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Fire

Australia's east coast battles more than 100 bushfires

Will Ziebell
Reuters
Sat, 07 Sep 2019 19:12 UTC
A bushfire rages near the rural town of Canungra in the Scenic Rim region of South East Queensland, Australia, September 6, 2019.
© Regi Varghese
A bushfire rages near the rural town of Canungra in the Scenic Rim region of South East Queensland, Australia, September 6, 2019.
Australian firefighters battled strong winds and fast-moving blazes on Saturday as they worked to contain out-of-control bushfires that have destroyed at least 21 homes across two states on the country's east coast.

More than 100 fires were burning in the states of Queensland and New South Wales on Saturday, with the nation's weather bureau forecasting little reprieve for firefighters due to dry conditions caused by drought and little rainfall over winter.

In the north-eastern state of Queensland, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said 51 fires were active on Saturday and 17 homes had been destroyed, with the risk posed by fires remaining high for several days despite temperatures cooling.

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Arrow Down

Landslide caused by heavy rains in southern Ethiopia leaves 7 dead


CGTN
Sun, 08 Sep 2019 19:00 UTC
landslide
A landslide in Ethiopia's Southern regional state has left seven people dead, local authorities said on Sunday.

In a press statement, Communication Office, Dawuro zone of Southern regional state, said a landslide caused by heavy rains on Saturday afternoon left seven people dead.

The statement said five of the victims were from one family, with rescuers still digging up in the area to find any more survivors.

Ethiopia is in the midst of a rainy season which started in July and is expected to last until mid-September, which occasionally causes landslides in some parts of the East African country.
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Arrow Down

Landslide triggered by heavy rainfall kills 9 in Southwest China


Global Times
Thu, 05 Sep 2019 18:45 UTC
Rescuers search for missing people at a landslide site at Ma'an Village of Xiaohe Town in Qiaojia County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Sept. 5, 2019.
© Xinhua
Rescuers search for missing people at a landslide site at Ma'an Village of Xiaohe Town in Qiaojia County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Sept. 5, 2019.
A landslide that occurred in southwest China's Yunnan Province Thursday morning has left nine people missing, local authorities said.

The landslide, triggered by heavy rain, took place at 4:40 a.m. in Qiaojia County under the city of Zhaotong, the county's information office said.

The county has launched an emergency response and sent rescuers to the site.


Source: Xinhua
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning kills 246 across Bangladesh in 7 months


Daily Star (Bangladesh)
Sun, 08 Sep 2019 18:39 UTC
lightning
A total of 246 people were killed and 97 injured in lightning strikes across the country in last seven months this year, said a press release.

Of the victims, 202 were male persons, 30 female persons, eight teenage boys and girls and six children, Save the Society and Thunderstorm Awareness Forum said in a press release today.

According to the release, 11 people were killed in February while 8 in March, 20 in April, 60 in May, 66 in June, 47 in July and 37 in August.
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Sun

Record-breaking summer heatwave caused 1,500 deaths across France


RT
Sun, 08 Sep 2019 18:10 UTC
water drinking
© Reuters / Pascal Rossignol
France has calculated the death toll from the record heatwave which hit Europe this summer, with its health minister reporting that the abnormal weather caused 1,500 deaths in the country.

There were "18 days of extreme heat" in France this year and not everyone managed to live through them, Agnes Buzyn said in a radio interview.

The heat exceeded 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in June and July and saw temperature records rewritten in more than 50 cities across the country. In the southern commune of Gallargues-le-Montueux, thermometers measured a French national record of 46 Celsius (114.8 Fahrenheit).

"We've observed 1,500 additional deaths... in those months," the minister said, adding that only around a half of the victims were elderly people, aged over 75, the rest being younger citizens.

Overall, the heat negatively affected the health of almost 20 million people in the country, according to Buzyn.
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Cloud Lightning

About 1,250 lightning strikes recorded in western Washington state within three hours

Faith Karimi and Artemis Moshtaghian
CNN
Sun, 08 Sep 2019 16:03 UTC
Lightning in W WA state
© Lisa Bergman
About 1,250 lightning strikes were recorded in western Washington state during a storm that caused widespread power outages Saturday night, the National Weather Service said.

A strong line of thunderstorms developed over western Washington, bringing frequent lightning, heavy rains, flooding and hail to the Puget Sound region, according to the National Weather Service's office in Seattle.

The 1,250 lightning strikes were between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. local time, it said. Of those, 200 were recorded in the Seattle metro area from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Lightning occurs when ice particles within a cloud interact with each other through collision, causing the particles to fracture and break apart, according to NASA. The intense heat of the lightning generates a sound called thunder that is transmitted through the air at the speed of sound, it added.
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Snowflake

Earliest snow for 30 years in Sochi, Russia


Kestnik Kavkaza
Sat, 07 Sep 2019 11:55 UTC
Sochi
The first snow fell in one of the Sochi resorts at an altitude of 2050 m above sea level.

According to the local television channel sochi24.tv, the snowfall began on Saturday morning, and by the evening the snow had not melted.

Locals confirm this by sharing photos on social networks.

It is noted that such early snow was not observed in Sochi for 30 years.

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Cloud Precipitation

India recorded 1000 extreme rainfall events in the first 12 days of August!

Jayashree Nandi
Hindustan Times
Thu, 05 Sep 2019 06:58 UTC
India rainfall
© NASA/IMERG, GSFC

There were 1,000 "extreme rain events" in the first 12 days of August, according to data collated by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) from the India Meteorological Department. IMD describes "extremely heavy rain events" to be more than 20cm rain in a day and "very heavy rainfall events" to be more than 12cm rain in a day.

CSE head Sunita Narain red-flagged the rise in extreme weather events and how they are going to exacerbate land degradation in future at a media briefing on desertification.

Calling on the attention of leaders gathered at the 14th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) being hosted by India between September 2 and 12, Narain said, "We are seeing extremely heavy rain in very few number of days. There were 1,000 extremely heavy rain events in the first 12 days of August and data shows rain has been as extreme as up to 3,000% more rain in a day. There were droughts and floods in the same state this monsoon. We have documented unusually high spikes in rainfall for several states. Nature's revenge is on us."


Comment: Rainfall 3000% above normal in a single day in the Indian state of Karnataka


She gave the example of Maharashtra and Kerala, which have experienced both floods and drought this monsoon. "Not climate change alone, our mismanagement of resources is exacerbating impacts. Let's not let leaders blame the extreme events on the inevitable," she said.

Comment: Watch SOTT's monthly Earth Changes weather roundup to understand the alarming and extreme weather events that are occurring worldwide these days.



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Windsock

Typhoon Lingling leaves at least 3 dead, over 127,000 homes without power in South Korea


South China Morning Post
Sat, 07 Sep 2019 13:42 UTC
High waves batter a beach in the South Korean port city of Busan
© AFP
High waves batter a beach in the South Korean port city of Busan on Saturday.
A typhoon passed along South Korea's coast on Saturday, toppling trees, grounding planes and causing at least three deaths before the storm made landfall in North Korea.

A 75-year-old woman in the central town of Boryeong was killed after strong winds from Typhoon Lingling blew her off her feet and crashed her into a wall 30 metres away, South Korea's Ministry of the Interior and Safety said. In the western city of Incheon a 39-year-old was killed after being crushed by a collapsed wall at a hospital car park. And a 61-year-old Chinese national died in the border town of Paju after being hit by a blown-off roof tile.

The South Korean government said at least 10 people were being treated for injuries, including an elderly couple from Boryeong who were injured after steel scaffolding collapsed over their home.

The storm knocked out power to more than 127,000 homes across the country, including on the southern island of Jeju, which was lashed by the typhoon overnight, the ministry said.

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Nebula

Skywatchers may have spotted mysterious skyglow 'STEVE' lighting up the night sky on Labor Day

Stephanie Pappas
Live Science
Fri, 06 Sep 2019 17:06 UTC
Steve appears on Labor Day
© Krista Trinder/NASA
A strong solar storm over Labor Day weekend brought the northern lights farther south than usual, and it may have included something different than the aurora: a solar visitor dubbed STEVE.

Researchers discovered STEVE, short for the Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement, in 2016. To the casual eye, it appears as a narrow pink or mauve streak in the sky. To scientists, what makes it strange is that its light comes from across the spectrum, without the peaks in particular wavelengths that characterize regular auroras.

"The big thing is we can clearly say now, 'It's not regular aurora,'" University of Alaska Fairbanks researcher Don Hampton, who recently analyzed a STEVE event from 2018, said in a statement. "It's a new phenomenon — that's pretty exciting""

Pretty in pink

In 2016, skywatchers and astronomers alike noticed and photographed odd pink bands that didn't look like usual aurora lights, according to NASA. Further analysis showed that the color wasn't the only unexpected feature of these lights.

Comment: See also:

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