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Cloud Precipitation

Rainstorms wreak havoc in southern China: 8 dead and 55,000 forced to evacuate


Xinhua
Sat, 21 May 2016 07:49 UTC
floods in Xinyi city, Guangdong province, China
© news.ycwb.com
Road traffic in Xinyi city, south China's Guangdong province is disrupted because of heavy and constant rainstorms on May 20, 2016.
Eight people died and four others were reported missing as rainstorms wreaked havoc in south China's Guangdong Province on Friday.

The casualties were all reported in Xinyi, a small, county-level city in Maoming, the press office of the Communist Party of China Maoming city committee said in a statement on Saturday.

Xinyi was one of the worst-hit areas in Friday's rain, recording 465.5 millimeters of precipitation in 10 hours.

Of the 557,421 Maoming residents who suffered losses from the extreme weather, 542,000 were from Xinyi. Nearly 55,000 were forced to evacuate after their homes were destroyed, according to the statement.

It said direct economic losses surpassed 1 billion yuan (152.7 million U.S. dollars).

The rainstorm stopped on Saturday afternoon.


Comment: Earlier this month flooding caused deadly landslides in southern China

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Attention

A third of birds in North America threatened with extinction

Emily Chung
CBC News
Wed, 18 May 2016 15:40 UTC
woodland duck
© Sean Kilpatrick
A billion birds have disappeared from North America since 1970, and a third of bird species across the continent are threatened with extinction, a new report says.

The first State of North America's Birds report finds that of 1,154 bird species that live in and migrate among Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, 432 are of "high concern" due to low or declining populations, shrinking ranges and threats such as human-caused habitat loss, invasive predators and climate change.

Steven Price, president of Bird Studies Canada, a member of the North American Bird Initiative behind the report, says that since 1970, "the estimate is we've lost at least a billion birds from North America.... The trend lines are continuing down. They have to be turned around or will fall below a threshold where they can be recovered."

Most threatened, with more than half the species of "high concern" are ocean birds such as northern gannets, tropical and sub-tropical birds, including many that breed in Canada and the U.S., but winter in Mexico.

There are also steep declines in coastal shorebirds like semipalmated and western sandpipers and red knots, which have lost 90 per cent of their population; grassland birds such as the greater sage grouse, Sprague's pipit and chestnut-collared longspur; and aridland birds.
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Snowflake

Extreme hailstorm hits Apulia, Italy, turning streets into rivers of ice


Strange Sounds
Fri, 20 May 2016 05:59 UTC
extreme hailstorm in Apulia, Italy

Strong storms with extreme hailstorms have hit central Apulia and particularly Putignano on may 20, 2016. Now look at these giant piles of hail in the streets paralyzing cars and and even trucks! Weather anomaly!

extreme hail in Italy

Yes this all this hail is too insane:

All of this hail and rain at the same time... So impressive!

Comment: Also this week an intense hailstorm hit Sinop in Turkey.



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Bizarro Earth

Strong tremor hits Northern Territory, Australia


BNO News
Fri, 20 May 2016 02:26 UTC
NT Earthquake
© USGS
Map of where an earthquake struck in the early hours of May 21.
A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.1 has struck Northern Territory in Australia, centered near Kaltukatjara and Uluru, seismologists say. There is no word on damage but the region is sparsely populated.

The earthquake, at 3:54 a.m. local time on Saturday, was centered southeast of Kaltukatjara in Northern Territory and northwest of Kalka Homeland in South Australia.

It struck at a shallow depth of about 9 kilometers (5.6 miles).

There was no immediate word on damage or casualties, but the region is sparsely populated. Geoscience Australia estimated that the earthquake may have been felt as far away as 507 kilometers (315 miles) from the epicenter, though any damage would be limited to a 40 kilometer (24 mile) radius.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimated the magnitude of the earthquake at 5.9.

Saturday's earthquake was one of the strongest to hit mainland Australia since August 1997, when a 6.3-magnitude earthquake was recorded off Collier Bay on West Australia's far north coast. It was widely felt but no serious damage was reported, and there were no injuries.
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No Entry

Sott Exclusive: 'Cone of silence' over Fort McMurray following devastating wildfire - ANYONE going to ruined city must sign non-disclosure agreement

Niall Bradley
Sott.net
Fri, 20 May 2016 20:59 UTC
fort mcmurray wildfire
© Getty
One of the largest wildfires ever observed in Canada, the area burned by the Fort McMurray wildfire in Alberta, aka 'The Beast', currently stands at over half a million hectares, has spread to neighboring Saskatchewan, and may not stop burning 'for months'.

Canada has seen bigger wildfires, but nothing like this has ever affected a populated area. Not since the Great Fire of Valparaíso in Chile in 2014 has such a large city taken a direct hit from a wildfire. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley initially said it 'could be two weeks' before residents of Fort McMurray would be allowed to enter the city and check out if their home/business was still standing.

Now she's saying it could be - at the earliest - almost a month before anyone's allowed back in (June 1st). And by the sounds of things, they may not be permitted to return until later still.

Oddly, a 'cone of silence' was imposed on the city shortly after the wildfire forced its entire population to flee on May 3-4.
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Cloud Lightning

Deadly Cyclone Roanu to incite major flooding, landslides in northeastern India and Bangladesh

Kristina Pydynowski
AccuWeather
Fri, 20 May 2016 22:51 UTC
Cyclone Roanu storm path
© Accuweather
Cyclone Roanu storm path
Deadly Cyclone Roanu will bring a major flood risk to northeastern India and Bangladesh as it slams onshore during the first half of the weekend.

The first tropical cyclone of the season in the Bay of Bengal will make landfall in Bangladesh, near or just north of Chittagong, on Saturday.

The cyclone will continue to graze India's northern Odisha and West Bengal coasts into Friday night. Rain will generally total 50-100 mm (2-4 inches) with locally higher amounts, triggering some incidents of flooding.

As the cyclonic storm traverses the Bay of Bengal from the Indian coast to Bangladesh, it is expected to gain strength and become a Severe Cyclonic Storm with maximum sustained winds of 90-115 km/h (55-70 mph).
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Attention

Flight delays and cancellations in Costa Rice after latest Turrialba Volcano eruptions; 3 km high ash column

Zach Dyer
The Tico Times
Fri, 20 May 2016 19:13 UTC
Turrialba Volcano erupts on Friday, May 20, 2016.
© Comisión Nacional de Emergencias Facebook
Turrialba Volcano erupts on Friday, May 20, 2016.
Costa Rica's main international airport remains open after Turrialba Volcano erupted again Friday morning in the latest of a series of powerful recent eruptions. While the airport is operating normally at this writing, some airlines have canceled or delayed flights into Costa Rica.

The eruption at 7:20 am Friday was one of the most dramatic in the last month, shooting a column of ash a staggering 3 km into the air, according to National University's Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica.

Concern over the eruption led Southwest, Air Canada, Spirit and Aeromexico to cancel flights Friday morning, according to Silva Chaves, spokeswoman for Aeris, the company that operates Juan Santamaría International Airport. United Airlines rerouted a flight to Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia, Guanacaste.

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Bizarro Earth

Turrialba volcano in Costa Rica shows significantly increased activity

L Arias
The Tico Times
Fri, 20 May 2016 01:09 UTC
Turrialba Volcano
© Via CNE
One of the explosions at Turrialba Volcano on May 19, 2016.
Activity at Turrialba Volcano, located some 50 kilometers east of the capital, San José, increased significantly on Thursday with constant emanations of ash and at least three big explosions.

According to the University of Costa Rica's National Seismological Network (RSN), the first explosion occurred at 2:05 p.m. and formed a plume of gas and ash that reached nearly 1 km high.

The second, and most prolonged one, occurred at 3:46 p.m. and lasted three minutes. A few minutes later, at 4:09 p.m., a third explosion was recorded.

The column of gases and ash at about 4:20 p.m. rose to more than 500 meters above the crater and wind conditions at that time caused ash to disperse from the volcano, mostly to the southwest, RSN reported.

Ash has been reported in San José and Heredia provinces.

Turrialba Volcano has seen increased activity following explosions in late April, some of which extended for several hours. The National University's Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (OVSICORI) reported that micro-tremors and ash eruptions from the volcano have been constant since an eruption recorded at 10:07 p.m. Wednesday.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills couple in Andhra Pradesh, India


The Hindu
Fri, 20 May 2016 18:36 UTC
Lightning strike
Two people died in a lightning strike at Chayapuram village in Vajrakarur mandal of the Anantapur district on Wednesday night.

The deceased, a couple - Kadirappa (65) and Lakshmi Devi (55) - were sleeping in their thatched hut in the village which witnessed rain under the influence of the deep depression in the Bay of Bengal accompanied by lightning.

The couple was found dead on Thursday by the villagers.
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Cloud Precipitation

24 people dead and 40 missing after flash floods hit Afghanistan


The Earth Chronicles of Life
Thu, 19 May 2016 18:04 UTC
Floodwater
At least 24 persons became victims of flooding caused by torrential rains in one of the provinces in the North of Afghanistan.

"A total of 10 people were injured and about 40 were missing after the disaster has struck the County, Kohistanat (province of SAR-e-Pul) in the early morning hours", — quotes Agency the statement of the representative of administration of the Zahir of Vakhdat. He also noted that the death toll could rise.

According to him, the flood also washed away the gardens and washed away arable land.To organize the search and rescue operation had villagers, because the authority of the government of Afghanistan does not extend to this County, which is under the control of militants of the radical grouping "the Taliban", the Agency said. However, red cross representatives tried to ensure the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the victims.
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