Active Weather News

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Australia's summer heatwave is causing damage and Sydney almost hit a historical temperature (just over 47C).

Sunday, January 7, 2018, 8:52 PM - Bushfires in Australia destroyed buildings and threatened lives on Saturday as a heatwave in three states brought temperatures strong enough to melt the bitumen on a highway.

A fire raging out of control set several structures ablaze on the outskirts of Melbourne, the country's second largest city, and the capital of the southeastern state of Victoria.

The state's emergency management commissioner, Craig Lapsley, said hot temperatures had combined with dry weather, strong winds and a wind change to create dangerous conditions.

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/australia-new-south-wales-victoria-south-bush-fire-blaze-heat-wave-extreme-heat/93195/

[CielOnTap]

High winds in Europe has impacted travel in some countries as well as led to deaths. Trees and hydro wires have fallen.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/01/18/powerful-storm-lashes-europe-with-high-winds-leaves-6-dead-amid-travel-chaos.html

[deja vu]

On Monday evening, about 50 cars were stranded on the Rainbow Bridge over Tokyo Bay due to heavy snow, NHK reported. The Sankei Shimbun said the bridge had been closed due to car accidents caused by the snow, leaving as many as 300 cars in gridlock.

At the same time, the Yurikamome Line — which also traverses Tokyo Bay — came to a halt after a train reportedly failed to make it up a slope due to snow on the track. The line was still stopped as of 9 p.m.

According to the weather agency, the Kanto region is expected to get 10 to 40 cm within the 24-hour period ending at 6 a.m. Tuesday, including 5 to 10 cm in Tokyo’s 23 wards. About 20 to 50 cm is projected for the northern Kanto-Koshin region including Kofu in Yamanashi Prefecture, 30 to 50 for the Pacific coast of Tohoku, and 20 to 50 cm for areas between the Hakone area in Kanagawa Prefecture and Saitama’s Chichibu district.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/ ... mZTzHlrypo

Time for a snow day or two, don't you think?

I love snow, but not when it makes it dangerous to get around.

Meanwhile across the ocean on Vancouver Island, Canada - Mount Washington and the surrounding area was also hit hard by snow. It stranded a lot of people at the ski resort overnight and now working hard to dig their vehicles out of the parking lots.

https://globalnews.ca/news/3979478/bc-s ... igh-winds/

[CielOnTap]

Cyclone Gita gave Tonga much damage to many buildings, including to its Parliament building.

The islands of Tonga in the South Pacific have been devastated by Tropical Cyclone Gita with winds of 230km/h flattening parts of Parliament House and causing significant damage and injuries across the kingdom.

Gita hit Tonga around 8pm on Monday night and peaked between 11pm and 2am, slamming on to the south coast of the main island of Tongatapu, bringing down electricity lines, smashing churches and levelling fruit trees and crops vital to the island’s livelihood.

At its peak, winds reached 233km/h – far stronger than predicted, despite Gita not reaching a category five storm as anticipated.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/13/cyclone-gita-tonga-devastated-by-worst-storm-in-60-years

https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/south-pacific/101457792/cyclone-gita-to-brush-vanuatu-after-smashing-tonga

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Mexico experienced a 7.2 Richter scale earthquake yesterday:

The earthquake occurred at 5:39 p.m. local time, 2 km southwest of Pinotepa, Oaxaca. Tremors could be felt in several states across country.

Residents as far away as Mexico City, some 400 km from the epicentre, reported feeling the quake.

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/magnitude-7-point-2-earthquake-rocks-mexico-city/95867/

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Papua New Guinea had 7.5 magnitude earthquake early today:

The 7.5-magnitude earthquake hit about 89 kilometres southwest of Porgera, the site of a large gold mine, in the rugged, heavily forested Southern Highlands province at around 3.45 a.m. local time Monday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

A spokesperson at Papua New Guinea's National Disaster Centre said by telephone the affected area, about 560 kilometres northwest of the capital, Port Moresby, was very remote, and the agency could not properly assess damage until communication was re-established.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/papua-new-guinea-earthquake-1.4552059

[deja vu]

And the disaster continues in New Guinea.

Until they reach the Epicenter area the magnitude of this will not be known.


https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/07/worl ... quake.html

Papua New Guinea, which is still recovering from a deadly earthquake last week, was hit by a powerful aftershock Wednesday that left an estimated 18 people dead or injured, adding to a mounting toll from the quakes, officials said.

The exact toll from the magnitude 6.7 aftershock that struck just after midnight was not immediately known, Papua New Guinea’s National Disaster Center said.

More than 100 people were killed in a magnitude 7.5 earthquake that struck on Feb. 26, said Uvenama Rova, secretary general of the Papua New Guinea Red Cross. That quake and subsequent aftershocks were centered in the country’s remote Highlands Region, and a complete picture of the scope of the destruction has been slow to emerge.

[CielOnTap]

A series of sinkholes in one Florida community has led to the evacuation of residents.

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/sinkholes-force-evacuations-ocala-florida-bubbling-pond-explosion-water-main/100293/

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Vanuatu will be relocating residents from Ambae Island to one of two neighbouring islands. The issue is the volcanic ash that is affecting different aspects of living on the island.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/2018/05/03/breaking-news/vanuatu-plans-to-permanently-evacuate-entire-volcanic-island/

[deja vu]

Some more information on what is happening in Hawaii.

Kilauea volcano has erupted near a residential area on Hawaii's largest island, prompting a local state of emergency and the mandatory evacuation of 1,700 residents.

Streams of lava have been seen running through woods and bubbling on to roads. Extreme levels of dangerous sulphur dioxide gas have been detected in the area, the Civil Defense Agency said. Kilauea is one of the world's most active volcanoes and the eruption follows a series of recent earthquakes.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44001651

On this mornings news they were saying that the gas is dangerous to the elderly, the very young and those with breathing issues. That even the emergency shelters may not be safe for those groups.

That this may get a lot worse before things improve.