Earth Changes
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The National Weather Service of Phoenix, Arizona, warned people to look for scattered storms with large hail in areas across high terrain east of Phoenix.
"Quarter-sized hail was reported around Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix," AccuWeather Meteorologist Brian Thompson said.
"The slow-moving nature of the thunderstorms also produced heavy rainfall in some areas. With Phoenix at nearly 10 times their normal rainfall for October, flash flooding is a concern," Thompson said.
According to Wayne Dyason, City of Cape Town Law Enforcement spokesperson, the whale was dead on discovery. "The cause of death is unknown but an autopsy will be done to determine the cause of death," he said.
Law Enforcement officers in Melkbos Strand were also successful in foiling the plans of illegal fishers.
Two men were observed entering the waters of Melkbos in full diving equipment, and officers suspected that they were fishing illegally. This hunch proved to be right as they were found to be in possession of undersized West Coast Rock Lobsters, as well as abalone.
The latest cyclone to join the ignominious club is Typhoon Yutu, which is in the midst of spinning up into a forecast Category 5 super typhoon by tomorrow. Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands lie squarely in the typhoon's path.
Yutu spent all of Tuesday local time ramping up and as of the latest Joint Typhoon Warning Center bulletin, it had estimated winds of 204km/h. That's the equivalent of a very strong Category 3 storm, and with nothing but warm water in its path, Yutu is expected to continuing amping up.
The storm's winds could be roaring around 250km/h as it approaches Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands on Thursday morning local time.
The National Weather Service Guam office has posted a typhoon warning calling for powerful surf and up to 15cm of rain. The hilly terrain of Guam will be but a speed bump for Yutu, which is forecast to keep climbing in intensity through the end of the week.
Its winds could reach an astounding 277km/h, which would put it among the strongest storm on Earth this year. Thankfully, it will achieve that terrifying feat over open water with no threat to land.
Reports of blackouts and damage to some structures as category 3 storm hits the coast south-east of Mazatlan
Hurricane Willa has swept onto Mexico's Pacific mainland with 120mph (195km/h) winds, hitting beach towns, fishing villages and farms after roaring over an offshore penal colony.
The US National Hurricane Center said the category 3 storm hit near Isla del Bosque in Sinaloa state on Tuesday night, and federal officials said there were early reports of power blackouts and damage to tin-roofed structures.
Damage assessments were limited by darkness and disrupted communications, and no extensive information was expected until first light on Wednesday.
Forecasters said the hurricane could bring six to 12 inches (15 to 30cm) of rain - with up to 18in (45cm) in some places - to parts of Jalisco, Nayarit and Sinaloa states, with flash flooding and landslides possible in mountainous areas.
The storm's forward movement sped up to 17mph (28 km/h) but began to lose its potency as it swirled over high ground. The hurricane center said Willa was expected to rapidly weaken overnight.
Willa came ashore about 50 miles (80km) south-east of Mazatlan, a resort city that is home to high-rise hotels and about 500,000 people, including many US and Canadian expatriates.
Eyewitness footage uploaded to social media shows the twister whipping up heavy wind and rain in Agios Trimithias.
Local media said that several houses were badly damaged, but no injuries have been reported so far.

Research forecasts Iowa corn yields could drop in half within the next half-century thanks to extreme weather - yet it's not part of the political conversation
Farmers around here are itching to go after that amber wave of soya beans, but there was that 5in rain a couple of weeks ago and then a 7in rain, and it drives even the retired guys batty.
Those beans aren't worth much at the elevator thanks to a Trump trade war with China, but they're worth even less getting wet feet in a pond that was a field which the glacier made a prairie bog some 14,000 years ago - until we came along and drained it.
This year, crops in north-west Iowa are looking spotty. Up into Minnesota they were battered by spring storms and late planting, and then inundated again in late summer. Where they aren't washed out, they're weedy or punky. If you go south in Buena Vista county, where I live in Storm Lake, the corn stands tall and firm.
Welcome to climate change, Iowa-style.
Comment: Over the past few years in particular, no where on the planet has been spared from the increasingly erratic seasons and extreme weather, and it seems the world is scarcely prepared to deal with the coming food shortages:
- Erratic seasons and extreme weather devastating crops around the world
- Study reveals atmospheric rivers to double in size
- A taste of the future: 'Disbelief' as snow hits and northern Alberta farmers scramble to save crops worth millions
- 'This is a crisis' - Unusually brutal winter doubles farmers' costs and endangers cattle in Montana
- Unusually cold winter and spring have Koreans worried about rocketing food costs
- "Perfect storm": UK farming crisis as areas suffer worst drought for 225 years
Civil Protection officials said the Grande river overflowed its banks while other drivers and drainage systems in the municipality were at 100% capacity.
The worst affected areas were Ventura Puente, Carlos Salazar, Jacarandas, Los Manantiales and Industrial, where floodwaters were as much as a meter deep and hundreds of homes were flooded.
The extremely wet weather is the effect of Hurricane Willa and Tropical Storm Vicente.
Comment: Elsewhere in the same country a few days earlier: Floods trigger emergency in 13 Veracruz municipalities, Mexico
Veracruz has declared a state of emergency in 13 municipalities after heavy rain flooded homes and roads in the southern part of the state.
The Coatzacoalcos river overflowed its banks in the municipalities of Hidalgotitlán and Jesús Carranza, while the Tecolapan river overflowed in Saltabarranca.
The waters of the Jaltepec river, a tributary of the Coatzacoalcos, continue to rise and could soon overflow, affecting towns in the municipalities of Jesús Carranza, Hidalgotitlán, Texistepec, Jáltipan, Cosoleacaque and Minatitlán.














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