Earth Changes
The National Weather Service received over 30 hail reports from the Lone Star State Tuesday, ranging from 1" to 3.5" (bigger than baseball-size).
"High CAPE values and steep lapse rates allowed for the formation of very large hail in Texas over the last two days," explains Weather Network meteorologist Dayna Vettese. "CAPE is 'Convective Available Potential Energy', which is the energy available in the atmosphere for storms to use. Lapse rate is a term used to describe the temperature change as you going up from the surface into the atmosphere. The bigger (or steeper) that temperature change, the stronger the rising motion in the atmosphere. In order for large hail to form, you need strong rising motion; strong enough to keep hail stones suspended in the air long enough to grow large."
The storm was part of an ongoing system that's been slamming the Texas and the Gulf States with heavy rain and strong winds for the last couple of days.
Flash flood warnings were issued Saturday, when 0.81 inch of rain was recorded at the National Weather Service's official measuring site at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. That handily beat Sin City's previous record for the day, which was set at 0.17 inch in 1943, said Andrew Gorelow, a meteorologist.
It now also ranks as the third-highest total amount of rain ever for a single day for the month of April.
"April is one of our driest months of the year," Gorelow said. "We only average 0.15 (inch) for the average month (total)."
Sunday also broke the day's record with 0.14 inch of rain, washing out the previous record of 0.13 inch set in 1943. Gorelow said the rain was caused by a low pressure system that had picked up a lot of moisture on the way in from Southern California.
The quake hit at 9:26 p.m. local time (12:26 GMT), eight kilometers (4.97 miles) from the city of Tamana.
La classique scène de la pancarte d'un bureau de chaîne télé qui vibre. #Kumamoto pic.twitter.com/jiAwfUmqEp
— Thomas Bertrand (@ThomasKyoto) April 14, 2016
The earthquake left behind damage to buildings, as well as a fire.
Keisukei Urata, an official in Uki, told AP that he saw walls around houses collapsing.
"Papers, files, flower vases and everything fell on the floor," Kasumi Nakamura, an official in the village of Nishihara, located near the epicenter, told NHK.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said the tremor occurred at 2:21 a.m. Thursday and traced its epicenter at 17 kilometers northwest of Baligiuan, Zamboanga del Norte, which also felt the quake at intensity 4.
Dr. Elmeir Apolinario, city disaster risk reduction and management officer, said the victims are all residents of Kalinaw Urban Poor Association in Barangay Sinunuc, 9.30 kilometers west of City Hall.
Apolinario identified the victims as Arcina Natividad, 56, injured in the head; Raymond Natividad, 23, abrasions in the right hand, foot, right shoulder and bruises at the back; and, Juliana Makahibag, 13, hand and head injuries.
The victims were injured when the concrete divider of their house, which is still under construction, collapsed while they were asleep at the living room.
No one was hurt in the three other houses, owned by Natividad's neighbors, damaged by the earthquake.
Intensity 4 was recorded in Baliguian and Labason in Zamboanga del Norte, Dipolog City posted intensity 2, while intensity 1 was recorded in Liloy.
Phivolcs, in its earthquake bulletin posted at 3:47 a.m., warned the public against possible aftershocks.

A man drinks water to cool off during a hot day as temperatures soared above 110 degrees on April 10, 2016 in Allahabad, India.
The intense heat has come earlier and is more widespread than normal, according to BBC.com. Triple-digit temperatures have been reported all over the country's southern states as west winds prevail in areas like Bhubaneswar and Kolkata, preventing sea breezes from relieving coastal cities from stifling heat along the Bay of Bengal, the report added.
The heat wave was responsible for at least 111 deaths through Saturday in the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, Xinhua reported. A year ago, a heat wave killed some 2,300 people in those two states, Time.com said.
Video of the incident was posted online by the City of Madera Police.
"A large portion of the roadway on Schnoor Avenue, north of Howard Avenue and south of 5th Street, has collapsed."
"The street fell into the sewage line. So far about 12 ft. by 15 ft. section of roadway has collapsed, and it is approximately 15 to 20 feet deep."
The two-headed snake has one head which is more aggressive and physically attacks the other one.
Jason Talbott snapped the slithery serpent when his mates found it living in the wild, before taking it into captivity.
The 42-year-old from Kansas says that without working together the snake was unable to bite anything effectively as both heads were required to move the body.
Although it looked like a fearsome beast, the snake was harmless and Jason admitted that its bite would not be enough to break a human's skin.
The remains were reported by a tour company at about 6pm yesterday, which spotted the remains about 12 nautical miles from Tab Lamu Pier.
"From the pictures we received, we believe the whale died three to four days before earlier," said Nat Kongkesorn, Chief of Similan National Park.
"We have been looking for the whale since this morning, but have yet to find it. Depending on weather conditions, it might reach Sarasin Bridge this afternoon," he said.
"I have informed the Phuket Marine Biological Centre (PMBC). If the whale is found, the PMBC will examine the remains to try to determine the cause of death," Chief Nat added.
The United States Geological Survey reported the magnitude of the earthquake in a tweet and identified it was 74 kilometers (45 miles) southeast of Mawlaik, Myanmar.
Prelim. Report M6.9 - 74km SE of Mawlaik, Burma You can report feeling the earthquake at: http://on.doi.gov/1qHTyzq pic.twitter.com/EjUwVGaqCl
















Comment: Recommended reading: Review: "Earth Changes and the Human-Cosmic Connection"