After a toasty Tuesday, complete with gusty winds and abundant sunshine, another cold front will be pushing into western Kansas Wednesday afternoon. The front will bring a cooler temperatures and a wind shift back to the north. Northwest Kansas will see highs in the low to mid 60s with lower 70s in the southwest. Most of central and eastern Kansas will stay in the mid to upper 70s.
Unfortunately there will not be a lot of rain associated with the slow moving cold front as the supply of Gulf of Mexico moisture will be somewhat limited. The front, and an approaching area of low pressure, will bring lots of clouds, scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms Thursday. Rain could be widespread for a time over northwest Kansas Thursday afternoon and the southeast will likely see severe storms with large hail and damaging winds. The prime target for severe weather will like be along and southeast of the Kansas Turnpike Thursday afternoon.
Earth Changes
The storm system that hit northern and central Wisconsin on Sunday now has a place in the record book, with the 10 tornadoes tying the April record set in 1984, the National Weather Service reported Tuesday.
Eight of the 10 tornadoes were the weakest category, EF1. However, an EF2 tornado with a maximum wind speed of 125 mph hit Adams County and an EF3 tornado with a max wind speed of 140 mph hit Lincoln County, according to the weather service.
There also were many reports by trained weather spotters of large hail and thunderstorms across most parts of the state, including a report of hail stones nearly 3 inches in diameter and straight-line wind gusts up to 80 mph.
Eight of the 10 tornadoes were the weakest category, EF1. However, an EF2 tornado with a maximum wind speed of 125 mph hit Adams County and an EF3 tornado with a max wind speed of 140 mph hit Lincoln County, according to the weather service.
There also were many reports by trained weather spotters of large hail and thunderstorms across most parts of the state, including a report of hail stones nearly 3 inches in diameter and straight-line wind gusts up to 80 mph.
A severe dust storm paralyzed Kuwait Wednesday, suspending air traffic and oil exports, authorities said.
The Kuwait Petroleum Corp. also advised incoming ships to hold off on docking, the official Kuwaiti news agency KUNA reported.
A top oil official, Sheik Talal al-Khaled, said some maintenance work at refineries was halted as a precaution. But he said supplies to domestic and foreign customers will not be noticeably affected.
The Kuwait Petroleum Corp. also advised incoming ships to hold off on docking, the official Kuwaiti news agency KUNA reported.
A top oil official, Sheik Talal al-Khaled, said some maintenance work at refineries was halted as a precaution. But he said supplies to domestic and foreign customers will not be noticeably affected.
A man died and four others suffered wounds after they were stung by a swarm of wild bees at Aska, about 40 km from here today, police said. Kala Krushan Swain (35) was attacked by the bees while he was going to a local temple. He died on his way to hospital. Four passers-by were also stung and they were hospitalised.This was the third incident in two months in Ganjam and Kandhamal districts where three persons died in wild bee attack.
© Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Caterpillars crawl over a leaf in Denpasar on the Indonesian island of Bali on Wednesday.
Caterpillars crawl over a leaf in Denpasar on the Indonesian island of Bali on Wednesday.
"The caterpillars are very disturbing. They crawl into the house and make our skin itch for days. They have long hairs," a Jakarta resident identified as Nurhayati told the Jakarta Globe.
A caterpillar swarm was first reported in East Java two weeks ago, according to the Globe, and new swarms have been observed in Bekasi, West Java, and Buleleng, Bali.
The caterpillars are targeting the leaves of mango trees in Bali, according to a Bali Times report.
Bali agricultural chief Made Putra Suryawan said Wednesday that authorities there are spraying insecticide and burning garbage to stop the spread of the insects, according to an Agence France Presse report on kompas.com.
© John Bisset / The Timaru Herald
Vile: David Curry, aka The Exterminator, at a Maungati home with some of the cluster flies that are plaguing South Canterbury.
Vile: David Curry, aka The Exterminator, at a Maungati home with some of the cluster flies that are plaguing South Canterbury.
A thick swarm of small, hairy, fatty critters are invading homes all over South Canterbury in plague proportions.
Cluster fly season has returned with a vengeance, leaving weary homeowners vacuuming daily and battling with sprays to keep the thousands of mites from taking over their home.
David Curry, of Timaru-based company The Exterminator, said the phone had been running red hot.
He described it as plague proportions.
Cluster flies, named because of their ability to communicate with each other using a scent to summon themselves into clusters, were plaguing the whole district, mostly in rural areas, he said.
"I've been to Geraldine and I'm down in Waimate doing some now," he said yesterday.
The first signs of cluster flies began a month ago.
"Because they come en masse, it's hard to control them all.
"They're just everywhere. It's just unbelievable where they're getting in."
When they would disappear depended on the weather, he said.
The recent warm autumn days, where the flies fill buildings looking for a place to hibernate, meant the problem could last for some time.
© kob.com
Santa Fe, New Mexico - State health officials say plague being found in pets in northern New Mexico should be a warning that human cases could follow.
The state Health Department confirmed plague this week in a dog in Santa Fe County. Lab tests also have confirmed plague cases in another Santa Fe County dog and a cat from Rio Arriba County near Abiquiu.
They are the first cases of the year. No human plague cases have been confirmed.
Plague is a bacterial disease generally transmitted to humans through the bites of infected fleas. It also can be transmitted by direct contact with infected animals.
Symptoms of plague in humans include sudden fever, chills, headache and weakness. In most cases there also is a painful swelling of lymph nodes in the groin, armpit or neck.
Europe could be moving beneath Africa as the two continents shift closer together, scientists believe.
Geologists say a pause in the movement between the two continents could mean the tectonic plates are about to change direction, in what has been described as a 'scientifically fascinating' development.
The northern edge of the African tectonic plate has descended under Europe for millions of years but recently this process halted, it has been reported.
On the move: The event of a tectonic plate subduction can result in huge natural events such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunamis
Scientists, discussing the issue at the European Geosciences Union (EGU) meeting last week, said they thought Europe could be about to move under Africa.
According to the BBC, this new development could herald the beginning of a rare - and scientifically fascinating - event of a new subduction zone.
The dense rock at the far north of the African tectonic plate, beneath the Mediterranean Sea, has practically sunk under the Eurasian plate, on which Europe sits.
Geologists say a pause in the movement between the two continents could mean the tectonic plates are about to change direction, in what has been described as a 'scientifically fascinating' development.
The northern edge of the African tectonic plate has descended under Europe for millions of years but recently this process halted, it has been reported.
On the move: The event of a tectonic plate subduction can result in huge natural events such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunamis
According to the BBC, this new development could herald the beginning of a rare - and scientifically fascinating - event of a new subduction zone.
The dense rock at the far north of the African tectonic plate, beneath the Mediterranean Sea, has practically sunk under the Eurasian plate, on which Europe sits.
Des Moines, Iowa - A study by Iowa State University researchers shows that heavy rains in recent years eroded away the state's soil at much higher rates than what is considered sustainable by the government.
Iowa State researchers analyzed data from nearly 18,000 samples across the state between 2002 and 2010 to compare how erosion rates varied from statewide averages reported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Iowa State researchers analyzed data from nearly 18,000 samples across the state between 2002 and 2010 to compare how erosion rates varied from statewide averages reported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
ST. George's, Grenada - Unseasonable heavy rains have caused landslides on the Caribbean island of Grenada, where officials on Tuesday relocated families away from swollen rivers that flooded homes and destroyed small fishing boats.
"We should be in the dry season, but we are experiencing so much rain," Grenada Prime Minister Tillman Thomas said while he toured the island's northwest region.
"We should be in the dry season, but we are experiencing so much rain," Grenada Prime Minister Tillman Thomas said while he toured the island's northwest region.
