**Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly,
while bad people will find a way around the laws.**
Plato
LARGEST QUAKES so far today -
5.1 SULAWESI, INDONESIA
5.1 IRAN-IRAQ BORDER REGION
5.4 KURIL ISLANDS
Yesterday, 11/2/13 -
5.0 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
TROPICAL STORMS -
Current tropical storms - maps and details.
* In the North Atlantic Ocean -
Post-tropical storm Melissa is located about 265 mi (425 km) NNW of the Azores. Gale-force winds still possible over portions of the Azores, but the last advisory has been issued on this system.
* In the North India Ocean -
Tropical cyclone 04b is located approximately 120 nm south of Visakhapatnam, India.
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Tropical Storm Melissa expected to unravel soon - Melissa has lost tropical characteristics because of cooler waters and its fast forward progress.
Cyclone Helen to hit Andhra Pradesh coast today - According to the Indian Meteorological Department, cyclone 'Helen' will cross the Andhra Pradesh coast between Nellore and Machillipatnam. People are being evacuated from low-lying areas. Severe cyclonic storm 'Helen' over the West Central Bay of Bengal is likely to trigger heavy rains together with strong surface wind in some places.
Thousands of people have been evacuated from coastal areas in eastern India, as the strong cyclone approaches. Cyclone Helen is generating wind speeds of up to 120kmh (75mph).
India's weather office says the cyclone is expected to be accompanied by storm surges of up to 1.5m (5ft). The Indian Meteorological Department has classed Cyclone Helen as "severe" and has warned of "extensive damage to thatched roofs and huts". It says there will be "minor damage to power and communication lines due to uprooting of large avenue trees".
Twenty rescue teams had been deployed in the flood zone. "Evacuations of thousands has already taken place and provision for food, water and shelter are also on track." The aim was for "zero casualties".
Last month stronger Cyclone Phailin destroyed tens of thousands of homes, uprooted trees and blocked roads in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh states. At least 27 people died. Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated ahead of Phailin, which was classified as a "very severe" cyclone.
Australia - Darwin to get first cyclone of the season. The Northern Territory looks set to experience its first cyclone of the season this weekend. A tropical low system forming south-east of Bali is moving eastwards towards the Kimberley and Top End coast, and it's likely to become a category one cyclone at some point on Friday afternoon.
"When it gets gale force winds around more than half of it sustained for more than six hours, it will become a tropical cyclone." Once this happens, it will be named Cyclone Alessia, provided no other systems in the region form before then. "It's expected to brush the north Kimberley coast overnight on Saturday and Sunday morning." The Bureau rates the likelihood of the cyclone reaching the Darwin area on Sunday as "high", with a more than 50 per cent chance.
SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -
Jet stream blamed for extreme late-year storms - Severe storms across the Midwest have prompted citizens across the state to question whether storm season is over. Sunday’s storm affected millions as it swept across Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin.
81 tornadoes were reported in the area, but it’s common for the same tornado to be reported multiple times – the average number of tornadoes nationally for November is 35. But fall tornadoes are not new. “It’s not actually that untypical to get an outbreak of severe weather. There is a secondary peak in the fall, and that happens when the cold air starts to come down from Canada the clash tend to make stronger wind stream.”
This wind stream, also referred to as the jet stream, makes the storms more powerful. The air current that encircle the globe splits the cold and warm air high up in the atmosphere. “Sometimes we get a lot of moisture that produces severe weather. Usually in the fall we get arctic plunges, but this year it’s been a little different. A jet stream is like a conveyor belt. There are really strong winds, and as it spreads out, it’ll lift moisture up from the ground, and it can create really strong storms...They (storms) tend to be moving a lot faster, 50 to 60 miles an hour instead of 20 to 30."
The arctic plunge – when a plunge of cold air up in Canada dives south into the plains and pushes all the warm air out – would make it unlikely for another storm to happen this fall in Nebraska.
WINTER -
U.S. Winter forecast - Expect increased chances of a warmer than average winter across much of the Southern U.S. and New England, and a cooler than average winter across portions of the Northern Plains near the Canadian border, said NOAA.
EXTREME HEAT & DROUGHT / WILDFIRES -
California's drought is the worst since 2007 - In the Drought Monitor map released on Nov. 21, one-third of the nation is in moderate or worse drought, with the worst of the drought in the west.
Plagued for years with a lack of water, growers across California are now facing a new kind of drought - a labor shortage in the fields
Drought likely to persist or develop in the Southwest, Southeastern U. S. - Winter is likely to offer little relief to the drought-stricken U.S. Southwest, and drought is likely to develop across parts of the Southeast.
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