Earth Changes

Pilot killed as California wildfires rage after 11,000 lightning strikes in 72 hours

David Mercer
Sky News
Thu, 20 Aug 2020 05:13 UTC

A pilot has been killed and thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes in California after lightning strikes sparked hundreds of fires across the US state.

Nearly 11,000 lightning strikes have been recorded in California over 72 hours, in the heaviest spate of thunderstorms to hit the state in more than a decade.

A total of 367 individual fires were ignited, with more two dozen growing into major blazes, authorities said.

A helicopter pilot was killed after the aircraft crashed while on a water-dropping mission in Fresno County, about 160 miles south of San Francisco, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) said.

Multiple fires raced through northern California's wine country, shutting down the major Interstate 80 motorway at Fairfield, about 35 miles southwest of Sacramento.

Flames leapt across the motorway, trapping motorists caught in a hectic evacuation.

Comment: First ever firenado warning in California as wildfires rage into third day

Severe summer floods hit Nizwa, Oman

Chave Weather
YouTube
Wed, 19 Aug 2020 20:18 UTC

Heavy rains bring floods in Niswa, Oman. August 18th, 2020.

Typhoon Higos lands in south China

CGTN
Wed, 19 Aug 2020 20:06 UTC

NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite snaps Tropical Storm Higos' landfall

Typhoon Higos, the seventh typhoon this year, made landfall on the coast of Zhuhai City, south China's Guangdong Province at around 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday.

China's Central Meteorological Station issued an orange alert and expected Higos to move northwest at a speed of about 20 kilometers per hour and will gradually weaken.

The Macao Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau downgraded the typhoon signal from the highest to No. 3 as Typhoon Higos was leaving the city, and Macao's Border Gate and Zhuhai-Macao cross-boundary industrial zone reopened at around 10 a.m. on Wednesday.

4.8-magnitude earthquake strikes Death Valley and shakes Las Vegas - at least 8 reported there in 24 hours

Maddie Capron
Merced Sun-Star
Wed, 19 Aug 2020 19:23 UTC

Days after Death Valley set a record for the hottest temperature on Earth in more than 100 years, an earthquake hit within the park.

A 4.8-magnitude earthquake shook Death Valley National Park on Wednesday at about 10:30 a.m., park officials reported.

Magnitude measures the energy released at the source of the earthquake, the U.S. Geological Survey says. It replaces the old Richter scale. Quakes between 2.5 and 5.4 magnitude are often felt but rarely cause much damage, according to Michigan Tech.

Satellite imagery shows devastation to US Midwest crops a week after derecho

Chris Michaels
WSLS 10
Mon, 17 Aug 2020 18:32 UTC

Satellite imagery shows devastation to corn, soy crop in Iowa

© University of Wisconsin's Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies
Satellite imagery shows devastation to corn, soy crop in Iowa

The storm leveled fields of corn, damaged agricultural buildings and had wind gusts of 80-100 mph in some places

Last Monday, a derecho (widespread windstorm) sped through parts of the upper Midwest. We first wrote about this last Tuesday, after wind gusts in parts of Iowa reached and exceeded 100 miles-per-hour. A week later, 75,000 Iowans are still without power.

The image at the top of the article shows brown scars, meaning that the blown-over crops are dying and are not coming back up. This is a devastating blow, partially because Iowa has led the U.S. in corn production for more than two decades in a row. For so many in the Midwest, this is their livelihood and with fall harvest not that far away.

Millions of acres of corn and soybeans were impacted by the storm, according to the Iowa Soybean Association. The damage is still being assessed, so it's not known exactly how much of the crop is destroyed.

Comment: Powerful derecho storm wreaks havoc across US Midwest leaving 1.1 million without power

Snowfall in the middle of August hits south west Yunnan, China

CGTN
Wed, 19 Aug 2020 10:45 UTC

© Zhang Pengwan
Baima Snow Mountain Nature Reserve in Deqen Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in southwest China's Yunnan Province, August 18, 2020

In the middle of summer, unexpected snow blanketed the Baima Snow Mountain Nature Reserve in Deqen Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in southwest China's Yunnan Province.

The unusual snowfall results from the consecutive rain and decreased temperature. High altitude areas such as the Baima Snow Mountain Nature Reserve has turned into a world of ice and snow.

Twin shallow 6.8 & 6.9 magnitude earthquakes strike Indonesia

RT
Tue, 18 Aug 2020 23:29 UTC

A pair of powerful earthquakes has rocked the Indonesian coast, measured at 6.8 and 6.9 magnitude, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS), shaking the island of Sumatra.

The two quakes struck off Sumatra's western coast on Wednesday morning, with an estimated depth of 22 kilometers (13 miles) and 26 kilometers (16 miles) respectively. The first tremor impacted an area some 144 kilometers (89 miles) away from Bengkulu, while the second came closer to the city at 130 kilometers (80 miles).

There are no reports of injuries as of yet, however local media said the quakes shook the homes of island residents "as if a truck had passed" and did "minor damage," particularly to buildings with "poor construction."

Pine Gulch Fire grows to 87,209 acres - almost third-largest wildfire in Colorado history

Stephanie Butzer
The Denver Channel
Sat, 15 Aug 2020 18:00 UTC

The Pine Gulch Fire has grown to more than 87,000 acres, fire officials announced Tuesday morning.

As of 7:45 a.m., the fire was estimated at 87,209 acres and remains 7% contained, according to the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team.

It is the fourth-largest wildfire in Colorado history.

Click here for an interactive map of the fire.

Denver7 is expecting to learn more about Monday's efforts and Tuesday's firefighting plan this morning.

The Pine Gulch Fire was first reported on July 31 about 18 miles north of Grand Junction. It was caused by lightning.

Sichuan Province in China braces for yet more severe flooding - likely worst for 70 years

Keoni Everington
Taiwan News
Mon, 17 Aug 2020 17:34 UTC

Three Gorges Dam braces for 'No. 5 Flood' days after 'No. 4 Flood' struck

Sichuan Province, which sits on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, on Monday (Aug. 17) braced for some of the worst flooding seen in over 70 years, likely to bring the "No. 5 Flood" downstream to the beleaguered Three Gorges Dam.

After the "No. 4 Flood" of the year passed through the Three Gorges Dam on Saturday (Aug. 15), the Changjiang Water Resources Commission (CWRC) issued an orange flood warning for the Jialing River and its tributary Fu River on the upper reaches of the Yangtze in Sichuan Province on Sunday (Aug. 16). It predicted that the latest bout of flooding will likely form the "No. 5 Flood" of the year and could come only two or three days after the previous one.

The peak of the No. 4 flood on the Yangtze River passed through the Three Gorges Reservoir at around 8 a.m. on the 15th. The water inflow reached 62,000 cubic meters per second, which was higher than the previous three floods this year.

Torrential rains slam China's normally dry Gansu province, trapping over 10,000 people

South China Morning Post
Tue, 18 Aug 2020 06:48 UTC

Gansu province, normally one of China's driest regions, has been hit with nearly a week of torrential rains that have triggered mudslides, swept away bridges and snapped power lines. State television footage shot August 17, 2020, shows mudslides and rising water that swept away bridges, damaged power lines and trapped more than 10,000 local residents in Longnan, a city in the county of Wenxian in the northwestern province.

Comment: China floods: 63.4 million people affected, 219 dead or missing

"Kurtzer notes that only two other events in the history of the relationship approached that level of tension: Gerald Ford's "reassessment" in...

Winston Smith

.. .. Emerghency! Everybody to get from street? [Link] or, .. brought to you by Phizer [Link]

Jibrish

What(?), ..thought Charlie didn't surf [Link]

Jibrish

SBC says "Hang em... All the jab pushers." to which I add 'after fair trials.' You know all of the TV/film/fiction tropes about 'pushers' giving...

Rowan Cocoan

Good. Shut the bitch up. She was his girlfriend for Christ's sake! MeToo is a Team FUKUSraHell psyop. (I don't know why they threw Weinstein under...

Rowan Cocoan

Earth Changes

Pilot killed as California wildfires rage after 11,000 lightning strikes in 72 hours

Severe summer floods hit Nizwa, Oman

Typhoon Higos lands in south China

4.8-magnitude earthquake strikes Death Valley and shakes Las Vegas - at least 8 reported there in 24 hours

Satellite imagery shows devastation to US Midwest crops a week after derecho

Snowfall in the middle of August hits south west Yunnan, China

Twin shallow 6.8 & 6.9 magnitude earthquakes strike Indonesia

Pine Gulch Fire grows to 87,209 acres - almost third-largest wildfire in Colorado history

Sichuan Province in China braces for yet more severe flooding - likely worst for 70 years

Torrential rains slam China's normally dry Gansu province, trapping over 10,000 people

Latest News

Picture of the Day

Quote of the Day

Recent Comments

Quantum Quirk

Contact Us