A strong line of thunderstorms has caused serious damage in some cities and towns in Western Massachusetts. One of our crews is on Hunt Street in Agawam, where trees and limbs have come down, with one tree falling on top of a pickup truck. The torrential, tropical rain also caused large puddles and some street flooding on Canal Street in Holyoke, Liberty Street in Springfield, and at the intersection of Grattan Street and Memorial Drive in Chicopee, along with several other roadways in the area.
Earth Changes
The massive earthquakes that struck Japan and Chile in 2011 and 2010, respectively, sank several big volcanoes by up to 6 inches (15 centimeters), two new studies report.
This is the first time scientists have seen a string of volcanoes drop after an earthquake. Even though the mountains are on opposite sides of the Pacific Ocean, their descents look remarkably similar. The two teams have different explanations for why the volcanoes sank, according to the studies, published today (June 30) in the journal Nature Geoscience. However, both groups agree it's likely scientists will discover more examples of drooping volcanoes after big earthquakes, and find a single mechanism that controls the process.
"It's amazing, the parallels between them," said Matthew Pritchard, a geophysicist at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., and lead author of one of the studies. "I think it makes a really strong case that this is a ubiquitous process."
Waterspout at Injidup beach right near Swings South Western Australia – May 16 2013
Waterspout at Lake Ouchita in Arkansas - May 30 2013
A waterspout is an intense columnar vortex (usually appearing as a funnel-shaped cloud) that occurs over a body of water, connected to a cumuliform cloud.
Waterspout off of Kefalonia Greece – May 8 2013
© Unknown
The eyewitness video shows the biggest waterspout many Grand Isle neighbors have ever seen, which stroke off the coast of the Gulf of Mexico in Grand Isle, Louisiana, yesterday, June 19 2013. Here is the amazing video of this water twister captured by someone that lives in Grand Isle.
You can get a good idea of what is a waterspout and how they form here. For some reason these waterspouts form quite a bit in the Grand Isle/Port Fourchon area.
It was just a matter of time! After 3 following days at 35°C, violent thunderstorms hit all over Switzerland.
Storms sometimes accompanied by hailstones the size of ping pong balls or even as big as eggs in Zurich on June 18 2013. Yes you are not dreaming: some were even as big as eggs!
The first thunderstorms started in Graubünden and spread over the Rhine Valley to Zurich, Winterthur and Eglisau, where it was the strongest.
Hail was accompanied by stormy gusts of wind of up to 96 kmh.
Hail was accompanied by stormy gusts of wind of up to 96 kmh.
Thousands of sheep have died across the Western District in recent weeks from phalaris poisoning.
Vets have dubbed the condition "phalaris sudden death" but the causes are not yet fully understood and are different from the more commonly-known phalaris staggers.
Part of the reason is believed to be a build-up of toxins in the plant over a long period of dry conditions in the lead-up to the autumn break.
Livestock Logic vet David Rendell, who is based in Hamilton, estimated "thousands" of sheep would have been lost due to the phalaris sudden death outbreak in recent weeks.
"We need to get more data on this so we can understand the factors influencing it," he said.
Producers who have introduced sheep on to phalaris after the break are being urged to complete a survey at www.livestocklogic.com.au
Part of the reason is believed to be a build-up of toxins in the plant over a long period of dry conditions in the lead-up to the autumn break.
Livestock Logic vet David Rendell, who is based in Hamilton, estimated "thousands" of sheep would have been lost due to the phalaris sudden death outbreak in recent weeks.
"We need to get more data on this so we can understand the factors influencing it," he said.
Producers who have introduced sheep on to phalaris after the break are being urged to complete a survey at www.livestocklogic.com.au
© AP/The Arizona Republic
June 30, 2013: Flames top a ridge as the Yarnell Hill Fire moves towards Peeples Valley, Arizona.
June 30, 2013: Flames top a ridge as the Yarnell Hill Fire moves towards Peeples Valley, Arizona.
The Prescott Fire Department confirmed to MyFoxPhoenix that the firefighters,all part of a group called the Prescott Granite Mountain Hotshots, had passed away Sunday evening.
The Yavapai County Sheriff's Office has notified residents in the Peeples Valley area and in the town of Yarnell to evacuate.
Roxie Glover, spokeswoman at Wickenburg Community Hospital, told The Associated Press that the hospital has been told to expect residents with injuries and firefighters.
Earlier Sunday, the fast-moving fire prompted the evacuation of at least 50 homes in the Buckhorn, Model Creek and Double A Bar Ranch areas about 85 miles northwest of Phoenix.
Comment: What a horrible tragedy, the single worst such incident in the U.S. since 1933:
The tragedy ranks as the greatest loss of life among firefighters from a single wildland blaze in the United States since 29 men died battling the Griffith Park fire of 1933 in Los Angeles, according to National Fire Protection Association records.
© Facebook
CNY flooding Prospect Street in Herkimer, New York, on June 28, 2013.
CNY flooding Prospect Street in Herkimer, New York, on June 28, 2013.
Flooding fueled by heavy rains has driven hundreds of residents of east-central New York State from their homes in several counties, including Oneida, Chenango, Madison and Herkimer.
Many downtown Oneida streets were inundated on Friday June 28 after the levy along Oneida Creek overflowed, the Oneida Dispatch reported. The water was expected to crest in the early afternoon, said Dave Nicosia of the National Weather Service, speaking to the Dispatch. Oneida creek was at "record levels," he said, up at 16.7 feet, which surpassed the previous record of 15.6 in September 2011.
The Oneida Animal Hospital had to be evacuated as well, and numerous residents were moved to a shelter set up by the Red Cross at the city's armory. In addition severe rainstorms and flooding led the town of Kirkland to declare a state of emergency, the Dispatch reported.
The National Weather Service also warned resident in vulnerable areas along streams and creeks to expect flooding and poor drainage conditions, according to Syracuse.com.
"I haven't seen it this bad since the 1950s," said 71-year-old Joe Salerno to the Dispatch as he watched Oneida Creek overtake his back yard and flow into the cellar of his childhood home, where his son now lives.
A one square-mile wildfire burning in a central Arizona community has led to the evacuation of at least 50 homes that are threatened by the blaze.
Yaenell - A fast-moving wildfire burning in a central Arizona community has led the evacuation of at least 50 homes that are threatened by the blaze, and by Sunday afternoon, authorities had asked even more residents to leave.
The wildfire also forced the closure of about 15 miles of state Route 89, the Arizona Department of Transportation announced. The department did not have an estimate of how long the closure would last but advised drivers to use U.S. 93 or Interstate 17 as alternate routes.
Fire information officer Mike Reichling said earlier Sunday that no homes had been lost in the fire northwest of the Yavapai County community of Yarnell.
Early estimates put the number of evacuated homes at 120, but the number was downgraded by officials closer to the fire.
Reichling says the blaze was within a mile of some homes but was burning away from them.
The Yarnell Hill Fire prompted evacuations in the Model Creek, Buckhorn and Double A Bar Ranch areas about 85 miles northwest of Phoenix. The blaze also was within 200 yards of the Model Creek School.
Crews cleared brush and did other work around the evacuated homes to help guard against the fire.
Comment: ...and then there were three or four off Nice in the South of France in early June, and another one recently in Louisiana.