Earth ChangesS


Cloud Lightning

Floods Kill 14 In Drought-Stricken China


Sky News
Tue, 07 Jun 2011 16:46 UTC
China flood
Vehicles battled the flood waters as streets were turned into rivers
Floodwaters have killed 14 people and left scores missing in China's southwest as other parts of the country suffer their worst drought in 50 years.

The provincial civil affairs bureau said the rain-triggered floods had hit 11 cities and counties in the Guizhou province since Friday, affecting at least 270,000 people.

At least 35 people are missing in the floods, which have toppled thousands of homes, washed away hundreds of cars and destroyed roads and bridges.
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Cloud Lightning

Hawaii: Snow Blankets Mauna Kea

Colin M. Stewart
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
Mon, 06 Jun 2011 16:22 UTC
Image
© Peter Sur/Tribune-HeraldThis is Hawaii: Blue skies, swaying palm trees, and snow in June. An unusually strong storm for this time of the year left the White Mountain wreathed in white over the weekend.
The sight of Mauna Kea's white peaks can be startling to Big Island visitors during the winter months. But even longtime residents were taken aback when the mountain collected between 6 and 12 inches of snow and hail on Saturday, just two weeks shy of the summer solstice.

"This last snowfall episode was very impressive as far as totals/coverage is concerned," said Ryan Lyman, a forecast meteorologist with the Mauna Kea Weather Center.

According to Lyman, a cursory review of a weather log dating back to 1982 kept by staff at the University of Hawaii 2.2-meter telescope found few recordings of snowfall this close to the summer. The log noted snowfall on Mauna Kea on May 29 and 30 in 1988, July 1 in 1990, and Aug. 7 in 1992. But, Lyman said, "I would heavily wager that the three examples above didn't have nearly the same coverage/snow."
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Bizarro Earth

US: Update on Arizona Burning


MSNBC
Tue, 07 Jun 2011 10:48 UTC
Thousands of residents in two towns were packing Tuesday, having been told to be prepared to evacuate quickly as the massive wildfire in eastern Arizona grows and weather conditions remain dangerous. A huge pall of black smoke loomed over the twin towns of Eager and Springerville, home to about 7,000 people.

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Cloud Lightning

Huge Spinning Storm off California... in June!


ModernSurvivalBlog.com
Sat, 04 Jun 2011 09:32 UTC
Having lived in California for 14 years, I have never seen a storm like this during June. It is unheard of. Typically the rainy season has ended long ago, by this time of year.

Image
© Navall Research Laboratory
The size of this monster storm is nearly 1,000 miles in diameter and is nearly perfectly symmetrical! Parts of California are currently getting pummeled with bands of record breaking rainfall for this time of year, while the storm is forecast to continue spinning its way east towards the coast.
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Stop

Big Apple, Cracked! New York, US: Midtown sinkhole stops rush hour traffic, baffles investigators

Meagan Watson
NY Daily News
Tue, 07 Jun 2011 08:37 UTC
Image
© Andrew Savulich/NewsDepartment of Environmental Protection investigators inspect sinkhole in midtown Manhattan.
A midtown sinkhole snarled rush hour traffic Monday night on W. 57th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues - its second appearance in a year.

No one was injured when the near five-foot by three-foot hole appeared mid-block around 2 p.m., officials said.

The NYC Department of Environmental Protection, was on the scene, but could not explain the sinkhole. They said no leaks had been detected and promised to investigate the problem.
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Bizarro Earth

US: Earthquake Magnitude 4.2 - Missouri


US Geological Survey
Tue, 07 Jun 2011 07:24 UTC
Image
© USGS
Date-Time:
Tuesday, June 07, 2011 at 08:10:34 UTC
Tuesday, June 07, 2011 at 03:10:34 AM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
38.121°N, 90.933°W

Depth:
5.1 km (3.2 miles)

Region:
MISSOURI

Distances:
18 km (11 miles) SE (137°) from Miramiguoa Park, MO
23 km (14 miles) ESE (116°) from Sullivan, MO
24 km (15 miles) NNW (327°) from Potosi, MO
48 km (30 miles) S (172°) from Washington, MO
82 km (51 miles) SW (227°) from St. Louis, MO
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Attention

US: Scores of Protected Golden Eagles Dying After Colliding with Wind Turbines


The Daily Mail, UK
Mon, 06 Jun 2011 05:11 UTC
California's attempts to switch to green energy have inadvertently put the survival of the state's golden eagles at risk.

Scores of the protected birds have been dying each year after colliding with the blades of about 5,000 wind turbines.

Now the drive for renewable power sources, such as wind and the sun, being promoted by President Obama and state Governor Jerry Brown has raised fears that the number of newborn golden eagles may not be able to keep pace with the number of turbine fatalities.
Image
© AlamyNot eagle friendly: Scores of Golden Eagles have been dying each year after colliding with the blades of about 5,000 wind turbines
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Phoenix

Fears Mount That Russia Could Face Another Summer Of Deadly Forest Fires

Tom Balmforth
Radio Free Europe
Sat, 28 May 2011 03:48 UTC
Image
© ReutersDry grass, brush, and trees burn on the bank of the Yenisei River in Russia's Taiga district, near Krasnoyarsk, in late April, when some were already warning of the acute risk of fires.
As raging wildfires continue in Russia's Far East, fears are mounting that the country could face out-of-control blazes for the second summer in a row.

The Emergency Situations Ministry said at one point last week that 421 peat and forest fires had burst out in a 24-hour period in Siberia and in the Urals region, covering an area of 1,160 square kilometers.

The fires were already covering an area twice what they were at this time last year, when a record-breaking heat wave and drought led to the blazes spreading to vast swaths of Russian territory, killing dozens and destroying one-quarter of the country's crops.

But environmentalists warned that authorities were repeating the mistakes of a year ago by failing to address the problem early.
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Bizarro Earth

Caribbean Storm System Threatens Jamaica, Haiti With Mudslides

Brian K. Sullivan
Bloomberg
Mon, 06 Jun 2011 08:45 UTC
An area of disturbed weather with a 40 percent chance of becoming a tropical cyclone may bring heavy rain and mudslides to Haiti and Jamaica this week, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

The system, about 130 miles (209 kilometers) south of Grand Cayman, is expected to run into unfavorable conditions for additional development in about 24 hours, according to the center in Miami.

"As it goes further north it will encounter a more hostile environment," said Jim Rouiller, a senior energy meteorologist at Planalytics Inc. in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. "The whole northern Gulf of Mexico is drier and has a lot of wind shear and those will be the main things that will keep it sheltered from any real threat."
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Phoenix

US: Evacuations Continue as Arizona Fire Spreads

Tamara Audi
The Wall Street Journal
Mon, 06 Jun 2011 21:33 UTC
Image
© Eastern Arizona IMTBurning: The Wallow Fire rages through dry pines in Arizona, while firefighters battle to save homes
A massive wildfire continued to force evacuations Monday from towns in the eastern part of Arizona and threatened more communities as flames pushed toward New Mexico.

The so-called Wallow Fire, burning across Arizona wilderness and the Apache National Forest, has grown to 233,000 acres since it started more than a week ago. The fire, the third-largest in state history, has forced 2,100 people to flee their homes.

More than 2,000 firefighters fought to contain the blaze as hot winds whipped flames across tree tops and threw embers as far as three miles. The small mountain communities of Alpine and Nutrioso were evacuated, and hundreds of residents in other towns were told to prepare to leave. The fire destroyed several ranches, but no deaths or injuries were reported, fire officials said Monday.
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