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Military join in clearing snow-bound motorway in Bulgaria


The Sofia Globe
Sat, 31 Dec 2016 12:37 UTC
Bulgarian military join in clearing snow-bound Trakiya Motorway

Bulgarian military join in clearing snow-bound Trakiya Motorway
Bulgarian military personnel from the town of Sliven and from the Black Sea city of Bourgas used 17 special machines to join in efforts to clear Trakiya Motorway, scene of heavy snowdrifts and a chain collision that left hundreds of people stranded in their cars.

The military began assisting people at 3am on December 31, the Defence Ministry said.

Military personnel helped transport dozens of people who had been stranded and used equipment to move lorries and buses that got stuck in snow drifts.

In the early hours, land forces members transported a mother with a six-month-old baby to spend the night in the village of Venets.

Bulgaria's Interior Ministry, in an update on the road situation at 1pm on December 31, said that the bypass route from Yambol via the village of Kamchiya to Sredets and Bourgas was temporarily closed because of an emergency involving three goods lorries near the village of Sarainsko and five goods lorries near the village of Voynika. Traffic police and fire teams were at the scene, the ministry said.

Snow clearing
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Seismograph

Swarm of 100 small earthquakes strikes near California-Mexico border


KABC-TV
Sun, 31 Dec 2017 20:09 UTC
Brawley earthquake swarm
© USGS
A swarm of more than 100 small earthquakes hit near Brawley, Calif., on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2016, according to the California Institute of Technology.
A swarm of more than 100 small earthquakes hit near the California-Mexico border on Saturday, according to the California Institute of Technology.

The swarm struck near Brawley, which is about 125 miles east of San Diego and 20 miles north of the border.

The first earthquake registered a magnitude of 1.1 at about 3:30 a.m.

The biggest earthquake so far was a 3.9 magnitude, but scientists said larger quakes were possible and the shaking may continue for several days.

Officials stated the swarm was more than 30 miles from the San Andreas Fault and was not expected to trigger a major earthquake along the fault.

Comment: A few days ago three large earthquakes hit near the Nevada-California state line.

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Attention

15 dead turtles found on beaches of South Padre Island, Texas

Pamela Cody
Valley Morning Star
Fri, 30 Dec 2016 21:15 UTC
Green turtle

Green turtle
More than 12 dead green sea turtles have washed up on Boca Chica Beach and Isla Blanca Beach in the past three to four days, according to Jeff George, curator of the nonprofit organization Sea Turtle Inc. on South Padre Island.

As of Friday, 15 green sea turtles have been found dead.

"To see that many, with nine in a half-mile stretch of beach alone, is confusing, we don't know what the heck is going on" George said.

At first appearance, George thought they looked to be dead from drowning, perished from cold, but these were fresh dead, and the weather has not been cold enough these past few days to warrant this number of dead turtles.
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Seismograph

Shallow 4.1 magnitude temblor strikes eastern Turkey


Daily Sabah
Sat, 31 Dec 2016 21:05 UTC
Graph
A 4.1 magnitude earthquake shook eastern Van province Saturday, the Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute of Boğaziçi University has announced. .

There are no reports of casualties or injuries following the earthquake.

The epicenter of the quake was reported to be Lake Van, occurring at 03:21 p.m. local time (12:21 p.m. GMT), at an undersea depth of 5 kilometers.

A 7.1-magnitude earthquake that hit Van on Oct. 23, 2011, caused great destruction in the city. 604 people were killed and over 4,000 people were reported wounded.
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Attention

Humpback whale carcass found on shore of Maui, Hawaii; fifth such incident locally since November


Hawaii News Now
Fri, 30 Dec 2016 19:53 UTC
Whale carcass, file image courtesy DLNR of the carcass off Kauaʻi earlier this week.

Whale carcass, file image courtesy DLNR of the carcass off Kauaʻi earlier this week.
The state has closed shoreline access at Ahihi Kinau Natural Area Reserve on Maui following the discovery of a humpback whale carcass on shore.

It's the fifth whale carcass reported off the islands since November. At least of the carcasses have been confirmed as dead humpback whales.

The carcasses can attract sharks, and oceangoers are urged to use caution.

The state said since November, whale carcasses have been reported in Kailua Bay, West Oahu, West Molokai and off Kauai.

The public is reminded that humpback whales, dead or alive, are protected by both federal and state marine mammal laws.

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Cloud Precipitation

Floods leave 50 dead and thousands homeless in Boma, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Richard Davies
Floodlist
Fri, 30 Dec 2016 16:28 UTC
flood damage in Boma, Democratic Republic of Congo, 27 December 2016.
© Government of Kongo Central Province.
Flood damage in Boma, Democratic Republic of Congo, 27 December 2016.
A storm and torrential rain in the port city of Boma in the Democratic Republic of Congo earlier this week caused severe flooding after the Kalamu river to burst its banks on Tuesday, 27 December 2016.

The government of Kongo Central province says that at least 50 people have died in the floods. Over 1,000 homes have been destroyed and many others damaged, leaving as many as 10,000 homeless.

Governor Jacques Mbadu Nsitu visited Boma on 27 December. He said that levels of the river rose dramatically to between 2 and 3 meters high within about two hours.

The Kongo Central provincial government said that the local and provincial government along with humanitarian organisations and NGOs have responded to the emergency, burying the dead and cleaning affected areas. Some of the victims are yet to be identified and full damage assessments are still to be carried out. Parts of the city are still covered in flood debris and mud which is up to a meter deep in some places. The governor said that there is a fear that more bodies may be buried in the mud and teams will continue to search affected areas.

Flood damage in Boma, Democratic Republic of Congo, 27 December 2016.
© Government of Kongo Central Province.
Flood damage in Boma, Democratic Republic of Congo, 27 December 2016.
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Snowflake Cold

Persistent dense fog blankets Persian Gulf countries

Rob McElwee
Al Jazeera
Wed, 28 Dec 2016 16:16 UTC
An unusually long-lasting bank of sea fog has been wandering over the waters of the Gulf. This has invaded all Gulf countries in the past few days, causing travel delays.

Cold air has been drawn down in a series of chilling outbreaks from just west of the Urals. This brought winter to the Levant, thundery flooding to Iraq and snow to Iran.

Cold air over warm water causes evaporation until the point where the air will take no more. At this point, fog forms and if the wind is light, it hangs around as a fog bank.

Every night as temperatures drop inland, the fog creeps in. If you are lucky, daytime heat will send it back into the Gulf again.


Comment: Lately, there's been some unusually thick and persistent fog in a number of places, not least northern US, northern China, and northern India.

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Snowflake Cold

Thick fog blanketing much of the planet as flash-freezes bring record-cold temperatures

Adapt 2030
YouTube
Wed, 28 Dec 2016 15:37 UTC
fog madrid
© Adrián del Campo / ‏@acc037
Thick fog covers Madrid, Spain, December 12, 2016
The December 2016 ALTA report otherwise known as the Webbot Report predicted flash freeze events, out of season weather patterns and bizarre fog events across the Northern hemisphere, among other things. This is a list of "Hits" the webbots got correct in weather prediction.


Comment: Countless other places have experienced unusually dense fog in recent days and weeks, not least central Spain and the Persian Gulf states.

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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills mother and her two sons in Zimbabwe

Walter Mswazie
The Chronicle (Zimbabwe)
Sat, 31 Dec 2016 13:56 UTC
Lightning strike
A Masvingo woman and her two sons were burnt beyond recognition when a hut they were sheltering in was struck by lightning, police have confirmed.

Ms Mercy Masvaure (31) and her sons, the Muneno brothers, Anywhere (10) and Tatenda (6) of Village 32 C in Mushandike Resettlement area under Chief Charumbira were in their bedroom hut when a bolt of lightning struck. The hut caught fire and the three were burnt beyond recognition.

Masvingo police spokesperson Inspector Charity Mazula said the incident occurred on Thursday at around 1PM.

"We have received a report of sudden death by lightning involving a mother and her two sons. Their bodies were taken to Masvingo General Hospital mortuary for post-mortem," said Insp Mazula.
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Arrow Up

Over 6,500 earthquakes felt across Japan in 2016, THREE times more than previous year


NDTV
Fri, 30 Dec 2016 14:43 UTC
Japan earthquake damage

JMA confirms over 6,500 quakes struck Japan this year, three times more than in 2015
The number of noticeable earthquakes that struck Japan in 2016 exceeded 6,500, three times more than in the previous year, the Japan Meteorological Agency said Friday.

As of 7 p.m. on Thursday, a total of 6,566 quakes with an intensity measured on the Japanese seismic scale hit the archipelago, up from 1,842 in 2015, according to the figures revealed on Friday.

The JMA scale used to measure the intensity of earthquakes runs from zero to seven, with zero being the weakest, and focuses more on the affected areas than on the intensity of the tremors as is the case with the Richter scale, Efe news reported.

More than 10,000 earthquakes struck the country in 2011, most of them aftershocks from the devastating earthquake that triggered the tsunami which led to the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the worst since Chernobyl.

Although the number of quakes has decreased considerably since then, the Japanese agency said the increase this year could be attributed to the powerful earthquakes that struck the Kumamoto prefecture in the southern island of Kyushu in April.

Comment: Today a 5.5 magnitude quake struck near Japan's east coast according to USGS.

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