Earth ChangesS

Cloud Lightning

New Jersey: Lightning kills matron of honor before wedding

A woman who was to serve as the matron of honor at her best friend's wedding was struck by lightning and killed during the rehearsal dinner on the eve of the ceremony.

Cindy Osler, 45, had gone outside the restaurant with the best man Friday night to check their car windows when she was hit by a bolt of lightning in this central New Jersey town.

Evil Rays

Quake rocks Atlantic Ocean, north of Brazilian coast - USGS

A 6.6 magnitude earthquake struck hundreds of kilometers off the northern Brazilian coast on Monday in the Atlantic Ocean, the US Geological Survey said.

The quake was located 1,455 kilometers north of Belem, in northern Brazil, at a depth of 10 kilometers, the USGS said in a statement.

Cloud Lightning

Storm warnings issued in regions of Russia's Far East

Authorities in the regions of Russia's Far East have issued storm warnings and placed emergency and rescue forces on alert.

Showers with gale blowing at 18 meters per second to 23 meters per second are expected Tuesday and Wednesday in the Khabarovsk territory, the Jewish autonomous region, the constituent republic of Yakutia-Sakha and the Sakhalin region.

Bizarro Earth

8,200-year-old cooling is analyzed

Canadian scientists studying ice core records are questioning current theories about the rapid cooling of the Northern Hemisphere 8,200 years ago.

Comment: This new information on an earlier date of 8,500-8,350 years ago now fits more in line with the 4,200 year cycle mentioned in the SOTT article on climate cycles.


Cloud Lightning

Louisville sets new hot-weather record

Congratulations, Louisville, you've now set a new longevity record for summer misery.

The thermometer hit 90 degrees late this morning making it the 22nd consecutive day of at least 90-degree heat.

The previous streak of 21 straight days last occurred two generations ago, in 1936; identical 21-day streaks also happened in 1900 and 1901.

Cloud Lightning

Phoenix approaches record heat milestone

The Phoenix area is approaching a record that most would likely not want to see.

It's the record for the number of days in a year the Phoenix area has reached at least 110 degrees.

The current record is 28 and the Phoenix area is at 26 and counting.

Cloud Lightning

Think the weather's weird in New Jersey? You're absolutely right

It's not your imagination: North Jersey is getting warmer and wetter and the flooding on at least some rivers is getting worse, experts say.

Though these conclusions do not fully explain the weird weather -- a 70-degree January day, 8 inches of rain and severe flooding in April -- they validate people's suspicion that the weather is getting more unpredictable, if not more extreme.

In the last 12 months, the state has experienced the wettest fall and April on record and the warmest November and December on record, according to New Jersey State Climatologist David A. Robinson.

Cloud Lightning

Hurricane Dean a Monstrous Category 5 Slams Mexico, Belize

TULUM, Mexico - Hurricane Dean strengthened into a monstrous Category 5 storm Monday night as its first rain and winds began slamming the coasts of Mexico and Belize. Thousands of tourists fled the beaches of the Mayan Riviera as it roared toward the ancient ruins and modern oil installations of the Yucatan Peninsula.

Bizarro Earth

'Extraordinary event' - Tropical Storm Erin Strengthened over Oklahoma

The radar screen confirmed what the torrential rain was suggesting Sunday morning: Tropical Storm Erin had confused Oklahoma for the Gulf Coast.

In what the National Weather Service termed "an extraordinary event," the storm re-intensified just south of the Red River and developed sustained winds greater than tropical storm magnitude.

©Oklahoma's Mesonet
This image provided by the Oklahoma Mesonet shows the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin as it moved across Oklahoma just before 6 a.m. Sunday.

Cloud Lightning

East Africa floods displace hundreds of thousands

Heavy rains continued to wreak havoc in East Africa Saturday, as floods that have already displaced hundreds of thousands heightened fears of food shortages and disease outbreaks across the region.

In Kampala, Uganda's minister for relief, disaster preparedness and refugees, Musa Ecweru, said high waters had submerged entire villages and destroyed many farms in the east of the country.