No update on Tuesday this week.
**In any situation,
the best thing you can do is the right thing;
the next best thing you can do is the wrong thing;
the worst thing you can do is nothing.**
Theodore Roosevelt
LARGEST QUAKES -
Live Seismograms - Worldwide (update every 30 minutes)
This morning -
5.4 EAST OF SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS
Yesterday -
11/18/12 -
5.1 MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES
VOLCANOES -
Volcano Webcams
New Zealand - Scientists say the volcanic activity throughout the region is linked. Mount Tongariro erupted for the first time in around 100 years in August soscientists will be monitoring Mt Ruapehu closely over the coming weeks with fears the volcano could erupt at any time.
Scientists are trying to work out the nature of any possible eruption. "We think there has been a build-up of pressure underneath the crater lake and we are concerned if that pressure is released suddenly, we could have an eruption. The eruption in 2007 which threw rocks around the summit area and sent some lahars down the upper part of the mountain - that we believe was driven by a failure of a sealed zone like we're talking about at the moment."
"We've got massive vents that are spewing out hot steam and smoke and some fantastic craters that have been the result of the bombs that have come out of the crater on August the sixth." An exclusion zone's been set up to keep people away from the dangerous parts of the mountain and lahar warning systems are in place on and around the mountain. The Volcanic Alert Level is currently set at 1 or yellow to indicate signs of volcano unrest.
TROPICAL STORMS -
In the Indian Ocean -
- Tropical cyclone Three was located about 395 nm east northeast of Chennai, India. The final warning on this system has been issued.
Shore's Toll 'Worse Than We Thought' - Nearly three weeks after Sandy came ashore on the New Jersey coast, some of the beach towns that made this area famous remain largely empty and dark, shells of their bustling summer selves. The scope of the destruction didn't come into focus for many homeowners until this weekend, when authorities began letting people back into communities still covered in mounds of sand and littered with debris. "Complete devastation."
SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -
Superstorm hits Australia's east coast with 4000 lightning strikes in one hour - A damaging storm turned "day into night'' in Brisbane on Saturday, as lightning and winds brought down powerlines and left more than 6000 homes and businesses without electricity. The large storm, lasting about 15 minutes, swept over Brisbane following a short period of high humidity bringing lighting and high winds but no hail. Meanwhile, another severe thunderstorm warning had been issued for other parts of the state.
The Queensland State Emergency Service was busy cleaning up the Brisbane CBD after wild weather ripped through the city around 11am. In Ipswich, a small grass fire was sparked when lightning struck a crane next to the city's hospital just after 10am but the incoming rain extinguished it. In Ann Street in the CBD, a hotel roof collapsed under the storm, while another 72 calls for assistance were made asking for help with leaking roofs and fallen trees. "It turned day into night. It came quickly and then it left.''
A weather alert was posted by the Bureau of Meteorology just minutes before rain smacked the east coast, leaving thousands of people without power. Weatherzone reported more than 4000 lightning strikes within 80km of Brisbane in the space of one hour. 50 people were evacuated from an inner-city building after the storm caused a partial cave-in of the roof of a lodge in the inner suburb of Wilston. The storm also caused a minor fire in Seventeen Mile Rocks, in Brisbane's south-west, after a house was struck by lightning.
Police also reported they fallen trees across roads. Many homes and businesses had been left without power, particularly on Brisbane's southside. Considered the most dangerous storms, supercells develop where wind shear is present through a very unstable atmosphere. "Supercell thunderstorms are likely to produce severe weather. The wind shear leads to rotation within the storm and a longer lifespan." Supercells often cause very heavy rain and flash flooding, large hail, damaging winds gusts and occasionally tornadoes. "A northwest wind will bring hot air out of the Gulf (of Carpentaria) and the NT. There'll be more moisture around on Saturday and a trough will be right on us, providing lift and moisture. We're about a month behind with our storm season, but moisture levels are rising." ( good photos)
