southern California on Wednesday, as authorities warned motorists to stay off roads while urging residents in flood zones to evacuate or shelter in place.

In the rain-soaked mountain resort of Wrightwood, east of Los Angeles, emergency crews spent much of the day answering dozens of rescue calls and pulling drivers to safety from submerged vehicles, San Bernardino County Fire Department spokesperson Christopher Prater said.

No casualties were reported as of Wednesday night, according to Prater.

Aerial video footage posted online by the fire department showed rivers of mud coursing through inundated cabin neighborhoods.

Downpours measuring an inch (2.54 cm) or more of rain an hour in some areas were spawned by the region's latest atmospheric storm, a vast airborne current of dense moisture siphoned from the Pacific and swept inland over the greater Los Angeles area.


Snowflake

N. America & Canada Christmas snow roundup - 4 feet of snowfall in 48 hours

Kicking Horse, December 20th
Kicking Horse, December 20th
North America Overview

It's been a week of improvements across North America in almost all regions. The big change for the better is currently underway along the Pacific coast. It's the first of a series of storms set to continue over the next few days, which will hopefully bring snow rather than rain to lower elevations right down to California, and potentially five feet or more of it for some, really transforming conditions from the almost snowless state up to now.

Resorts have started opening and reporting up to 48 inches in 48 hours, so it's looking promising initially. Not so much will make its way to the Rockies, but things are slowly improving here too on the US side of the border, whilst on the Canadian side, up to a metre more snowfall has been reported, so steep and deep terrain is go. On the East Coast, a warm weather blip ended last week, but it's been back to mostly cold and snowy since.


Snowflake Cold

Tasmania, Australia experiences rare summer snowfall as parts of the island wake to a white Christmas

Snow fell as low as 700 metres above sea level this Christmas Day.
© Sand ManSnow fell as low as 700 metres above sea level this Christmas Day.
Tasmania woke up to a rare summer snowfall this Christmas Day, with snow falling on elevated parts of the island and dusting the summit of kunanyi/Mt Wellington above Hobart.

Snow has been recorded as low as 700 metres above sea level, as the state continues to experience the effects of a cold outbreak that began late Tuesday and persisted through Wednesday.

Weatherzone said the summer snowfall is driven by a moisture-laden airmass from polar regions, pushed northwards over Tasmania by a meridional wave in the jet stream.

The phenomenon is responsible for the speckled cloud patterns visible over Tasmania and coastal parts of the southeast mainland.


Cloud Precipitation

Surprise hailstorm hits Malaga, Spain turning beaches white on Christmas Eve - waterspout also seen

The hailstorm in Rincón de la Victoria.
© Antonio OrtínThe hailstorm in Rincón de la Victoria.
It's not quite a white Christmas, but it's probably as close as you can get in several places on the eastern Costa del Sol in Malaga province today. A storm that deposited hail stones surprised many residents during the afternoon of this Wednesday 24 December, Christmas Eve. Just after 1.30pm hours, a heavy rain and hail storm surprised residents of the Axarquia area, in towns such as Rincón de la Victoria, Vélez-Málaga, Benajarafe and Cajiz and also in inland villages such as Almáchar and El Borge.

A waterspout was even clearly visible near Chilches, captured on video by Lui G. Marín while he was with his family. "It surprised us. We were watching the hail and we weren't expecting it. We saw it moving from one place to another across the sea, but it didn't touch land," he told SUR.


Arrow Down

Vehicle falls into sinkhole in East El Paso, Texas

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A car has fallen into a sinkhole Wednesday, Dec, 24 in East El Paso.

The sinkhole happened along the intersection Montwood Drive and Catnip Drive.

Video on social media shows the vehicle's passenger front wheel has been engulfed in the sinkhole, leaving the rest of the car hanging in the air.

As of reporting, no injuries have been reported.

We have reached out to El Paso Water for more information. We will update you once we learn more.


Doberman

Woman dies after being attacked by her own pit bull in her backyard in Campinas, Brazil

PIT BULL ATTACK
A 25-year-old woman died after being attacked by a pitbull dog in her backyard, in Vila Industrial, in Campinas (SP), this Tuesday morning (23). The death was confirmed by the Military Police. According to the corporation, the victim, identified as Juliana de Oliveira, was the animal's guardian. She suffered serious injuries to her arms and abdomen. Rescue was called, but the doctor from the Mobile Emergency Care Service (Samu) confirmed the death at the scene.

According to the Military Police, neighbors heard the cries for help and tried to intervene to contain the animal. One of them tried to fend off the dog with an iron bar, without success. The pitbull was only contained minutes later, before emergency teams arrived. At the time of the attack, the woman was at home with her eight-month-old daughter. The child was not injured. The victim's husband later arrived at the property and helped control the animal.

The Fire Department captured the pitbull, which will be sent to the Campinas Department of Animal Protection and Welfare. Forensics were called in to analyze the location, which was isolated for technical work.

The incident was registered with the Civil Police, in the 3rd Police District of Campinas, initially as a suspicious death. The case will be investigated to determine the circumstances of the attack.

Tsunami

Severe flooding hits towns in south of France

Severe weather warnings remain in place in the Hérault region, including in the city of Montpellier seen here
© Sylvain Thomas/AFPSevere weather warnings remain in place in the Hérault region, including in the city of Montpellier seen here
Heavy rainfall near the southern French city of Montpellier has unleashed widespread flooding, which local officials say could be the worst they have seen in 30 years.

Torrential rains set off "exceptional flooding" near the French city of Montpellier, local authorities said on Wednesday.

The floodwaters appear to be receding, but weather alerts are to remain in place until December 24.

No casualties have been reported so far.


Volcano

Hawaii: Kilauea's summit eruption reaches one-year milestone with a new episode of towering fountains

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Fountain of lava spouts inside Hawaii’s Kilauea Volcano
Kīlauea's summit eruption reached its one-year anniversary Tuesday as episode 39 brought fountains reaching more than 1,000 feet.

A glow and intermittent spatter were observed throughout the day from the north and south vents.

Then, around 8 p.m., the vents began shooting fountains up to 70 feet high.

By 9:45 p.m., the south fountain reached a height of 1,400 feet. The north fountain peaked at 920 feet shortly after 9 p.m., but lowered to 700 feet shortly before 10 p.m.


Doberman

Disturbing video shows pit bull attack 1-year-old on crowded New York City street

Screengrab of the video showing the pitbull biting the baby's leg.
Screengrab of the video showing the pitbull biting the baby's leg.
A vicious pit bull attacked a 1-year-old boy on a crowded Manhattan street and refused to let go — leaving the baby with a "hole" in his leg, shocking video shows.

A woman — who appears to be the boy's mom — pleaded for onlookers to call 911 while she tried to pull the bloodthirsty dog off the child outside the Santander Bank in Union Square around 11:10 a.m. Sunday, according to the sickening footage and cops.

Several good Samaritans attempted to rip the black and white dog off the boy's left leg, with one repeatedly kicking the animal while another man put it in a headlock on East 13th Street and Broadway.

The dog owner yanked on the pit bull's leash, as the woman desperately cried out.

"Call the police. Someone pull him off! Someone please," the woman pleaded.

The dog — a 2-year-old named Disco Bubba, according to police sources — eventually let go after a man grabbed the canine's private parts from behind.


Seismograph

Shallow 6.0-magnitude earthquake hits Taiwan: USGS

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A shallow 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck southeastern Taiwan on Wednesday evening, the US Geological Survey said, but there were no immediate reports of damage.

The quake struck at 5:47 pm (0947 GMT) at a depth of 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) in Taitung county, USGS said.

Earlier, Taiwan's Central Weather Administration estimated its magnitude at 6.1.

According to the National Fire Agency, so far no damage to the island's transport networks has been reported.

The quake was felt farther north in capital Taipei, where some buildings shook.

Local television channels showed footage of products falling from supermarket shelves and shattering in Taitung.