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Massive sinkhole swallows car in Woodbridge, Virginia

Prince William County police tweeted out this
© Prince William County
Prince William County police tweeted out this photo Friday evening of the car being removed from the sinkhole.
A portion of Princedale Drive in Woodbridge, Virginia, remains closed after a large fissure split the street in half on Thursday, swallowing at least one vehicle.

The first reports of a gaping hole in the ground came around 6:15 p.m. Thursday, forcing Prince William County officers to close Princedale Drive between Roundtree Drive and Saddler Lane.

Video and photos from the scene showed the sinkhole in the shoulder of Princedale Drive, extending across the entire roadway.


Rainbow

Upside down rainbow spotted in skies of southern Wales

Circumzenithal arc over Wales
© Rob Dalling
An unusual upside down rainbow was spotted over Swansea on Thursday night.

The multi-coloured arc left residents across the city confused as it appeared in the shape of a 'U' rather than, well a rainbow shape!

People reported seeing it from Birchgrove, Fforestfach, Sketty, Clydach and even Rotherslade.

How did it occur?

According to the Met Office , the upside down rainbow is actually a circumzenithal arc.

The upside down rainbows appear when the sunlight refracts through ice crystals in cirrus clouds.

This type of rainbow is quite common but we usually can't see them because of the clouds underneath.

Sun

Baked Alaska: Anchorage breaks all-time temperature record amid heatwave

wildfires
It's not only Western Europe that has been experiencing a record-breaking heatwave.

Whilst we normally think of Alaska as largely freezing and snow-covered, the US's northernmost state is forecast to bake in temperatures reaching 30.5 degrees Celsius (87 degrees Fahrenheit) or higher over the next five days, stretching from July 4 through July 8, according to the National Weather Service.

Its largest city, Anchorage, broke its all-time temperature record on Friday, reaching 31 degrees Celsius (89 degrees Fahrenheit) at the city's airport.

The previous record was also set in the airport on June 14, 1969, and reached a temperature of 29.4 degrees Celsius (84.9 degrees Fahrenheit).

Comment: More record-breaking heat and wildfire smoke forecast for Alaska


Doberman

Pack of dogs maul man to death in Lake Placid, Florida

canine attack
© Angela Antunes / CC by 2.0
Police in Florida are investigating the suspicious death of a man who appeared to have been attacked by a pack of wild dogs in Lake Placid.

Just before noon on July 4, the Highlands County Sheriff's Office responded to reports of a body that appeared to be deceased in a wooded area behind a residence in the southeastern section of Highway Park.

The body was later identified as 45-year-old Melvin Olds Jr. by the department.

During the investigation it was determined that Olds died from injuries indicative of an animal attack, believed to be from a pack of dogs. The medical examiner said they could not find any other injuries to the 45-year-old, but an autopsy will still be carried out in order to determine a cause of death.


Seismograph

6.4M earthquake rattles LA on Independence Day: Strongest to hit SoCal in 20 years - UPDATE 5.0 aftershock recorded

socal earthquake july 2019
An 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck Southern California Thursday, the largest temblor to hit the region in decades.

The quake was centered in the Searles Valley, a remote area of San Bernardino about 100 miles from Los Angeles.


Comment: This is located in the Mojave Desert, aka Death Valley.


It was unclear of the temblor caused major damage or injuries.

The quake was the largest in Southern California since the 1994 6.6 Northridge quake, which killed dozens and caused billions in damage. But Northridge hit in the center of a populated area, while Thursday's quake was located far from the metropolitan Los Angeles area.


Comment: Actually, the earthquake was the strongest since a 7.1 quake struck in the region on October 16, 1999.




Comment: The Santa Monica Observer reports:
An earthquake at 10:33 pm PST on July 4 was felt from Santa Barbara to San Diego, and as far East as Las Vegas.

The temblor went on for over a minute. It was felt throughout the Westside of Los Angeles County as a powerful rolling motion. The quake was centered 12 KM southwest of Searles Valley California. It registered a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 on the Richter scale makes it probably the biggest southland shock in 25 years, since the 1994 Northridge Earthquake.

Searles Valley is near Death Valley, in Eastern Southern California's Mojave Desert, San Bernardino County. The earthquake was at 8.7 KM depth.

The earthquake occurred during Santa Monica's annual 4th of July parade. Stilt walkers wondered why they suddenly felt off balance, and cars in the parade shook from side to side.

If we could offer our readers a word of advice, don't drive right now, especially on area freeways. Firefighters and Police must check the roads and bridges for potential collapse. After the Northridge quake, bridges fell down and a handful of people were injured or killed driving off of them. This earthquake seems to have had similar intensity.

See also: M5.6 earthquake hits California - Follows seismic swarm of 400 quakes this month

UPDATE 5/7/19: NBC News report from Ridgecrest





Snowflake Cold

Temperatures sink to -6C in Southern Norway at the height of summer

Sognefjellet, Norway July 3, 2019

Sognefjellet, Norway July 3, 2019
Freezing Norwegians and tourists on summer holiday in the country can finally look forward to some warmer weather. State meteologists are forecasting lots of sun next week, and higher temperatures.

Complaints have continued to pour in, as cold rain has fallen over much of Norway in recent days. Temperatures sank to minus-6C in the mountains of Southern Norway on Wednesday and there's been quite a bit of unusual summer snow at high elevations.


Comment: New all-time July cold record in the Netherlands


Sun

Lithuania declares emergency as drought hits farmers

Last month was the hottest June ever recorded
© AFP
Last month was the hottest June ever recorded in Lithuania
Lithuania declared an emergency on Wednesday as a severe drought hit the Baltic EU state, threatening to slash this year's harvest by up to half.

Apart from jeopardising crops, scant rainfall has also drastically reduced water levels in some rivers, threatening fish stocks and shipping activities.

The formal declaration of an "emergency situation" will allow the government to compensate farmers for some losses as well as help them to avoid EU financial sanctions should they fail to reach production goals.

"Farmers believe their harvest can be slashed by 40 percent or 50 percent, while fish stocks are also endangered," environment minister Kestutis Mazeika told AFP.

Arrow Down

Holy moly: 7.5-metre deep sinkhole may be largest ever in Regina, Canada

The sinkhole is located on the corner of Avonhurst and Elphinstone.
© Matt Howard/CBC News
The sinkhole is located on the corner of Avonhurst and Elphinstone.
A giant sinkhole is breaking new ground for the City of Regina.

The city believes that the sinkhole, located at the intersection of Avonhurst Drive and Elphinstone Street, may be the largest ever seen locally at an estimated 7.5 metres deep.

The hole has been described alternatively as the next Capital Pointe project or the gopher hole from which the new Gainer mascot arose.


Cloud Precipitation

Flash flood kills 8 tourists on excursion in Coahuila, Mexico - 2 missing

The ATV that was being used by the visitors to the Lima canyon.

The ATV that was being used by the visitors to the Lima canyon.
Search and rescue teams have recovered the bodies of eight tourists who were killed by a flash flood as they explored the Lima canyon in Parras, Coahuila, on Tuesday.

State Civil Protection chief Francisco Martínez Ávalos said that strong rains Tuesday afternoon provoked a sudden flood in an area that seconds previously would have been dry. It swept away and drowned the tourists who were traveling in a van and an ATV.

The state Attorney General's Office said searchers had recovered the bodies of a 65-year-old man, a woman and four young boys and girls aged 14 to 19 after they were discovered yesterday by a teenager riding his horse through the canyon and another man.

Cloud Precipitation

You don't know man, you weren't there! Vietnam hit by 14 inches of rain in 24 hours

Track of TD ‘Mun’ in Vietnam, July 2019.
© Vietnam National Center for Meteorological and Hydrological Forecasting (NCHMF)
Track of TD ‘Mun’ in Vietnam, July 2019.
After passing over Hainan Island in southern China, Tropical Depression 'Mun' made landfall in Thái Bình Province in Vietnam on the evening of 03 July, 2019 with maximum sustained winds of 56 km/h.

Disaster authorities in Vietnam reported heavy rain in the country's North Central provinces. Tinh Gia (Thanh Hoá Province) recorded 366mm of rain in 24 hours to 04 July, Quynh Luu (Nghệ An Province) with 282mm and Tay Hieu (Nghệ An Province) with 284mm. Further heavy rain could affected northern and central areas, including the capital Hanoi.

Vietnam News reported that 2 people were killed and 3 injured on 04 July after a bridge in Thanh Hoá Province collapsed due to the heavy rain.