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After the flames subside: Hillsides left barren by California wildfires now at risk from mudslides

Paul Vercammen
CNN
Tue, 02 Jan 2018 11:15 UTC
Thomas fire, California
© Noah Berger/AP
The Thomas fire burns through Los Padres National Forest near Ojai, California
The frightening hiss and crackle of the massive Thomas Fire in Southern California has been replaced by the loud droning of heavy equipment below the burn area.

Public work crews in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties are frantically clearing out every debris basin and storm drain possible, because the fire has left behind another threat -- mudslides.

"The Thomas Fire burned all of our front country range here," said Tom Fayram, Santa Barbara's deputy director of public works."

All these hills normally have a protective cover of chaparral. That's all gone. Almost 100% gone," he said.

What's left is black-gray hillside that officials and residents alike fear will become ashy waves of floodwater with the first rain of a so far bone-dry season.
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Ice Cube

20 meter high ice wall forms on China-Russia border lake


CCTV Plus
Sun, 30 Dec 2018 15:16 UTC
20 meters high ice wall at Xingkai Lake

20 meters high ice wall at Xingkai Lake
Ice chunks and rafts of various size have piled up by the force of wind and formed a long ice wall that extends dozens of kilometers on the verge of Xingkai Lake, border lake between China and Russia, in Mishan, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

The ice wall was only three to four meters high in the beginning. As time goes on, it has risen to over 20 meters.

Stretching along the eastern side of the lake, the ice wall attracted visitors and shutterbugs to witness this unusual scene.

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Health

'We're infested.' Stingrays injure a record 73 people in a day at Huntington Beach, California

Don Sweeney
Centre Daily Times
Mon, 01 Jan 2018 13:54 UTC
A stinger is lodged in a foot of a victim in Huntington Beach a few weeks ago.
© Huntington Beach Marine safety Department
A stinger is lodged in a foot of a victim in Huntington Beach a few weeks ago.
Lifeguards at Huntington Beach in Southern California say they've never seen anything like it. A horde of stingrays has taken up residence in the shallow water off the popular beach, injuring a record 73 people Friday with their sharp spines.

"We're infested," Marine Safety Lt. Claude Panis told The Orange County Register. "That's just how many we treated. In my 40 years, that's as many as I've had in a single day. It's a problem."

Low tides, small surf, warmer water and a holiday weekend created "a formula for disaster," Paris said. On Thursday, 45 people reported stingray injuries on the beach. People are typically injured when they step on the stingrays, which hide just beneath the sand in shallow water. The flat fish then lash out with their tails, which carry a sharp stinger at the end.

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Attention

Surfer attacked by shark off Laniakea Beach, Hawaii

Jobeth Devera
Home Team Huddle
Mon, 01 Jan 2018 13:34 UTC
shark attack
A Haleiwa woman says doctors won't have to amputate her leg after she was bitten by a shark on Oahu's North Shore.

54-year-old Marjorie Mariano was surfing off of Laniakea Beach at about 6 p.m. Sunday, a place she surfs often.

"I felt something big and I felt the bite really hard," Mariano said. "I turned my body and I looked at the sharks face biting my leg and I start to paddle like a maniac. I was like I need to get out of here."

The injury is on her left leg and stretches from her knee to her upper thigh.

The shark's bite mark is also imprinted on her surfboard.

Other surfers helped bring her ashore and she was transported to the hospital in serious condition.
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Ice Cube

Extreme cold puts Great Lakes ice cover ahead of schedule

Eric DoBroka
uppermichiganssource.com
Sun, 30 Dec 2018 09:46 UTC
chart
The recent extreme cold has had an impact on everyone and everything, even our Great Lakes.

Over the course of the last two weeks, Lake Superior and other Great Lakes have become increasingly iced over. Currently, the ice cover is slightly ahead of schedule.

Typically, in late December Lake Superior has about five percent of total ice cover. This year, it's closer to 10 percent.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning strikes kill 4 and injure 19 in South Africa

Huaxia
Xinhuanet
Mon, 01 Jan 2018 13:18 UTC
lightning
Four people lost their lives when they were struck by lightning in South Africa on Sunday, authorities said.

Two were killed when lightning struck two villages in Eastern Cape Province, the provincial health department said.

Sixteen other people were injured during the strikes, said the department.

A separate lightning strike in KwaZulu-Natal Province killed two people and injured three others, the provincial government said.

Those injured have been taken to nearby hospitals and were in a stable condition. Most of them suffered severe burns, according to health officials.
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Attention

Surfer bitten by shark off the coast of Marin County, California

Annie Sciacca
East Bay Time
Sat, 30 Dec 2017 13:09 UTC
shark attack
A surfer was injured by a shark Saturday off the coast of Marin County, according to a message from a National Park Service Twitter account.

Officials at Point Reyes National Seashore said on Twitter that a shark bit a surfer on the foot Saturday near the mouth of Drakes Estero.
A surfer was bitten on the foot by a shark today near the mouth of Drakes Estero. Going into the water is CLOSED until further notice. Stay tuned to the park's social media for updated information. pic.twitter.com/HC88I2dHWK

— Point Reyes NPS (@PointReyesNPS) December 30, 2017
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Snowflake Cold

Niagara Falls 'freezes' as Arctic conditions grip North America (VIDEO)


RT
Sat, 30 Dec 2017 19:07 UTC
Niagara Falls
© Aaron Lynett/The Canadian Press, via AP
Visitors take photographs at Niagara Falls.
North America is currently experiencing a particularly severe and protracted cold snap resulting in major car accidents, a state of emergency, sharks freezing to death and even now Niagara Falls is experiencing the Arctic blast.

The water of the majestic falls themselves has yet to succumb to the polar winds, but the surrounding area has been transformed into a winter wonderland as temperatures plummet across Canada and the US, dropping to -34 degrees Fahrenheit in parts and dropping further to -89 degrees (-67 Celsius) when windchill is factored in.

The weather has wreaked havoc on US roads, with Michigan alone reporting up to 30 crashes due to the recent icy conditions, including a major pile-up involving at least 40 vehicles reports WGN.


Comment: See these related articles on the Arctic conditions currently gripping North America:

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Igloo

Winter is here! Arctic freeze curtails New Years Eve events and freezes sharks

Karen Graham
Digital Journal
Sat, 30 Dec 2017 20:01 UTC
IceMoose
© NOAA
Remember to dress appropriately for celebrating the New Year!
As climate change ushers in another year of extreme global temperatures, Canada and much of the United States has been hit with below freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall. It has been so cold that even sharks have washed up on beaches in Cape Cod.

In Canada, the federal weather agency has issued an extreme cold warning for Sunday morning as another blast of Arctic air moves across the provinces plummeting temperatures well below the seasonal mark. A wind chill of -30 degrees Centigrade ( -22 degrees Fahrenheit) will make it feel much colder, according to Environment Canada.

Needless to say, but quite a few New Years Eve events have been canceled, including many of the events in the New Year's Eve party on Parliament Hill in downtown Ottawa, which also was going to be the end of Canada's sesquicentennial celebrations. CBC News Canada suggests would-be celebrants check with their local media or websites to see if any activities are canceled.
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Snowflake

Exceptional snowfalls continue in the Alps - This winter snowiest so far this century

Patrick Thorne
Inthesnow.com
Sat, 30 Dec 2017 13:12 UTC
snow Alps
The exceptional snowfall that has been a feature of the start of the 2017-18 ski season on the Alps is continuing today with the second huge snowfall in four days hitting the Alps and other ski regions of Europe.

Forecasters are also now saying a third big snowfall will hit during the first 48 hours of 2018 at the start of next week.

All the snow is causing travel issues for skiers and boarders trying to get too and from ski resorts on what is, in any case, traditionally one of the busiest Saturdays of the year ahead of the peak New Year week.

However in most cases drivers have heeded warnings to be prepared including obligatory fitting of chains for the ascent to many resorts and traffic is getting through, if more slowly than usual.
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