Earth ChangesS


Cloud Precipitation

3 dead, 45 injured as Typhoon Shanshan makes devastating landfall in Japan - 34 inches of rain in 72 hours

An object blown by strong winds caused by Typhoon Shanshan is stranded on a power line in Miyazaki, southwestern Japan, August 29, 2024.
© ReutersAn object blown by strong winds caused by Typhoon Shanshan is stranded on a power line in Miyazaki, southwestern Japan, August 29, 2024.
Millions ordered to evacuate homes as typhoon lashes Japan, knocking out power, forcing major factories to close

Millions of people were ordered to evacuate their homes as Typhoon Shanshan lashed southwest Japan with strong winds and torrential rain on Thursday, knocking out power, snarling air traffic and forcing major factories to close.

At least three people have been killed so far and scores injured in what authorities have warned could be one of the strongest ever storms to hit the region.

Renowned Japanese automakers suspended operations in all domestic plants while some temporarily halted production at factories due to the storm.

Funeral parlour employee Tomoki Maeda was in a hearse when the typhoon struck in Miyazaki city in southern Kyushu, shattering windows and tearing down power lines and the walls of some buildings.

"I've never experienced such a strong wind or tornado in my 31 years of life," Maeda told Reuters.


Comment: Accuweather reports:
Typhoon Shanshan turns deadly, brings 30 inches of rain to Japan and flooding isn't over yet

More than 30 inches of rain has brought severe flooding to Japan and the story is far from over as former Typhoon Shanshan is forecast to stall over the island nation.

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Former Typhoon Shanshan, now a severe tropical storm, is moving slowly up the southern half of Japan, bringing feet of rain, triggering landslides and unleashing tornadoes. The storm is far from over, however, as flooding rain will continue to fall through early next week due to the storm's slow trek across the island nation.

Shanshan was the equivalent of a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale late Thursday night JST after it pushed into Kyushu, Japan, Thursday afternoon as a Category 2 equivalent. Wind gusts of 115 mph (51.5 m/s) were reported at Makurazaki early Thursday morning.

More than a quarter of a million customers on the island of Kyushu were without power as of Thursday evening JST, Kyushu Electric Power said. A rain gauge at Ebino Plateau, in the mountains of central Kyushu, measured over 34 inches (864 mm) of rain from Tuesday to Friday, while another station at Shinmon reported 32.1 inches (814.5 mm).



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Waterspout over the ocean in Yantai, China

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On August 26, 2024, an unusual phenomenon was captured off the coast of Yantai, Shandong province, in eastern China. The ocean, under a pale blue sky, became the stage for a dramatic waterspout, commonly known as "dragon drinking water."

This waterspout, which is a type of tornado occurring over water, appeared as a massive column of water rising from the sea to meet the storm clouds above, resembling a mythical dragon sipping from the ocean.

Waterspouts are intense whirlwinds featuring a funnel-shaped cloud and are associated with high winds and low atmospheric pressure at their core. They form when a tornado moves over a body of water. Chinese netizens commented on the spectacle, advising, "Fishermen should steer clear of waterspouts at sea," due to their potential danger.


Seismograph

Strong offshore magnitude 6.1 earthquake felt in San Salvador, El Salvador

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An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.1 struck off the coast of El Salvador on August 28, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS), with the effects felt in the capital, San Salvador, and elsewhere regionally.

The quake's epicenter was located approximately 60 kilometers (37 miles) southwest of La Libertad, the USGS said.

Multiple aftershocks were registered. However, no injuries or damage were reported, Nayib Bukele, El Salvador's president, said.

Storyful


Question

Large patch of the Atlantic Ocean near the equator has been cooling at record speeds — and scientists can't figure out why

Scientists are trying to decipher what drove the recent dramatic cooling of the tropical Atlantic, but so far few clues have emerged. "We are still scratching our heads as to what's actually happening," the researchers said.

Atlantic Ocean
© NASA / JSCThe Atlantic Ocean, near the Bahamas, as seen from the International Space Station in July 2024.
For a few months this summer, a large strip of Atlantic Ocean along the equator cooled at record speed. Though the cold patch is now warming its way back to normal, scientists are still baffled by what caused the dramatic cooling in the first place.

The anomalous cold patch, which is confined to a stretch of ocean spanning several degrees north and south of the equator, formed in early June following a months-long streak of the warmest surface waters in more than 40 years. While that region is known to swing between cold and warm phases every few years, the rate at which it plunged from record high to low this time is "really unprecedented," Franz Tuchen, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Miami in Florida who is tracking the event, told Live Science.

"We are still scratching our heads as to what's actually happening," Michael McPhaden, a senior scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) who oversees an array of buoys in the tropics that have been gathering real-time data of the cold patch, told Live Science. "It could be some transient feature that has developed from processes that we don't quite understand."

Cloud Precipitation

Devastating floods, landslides in southern Italy leave 2 missing

In this image taken from a video
In this image taken from a video released by the Italian firefighters on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024, cars are trapped in a river of mud in San Felice a Cancello, near Caserta, southern Italy, hit by torrential rains and cloudbursts since late yesterday afternoon.
Two people are reported missing following a series of intense rainstorms that have led to severe flooding and landslides in southern Italy. The torrential downpour, which has affected various regions of the country over the past two days, has particularly impacted the southern provinces. The Campania region, among others, has experienced devastating flooding as a result of the relentless rainfall, according to local news sources.

The individuals who remain unaccounted for include a mother and another person, both of whom vanished in Talanico, San Felice a Cancello. Their disappearance is attributed to a landslide that occurred in the wake of the heavy rains. In response to the situation, local authorities have mobilized firefighters and security forces to assist in the search efforts, aiming to locate and rescue the missing individuals.


Wolf

Wolves kill 8 people in past 2 months in Uttar Pradesh, India

Representational Image
Representational Image
A child was killed and three others were injured in yet another wolf attack in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district. An official said the wolves attacked three children - aged three, six, and nine - in Kharighat's Chhattarpur on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday.

The official said that before the teams could reach the scene, the wolves had already moved to the nearby village of Raipur, where they attacked and carried away a five-year-old child from his parents' home.

As many as eight people, including seven children and a woman, have so far died in similar attacks over the past two months in the region.

Earlier Tuesday, Bahraich district magistrate, Monika Rani, held a meeting with village heads to make people aware not to sleep in the open.


Cloud Precipitation

Massive flooding after heavy rain in Gujarat, India leaves 28 dead, 24,000 evacuated (UPDATE)

Tapi river in full spate after water was released from the Ukai Dam following heavy rains in Surat.
© PTITapi river in full spate after water was released from the Ukai Dam following heavy rains in Surat.
At least 15 people died, while more than 23,000 were evacuated and over 300 rescued in different districts of Gujarat as heavy showers continued to lash the coastal state.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted a respite from the rain fury in the coming days as the deep depression hovering over the Saurashtra-Kachchh and north Gujarat regions is expected to move out of the affected areas by Wednesday evening.

Meanwhile, to increase the pace of rescue and relief operations, the Gujarat government has sought six Indian Army columns-- one each in Dwarka, Anand, Vadodara, Kheda, Morbi, and Rajkot districts.

In addition, 14 NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) platoons and 22 of SDRF have already been deployed to support the disaster management efforts.

Earlier on Tuesday, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel convened a high-level meeting to review the relief and rescue operations.


Comment: Update August 29

The BBC reports:
At least 28 people have died and more than 24,000 have been relocated in the western Indian state of Gujarat since Sunday after heavy rains led to massive flooding.

Several rivers and reservoirs are overflowing as water levels have crossed the danger mark, officials said.

The Indian army and national disaster response teams are carrying out relief and rescue operations in the worst-hit areas.

The state is on high alert as the weather department has predicted heavy rains to continue over the next few days.




Cloud Precipitation

Flood hits China's largest desert

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Recently, China's largest desert, the Taklimakan Desert in northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, experienced flooding, which sparked widespread discussions on social media.

A video surfaced online shows vehicles running on a waterlogged road through the Taklimakan Desert and a significant accumulation of water on both side of the highway.

Located in the center of the Tarim Basin in southern Xinjiang, the desert is surrounded by the Tianshan, Kunlun and Altun Mountains. It has an annual average precipitation of no more than 100 millimeters but an evaporation amount up to 3,000 millimeter..

But experts say it is not uncommon to see flooding in the desert.


Cloud Precipitation

Farmers take massive hit following hailstorm in Connecticut

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Farmers in the Wallingford and North Branford area were devastated by hail damage from Monday's storms, during the peak of the growing season as so many were starting or preparing to harvest.

At Cecarellis Harrison Hill Farm, workers were starting to process the last of this year's harvest. A small amount of tomatoes compared to their usual bounty.

"We got over here and this is what I saw," said William DellaCamera, owner of the farm as he toured us around acres and acres of devastated tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and corn.

The vast majority was hit hard by hail rolling through his region. He got stuck at the farm, indoors, as the storms passed overhead.

"The sun came out, a rainbow came out, there is no gold at the end of that rainbow, I can assure you of that," he said.


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Video shows waterspout over pond in Western Mountains of Maine

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The National Weather Service confirmed multiple reports of the waterspout, which formed over Ellis Pond in Roxbury, which is also known as Roxbury Pond.

WMTW - Portland ME