The fire broke out on March 30 on a 3,700-metre mountain top in China's south-western Sichuan province after lightning struck an 18-metre pine tree, news agency Xinhua reported citing local authorities.
Earth Changes
The fire broke out on March 30 on a 3,700-metre mountain top in China's south-western Sichuan province after lightning struck an 18-metre pine tree, news agency Xinhua reported citing local authorities.
© SLF
The avalanche risk in Switzerland for Friday April 5th.
The avalanche risk in Switzerland for Friday April 5th.
Up to a metre and a half of new snow has fallen in the Alps in the last 24 hours while the Swiss plateau also saw snowfall during the day on Thursday.
The heaviest snowfalls were seen in central Switzerland and in the western part of the canton of Ticino.
Traffic on the crucial north - south A2 axis was subject to regular delays during the day.
© REUTERS / Tasnim News Agency
At least 45 people have died in the past two weeks after heavy rains, with flooding affecting at least 23 of the country's 31 provinces.
The orders come as Foreign Minister Javad Zarif accused US sanctions of impeding aid efforts to affected areas.
"This isn't just economic warfare; it's economic terrorism," Mr Zarif tweeted.
US sanctions imposed after President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal last year have caused a shortage of rescue helicopters.
The Iranian authorities have requested military help, including helicopters and amphibious armoured personnel carriers, for the rescue efforts.
Comment: Deadly flash floods strike again in Afghanistan and Iran - now over 80 dead since mid-March
Update: Accuweather on 4th April reports:
Dozens of people are dead and more than a third of the country's roads have been damaged from the rounds of flooding rain that have struck Iran since the middle of March.UPDATE April 5th: In a show of solidarity with the Iranian people, the EU has announced an initial allocation of 1.2 million euros in financial assistance, while the US (as usual) hampers humanitarian efforts to ameliorate the suffering. Fort Russ reports:
The death toll climbed to 62 at midweek, according to AFP.
Lives have been lost in 11 of Iran's 31 provinces, including 21 deaths in the southern province of Fars.
Heavy rain began slamming the country on March 19, with the deadliest day for flooding following on March 25. April started with more torrential rain targeting the region.
In addition to the deaths, the government has reported that 36 percent of the country's entire network of roads has been damaged.
Eighty-four bridges and nearly 2,200 rural roads have been washed away, Behnam Saeedi, a spokesman for the National Disaster Management Organisation, told state TV, the AFP stated.
"Across 15 provinces, 141 rivers burst their banks and around 400 landslides were reported," Saeedi said.
While drier weather graced the region for recovery and storm cleanup late this week, flooding downpours may return to the hard-hit areas Friday night into Saturday.
"There can be an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 75 mm (3 inches) in and along the southwestern slopes of Iran's Zagros Mountains," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dave Houk. "With the ground saturated, new flooding and landslides can easily be triggered."
Prior to the downpours affecting Iran, Houk is concerned for thunderstorms to erupt from central Saudi Arabia (near Riyadh) to southern Iraq on Friday afternoon. These thunderstorms produce winds strong enough to cause damage, as well as kick up dust storms ahead of any rain.
Early estimates put the losses from the flooding in the agriculture sector at 47 trillion rials (1.1 billion USD), according to Radio Farda.
Aside from the impact to communities, ancient relics have also been damaged throughout Iran from the recent flooding.
Some of these cultural sites, including Chogha Zanbil, date back to pre-500 B.C.
The European Commission announced the provision of initial financial assistance to Iran to overcome the effects of the largest floods in the country in recent decades. Brussels allocates 1.2 million euros, according to the Iranian news agency Tasnim on April 5.
Emergency funding will be directed to the most vulnerable communities in Iran, the EU executive said.
The EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Christ Stylianidis, said that "at present, the EU is fully in solidarity with the Iranian people and will help provide substantial support in the affected areas."
Assistance will be distributed with the assistance of humanitarian organizations, including the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
While rescue teams are involved in flood-hit areas, US sanctions have blocked all Iran's Red Crescent accounts and banned Tehran from receiving foreign assistance, including rescue helicopters, Tasnim notes.
© Andy Cross, The Denver Post
A skier skis just below the Pallavicini Cornice at the Arapahoe Basin Ski Area March 19.
A skier skis just below the Pallavicini Cornice at the Arapahoe Basin Ski Area March 19.
At Breckenridge, spokeswoman Sara Lococo said March's 111 total inches surpassed the previous high of 98 inches that Breckenridge received in March 2001. That's 13.3 percent more snow than March 2001. The 111 inches also makes March 2019 the third snowiest month on record at Breckenridge and the snowiest month outside of a pair of Januarys. The highest monthly snowfall total on record for the resort was 120 inches in January 2014, followed by 112 inches in January 1996.
At Copper Mountain, spokeswoman Taylor Prather said March 2019's 98 inches of snow was just about 14 percent more snowfall than Copper's previous March high, the 86 inches the resort received in March 2001. This past month also ranks as the fourth snowiest month on record since the resort opened in 1972. It's also the second snowiest month of this past decade.
At Keystone, March's 94 inches of snow was just under 19 percent more snow than the previous record March: March 2011's 79 inches of snow. March 2019 comes in as the third snowiest month on record at Keystone, only behind the 128 inches received in December 1983 and the 127 inches that fell in January 1996.
Comment: Incredible snow amounts have also been recorded across the Sierra Nevada this year. Some ski resorts have received 550 to 600+ inches (14 to 15 m) of snow so far.
The Sierra Nevada snowpack is well above normal, at 162 percent of average. Chris Orrock, with the California Department of Water Resources, explained that the amount of snowpack this year is significant.
"If all the snow in the field we are standing in right now melted right now," he said, "we would be standing in 51 inches of water." He says this is the fourth largest amount of snow in recorded history.
© Hakuba.com
Mid-winter vibes this week in Hakuba on April 3.
Mid-winter vibes this week in Hakuba on April 3.
USA
The last couple of weeks saw a mix of snow and weather conditions across the western US with good falls in Colorado on the last weekend of March while California also saw out March with some nice powder after a 40cm snowfall on March 29.
Of course, after the huge amounts of snow in February, most resorts in the US have a very deep snowpack and the spring skiing has been excellent. After a couple of days of sunshine, the first week of April saw 20-30cms on the upper mountain in Squaw Valley and 15cms in Mammoth.
Farmers are concerned for the well-being of their newborn lambs during the cold snap
A cold weather snap bringing snow and ice to parts of the UK this week has raised concerns for farmers trying to protect their newborn lambs from the elements.
Lambing season, which is recognised by many as the start to spring, is a significant event in British farming calendars.
But the wintry weather during this season's peak has roused worries over the newborns' ability to survive.
The epicenter, with a depth of 61.0 km, was initially determined to be at 55.5 degrees south latitude and 27.7 degrees west longitude.
Source: Xinhua
© AFP / Kangwon Ilbo
The blaze, one of the county's largest-ever wildfires, broke out in Gangwon Province near Sokcho and Gangneung in the mountainous north-eastern region, close to the North Korean border. It has already been declared a national disaster.
"It is extremely rare for fire trucks to be dispatched on a nationwide scale," an official from South Korea's fire agency said as cited by the Korea Herald.
It is believed to have been started by a malfunctioning electrical transformer which sparked and ignited the fire. It was subsequently fanned by strong winds.
© USGS
All 12 major quakes in March were recorded around the Pacific ring of fire, see map above.
So far, 2019 has recorded 33 major quakes with the biggest being a Mag 7.5 - 117km ESE of Palora, Ecuador in February, see the video below.
30 of the 33 major quakes recorded this year happened along the Pacific ring of fire.
A banana orchard, damaged during Tuesday's hailstorm, at Sangrampur village in Tangail's Ghatail upazila.
Consecutive spells of hailstorm have damaged crops on vast tracts of land in Ghatail and Madhupur upazilas.
Although the two recent storms have damaged many crops like Boro paddy, cucumber, banana and lemon, local agriculture officials are yet to estimate the loss.
Tuesday's hailstorm has damaged many banana orchards in four unions -- Sangrampur, Deolabari, Rasulpur and Dhalapara -- in Ghatail upazila.
The worst affected villages in those unions are Boga, Kamarchala, Boalihatbari, Sangrampur, Khupibari, Chapri, Deolabari, Ratanbarish, Pakutia, Cherabhanga, Khilgati, Mamudpur, Rasulpur and Dhalapara village.
Comment: See also: