Earth Changes 2013 - Daily Updates

May 28, 2013 – NORWAY - Flooding has forced hundreds of people to evacuate from their homes in eastern Norway. The weather has been unsettled across the region over recent weeks, and in just the last couple of days the rain has turned very heavy. Lillehammer reported 64mm of rain on Wednesday, which is more than is expected in the entire month. Melting snow has also added to the problems. On 18 and 19 May, the temperatures in Lillehammer soared to 29C. In the surrounding mountains, this sudden rise in temperature caused the snow to suddenly melt. As the water poured down the mountainside, some of the rivers burst their banks. One of the worst hit towns was Kvam, which is situated along the Gudbrandsdalslagen River. Diggers were being used to try and alter the path of the flood water, but work had to be abandoned because the conditions became too hazardous. 250 people had to be evacuated from the town. Jens Stoltenberg, Norwegian prime minister, visited the town on Thursday to inspect the damage for himself. The saturated ground also triggered several landslides. One in Nesbyen, Buskerud County, was 20 meters wide. The flooding and landslides forced dozens of roads and two major railway lines to shut, but fortunately there have been no reported injuries. –Yahoo News

NEW DELHI: Heat wave conditions, which have seen over 500 people losing their lives since April due to heatstroke, continued across India on Tuesday, an official said. According to the department of disaster management, 524 people have died of sunstroke since April 1 across the country. However, unofficial sources have put the toll at over 600 during last four days itself. After a cloudy and windy on Monday, it was back to being scorching hot in the capital on Tuesday as the maximum temperature settled three notches above average at 43 degrees celsius (109.4 F). The Met office has forecast similar weather Wednesday.

Thunderstorms were again strengthening across the Plains from Texas to the Dakotas Tuesday afternoon. Severe storms could even reach as far east as Ohio and western Pennsylvania. Nearly 50 million people across the nation will have some risk for severe thunderstorms, including those in major cities like Chicago, Ill.; Indianapolis, Ind.; Detroit, Mich.; Kansas City, Mo.; St. Louis, Mo.; Cleveland, Ohio and Pittsburgh, Pa. While the tornado threat will not be as great as some recent days, a few tornadoes cannot be ruled out, especially across western Nebraska, western Kansas and the Panhandles of Oklahoma and Texas.

The greatest impacts from Tuesday's severe weather look to come mainly in the form of very large hail and damaging wind gusts. Hail could reach sizes as large as baseballs in western Nebraska, western Kansas and the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles.This kind of hail is capable of causing serious injury to anyone caught outside. It can also kill exposed livestock, damage or destroy crops and smash windshields.Elsewhere, hail larger than quarters is possible from Missouri into Illinois and eastward to perhaps Pittsburgh and Erie in Pennsylvania. Hail of this size is still capable of damaging or denting vehicles and causing injury to people or animals that are exposed. Winds gusts greater than 60 mph are possible in the isolated storms throughout the threat region, and this kind of wind could easily topple trees, power poles and lift any unsecured objects.

5/30/2013 -- Volcano Sakurajima Erupts -- Large eruption of lava/ash in South Japan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXT353oynJU


Love Always
mudra

June 3, 2013 – EUROPE – Authorities in parts of Europe issued disaster warnings and scrambled to reinforce flood defenses as rivers swelled by days of heavy rain threatened to burst their banks. Several people have died or are missing in the floods in Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Switzerland since the rains began on Thursday. The floods have killed at least one person and left several missing across the Czech Republic. Czech officials warned that the waters of the Vltava river could reach critical levels in Prague late on Sunday as soldiers erected metal barriers and piled up sandbags to protect Prague’s historic center from flooding after days of heavy rains swelled rivers and forced evacuations from some low-laying areas. Prague authorities also limited public transport and closed underground stations as water from the Vltava River overflowed into parts of the Old Town. The area is a UNESCO heritage site boasting hundreds of well-preserved buildings, churches and monuments dating back mostly to the 14th Century, including the Charles Bridge that straddles the Vltava. “Due to the current situation, I have declared a state of danger for the area of the capital city,” acting mayor Tomas Hudecek told a news conference. Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas said 200 soldiers have been deployed so far to help local authorities. In Germany, where at least four people have died or are missing, Chancellor Angela Merkel promised federal support for affected areas and said the army would be deployed if necessary. Several cities, including Chemnitz in the east, and Passau and Rosenheim in the south, issued disaster warnings. Passau, which is located at the confluence of three rivers, could see waters rise above record levels of 2002, said Mayor Juergen Dupper. German news agency DPA reported that large stretches of the Rhine, Main and Neckar rivers have been closed to ship traffic. Evacuations are also taking place in neighboring Switzerland and Austria, where the torrential rain caused widespread flooding and landslides. At least one person died and two were missing in the deluge in Austria, which in some places has dumped up to two months’ worth of rain in just days. One clean-up worker was killed in a mudslide in the town of St Johann near Salzburg, the Austrian Press Agency reported, while two other people were missing in the province after being swept into raging streams. The provinces of Upper Austria, Tyrol and Styria were also hit hard by the severe weather, which triggered the worst flooding in some areas since 2002. –Al Jazeera

Worsening crisis: Water from three rivers poured into the old town of Passau in southeast Germany on Monday, one of the cities worst hit by flooding that has spread across a large area of central Europe. Rescuers used boats to transport residents from flooded parts of the city to dry land as officials warned that water levels — already the highest in 70 years — could rise further. A spokesman for the city’s crisis center said much of Passau was inaccessible on foot and the electricity supply had been shut down as a precaution. “The situation is extremely dramatic,” spokesman Herbert Zillinger told The Associated Press. Water from the Danube, Inn and Ilz rivers rose above markers set in 1954, when the city suffered its worst flooding in living memory. Zillinger said levels would continue to rise throughout the day. At least six people were reported to have died and seven were missing due to floods in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic following days of heavy rainfall. –CBC

June 3, 2013 – NEW ZEALAND – MetService has issued severe weather watches for parts of the country. Westland, Buller, Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury, Wellington, Wairarapa, Bay of Plenty and Rotorua are among the regions set to face heavy rain and wild weather over the next 24 hours. Pictures sent to ONE News show heavy snow has been causing disruptions for motorists on the last day of the long weekend. Vehicles with chains waited for hours this afternoon for roads to open in Burkes Pass, just north of Tekapo. Eight firefighters in the area were called to push at least half a dozen cars out of the snow and assist police with road control, Volunteer Fire Chief Officer Craig Willis said. MetService says there is a high possibility of heavy snow in North Canterbury and Marlborough tomorrow as the cold southerly rain turns into snow above 400 meters. Heavy rain and gales are expected for central New Zealand tomorrow as a front is expected to move slowly across the upper South Island and lower North Island. Snow of about 500 meters is predicted for Hanmer Springs and Seddon areas. As of early evening, there had been no deaths on the road this long weekend, putting the country on track to achieving the first zero road toll over the Queen’s Birthday Holiday since records began. But with snow and flooding in many southern areas, police are warning motorists to take extra care. -TVNZ

June 3, 2013 – CALIFORNIA – A trio of drought-fueled wildfires raged in New Mexico and California on Sunday, with the biggest blaze forcing the evacuation of more than 2,000 people from their homes north of Los Angeles. The Powerhouse wildfire in California’s Lake Hughes area, about 65 miles outside Los Angeles, destroyed six houses and was threatening more than 1,000 others, police and fire and rescue officials said. The fire had charred about 25,000 acres by late Sunday and, though it was about 20 percent contained, the officials said it was not expected to be brought fully under control for about a week. Deputy Luan Dang of the Palmdale Sheriff’s Department told Reuters more than 2,000 people had been evacuated from communities threatened by the blaze. High temperatures and dramatic wind shifts have contributed to the fire, said Ronald Ashdale, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. He said as many as 975 firefighters and other personnel had been struggling to contain the blaze in an area as dry as a tinder-box. In New Mexico, two other fires also raged out of control on Sunday, one of them consuming 7,476 acres of Ponderosa pine forest in an area known as the Pecos Wilderness, authorities said. It too was fed by severe drought conditions blanketing 98 percent of the state, weather officials said. “This is a historic drought. We haven’t seen a drought like this since the 1950s,” said Dan Ware of New Mexico’s State Forestry agency. Smoke advisories were sent to residents throughout the state after soot and a dense haze filled the air over Santa Fe and neighboring areas. The other New Mexico fire had consumed 1,745 acres of the Valles Caldera National Preserve by late Sunday, triggering the evacuation of about 50 families, fire officials said. –Reuters

June 6, 2013 – HONOLULU — Part of what makes living in Hawaii so pleasant is the gentle breeze. Arriving from the northeast, it’s light enough that it is barely noticeable but strong enough to chase away the humidity. It’s a natural draw to the outdoors. It is not uncommon to show up at a house to find its residents relaxing out in the covered porch or in the car port, not their living room, and enjoying the cooling winds — and a cool drink. Nowadays, experts say, these breezes, called trade winds, are declining, a drop that’s slowly changing life across the islands. The effects can be seen from the relatively minor, such as residents unaccustomed to the humidity complaining about the weather and having to use their fans and air conditioning more often, to the more consequential, including winds being too weak to blow away volcanic smog. The winds also help bring the rains, and their decline means less water. It’s one reason officials are moving to restore the health of the mountainous forests that hold the state’s water supply and encourage water conservation. Scholars are studying ways for farmers to plant crops differently. It’s not clear what’s behind the shift in the winds. “People always try to ask me: ‘Is this caused by global warming?’ But I have no idea,” said University of Hawaii at Manoa meteorologist Pao-shin Chu, who began to wonder a few years ago about the winds becoming less steady and more intermittent. Chu suggested a graduate student look into it. The resulting study, published last fall in the Journal of Geophysical Research, showed a decades-long decline, including a 28 per cent drop in northeast trade wind days at Honolulu’s airport since the early 1970s. The scientists used wind data from four airports and four ocean buoys as well as statistical data analysis for their study. Now, they are working to project future trade winds using the most recent data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a scientific body of the United Nations. Luke Evslin is already noticing the dip. The 28-year-old has paddled outrigger canoes — boats long used around the Pacific for fishing, travel and racing — for most of his life. In Hawaii, this means he rides waves generated by trade winds. These days, though, there are fewer waves to surf because the winds are arriving less often. “You show up and the wind is blowing in the wrong direction. So instead of a 3-hour-45-minute race, it turns into a 5 1/2-hour race,” Evslin said. “So instead of testing your surfing ability, it’s testing your endurance. It’s a different type of paddling.” He’s thinking he’ll now have to start training for races in canals and rivers to better prepare for flat water conditions. Sometimes the winds are too weak to blow away the volcanic smog, or vog, created by sulfur dioxide erupting from Kilauea volcano on the Big Island, leaving a white or brownish haze hanging over Honolulu. This aggravates asthma and other respiratory problems. For now, Chu said the most important consequence will be declining rainfall and a drop in the water supply, particularly as Hawaii’s population grows and uses more water. Trade winds deliver rain to Hawaii when clouds carried from the northeast hit mountainous islands built by millions of years of volcanic eruptions. These rains, together with rainfall from winter storms, are the state’s primary sources of water. On Oahu, the rain feeds ground aquifers that supply water to about 950,000 people in Honolulu and surrounding towns. Barry Usagawa, the water resources program administrator for Honolulu’s water utility, said residents are reporting streams near their homes are flowing lower than before. “What we don’t know is if this is truly a downward trend or just the lower leg of a long-term cycle. Is it going to go back up?” he said. The utility has contracted Chu to develop rainfall forecasts to plan for the decades ahead. –CTV News

May 27, 2013 – NEW YORK - It’s a snowy Memorial Day weekend for parts of the U.S. On the aptly named Whiteface Mountain in upstate New York, there are at least 34 inches of snow on the ground. What’s that look like? Glad you asked: According to Weather Underground, a couple of other mountain peaks in Vermont reached 18 inches of snow, while some towns with higher elevations clocked in at about 7 inches of snowfall this weekend. To figure out how unusual the snowfall this weekend was, Weather Underground had to go back to 1816: Most famous of all cold and snowy late season events would have to be the infamous 1816 ‘Year without Summer’ when Tambora erupted (1815) and the snowfall in June that occurred in the eastern U.S. and Canada. Between June 6th and June 8th accumulating snow was observed as far south as the Catskills in New York (where one inch was reported) and highlands of central and northwest Pennsylvania. Snowflakes were seen at sea level as far south as ten miles north of tidewater on the Hudson River just above New York City. But, they note, snowfall in the north east this late in the season hasn’t been unheard of since then: the area tends to get some late season snowfall every 5-10 years. Just not nearly as much as this time. –Atlantic Wire

Since Memorial Day is typically deemed as the unofficial start to summer, many people of the Northeast may find it hard to believe that frost and freezing temperatures are a concern tonight. The threat for a hard freeze will be reserved for the coldest locations, while clouds should prevent both a frost and freeze across northern Maine.The frost and freeze danger will center on northern New England and upstate New York Monday night, while milder air pours across the Great Lakes and central Appalachians.

June 20, 2013 – SINGAPORE - Fast-food deliveries have been cancelled, the army has suspended field training and even Singapore’s top marathon runner has retreated as residents try to protect themselves from the smog that has descended on the city-state. In Singapore’s worst environmental crisis in more than a decade, the skyscrapers lining the Marina Bay financial district were shrouded by thick smoke Thursday as raging forest fires in neighboring Indonesia’s Sumatra Island pushed air pollution levels to an all-time high. Marathon runner Mok Ying Ren said the haze had forced him to run indoors on a gym treadmill as “it is just too crazy to run outdoors in these conditions. I tried running with a mask on, but after 45 minutes it is too sweaty and uncomfortable,” said the 25-year-old doctor, who clocks 100 kilometers (62 miles) a week as part of a grueling training program to qualify for the 2016 Olympics. Singapore’s army on Wednesday night said it was suspending all field training “to ensure the well-being and safety of our soldiers.” Even a comforting takeaway has become harder to find as fast-food giants McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut have suspended deliveries due to safety concerns for their motorcycle-riding delivery staff. Hunched commuters wore masks or covered their mouths as they walked home in the evening smog on Thursday, with major drug stores telling AFP they had temporarily run out of masks and refusing to accept advance orders. “At present, we are not facing any pressing health issues with the animals in our collection as a result of the haze. The animals are exhibiting normal behavior with no noticeable adverse reactions towards the air pollution.” Southeast Asia’s worst haze crisis took place in 1997-1998, causing widespread health problems and costing the regional economy billions of dollars as a result of business and air transport disruptions that lasted for weeks. The last major haze outbreak in the region was in 2006. –Physics  http://www.euronews.com/2013/06/20/indonesia-forest-fires-spark-diplomatic-row-over-record-singapore-smog/
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Pollution in Singapore has reached record levels and the city-state’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has warned it could last for weeks. It has prompted a row with neighboring Indonesia over the cause. This is no natural phenomenon: the haze is caused by the illegal burning of forests on Indonesia’s Sumatra island. It happens every year but this time it is worse than ever. Air quality has been declared dangerous and breathing masks have sold out. Skyscrapers that usually dominate clear skies are smothered in smog. The two countries are holding an emergency meeting in Jakarta. The June to September dry season sees forests and other land on Sumatra burned to clear space for palm oil plantations. But Singapore’s plight has brought little sympathy from Indonesia’s government. –Euronews

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This has been the flooding here in france. This is no more that 5 miles from yours truly. Here is the local TV page on the different flooded area. 
This happen 2 days ago and still hasn't stopped raining. The volume of water over the last 6 months have been amazing. It is combining with the melt of the mountain snow.  I was personally speaking with an 80 yr old and they said they have never experienced a winter and spring in their entire life.

Lots of Bridges down here. I was wondering what people thought what about Clif High and his talk about the flooding in the Pyrenees area. This has been the 3 serious of floods in as many weeks.

http://midi-pyrenees.france3.fr/intemperies-en-midi-pyrenees


t

Thanks for the update from your region Tom and am glad you're safe. This is suppose to be our rainy season and we are in another drought. The pastures for the horses are dust and our 10,000 gallon water cistern is down to a few feet. We depend upon the rain for our drinking water. Lots of rain clouds but very rain over our area.




June 19, 2013 – ALASKA - Taking advantage of an intense heat-wave that broke long-standing records yesterday, residents of Anchorage, Alaska headed to the beach at Goose Lake. As The Anchorage Daily News reports, the National Weather Service recorded a high temperature of 81 degrees in the city, beating the previous record set in June of 1926. The AP reports that in other spots, it got in even hotter: “All-time highs were recorded elsewhere, including 96 degrees on Monday 80 miles to the north in the small community of Talkeetna, purported to be the inspiration for the town in the TV series, ‘Northern Exposure’ and the last stop for climbers heading to Mount McKinley, North America’s tallest mountain. One unofficial reading taken at a lodge near Talkeetna even measured 98 degrees, which would tie the highest undisputed temperature recorded in Alaska. “That record was set in 1969, according to Jeff Masters, meteorology director of the online forecasting service Weather Underground. “This is the hottest heat wave in Alaska since ‘69,’ he said. ‘You’re way, way from normal.’” NBC News reports that the unusual heat follows an unrelenting winter that hung on until the end of May, when the state gets 18 hours of sunlight a day. “Eventually, the sun is going to win out, and once it did, boy, did things change in a hurry,” Michael Lawson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Anchorage office, told NBC News. The AP put together a video that shows Alaskans have traded in parkas for shorts and are running to the nearest body of water for some relief. -NPR

June 27, 2013 – ARIZONA – Temperatures will be at full throttle later this week over the interior West, reaching dangerous levels, challenging records and elevating the wildfire threat. While many folks over the interior West are accustomed to and expect hot weather during the summer the developing pattern will take the heat to the extreme. In some cities record highs for any date throughout the year could be equaled or breached. The weather this week will favor an expanding area of sunshine and building heat over the West. As temperatures soar to record-challenging levels, dry fuel and the potential for spotty dry thunderstorms will push the wildfire threat to new areas and raise the risk in other locations. Once the pattern sets up, the heat wave will last through next week in many areas. Grassy and wooded areas that are green now may become dry fuel for fires as the atmosphere heats up. Cities that will experience record-challenging heat on a daily basis during the pattern into next week include Las Vegas, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Denver, Boise, Idaho, Rawlins, Wyo., Medford, Ore., and Fresno, Calif

According to Western Weather Expert Ken Clark, “People driving through desert areas during the pattern should make sure their vehicle can make the journey and that they carry extra water in case their vehicle breaks down.” With time, the heat can expand to part of the California coast by way of a slight offshore flow. However, the worst of the heat will hold up just inland. The pattern will make the beaches a hot spot to avoid the heat. The system producing the heat and sunshine will allow widely separated, pop-up thunderstorms with time. Most of the storms will form and die over the mountains, but there will be a few exceptions. A few locations can receive a downpour. However, many of the storms will bring little or no rainfall. This phenomena, commonly called “dry lightning,” can spark new wildfires. Meanwhile, on the U.S. East Coast, as rainfall continues to pile up into early July, some locations could be hit with major travel disruptions, flooding damage and even a life-threatening weather situation. –Accuweather

June 27, 2013 – LONDON – Britain’s risk of electricity blackouts by 2015 is more serious than previously thought, regulator Ofgem warned on Thursday. The country’s spare electricity supply margin could fall as low as 2 percent in 2015/16, down from around 14 percent currently. Last year Ofgem gave an estimate of 4 percent. “Electricity supplies are set to tighten faster than previously expected in the middle of this decade,” Ofgem said in a report, adding that the chance of supply disruptions would rise to one in 12 years in 2015/16 from one in 47 years now. Britain has seen a vast number of power plants close and being mothballed due to emissions-reduction policies and the loss-making economics of gas-fired power plants. Ofgem said it had lowered its estimate of the amount of conventional power capacity expected for 2015/16 by more than 2,000 megawatts due plant closures and delays in building new ones. Energy Secretary Ed Davey admitted, “Without timely action, there would be risks to security of supply.” While it played down the actual likelihood of blackouts, saying the market managed the problem effectively; the regulator said its findings showed that urgent action is needed. Britain’s network operator National Grid and the government on Thursday outlined proposals to better manage electricity demand to balance the market at times of tight supply. They include payments to energy users for reducing their demand when necessary. At the same time, the government on Thursday published details of its proposed capacity market, a mechanism that will pay certain power plants to be on standby to produce additional electricity when supply is tight. The government next year will hold the first auction for power plants to participate in the capacity market for delivery of electricity in 2018/19. The costs of the capacity agreements will be borne by energy users, but the government said that lower wholesale prices and protection against costly blackouts will offset the payments. RWE npower, one of Britain’s biggest power producers, said it was concerned the capacity mechanism favoured certain power plants, such as gas-fired ones that can respond at short notice. “Government’s proposal for a capacity mechanism must pass the simple test of whether it keeps the lights on at the lowest cost to consumers,” RWE npower chief executive Paul Massara said in a statement. “A mechanism that treats all power plants in the same way will do that, but the current proposals do not suggest this non-discriminatory approach.” –Reuters

Antarctic Ice-Melt Is 'Worst In 1,000 Years'
Scientists find even small temperature increases can lead to a massive surge in the amount of melting on the peninsula.

Summer ice in parts of Antarctica is melting at a faster rate than at any time in the past 1,000 years, new research shows.

The study by Australian and British researchers indicates that even small increases in temperature could now lead to significant spike in summer ice melt on the peninsula.

The scientists drilled a 364m (1,197ft) deep ice core on James Ross Island, near the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, to measure past temperatures and compare them with summer ice melt levels.

Visible layers in the ice core indicated periods when summer snow on the ice cap thawed and then refroze.

They found that, while the temperatures have gradually increased by 1.6C (2.9F) over 600 years, the rate of ice melting has been most intense over the past 50 years.


Antarctica is almost entirely covered by ice
In fact, summer ice melt has been 10 times more intense over the past 50 years compared with 600 years ago, the study shows.

"What it means is that the Antarctic peninsula has warmed to a level where even small increases in temperature can now lead to a big increase in summer ice melt," lead researcher Nerilie Abram said.

read on:  http://news.sky.com/story/1078276/antarctic-ice-melt-is-worst-in-1000-years

Love Always
mudra

July 25, 2013 – TEXAS – On July 14, a low pressure system that started in the Eastern United States retrograded under a ridge of high pressure to the north over the last couple of days. This storm system moved from east to west, which is extremely unusual for this hemisphere. We’ve seen these move east to west for a short period of time, but this one will make it to Southern California by the time it weakens. The upper level system is known as an easterly wave; however I’d like to call it a super easterly wave based on the distance it is going to travel. This particular system will have traveled from one side of the country to the other once it has stopped moving west, diving from there into Mexico, gathering up monsoonal moisture to be put into Nevada and Southern California later in the week into next week. Rainfall estimations across parts of Central Texas could be over 2-4″ of rain, with more rain (above 6+” possible in parts of South-Central Texas. Severe storms, including tornadoes, hail, and damaging winds will be possible from Texas, New Mexico, and parts of Arizona through the next few days. –The Weather Space

June 27, 2013 – ARIZONA – Temperatures will be at full throttle later this week over the interior West, reaching dangerous levels, challenging records and elevating the wildfire threat. While many folks over the interior West are accustomed to and expect hot weather during the summer the developing pattern will take the heat to the extreme. In some cities record highs for any date throughout the year could be equaled or breached. The weather this week will favor an expanding area of sunshine and building heat over the West. As temperatures soar to record-challenging levels, dry fuel and the potential for spotty dry thunderstorms will push the wildfire threat to new areas and raise the risk in other locations. Once the pattern sets up, the heat wave will last through next week in many areas. Grassy and wooded areas that are green now may become dry fuel for fires as the atmosphere heats up. Cities that will experience record-challenging heat on a daily basis during the pattern into next week include Las Vegas, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Denver, Boise, Idaho, Rawlins, Wyo., Medford, Ore., and Fresno, Calif

According to Western Weather Expert Ken Clark, “People driving through desert areas during the pattern should make sure their vehicle can make the journey and that they carry extra water in case their vehicle breaks down.” With time, the heat can expand to part of the California coast by way of a slight offshore flow. However, the worst of the heat will hold up just inland. The pattern will make the beaches a hot spot to avoid the heat. The system producing the heat and sunshine will allow widely separated, pop-up thunderstorms with time. Most of the storms will form and die over the mountains, but there will be a few exceptions. A few locations can receive a downpour. However, many of the storms will bring little or no rainfall. This phenomena, commonly called “dry lightning,” can spark new wildfires. Meanwhile, on the U.S. East Coast, as rainfall continues to pile up into early July, some locations could be hit with major travel disruptions, flooding damage and even a life-threatening weather situation. –Accuweather

July 25, 2013 – KANSAS – As sunrise brings fresh light to the aftermath of strong storms in southern Kansas from Tuesday night, authorities are beginning to assess the toll. Hail as large as baseballs was reported in east Hutchinson, according to Reno County Emergency Management. Winds estimated as high as 100 miles an hour were reported in southern Reno County near Pretty Prairie. The town itself was hit hard by hail and strong winds, knocking down trees and blocking streets. “Please Please Please stay away from Pretty Prairie for now. They are not letting people into town at this time,” a post on Reno County Emergency Management’s Facebook page implored. A hail stone measuring 4.75 inches in diameter fell near Yoder in eastern Reno County and hail as large as tennis balls was also reported. More heavy rain strong winds struck Argonia in Sumner County Tuesday night, which was still picking up the pieces from Monday night’s microburst storm that ripped portions of the roof off the high school and elementary school. Officially, Wichita recorded 1.02 inches of rain, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Eric Schminke. But heavier amounts were reported elsewhere in the city – including an inch of rain falling in just a half-hour at Central and Ridge Road in west Wichita. Substantial rain over each of the past two days in the Cheney Lake watershed area is likely to boost water levels at the lake. With the ground already saturated, runoff into the lake – which until recently was Wichita’s primary water source – should be considerable. –Wichita Eagle