Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
5.8 Earthquake hits south of Fiji.
5.3 Earthquake hits northern Sumatra, Indonesia.
5.1 Earthquake hits south of the Sandwich Islands.
5.0 Earthquake hits New Britain, Papua New Guinea.
5.0 Earthquake hits the central east Pacific rise.
Tropical Storms - Roundup of Tropical Storms:
Tropical storm 09w (Chan-Hom), located approximately 450 nm southeast of Kadena AB, is tracking northwestward at 11 knots.
Tropical storm 10w (Linfa), located approximately 251 nm southwest of Taipei, Taiwan, is tracking northward at 03 knots.
Tropical storm 11w (Nangka), located approximately 238 nm east of Saipan, is tracking westward at 08 knots.
Invest 96E strengthens to become Tropical Depression Four-E located about 925 mi E of Hilo Hawaii and about 1120 mi E of Honolulu Hawaii with maximum sustained winds...35 mph...55 km/h. Present movement...NW or 315 degrees at 17 mph...28 km/h.
Invest 91C remains an area of disturbed weather in the East Pacific which have the potential for tropical development.
NewsBytes:
Pakistan - Flash floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains have claimed the lives of at least eight people in different areas of Rawalpindi, Pakistan. At least 16 people have been rescued after floodwaters swept them away. Terrified residents were seen sitting on roofs as floodwaters surged through the streets in Rawalpindi.
Scotland - Cars were submerged in water and shops were forced to close in Aberdeen yesterday after heavy rain. The flooding has caused problems on the roads all across the city and flooded the airport terminal.
Wildfires - Saskatchewan, Canada
According to the Saskatchewan government, the combined total area of wildfires burning in the province is 300,000 hectares with more than 13 000 homes evacuated.
Wildfire numbers:
112: Active burning fires
25: Not contained
9: New since Sunday, July 5
56: Larger than 100 hectares
575: Total wildfires this year, so far as against 205: Total wildfires last year
1,400: Canadian Armed Forces members deployed to help fight fires
Tropical Storms - Roundup of Tropical Storms:
Tropical storm 09w (Chan-Hom), located approximately 506 nm southwest of Iwo To, is tracking westward at 10 knots.
Tropical storm 10w (Linfa), located approximately 277 nm east-southeast of Hong Kong, is tracking northward at 03 knots.
Tropical storm 11w (Nangka), located approximately 496 nm east of Andersen AFB, Guam, is tracking west-northwestward at 14 knots.
Invest 91C and 96E remain areas of disturbed weather in the East Pacific which have the potential for tropical development.
Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
6.4 Earthquake hits the Kuril Islands.
Two 5.6 Earthquakes hit east of North Island, New Zealand.
5.4 Earthquake hits New Britain, Papua New Guinea.
5.2 Earthquake hits Metropolitana, Chile.
5.2 Earthquake hits the central east Pacific rise.
5.1 Earthquake hits Tonga.
5.0 Earthquake hits Lake Baykal, Russia.
Drought - Chile
The world’s driest desert is expanding south towards Chile’s capital. Santiago, a city of 7 million people 1,000 kilometres (622 miles) from the Atacama desert, is experiencing its driest year since 1966. Similar to California’s situation with the Sierra Nevadas, little to no snow has fallen in the Andes mountains that supply most of Santiago’s water.
“Climatic zones are shifting south,” University of Chile geography professor Francisco Ferrando said. “Santiago is likely to move to a condition of a desert or semi-desert. What is happening is probably associated with global warming and there’s no sign of it slowing.”
Santiago need only look 300 kilometres north to see how bad things can get as its drought continues for an eighth year amid record high global temperatures. Farmers in the once-fertile valleys of the Choapa and Limari rivers that lived for generations on agriculture are ripping up orchards, losing livestock and in some cases abandoning homes as wells dry and waterways slow to a trickle.
Near the origin of the Limari river, Paloma reservoir -- Latin America’s largest for irrigation -- is all but empty. Sluice gates are shut, the little water that remains doesn’t reach the dam and most of the basin is dry, cracked earth. The image is repeated 30 kilometres away where Cogoti reservoir is empty. Closer to Santiago, the Culimo dam is dry.
Around the river valleys, fields are filled with the stumps of once-productive avocado trees and almond groves. Grapevines are a thatch of dried stems.
Wildfires - British Columbia, Canada
Wildfires in British Columbia, which sent smoke pouring into Washington state, continue to grow, said the BC Wildfire Service.
The fires, located about 20 miles north of Whistler, were started by lightning.
The Boulder Wildfire Complex - which includes the Elaho Wildfire, the Boulder Creek wildfire, and the Nahatlatch wildfire - is burning about 40 miles west of Pemberton. The Boulder Creek fire covers about 12,000 acres. The Elaho wildfire covers about 49,000 acres.
Heat Wave in Europe
A heat wave has soared across Europe. The heat wave set a record in Germany as 104.54 Fahrenheit was measured in Kitzingen, northern Bavaria, on Sunday afternoon. It is the highest level in Germany since measurements began in 1881.
The heatwave caused the deaths of five elderly people, two cyclists and three beachgoers, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy.
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) - Update
Between 4 and 7 July 2015, the National IHR Focal Point of the Republic of Korea notified WHO of 2 additional confirmed case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). To date, a total of 186 MERS-CoV cases, including 33 deaths, have been reported.
Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity
Piton de la Fournaise (La Réunion): A new eruption could be underway at the volcano, the Volcano Observatory reported. Today, it recorded a seismic swarm of shallow earthquakes located under the summit of Dolomieu crater that started at noon. The prefecture declared alert phase 1 "probable eruption" and closed public access to the Enclos.
Hakone (Honshu): Following a small explosion in the Owakudani hydrothermal area and increased seismic activity, the alert level of the volcano was raised to 3 (on a scale of 1-5) on 30 June.
Raung (East Java): The effusive-explosive activity at the volcano continued and increased over the past week. Strombolian explosions accompany a lava flow emitted from a vent inside the large summit crater. Some of the explosions were strong enough to produce significant but low-level ash plumes drifting east. Some airlines canceled flights to Surabaya and Bali that would pass near or in the paths of the plumes. The alert level was raised to 3("Siaga") on a scale of 1-4 and some nearby villages have been evacuated.
Sinabung (Sumatra, Indonesia): Over the past days, pyroclastic flows have been weaker and less frequent, but the slow extrusion of lava at the summit continues with little change. The volcano remains at highest alert.
Dukono (Halmahera): Activity (explosions, ash emissions) remains elevated. An ash plume was observed extending 70 km NE from the volcano on 3 July (VAAC Darwin).
Pacaya (Guatemala): Mild strombolian activity producing small ash plumes continues at the Mackenney crater. Incandescence is visible from the crater at night,
Fuego (Guatemala): The eruptive activity intensified into another paroxysm during 1 July, producing a lava flow, more than 1 km long, and relatively large pyroclastic flows through the Las Lajas drainage on the southeast side that reached 4-5 km length. Areas in the La Réunion area near the Las Lajas river bed were evacuated.
Tungurahua (Ecuador): New ash explosions took place at the volcano the day before yesterday (3 July), generating a plume that rose approx. 1 km above the summit and caused light ash fall on the western slope. This was the first significant activity since the weak eruptive episode in April. IGEPN reported moderate internal activity and does not exclude that more vigorous eruptions might follow in the near future.
Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
5.7 Earthquake hits Tonga.
5.4 Earthquake hits Luzon in the Philippines.
5.1 Earthquake hits central Alaska.
Tropical Storms - Roundup of Tropical Storms:
Tropical storm 09w (Chan-Hom), located approximately 321 nm northwest of Andersen AFB, is tracking northwestward at 15 knots.
Tropical storm 10w (Linfa), located approximately 295 nm north-northwest of Manila, Philippines, is tracking northward at 05 knots.
TYropical storm Linfa blowing across the Philippines' mountainous north has caused floods and knocked out power in several towns. Officials said there were no immediate reports of casualties. They said government rescue teams were deployed to evacuate villagers in some of the 11 towns flooded in La Union province, where wide areas also lost power.
The storm had sustained winds of 85 kilometers (53 miles) per hour and gusts of 100 kph (62 mph).
Tropical storm 11w (Nangka), located approximately 181 nm northwest of Ujelang, is tracking westward at 11 knots.
Invest 95E and 96E remain areas of disturbed weather in the East Pacific which have the potential for tropical development.
NewsBytes:
Tibet - Flash floods triggered by heavy rainfall in Tibet’s Chigdril County in the Golog region has claimed the lives of at least two persons.
Malaysia - More than 30 houses have been damaged by a thunderstorm in Kampung Kubang Golok, Malaysia. The heavy storm blew away the roofs of the houses, forcing the occupants to flee.
Massive Heat Wave Creates Subcontinental Inferno
Meteorologists in South Asia say that the recent heat that baked the region was only one factor in the high number of fatalities the brutal conditions caused.
Official death figures exceeded 3,000 across India and Pakistan before the onset of the southwest monsoon brought cooling and wet relief to many areas by late June.
A freak combination of low barometric pressure, oppressive humidity and an unusual lack of wind created the Indian subcontinent’s most deadly heat wave in three decades.
The Indian Meteorological Department said even coastal residents, who typically get relief from sea breezes late in the day, suffered into the night when those cooling winds did not kick in.
“We don't know what is driving those circulation patterns which are producing some kind of descending motion and maintaining the warm conditions,” said Indian climate expert R. Krishnan.
The U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has long warned that heatwaves will become more extreme in South Asia.
Global Temperature Extremes
The week's hottest temperature was 125.0 degrees Fahrenheit (51.7 degrees Celsius) at Palm Springs, California, USA.
The week's coldest temperature was minus 113.4 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 80.8 degrees Celsius) at Russia's Vostok Antarctic research station.
Temperatures were tabulated from the more than 10,000 worldwide synoptic weather stations. The United Nations World Meteorological Organization sets the standards for weather observations, and provides a global telecommunications circuit for data distribution.
Wildfires - Spain and Portugal
More than 1,350 residents were evacuated in Spain's northeastern region of Aragon as a wildfire spread through a pine forest amid a lingering heat wave, a local official said Sunday.
Five villages were evacuated as flames devoured hills that are 375 kilometers (230 miles) northeast of Madrid, said Javier Lamban, the president of Aragon. The evacuees, who included residents of a retirement home, were transferred to nearby towns.
About 500 firefighters and almost 100 pieces of equipment, including aircraft, were fighting the flames Sunday, which were being fanned by windy conditions and were creating a large plume of smoke.
The fire, which broke out Saturday afternoon, has already burned close to 8,000 hectares (19,770 acres) of forest in a remote area, according to Ministry of Agriculture and Environment spokesman Modesto Lobon.
Also, the fire department in the northeastern region of Catalonia said it was combating a wildfire that had broken out in Cardedeu, 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Barcelona, and had destroyed two houses and several cars, although no one was injured.
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)
The Philippines confirmed a second case of the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) corona virus today in a 36-year-old foreigner who showed symptoms of the disease after arriving in Manila on June 19 from Dubai.
The first case discovered in the Philippines was in January, a Filipino nurse working in Saudi Arabia who survived the disease.
Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
5.4 Earthquake hits east of the Izu Islands off Japan.
5.3 Earthquake hits southeast of the Loyalty Islands.
5.2 Earthquake hits south of the Kermedec Islands.
5.2 Earthquake hits the Andreanof Islands in the Aleutian Islands.
Tropical Storms - Roundup of Tropical Storms:
Tropical storm 09w (Chan-Hom), located approximately 33 nm northeast of Andersen AFB, is tracking quasi-stationary.
Tropical storm 10w (Linfa), located approximately 198 nm north of Manila, Philippines, is tracking west-northwestward at 08 knots.
Tropical storm 11w (Nangka), located approximately 66 nm east-southeast of Enewetak, is tracking westward at 12 knots.
Invest 95E and 96E remain areas of disturbed weather in the East Pacific which have the potential for tropical development.
NewsBytes:
Costa Rica - Heavy rains last weekend caused floods in Costa Rica’s Caribbean and northern regions. Pineapple and banana plantations were left with serious damage, and public infrastructure needs to be rebuilt as thousands of people that were evacuated return to their homes.
Venezuela - Venezuela's Apure state is facing its worst floods in years. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro declared Friday a state of emergency in a town in Apure state, where heavy rains have spurred flooding. The floods in Paez are already being described as the worst to hit the area in over two decades. The disaster was triggered after more than two weeks of heavy rains caused two rivers to break their banks. More than 40,000 people have been affected, with scores of homes and businesses already severely damaged by floodwaters.
England - Flash floods hit parts of Dorset. The flash floods erupted just three days after the UK faced one of the hottest days on record, with temperatures reaching highs of up to 36.7C.
Wildfires - Saskatchewan, Canada
The military has been called in to help care for 7,900 people from a northern Saskatchewan community that includes the province's largest First Nation, as a rash of wildfires prompts a massive evacuation. Up to 5,000 of the evacuees will be taken hundreds of kilometres away to a refuge in Cold Lake, Alta., staffed by the Canadian Forces and the Red Cross.
After the wildfires crossed fail-safe lines Saturday, coming within eight kilometres of the community of La Ronge, the provincial government and the Lac La Ronge Indian Band began evacuating out 7,900 residents remaining in the area.
Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity
Batu Tara (Sunda Islands, Indonesia): The activity at the volcano remains intense. We visited Batu Tara from 30 June - 4 July on our recent Volcano Special tour and observed strombolian eruptions of varying intensity at intervals ranging between 10 and 50 minutes. The strongest explosions caused loud cannon-shot like noises and produced abundant incandescent ejections that reached heights and distances of up to approx. 500 m from the crater. They were followed by glowing avalanches of blocks rolling down the sciara to the sea. On 3 occasions within 16 hours between the evening of 2 and morning of 3 July, unusually strong eruptions produced small pyroclastic flows triggered by collapsing material from the eruption and small parts of the crater rim. These flows traveled down the sciara and over the sea for up approx. 200 meters.
