Saharan Dust Storm Alert For London, UK

Londoners were today warned that dust from a Saharan storm will contribute to one of the worst smogs of the year this week.

The Met Office has forecast the highest 10 out of 10 level of air pollution in the capital for tomorrow and Wednesday.

Motorists work up to find their cars covered in a thin layer of dust after overnight showers deposited the sand on much of London.

Southerly winds from north Africa brought the fine sand over southern England after it was swept up in a desert storm late last week.

Paul Hutcheon, Deputy Chief Forecaster at the Met Office, said: “We usually see this happen several times a year, particularly in summer when you get these big dust storms in the western Sahara and the southerly winds to bring that dust here.”

http://tinyurl.com/nlbznuu

Heatwave Grips Calcutta, India

The Met office declared a heatwave in Calcutta on Sunday, when the maximum temperature soared to 39.9°C. The heatwave is likely to continue on Monday. Rainfall is not forecast anywhere in the state in the next two to three days. A heatwave was also declared in the western districts of Bengal on Sunday. The heatwave is likely to cover other parts of south Bengal on Monday.

http://tinyurl.com/qjfqeyn

Four Killed In Torrential Rain In Pemba, Northern Mozambique

Torrential rains which have fallen for the past week in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado have killed at least four people in the provincial capital, Pemba, according to a report by the independent television station, STV.

 

Three people died when a house collapsed in the Pemba neighbourhood of Cariaco, and a child drowned in a stream in the Chiuba neighbourhood, the report said.

 

The mayor of Pemba, Tagir Carimo, who visited the worst hit areas on Thursday, accompanied by the Cabo Delgado provincial governor, Abdul Razak, told reporters that the city was in a disaster situation. He said these are the heaviest rains Pemba has seen for at least 20 years.

 

According to the Beira daily newspaper, Diario de Mocambique, the Municipal Council spent around three million meticais (about US$98,400) on emergency repairs at critical points following the initial storms this rainy season in an attempt to prevent roads from being cut. However, the past week’s downpours have swept away that work, and Carimo admitted it had failed.

 

More than 100 houses built of flimsy materials have been destroyed, and the severe erosion has wrecked part of the mains supplying drinking water to the city.

 

The storms have also swept away a bridge over the Messalo River, cutting Pemba off from the northern districts of Cabo Delgado.

 

The province is currently under the influence of Cyclone Hellen, which formed in the Mozambique Channel about three days ago. The cyclone, which started as the storm system that brought such misery to Cabo Delgado, is currently moving away from Mozambique towards the western coast of Madagascar.

 

Cyclones strengthen over water, and so Cyclone Hellen is expected to become a more dangerous storm as it heads for Madagascar, which it was expected to hit on Sunday night.

 

The forecast from the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Centre is that Hellen will then turn to the south-west, and by Wednesday will be heading back towards Mozambique. It is thus likely that rains will continue in the coastal areas of northern Mozambique for another week.

http://tinyurl.com/pajfwwn

Flood Warnings In Milford, Gulf Beach, USA

Heavy rain Saturday night led to some local flooding in Milford. Pictured here are the downtown duck pond, and the Gulf Beach parking lot, which was covered in water.

Low-lying beach areas showed some sign of water Sunday morning, but nothing compared to past flooding along the coast.

Some residents have reported finding water in their basements this morning.

At 5 p.m., flood watches and advisories are still in place across the state and will remain in place through tomorrow.

Flood warnings are in place for Fairfield, Litchfield, New Haven and New London counties for minor to moderate flooding particularly on the Yantic and Housatonic Rivers, surrounding watersheds and traditionally flood prone urban areas.

Additional warnings are possible later this evening as the second rain shield enters the state from the south southwest with more light to moderate rain, according to the National Weather Service.

This second wave of precipitation will be the last for this system as the main low pressure center moves slowly from the Del-Marva peninsula to a point just off the coast of Cape Cod by mid day Monday.

The next round of precipitation may begin around 6 p.m. with the moderate rain restarting later tonight and through the overnight hours.  With this additional rainfall, rivers and streams may not fully recede until late Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning, officials said.

North to northeasterly winds may gust to between 30 and 35mph over the next 12 hours even though many areas will see patchy dense fog.  Precipitation should clear the state by late Monday afternoon.

http://tiny.cc/cq0ldx

***ALERT***QUAKE SWARM YELLOWSTONE REGION

QUAKE SWARM

YELLOWSTONE REGION 

****BE ALERT****

MAGNITUDE 4.9 – NORTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usc000nxvn#summary

Subject To Change

Depth: 10 km

Distances: 984km (611mi) NNE of Santa Cruz das Flores, Portugal
1034km (642mi) N of Angra do Heroismo, Portugal
1147km (713mi) N of Ponta Delgada, Portugal
1369km (851mi) WSW of Tralee, Ireland
1621km (1007mi) WSW of Dublin, Ireland

**EXTREMELY URGENT**GIGANTIC DIP SPIKE ON THE MAGNETOSPHERE

GIGANTIC DIP SPIKE ON THE MAGNETOSPHERE @ APPROX 18:15 hrs UTC. FURTHER EARTHQUAKES, VOLCANO ACTIVITY & ADVERSE WEATHER PATTERNS WILL BE GREATLY INFLUENCED BY THE COSMIC RAYS STRIKING THE EARTH’S CORE

***BE ALERT***

MAGNITUDE 5.0 – YELLOW SEA

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usc000nxva#summary

Subject To Change

Depth: 15 km

Distances: 132km (82mi) SW of Ongjin, North Korea
152km (94mi) SW of Pyoksong-up, North Korea
153km (95mi) SSW of Changyon, North Korea
160km (99mi) SW of Haeju, North Korea
229km (142mi) WSW of Seoul, South Korea

MAGNITUDE 5.7 – EASTERN NEW GUINEA REG., P.N.G.

http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=368576

Subject To Change

Depth: 10 km

Distances: 128 km N of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea / pop: 283,733 / local time: 23:41:00.0 2014-03-31
98 km NW of Kokoda, Papua New Guinea / pop: 6,199 / local time: 23:41:00.0 2014-03-31  

MAGNITUDE 5.6 TARAPACA, CHILE

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usc000nxi1#summary

Subject To Change

Depth: 112 km

Distances: 127km (79mi) NE of Iquique, Chile
165km (103mi) SE of Arica, Chile
202km (126mi) SSE of Tacna, Peru
250km (155mi) WNW of Colchani, Bolivia
351km (218mi) SSW of La Paz, Bolivia