“B.C.’s wildfire season has arrived in force, and officials have been caught off guard…
“…regional district board chair Gerry Thiessen said preparations made over the winter are already being tested.
“It’s way too early,” he said. “After what we went through last year, we have made sure we are as well prepared as we possibly can be. But we certainly thought we would get a lot more moisture this spring and we haven’t received that.”
“Large parts of B.C. are in the grips of a spring heat wave, with several May temperature records crumbling every day of the weekend… dry weather — coupled with a low snowpack and drought concerns — have created perfect conditions for wildfires to spark, with the fire danger rating reaching high to extreme in some pockets.
“Thiessen said he’s growing concerned about the dry weather arriving earlier.
““It used to be July, August when we would have fires and see the dry part of the year,” he said Sunday. “Now, we’re seeing it in June, a bit into May, and now it’s early May.””
https://globalnews.ca/news/5269194/bc-wildfires-early-start/
“For the third day in a row, Seattle broke a heat record.
“The temperature in Seattle reached 83 degrees Saturday, after Seattle-Tacoma International Airport reached 86 degrees Friday, breaking the old record of 80 degrees set in 1993, according to meteorologists with the National Weather Service.”
“Golfball-size hail, floods and stranded drivers. This is what May in Houston is looking like…
“The Upper Texas Coast and the Gulf Coast of western Louisiana has received “tremendous rainfall” in the past week…
“”300-600% of normal rainfall in that time frame,” the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center said.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/11/us/houston-weather-saturday-wxc/index.html
“Heavy rains hit New Orleans and Houston over the weekend, flooding areas in and around the cities less than a month before the start of the Atlantic hurricane season.”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/flash-floods-hit-new-orleans-and-houston-11557685510
“In the last hours, the thermometer has shot up surprisingly and has reached close to 50 degrees [122f], in some regions of the state [Oaxaca, Mexico]…
“According to the National Water Commission , the highest temperature recorded in history in the state of Oaxaca has been 48 degrees in the shade, also in the region of the Papaloapan Basin , nine years ago.”
https://noticieros.televisa.com/ultimas-noticias/oaxaca-registra-temperaturas-cercanas-50-grados/
“Users of social networks shared images of the flooded roads [in Quetzaltengo, Guatemala].
“Local media reported that the water dragged motorcycles that were parked.
“A Volunteer Firemen rescued a person who had been trapped inside a vehicle.”
https://elperiodico.com.gt/nacion/2019/05/12/videos-lluvias-causaron-inundaciones-en-quetzaltenango/
“The levels of the Paraguay River rose between 10 and 17 centimeters in just a few hours, after the storm that hit much of the country. The most punished cities are Asunción and Pilar, 300 kilometers south of the capital…
“The heavy rains that fell between Friday and Saturday in Paraguay left one dead and aggravated the extraordinary flood that registers the river of the same name since last April, according to the authorities.”
“Torrential rain on Friday and Saturday saw almost the entire monthly average of rainfall for May in just 24 hours. In total, since the beginning of the month, nearly 80mm of rain has fallen in Paris [France]. Combs-la-ville in the Seine-et-Marne department recorded an all-time high for May rainfall on Saturday, with 59.6mm recorded in 24 hours.”
https://www.thelocal.fr/20190513/record-may-rainfalls-reported-in-paris
“Wildfires have scorched a total area of over 41,400 hectares throughout Russia, the Federal Aerial Forest Protection Service reported on Monday…
“A state of emergency is currently in effect in the Kurgan Region, the Trans-Baikal Region, two districts of the Chelyabinsk Region, two districts of the Irkutsk Region, one district of the Krasnoyarsk Region and one district in the Tuva Region.”
http://tass.com/emergencies/1057837
“The death toll from a major cyclone that hit eastern India and Bangladesh in early May has risen to 77 as anger grew over millions of people still without power and water.
“Cyclone Fani, the first summer cyclone to hit India’s Bay of Bengal coast in 43 years, made landfall in Odisha state on May 3, packing winds up to 200 kilometres an hour.”
“…the jungles of Almora and Nainital in Uttarakhand have been caught in a massive forest fires.
“Bhimtal, Sattal and Devidhura areas of Nainital district are affected the most. Dehradun itself has seen 32 cases of forest fires in the last eleven days.
“The state in total has seen 595 cases of wildfires till May 12th. In Almora district about 189.25 hectares of forest land has been destroyed in 76 incidents, whereas Nainital has seen 170 wildfire incidents ruining 168.28 hectares of land.”
“A day after exclusive data accessed by Mirror Now revealed that 610 farmers have committed suicide in the state of Maharashtra in the first three months of this year, yet another disturbing state of affairs has emerged from the state…
“…fish are dying due to an alarming drop in the water level of the Godavari river.”
“Indian officials Sunday said (May 12) that at least 300 yaks starved to death in a remote Himalayan valley after a bout of unusually harsh winter weather. Officials in the northeastern state of Sikkim said they received the first distress call from around 50 people cut off in the remote Mukuthang Valley in December…
“A few yaks die because of extreme conditions in the region each year, but the authorities say that this year’s toll is unprecedented.”
“The warming temperatures in the far northeastern region of China are helping larch trees grow – for now. But in the long run, it could mean disaster for the hardy forests. The trees, which also grow in Siberia and Mongolia, are Earth’s northernmost tree species and need the permafrost to thrive.”
https://www.earth.com/news/larch-trees-northeastern-china/
“Drought is gripping North Korea, with Pyongyang’s state TV reporting that the average precipitation across the country in the January-May period is expected to be the lowest since it began compiling data…
“The drought is expected to further aggravate the worsening food shortages in the country.”
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20190512002300325
“Heavy rains are expected to soak Queensland later this week as a tropical cyclone forms off the state’s coast. The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a warning of a late season tropical cyclone that has formed in the Coral Sea.
“Tropical Cyclone Ann has developed in the Far Eastern Coral Sea, located approximately 1400km east of Cairns, and is moving slowly west-northwest.”
““April reached a new record Arctic low sea ice extent. Sea ice loss was rapid at the beginning of the month because of declines in the Sea of Okhotsk.
“The rate of ice loss slowed after early April, due in part to gains in extent in the Bering and Barents Seas.
“However, daily ice extent remained at record low levels throughout the month.””
https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/weather/weather-watch/article230304939.html
“UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the political will to fight climate change has faded at the same time as it is getting worse for those feeling its effects.
“Guterres made the comments after arriving in New Zealand on Sunday where addressed the media alongside Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in Auckland.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/chief-climate-change-running-faster-190512164354212.html
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