A major hailstorm has hit fruit production in Chile's central and southern regions, and although damage assessments are still being made, it seems that there have been significant losses for numerous crops including cherries.
The adverse weather event struck on Monday between the Metropolitan and Biobio regions, with the most severe impacts being reported in the foothill areas of the mountains.
While there was also heavy rainfall, most of the damage to fruit production was caused by unusually large hailstones, which appear to have had the biggest impact in the central O'Higgins region.
The storm comes at a key time as harvesting ramps up for many fruits including cherries, blueberries and stonefruit. However, evaluations on the full impact on the country's fruit production are not expected to become clear for some time.
The press service of the regional branch of the Russian Emergencies Ministry said that no injuries or damages have been reported
An earthquake of 6.5 magnitude was registered off the Kamchatka Peninsula on Thursday. Tremors were felt in four settlements in the Russian Far Eastern Kamchatka Region. The strongest tremors of 6 magnitude were felt in the settlement of Ust-Kamchatsk with a population of around 4,000 people, a representative of the local branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Geophysical Service told TASS.
"The earthquake struck at 9:21am local time [0:21am Moscow time]. Its magnitude stood at 6.5. Residents of Ust-Kamchatsk felt it the most with 6 magnitude. Residents of Kozyrevsk and Klyuchi felt tremors of 3 magnitude. In Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, tremors of 2 magnitude were registered," the spokesman said.
The earthquake's epicenter lay to the south of Ust-Kamchatsk, in 78 and 36 kilometers from the coastline.
The press service of the regional branch of the Russian Emergencies Ministry said that no injuries or damages have been reported.
Houston reported its earliest snowfall ever, beating places like New York City and Boston as a cold snap descended over Texas.
George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston set a new record for the first observed snowfall, breaking one set on Nov. 23, 1979, according to a Twitter post from the National Weather Service. Near record-breaking cold has swept into the South, with temperatures in the state 25 degrees Fahrenheit (14 Celsius) or more below average, according to the U.S. Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.
Overcast weather is expected in the Oriental, Saiss, Rif, and Mediterranean regions. The southeast and Atlas region will experience thunderstorms and rain showers.
Snowfall of 1.9 meters is forecast in the high and Middle Atlas. Moderate to strong winds will sweep the eastern and southeastern regions.
The reliefs of the Atlas and southeastern slopes will experience icy cold weather.
The temperature lows today are between 6 and 11 degrees Celsius in the Oriental, the Atlas and Southeastern slopes; between 11 and 16 degrees Celsius in Saiss, Souss, the Atlantic plains, and the northern and southern provinces; and between 16 and 20 degrees Celsius in the far south.
Late January winter temperatures grip parts of grain growing areas in Canada and USA along with delayed winter wheat planting, massive rains are delaying harvests in the southern part of the US. Farmers report moldy crops and plantings buried in mud.
Record cold extends to southern Mexico with temperatures 25-30F below normal for this time of year.
A new Grand Solar Minimum timeline to crop losses.
Richard Davies Floodlist Wed, 14 Nov 2018 19:09 UTC
Days of severe weather, including heavy rain and flash flooding, has left around 3,000 people evacuated in Argentina, most of them from parts of the capital Buenos Aires.
The heavy rain began on 09 November, 2018. According to WMO figures, Sauce Viejo city in the province of Santa Fe recorded 196mm of rain in 24 hours to 12 November. Reconquista, also in Santa Fe, recorded 169 mm of rain in 24 hours the following day.
Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (SMN) in Argentina said that this November has already been one of the wettest on record.
According to national news agency Télam, 1,561 people have been evacuated in La Matanza, a district (partido) in Greater Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires Province. In addition, 100 people were evacuated in Arrecifes, 37 in Quilmes, 10 in Marcos Paz, 80 in Cañuelas, 8 in Saladillo, 14 in Trenque Lauquen.
Comment: To keep track of the ever increasing number of severe and frequently record-breaking flooding episodes (including associated landslides) across the planet, please visit our pages dedicated to this topic here.
Terrifying footage was captured when a car exploded during a massive vehicle collision in the Rostov region, where extreme weather conditions caused a major traffic incident on an expressway linking Moscow with southern Russia.
One person died and at least two others sustained injuries, after some 15 cars collided on the M-4 Don highway following heavy snowfall on Tuesday. The major road incident caused heavy traffic on the border of the Rostov and Krasnodar Regions.
The Woolsey fire that engulfed over 90,000 acres in California last weekend may have spread toxic and radioactive substances from a Superfund site, according to activists who believe authorities might be downplaying the risks.
The fire passed through the Santa Susana Field Lab (SSFL), a federal Superfund site in the Simi Hills that was the site of the worst nuclear meltdown in US history in 1959. While the California Department of Toxic Substances Control said there was no reason to be concerned of "any risks other than those normally present in a wildfire situation," locals aren't so sure, pointing out that the agency has dragged its feet in cleaning up toxic sites and accusing it of a possible cover-up.
Physicians for Social Responsibility Los Angeles president Robert Dodge castigated the DTSC, pointing out that the site - now owned by Boeing - remains radioactive and polluted despite the agency's promise to clean it up eight years ago. "These toxic materials are in SSFL's soil and vegetation, and when it burns and becomes airborne in smoke and ash, there is real possibility of heightened exposure for area residents."
If you think winter weather has come early to the Kansas City area this year, you're not wrong.
The first snow came on Oct. 14, when Kansas City had its earliest measurable snowfall in more than a century - .2 of an inch at Kansas City International Airport.
That broke a 120-year-old record. The last time it snowed this early in Kansas City was on Oct. 17, 1898, when 3.3 inches of snow fell, according to the National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill.
The average first measurable snowfall date for Kansas City is Nov. 28.
The metro's second snow, 1.3 inches at KCI, came on Thursday.
And on Monday, Kansas City had its third winter storm, which dropped 1 to 3 inches of snow across much of the metropolitan area. KCI reported .5 of an inch of snow.
This is only the third year in the city's 131 years of recorded weather history where it has seen three measurable snow events by Nov. 12. The other two years were in 1898 and 1992, according to the Weather Service.
Comment: To keep track of the ever increasing number of severe and frequently record-breaking flooding episodes (including associated landslides) across the planet, please visit our pages dedicated to this topic here.