“Two blazes that began burning through Northern California late last month have grown at breathtaking speed to form a massive inferno that has now set a new mark for destruction. The twin wildfires, collectively known as the Mendocino Complex Fire, have together more than doubled in size in the past four days and burned through 283,800 acres of parched land — an area almost the size of Los Angeles.”
“California has been getting hotter for some time, but July was in a league of its own… the last five years have been among the hottest in 124 years of record keeping…”
https://phys.org/news/2018-08-california-fluke-experts.html
“Eight people were taken from the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo to the hospital with injuries sustained from hail, according to the Colorado Spring Fire Department. Reports say that medical personnel set up a triage at the entrance to the zoo due to the amount of people injured from the hail.”
“A tropical storm watch was issued for Hawaii Island on Monday as Hurricane Hector continued moving westward across the Central Pacific as a powerful Category 4 storm.”
“The Arctic is already warming up at twice the rate of the rest of the planet. Now researchers have warned that a little-known natural cycle in the Pacific is entering a phase that could make it heat up even faster.”
“Northlanders [NZ] are enjoying a warmer than usual winter – with the most sunshine for 75 years – with day temperatures constantly hovering in the late teens for the past two weeks. According to MetService, Northland enjoyed the highest sunshine hours on record for July since records began in 1943 and rainfall figures thus far this year have been higher than normal – although July had less rain than normal.”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503450&objectid=12102124
“The drought affecting southeastern Australia has doubled hay prices, severely affecting ranchers and raising the prospect of higher international prices for beef from Down Under. “
“A dead blue whale was found on Sunday (August 5) washed up on a beach in Japan’s Kamakura City, about 70 kilometers (43 miles) south of Tokyo, in what experts say is the first ever sighting of the endangered mammal on Japanese shores.”
“A strong typhoon is approaching eastern Japan… In the 24-hour period through noon Wednesday 100 millimeters of rain may fall in eastern and central Japan, while up to 400 mm of rain in the same area is predicted in the 24 hours to noon Thursday.”
“A heat wave that continues to grip Japan has sent more than 70,000 people to hospitals across the country over the last three months, far exceeding the previous annual record in 2013, government data showed Tuesday.”
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20180807/p2g/00m/0dm/063000c
“North Korean state media told citizens to help protect crops, as high temperatures could lead to a drought. “This year’s high temperature is an unprecedented natural disaster but is not an insurmountable difficulty,” state media said. On Wednesday, temperatures reached a new record of 100 Fahrenheit in Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital.”
“As water levels continue to rise in many parts of the country, the Lao Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO) are urging people to avoid wading through floodwaters… Continued rain in the wake of Tropical Storm Son-Tinh has resulted in flooding in 13 provinces. This is in addition to the catastrophic flash flooding which inundated villages downstream of a hydroelectric project in Attapeu province on July 23, which has left 34 people dead till Tuesday.”
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-08/07/c_137373705.htm
“Businesses in Thailand’s southwestern Petchaburi province blocked doors with sandbags and bricks against possible flooding on Tuesday as heavy rains threatened to cause a dam to overflow. Rain storms are forecast through coming days, and the head of Thailand’s military government warned that evacuation plans might need to be set in place.”
“Heavy rains since Sunday morning flooded several settlements in different parts of Kathmandu Valley.”
http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2018-08-07/havoc-as-wild-weather-floods-parts-of-valley.html
“Rescuers [in Slovakia] have assisted in a record number of heat collapses recently, with 112 people collapsing on Saturday, August 4.”
https://spectator.sme.sk/c/20886098/record-number-of-heat-collapse-cases-over-the-weekend.html
“Switzerland will cut import tariffs on livestock feed and offer interest-free loans to help farmers deal with a drought, the federal government said on Monday, amid a heat wave that is killing off fish in the Rhine.”
“[UK] Shoppers face higher prices for fruit and veg because the heatwave has left crops ‘cooking in the fields’. Vegetables such as broccoli, carrots, peas and onions have been dramatically affected by the soaring temperatures and lack of rain.”
Poor Sweden set to bake again:
“Rolf Campbell, a weather historian who has gathered over a hundred years’ worth of raw statistics from Environment Canada, said cities in all four Atlantic provinces had both higher average temperatures and maximum temperatures in July than in previous years…
“Most are holding long-running streaks of consecutive days with lots of humidity and soaring temperatures.
“Halifax has had over two straight weeks of days with a maximum temperature of 25 degrees – shattering the previous record set in 1876 – as well as a 41-day run with a maximum temperature of over 21 degrees, which is the longest streak ever recorded.
“On Monday, Charlottetown, P.E.I., marked its 17th consecutive day with a humidex temperature of 30 degrees or higher, the longest streak since 1967.
“Saint John, N.B., reached its hottest August day in almost eight years with a temperature of 30.4 degrees on Monday, while St. John’s, N.L., recently had two consecutive days with a maximum temperature of 28 degrees – quite balmy for a province known for a chilly climate.
“Heat warnings were issued in nearly every province in Canada on Monday, with some regions expected to hit the low 40s with the humidex.”
