Tuesday, September 21, 2010

**Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be,
since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be.**
Thomas à Kempis


LARGEST QUAKES -
This morning -
None 5.0 or higher.

Yesterday -
9/20/10 -
5.0 SOUTHERN ALASKA
5.3 OFFSHORE VALPARAISO, CHILE
5.0 CATAMARCA, ARGENTINA

TROPICAL STORMS -
- Tropical storm 13W was 296 nmi N of Agana, Guam.
- Tropical storm FANAPI was 110 nmi NE of Hong Kong.

- Tropical depression 14 was 1621 nmi ENE of Bridgetown, Barbados.
- Category 1 Hurricane IGOR was 526 nmi NNE of Hamilton, Bermuda.
- Tropical storm JULIA was 896 nmi ENE of Hamilton, Bermuda.

Hurricane Igor heads north, all the way to Greenland? - Hurricane Igor had weakened to a bottom-tier hurricane by the time it brushed past Bermuda. Forecasters say Igor could still pack strong winds as it becomes a post-tropical depression over Greenland Thursday. For 12 days, hurricane Igor has been spinning through the Atlantic Ocean, first as a tropical storm, then as one of the 2010 season's handful of "major" hurricanes.
Between next Thursday morning and Friday morning, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami say they expect Igor to make landfall on the southern tip of Greenland, perhaps with tropical-storm-force winds, then to move into the interior as a "post-tropical" depression. The label "post-tropical" refers to a shift in a storm's energy source. In Igor's case, its energy source is expected to shift by this morning.
As a tropical cyclone, Igor draws its energy from heat. That heat is released as water condenses from vapor to cloud droplets as the vapor rises higher into the atmosphere and cools, forming powerful thunderheads. As the storm moves north, it encounters cooler water and draws its energy from the difference in temperature between the storm itself and a cooler mass of air sweeping into the North Atlantic from middle and high latitudes. At that point, Igor earns the post-tropical tag. These storms can still be dangerous, since they continue to pack gale-force winds. These winds typically blow at altitudes of several hundred feet to a little over 1,000 feet. They can trigger significant wind damage if the storm encounters an environment that encourages mixing between air layers near the ground and the layers carrying the gale-force winds. By the time Igor draws even with southern Newfoundland overnight tonight, it is expected to pack hurricane-force winds, although it will have become post-tropical. Igor's track is expected to come close enough to the Canadian province's southeastern tip, prompting the government to issue tropical-storm warnings for that area.
In Bermuda, residents are dealing with power failures, downed trees, and a handful of beached boats. Along the US east coast, Igor is expected to continue delivering high surf, with its accompanying rip currents through this morning. So far, three fatalities have been attributed to Igor. All reportedly were due to people either trying to surf the high waves Igor was driving to shore, or standing too close to where high surf was breaking.

Meanwhile, tropical storm Julia is winding down some 1,770 miles west of the Azores. Currently packing sustained winds of about 45 miles an hour, Julia likely will be downgraded to a tropical depression by 8 a.m. today.

As these two storms weaken, forecasters are watching another patch of stormy weather just west of the Cape Verde Islands. It stands an 80 pecent chance of becoming a tropical cyclone within the next 48 hours.

Weather forecasters faced a difficult task of predicting the “unpredictable” tropical cyclone Fanapi as it changed course and categories yesterday. Typhoon signal No. 1 was hoisted at 4:30 pm in Macau yesterday.
Yesterday morning, the Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau wasn’t expecting to hoist typhoon warnings as Fanapi had already made landfall in mainland China and was moving east of Macau. However, after hitting the coastline of Guangdong province, “it took a VERY UNPREDICTABLE TRACK and it is moving west and south-eastwards." The change means that Fanapi is going to pass closer to Macau than previously expected, less than 200 kilometres away from the SAR, bring with it heavy rains and strong winds. “Everything will depend on what happens during the night and on the storm’s speed. The wind speed can increase up to the levels of the typhoon signal No. 3, because it is still too close to the coastline."
Fanapi may be the strongest storm to strike China this year. But no casualties have been reported and damage is yet to be assessed. It swept across Taiwan on Sunday with winds gusting as high as 180 kilometres per hour, downing electric lines, forcing evacuations and closing schools, offices, airports and ground transport. Emergency workers evacuated 10,468 people from 13 counties and 53 townships prone to landslides.

HEAVY RAINS, SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -

INDIA - Heavy monsoon rains and landslides swept the hilly areas of northern India over the weekend, killing at least 47 people. Twenty-four people died Sunday as falling boulders crushed their homes in three villages in Almorah district in Uttrakhand state. Another 23 people were either swept away by floodwaters or died when homes collapsed in landslides in Pitthoragarh, Champawat and Uttarkashi regions of state Saturday and Sunday.
Rains continued to lash the region on Monday, threatening dozens of villages near Tehri Dam whose water level was nearing the danger level. The area is 250 miles (400 kilometers) southwest of Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state. The annual monsoon season from June to October brings rains that are vital to agriculture in India. However, monsoon rains take a heavy human toll in South Asia every year. In August, flash floods killed at least 175 people in the remote and mountainous Ladakh region of the Indian portion of Kashmir. India is experiencing an excessive rainfall this season after a drought last year. The rainfall recorded Sept. 1-15 was 22 percent above the average for the period.
In neighboring Pakistan, monsoon floods have killed more than 1,700 people and damaged or destroyed nearly 1.9 million homes in the past six weeks.

HEALTH THREATS -

Annual flu shots may protect against heart attacks, and the earlier in the season a shot is given the greater the protection, a new British study claims.

Monday, September 20, 2010

**Be pleasant until ten o’clock in the morning and the rest of the day will take care of itself.**
Elbert Hubbard

LARGEST QUAKES -
This morning -
None 5.0 or higher.

Yesterday -
9/19/10 -
5.1 EASTERN NEW GUINEA REG., P.N.G.
5.4 VOLCANO ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
5.0 STATE OF YAP, MICRONESIA

TROPICAL STORMS -
-Typhoon FANAPI was 200 nmi ENE of Hong Kong.

-Hurricane IGOR was 80 nmi WNW of Hamilton, Bermuda.
-Tropical storm JULIA was 787 nmi ENE of Hamilton, Bermuda.
-80% chance of another area in the Atlantic becoming a cyclone in the next 48 hours.

HURRICANE IGOR - Fierce waves pounded Bermuda's breakwaters and shores Sunday night, straining yacht moorings and battering oceanfront hotels as a weakened Hurricane Igor lashed the wealthy British enclave.
Bermudians battened down their homes in pelting rain to wait out Igor, which was barely a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph) as it swirled close to the island after dark. The wind whipsawed trees and power poles, knocking out electricity in many parts of the island. But there were no early reports of major damage. Some storm-seasoned islanders ventured outside during the day to gawk as the hurricane force winds that hit by midday drove 15-foot (5-meter) surf onto shore or to triple-tie the moorings of their boats even as the government warned people to stay indoors. Flooding was reported in low-lying areas, while streets in downtown Hamilton, the capital, were covered in several inches of water and littered with tree branches and other debris.
Igor's eye was forecast to pass over or very close to Bermuda before midnight. Even a near-miss could cause substantial damage, with hurricane-force winds extending up to 90 miles (150 kilometers) from the storm's eye.
The storm was expected to veer northeast — away from the United States — after passing Bermuda. But forecasters said it would continue causing high surf and strong rip currents along the U.S. eastern seaboard.
Igor lost strength and was downgraded from a Category 2 hurricane before dawn Sunday, raising optimism that Bermuda would be spared major damage. High surf kicked up by the storm has already swept two people out to sea in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, far to the south. Forecasters said the storm could drop 6 to 9 inches (15 to 23 centimeters) of rain over Bermuda and cause significant coastal flooding. Bermuda's building codes specify that homes must be built with walls at least eight inches thick, and be able to withstand 150 mph (241 kph) gusts and sustained winds of 110 mph (177 kph). Some power and phone lines are underground.

In Mexico on Sunday, officials raised to 12 the death toll from Hurricane Karl, which made landfall on Mexico's Gulf Coast on Friday and soaked Veracruz, Puebla and Tabasco states in the south-central part of the country.
At least 30,000 people were displaced by flooding and landslides in Veracruz alone. 125 municipalities were in a state of emergency.

Far out in the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Julia was weakening and not expected to threaten land.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

AUSTRALIA may be facing THEIR MOST INTENSE CYCLONE SEASON SINCE 1994. A potentially devastating cyclone could hit the Gold Coast this season, with a renowned storm forecaster saying five cyclones will form off the Queensland coast. An intense category four of five cyclone, with the potential to wreak havoc on the scale of Cyclone Larry - which devastated Innisfail in North Queensland in 2006 - is also on the cards. Five tropical cyclones are predicted to form between Far North Queensland and northern NSW from January to March, according to a long-term weather forecaster who has accurately predicted the number and timing of cyclones for the past two seasons.
He uses sun spots and solar flares to cast his predictions, and says current activity indicate cyclones would push further south, potentially hitting the Gold Coast. ''It's quite possible ... you haven't had one for a fair while now so it's definitely overdue. 'When you have high solar activity you find they move further south. 'There is a very strong case, especially from the weather events we've seen since the beginning of 2010.'' The sheer number of cyclones will lead to THE MOST INTENSE CYCLONE SEASON SINCE 1994 when he started his official predictions. ''It's the most I've ever predicted for the eastern seaboard, usually it's only two or three - or maybe up to four. 'Five is a bit more heavy duty, people should err on the side of caution.''
The Weather Channel meteorologist agreed a more active cyclone season was likely due to La Nina. ''With La Nina traditionally we get a higher frequency of cyclones. 'There's no way of saying (where they will cross), but we think there will probably be an above average number of cyclones, whether they are coastal crossings or skim the coast - they will be around.'' The last cyclone to hit the Coast was in 1984, causing wind and rain damage.
''Certainly if ... we do get a storm of that magnitude to cross near to the Gold Coast, that's a major disruption about to happen from a lot of perspectives. 'Erosion, flooding, rainfall all of that works together in that event, similar to 1974, when there was widespread flooding on the Gold Coast. 'We might be in for a test, how well we come out of the test is a bit uncertain ... they are fickle things storms. 'In a sense we're lucky we haven't had a really big one for so long, but it brings other issues that people are not familiar with the extent of damage it can cause.''

**God is good, but never dance in a small boat.**
Irish Saying

LARGEST QUAKES -
This morning -
None 5.0 or higher.

Yesterday -
9/18/10 -
5.1 FIJI REGION
5.2 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.

9/17/10 -
5.2 KEPULAUAN TALAUD, INDONESIA
5.0 KURIL ISLANDS
6.3 HINDU KUSH REGION, AFGHANISTAN
5.2 POTOSI, BOLIVIA

AFGHANISTAN - A 6.5 magnitude earthquake rocked Kashmir Valley at 12.54 A.M shaking people out of their beds in terror. The quake which lasted nearly a minute, rattled houses forcing people to rush out of their homes in panic during dead of the night. There was no immediate report of any damage or injuries. The epicentre of the quake, which struck at a depth of 200 kilometres (124 miles), was reported to be in Hindukush range, 265 kilometres northeast of Kabul, in Afghanistan. Earlier on September 11 morning a 4.8 magnitude earthquake shook Kashmir and its adjoining areas. The epicenter of the earthquake was in Pir Pantsal mountain range of Himalayas of the region.

Experts warn of earthquakes in BANGLADESH - Scientists at the Dhaka University Earth Observatory have recorded 10 tremors in the last one week and warned that more earthquakes can hit the country anytime. The warning comes after a moderate quake, whose epicentre was at the India-Bangladesh border, shook parts of Bangladesh last Friday. Experts at Dhaka University's geology department and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology said the intensity of the recent earthquakes measuring between 2.0 and 4.8 on the Richter scale signalled a major earthquake. They also fear that a major earthquake with the epicentre in and around the capital could hit the country any time, causing devastation. "As India and Burma tectonic plates are moving towards each other, Bangladesh's landmass is being squeezed by 6mm every year, which gives adds to strength accumulation within the earth-crust in the Bengal basin." Experts have also warned that disaster-prone Bangladesh, which has been facing floods and cyclones in the recent past, is not ready to tackle earthquakes.
They say most of the country's hospitals, police stations, disaster shelters and school buildings that have been set up for disaster relief are themselves not earthquake-proof.

NEW ZEALAND - Christchurch earthquakes approaching 700 in 13 days. Since September 4, Christchurch in New Zealand is being pounded by earthquakes, one after the other they are coming and some are fairly medium sized earthquakes. Those tremors, aftershocks or earthquakes are now approaching almost 700 earthquakes in just 13 days. "That is either the biggest earthquake swarm we have heard off or something else is brewing beneath New Zealand." The massive 7.1 magnitude earthquake a few days ago caused damage to many buildings as well as public buildings, historical buildings and even the old Library in Christchurch is said to be on a new fault line, or where there is no known fault line. Some scientists agree to the fact that there might be a new fault line forming.

TSUNAMI / FREAK WAVES / ABNORMAL TIDES -

Southern California could be unprepared to warn against an impending tsunami in the event of an earthquake immediately off the coast. A national panel presented findings of a study on tsunami warning systems to Congress Friday, revealing some vulnerabilities in the warning system. "The main thing we want to get out is how ill-prepared we are for local tsunamis, tsunamis that are generated very close to the coas. Southern California is unprepared to deal with tsunamis that are generated very close to shore because the warning time would be only a matter of minutes, rather than the hours-long warning we had in instances such as the Chilean earthquake earlier this year. "These are rare events but extremely high impact events. Imagine the cost of evacuating 500,000 people off the beaches in Southern California or closing down the ports."

TROPICAL STORMS -
Typhoon FANAPI was 98 nmi S of Taipei, Taiwan.
Hurricane IGOR was 231 nmi S of Hamilton, Bermuda.
Tropical storm JULIA was 614 nmi E of Hamilton, Bermuda.
Tropical depression KARL was 167 nmi NE of Acapulco, Mexico.

Typhoon takes aim at Taiwan - Powerful typhoon Fanapi was poised for a direct hit on Taiwan today, sending residents scurrying for cover, farmers hurrying to harvest vulnerable crops, and rescue crews evacuating people in mountainous regions vulnerable to landslides.

Hurricane Karl has been downgraded to a tropical storm after making landfall on Mexico's southern coast. The first major storm of the Atlantic season to hit land, it pounded the south-eastern port city of Veracruz with heavy rain. It later weakened with winds of up to 70mph (112km/h). Karl has already forced Mexico's Pemex oil to halt production at 14 offshore wells and evacuate staff. Karl hit Mexico's Gulf coast at 1630 GMT as a category three hurricane with winds of up to 110mph (177km/h). It was downgraded to category two, then to category one, before becoming a tropical storm. Karl is currently moving west at a speed of about 9mph and weakened further as it moved inland overnight.
Mexico's Veracruz state has already suffered from major flooding in the recent weeks The Mexican government had issued a hurricane warning for a 186-mile stretch of coast from Veracruz northwards, but all warnings have now been discontinued. On Thursday, Karl passed over the Yucatan Peninsula, dumping heavy rain and bringing down trees and power lines.
Meanwhile, the government in Bermuda has issued a hurricane watch for Igor. The island can "expect tropical storm force winds some time around midnight Saturday and even worse conditions late Sunday".To the east Hurricane Igor has weakened slightly but remains a major storm. Igor, which is pushing sustained speeds of 105mph, is threatening to pass directly over Bermuda on Sunday, the US-based National Hurricane Center has warned, with the US East Coast also affected over the weekend.
A third simultaneous hurricane, Julia, which is towards the centre of the Atlantic Ocean, has weakened further, with sustained winds of 75mph.
(map)
Bermuda, which hasn't seen a major hurricane in some seven years, is about to get walloped by Igor, which forecasters termed large and dangerous Saturday night. The eye of the Category 2 storm may pass just to the west of the Atlantic Ocean island late today, sharply increasing the likelihood of damaging winds. Such a landfall would spare Bermuda "the worst of the storm surge, but will inflict some of the highest wind speeds ... on the island. A direct hit would be the worst-case scenario, because the island would have to endure the extremely strong winds in the eyewall, as well as a dangerously high storm surge." The hurricane is currently going through an "eyewall replacement cycle," and, during this time, accurately forecasting its track becomes more difficult.
A new eye begins to develop around the old eye of a hurricane during the replacement cycle. "Fortunately, the forecast is that Igor will not strengthen more before approaching Bermuda. It is expected to maintain Category 2 status." Conditions on the island were deteriorating late Saturday ahead of Igor's expected passover. "Igor is expected to remain a dangerous hurricane as it approaches Bermuda. Igor is a very large hurricane."
The storm could also produce as much as 9 inches of rainfall over the island. Large waves generated by the storm were already pounding beaches Saturday afternoon. "A dangerous storm surge is expected to produce significant coastal flooding on Bermuda. The surge will be accompanied by large and destructive waves, especially along the southern coast." The weather agency said swells will affect the East Coast of the United States, Puerto Rico, the Leeward Islands, Hispanola and parts of the Bahamas over the weekend. "These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip currents."

Friday, September 17, 2010

Where's the oil? On the Gulf floor, scientists say. Far beneath the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, deeper than divers can go, scientists say they are finding oil from the busted BP well on the sea's muddy and mysterious bottom. Oil at least two inches thick was found Sunday night and Monday morning about a mile beneath the surface. Under it was a layer of dead shrimp and other small animals. The latest findings show that while the federal government initially proclaimed much of the spilled oil gone, now it's not so clear. "I expected to find oil on the sea floor. I did not expect to find this much. I didn't expect to find layers two inches thick. It's weird the stuff we found last night. Some of it was really dense and thick."
Scientists say that even though it may be out of sight, oil found there could do significant harm to the strange creatures that dwell in the depths — tube worms, tiny crustaceans and mollusks, single-cell organisms and Halloween-scary fish with bulging eyes and skeletal frames. "Deep-sea animals, in general, tend to produce fewer offspring than shallower water animals, so if they are going to have a population impact, it may be more sensitive in deep water. There is also some evidence that deep-sea animals live longer than shallower water species, so the impact may stay around longer."
Scientists found oil on the sea floor as far as 80 miles away from the site of the spill. "It's kind of like having a blizzard where the snow comes in and covers everything." And the look of the oil, its state of degradation, the way it settled on freshly dead animals all made it unlikely that the crude was from the millions of gallons of oil that naturally seep into the Gulf from the sea bottom each year. Later this week, the oil will be tested for the chemical fingerprints that would conclusively link it to the BP spill.
Since the well was capped on July 15 after some 200 million gallons flowed into the Gulf, there have been signs of resilience on the surface and the shore. Sheens have disappeared, while some marshlands have shoots of green. This seeming recovery is likely a result of massive amounts of chemical dispersants, warm waters and a Gulf that is used to degrading massive amounts of oil, scientists say. Animal deaths also are far short of worst-case scenarios. But at the same time, a massive invisible plume of oil has been found under the surface, shifting scientists' concerns from what can be easily seen to what can't be. The oil "did not disappear. It sank."
For oil to sink, it must attach itself to materials that are heavier than water, such as detritus, flecks of mud, sands and other particles. Such materials are abundant in the Gulf in places where rivers, especially the Mississippi, flush mud and sand into the open sea. Oil also can sink as it ages and becomes more tar-like in a process known as weathering. Scientists also say the oil may be sinking because it was broken up into tiny droplets by dispersants, making the oil so small that it wasn't buoyant enough to rise. One problem with oil at the sea floor is that it will take longer to degrade because of cold temperatures in the deep.

**Promise only what you can deliver. Then deliver more than you promise.**
Author Unknown

LARGEST QUAKES -
This morning -
5.3 POTOSI, BOLIVIA

Yesterday -
9/16/10 -
5.0 COSTA RICA
5.8 TONGA

BRITAIN - Expert predicts 5.5 magnitude earthquake could hit London at any time. Britain is overdue a potentially devastating earthquake that could topple London's grandest landmarks, cause billions of pounds worth of damage and endanger scores of lives, a leading seismologist warned yesterday. A sub-sea fault under the Straits of Dover that has caused two large earthquakes in the past 700 years could strike again at any time, putting London in the firing line. The geological fault has already generated relatively large earthquakes in 1382 and 1580 and there is a substantial risk that a similar-sized earthquake could occur again with severe consequences for the capital given that it rests on clay soil that is easily shaken.
Although the British Isles does not lie on a major boundary of a tectonic plate, where most large earthquakes tend to occur, the country experiences regular small earthquakes due to a network of minor fault lines, including the one under the Straits of Dover.Typically there is one earthquake of magnitude 3.5 each year, 10 earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 and one magnitude 4.5 every 10 years. "There are a lot of little fault lines all over the place. It's like a dinner plate that has been broken, glued back together and squeezed." Most modern buildings would be unaffected by such an earthquake but many of the older buildings, especially those in a bad state of repair, could suffer substantial damage, especially to their chimney stacks."It may not sound very dramatic compared to buildings collapsing, but if people are walking in the street and a chimney falls on them, that's bad news."

VOLCANOES -

Next Iceland eruption will likely cause less havoc - A new volcano eruption on Iceland could happen again soon, but will likely wreak less havoc than the one that caused massive airspace shutdowns earlier this year, experts said Thursday. The Eyjafjoell eruption, which began on April 14 and spewed enough ash to cause the biggest European airspace shutdown since World War II, "was VERY UNUSUAL. Most volcano eruptions in Iceland are basaltic," with lava flows and spewing only coarse-grained and heavy particles. "That is what we would expect would happen in Katla," a much larger, neighbouring volcano that historically erupts within a year or so of Eyjafjoell.
The smaller Eyjafjoell volcano, whose ash cloud affected more than 100,000 flights and eight million passengers in April and May, was different. "The particles were so fine that they did not settle. They were absolutely not coming down, determined to go to Europe and bother your airspace. For us in Iceland ... we don't deal with this kind of eruption except maybe once a century." For European airspace to suffer similar dire consequences as last time, the next eruption would need to be as explosive as the Eyjafjoell blast and meteorological conditions would need to be similar. While it is unlikely that so many factors would fall into place, "for the UK, if we had a repeat of this it would be an absolute disaster if it happened in the next two years," as another massive airspace shutdown could seriously disrupt the 2012 Olympics in Britain.

TROPICAL STORMS -
-Typhoon FANAPI was 401 nmi ESE of Taipei, Taiwan.

-Category 3 Hurricane IGOR was 391 nmi NE of Beef Island, British Virgin Islands. [ THE EYE OF IGOR IS PASSING VERY NEAR A NOAA BUOY - DUE TO THE LARGE SIZE AND RELATIVELY SLOW MOTION OF THE HURRICANE, THE BUOY HAS NOW REPORTED TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS FOR 21 CONSECUTIVE HOURS.]
-Category 1 Hurricane JULIA was 1136 nmi NE of Bridgetown, Barbados.
-Category 2 Hurricane KARL was 93 nmi N of Coatzacoalcos, Mexico. [ THE FORECAST NOW CALLS FOR KARL TO BE A CATEGORY THREE HURRICANE AT LANDFALL. WEAKENING IS EXPECTED AFTER LANDFALL OVER THE VERY HIGH TERRAIN OF MEXICO, BUT KARL WILL LIKELY PRODUCE
TORRENTIAL RAINS.]

In the Atlantic are hurricanes Karl, Igor and Julia, together with a new tropical wave. HAVING THREE SIMULTANEOUS HURRICANES IN THE ATLANTIC BASIN IS not A COMMON OCCURRENCE EVEN FOR THE PEAK OF THE HURRICANE SEASON which we are in.

HEAVY RAINS, SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -

A storm that meteorologists described as being THE SIZE OF AUSTRALIA buffeted New Zealand today, prompting severe weather warnings. Gale-force winds of up to 130km per hour were lashing some areas, including the capital Wellington, accompanied by heavy rain, lightning and plunging temperatures. "Winds of this strength have the potential to lift roofs, topple trees and powerlines and make driving conditions hazardous." The storm in the Southern Ocean was one of the largest currently on the planet, with a size roughly equivalent to Australia. While the storm's centre was likely to remain about 1000km west of New Zealand, the country will experience extreme weather for three or four days. The winds were likely to come in unpredictable squalls: "These Southern Ocean storms tend to fire up a number of aggressive but fairly short-lived fronts."
Christchurch, which was hit by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake two weeks ago, could expect high winds but the city should escape the worst of the weather.

Storm rattles even jaded New Yorkers - A surprise tempest downs trees, strands commuters and leaves at least one person dead. A storm that thundered through New York City on Thursday turned the afternoon sky black, unleashed tornado-like squalls and stunned even jaded city dwellers with its ferocity, killing at least one person and stranding tens of thousands of evening commuters. Officials suspended access to overcrowded Pennsylvania Station in midtown Manhattan, where people were locked shoulder to shoulder after fallen trees forced a halt to commuter rail traffic. In Staten Island, Brooklyn and Queens, the boroughs hit hardest by the storm, locals used axes to hack at trees that in some cases had crashed across stairways and front porches, trapping people inside homes.
New York has had more than its share of BIZARRE WEATHER this year — its biggest snowfall in February, its hottest summer. But the 5:30 p.m. onslaught appeared to beat them all with its sudden arrival on what had been a relatively cool, calm day. Shortly after the National Weather Service issued tornado warnings, the skies turned dark and the wind picked up. Within minutes, blinding lightning followed by deafening thunder swept through the city. Hail and rain fell in horizontal sheets, pelting people as they left their offices for the day. "It felt like the Wizard of Oz." People described whooshing noises, train-like rumblings and the sounds of loud cracks as lightning struck and trees snapped. "It came so quickly. The sky got so dark. The rain was sideways — the water was coming in through the windows."
On the Grand Central Parkway in Queens, a motorist died when a tree fell across the road. Winds reached 80 mph. The storm evaporated as suddenly as it arrived. Within half an hour, tornado warnings were lifted, the skies lightened and people went outside to survey the damage, which weather officials had not yet confirmed was caused by tornadoes. "Whether it was or not is not really the issue. It was a very severe storm."

Thursday, September 16, 2010

The US is set to require oil companies to plug 3,500 non-producing Gulf of Mexico oil wells in an effort to prevent future leaks. The interior department will also require companies to dismantle 650 unused oil and gas platforms. Some installations have sat idle for decades without inspection for leaks. The order comes five months after the explosion at a BP oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico caused one of the worst environmental disasters in US history.

**The vow that binds too strictly snaps itself.**
Alfred Lord Tennyson

LARGEST QUAKES -
This morning -
5.5 TONGA

Yesterday -
9/15/190 -
5.2 MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES
5.1 SOUTHERN ALASKA
5.0 FIJI REGION
5.1 GULF OF CALIFORNIA
5.0 CHIAPAS, MEXICO

CALIFORNIA - The explosion outside San Francisco prompts fears that seismically active areas and natural gas pipelines are a deadly combination. The massive fire roared through a mostly residential neighborhood in San Bruno on Sept. 9. The fire apparently resulted from a GAS LEAK CAUSED BY MINI-EARTHQUAKES common in Northern California. Is it wise to depend on natural gas near the San Andreas Fault, or in other earthquake zones?

VOLCANOES -

COSTA RICA - The Turrialba and Poás volcanoes put on a simultaneous show early Tuesday morning when, in almost concerted action, both spewed out smoke during an eruption. According to experts, the eruptions are no cause for alarm, as they are normal for an active volcano. The presence of smoke from the cone of the volcanoes is mainly due to clear morning skies and no wind, making the normal emanation from the volcanoes unusual. The Observatorio Vulcanológico y Sismológico de Costa Rica sent a team of experts to evaluate the condition, ruling out any presence of ash or lava in the eruption.
(photo & webacam link)

TROPICAL STORMS -
-Tropical storm FANAPI was 415 nmi ESE of Taipei, Taiwan.

-Category 4 Hurricane IGOR was 462 nmi NNE of Bridgetown, Barbados.
-Category 3 Hurricane JULIA was 1654 nmi ENE of Bridgetown, Barbados.
-Tropical storm KARL was 28 nmi SSW of Campeche, Mexico.

Tropical Storm Karl is forecast for strengthen to a hurricane after crossing the Yucatan peninsula and entering the Gulf of Mexico. Karl came ashore yesterday near Chetumal on Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula and will soon move back over water, allowing it to regain strength. Karl was 60 kilometers (35 miles) south-southwest of Campeche, Mexico, and moving west-northwest at 24 kilometers per hour. The storm’s maximum sustained winds were blowing at 65 kph.
Karl went ashore south of the peninsula’s most popular resorts. The state of Quintana Roo, which includes the beach resort of Cancun, declared a red alert for the four municipalities of Tulum, Jose M. Morelos, Felipe Carrillo and Othon. Guatemala’s national disaster agency issued an alert to warn residents to prepare for possible heavy rains from Karl. Tropical Storm Agatha killed 165 people in Guatemala in May and heavy rains earlier this month left 45 dead.

On Bermuda, the island’s Emergency Measures Organization urged residents to begin hurricane preparations by securing their properties and stocking up on supplies as Hurricane Igor approached. “Residents are advised to take the warnings seriously as the Island has not experienced such an intense storm since Hurricane Fabian hit Bermuda in 2003." Hurricane Fabian caused about $300 million of damage when it came ashore in Sept. 2003 with winds of 120 mph. Igor, with maximum winds of 135 mph, was 980 miles southeast of Bermuda and may pass near the island on Sept. 19. Swells from the storm “are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions” in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Bahamas and U.S. East Coast."

East of Igor, Hurricane Julia remained a Category 3 storm with sustained winds of 115 mph, down from a Category 4 storm with winds of 135 mph earlier. It was THE FIRST TIME TWO CATEGORY 4 STORMS HAD BEEN IN THE ATLANTIC AT THE SAME TIME SINCE SEPTEMBER 16, 1926. Julia also became THE FOURTH STORM OF THAT STRENGTH IN 20 DAYS, SETTING A RECORD. Julia isn’t expected to strike land.
There have been 11 named storms this season, two more than all of last year and the average for a typical season, which runs from June to November. The hurricane center, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, earlier predicted that 14 to 20 named storms with winds of at least 39 miles per hour will form this year. It also predicted between four and six major hurricanes would form and the low end of that forecast has been reached.

FANAPI - Meteorologists said Thursday the new tropical storm off the coast of Taiwan might develop into a typhoon, but that it would not become clear until two days later if it will hit Taiwan. Tropical Storm Fanapi, the 11th to form in the Pacific this year, was centered 700 km east of Eluanbi on the southernmost tip of Taiwan at 8 a.m., moving north-northeast at 6 kph and packing maximum sustained winds of 90 kph. The storm was not affecting Taiwan, but CWB forecasters said that if a high pressure system over the Pacific gains strength in the coming days, it could push Fanapi toward the northwest, in which case it could affect Taiwan. They added that a sea warning could be announced on Friday or Saturday.

Dozens of people died in North Korea in floods and landslides caused by the typhoon which hit the country earlier this month. It is the first casualty toll from Typhoon Kompasu given by the Korean Central News Agency. Nearly 9,000 buildings were destroyed and roads, railways and power lines were badly damaged. Typhoon Kompasu hit the Korean peninsula on 2 September. "Several dozen people have died throughout the country due to torrential rain, strong winds and landslide." More than 30,000 hectares of farmland were ruined. Some 65km (40 miles) of railway tracks were also washed away.

HEAVY RAINS, SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -

Since September 4, continuous heavy rains have fallen in Guatemala, exacerbating heavy damage caused by Tropical Storm Agatha which hit the region on May 29, causing 174 deaths and an estimated US $975 million of damage.
The rains have been reported as HIGHER THAN THE LAST 40 YEARS' AVERAGE and are expected to continue into October. They have caused rivers to overflow, resulting in floods and landslides. Roads and bridges have been buried or collapsed and communications with some communities have been lost.
On 6 September, National Coordination for the Reduction of Disaster estimated 43,043 people were at risk from the rains, of which 11,495 have been evacuated. So far, 48 people have lost their lives, 16 have disappeared, and 14,291 have moved to shelters.

EXTREME HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE -

Hundreds evacuated near California fire - a state of emergency has been delcared as hundreds of residents in small mountain communities are under evacuation orders because of a forest fire in the southern Sierra Nevada. The fire has grown to more than 2500 hectares. The fire erupted on Sunday in the Lower Kern River Canyon and burned up and out of the canyon in a portion of Sequoia National Forest southwest of Lake Isabella about 175 kilometres north of downtown LA. Recreational sites and river outfitter camps were evacuated at the outset but calls for residential evacuations didn't begin until late on Tuesday as part of the fire became more active. Driven by wind and topography, the fire was burning in grass, brush and trees. Fire officials said areas of timber were torching in groups and there was a high rate of spread and spotting. Authorities have said the fire was human-caused but have not determined whether it was an accident or intentional.

Ice floating on the Arctic Ocean melted UNUSUALLY quickly this year, but did not shrink down to the record minimum area seen in 2007. That is the preliminary finding of US scientists who say the summer minimum seems to have passed and the ice has entered its winter growth phase. 2010's summer Arctic ice minimum is the third smallest in the satellite era. Researchers say projections of summer ice disappearing entirely within the next few years increasingly look wrong.
At its smallest extent, on 10 September, 4.76 million sq km (1.84 million sq miles) of Arctic Ocean was covered with ice - more than in 2007 and 2008, but less than in every other year since 1979. "It was a short melt season - the period from the maximum to the minimum was shorter than we've had - but the ice was so thin that even so it melted away quickly." The last 12 months have been unusually warm globally - according to Nasa, the WARMEST IN THE 130-YEAR RECORD This is partly down to El Nino conditions in the Pacific Ocean, which have the effect of raising temperatures globally. With those conditions changing into a cooler La Nina phase, Nasa says 2010 is "likely, but not certain" to be the warmest calendar year in its record.
This year, the relative absence of ice around Alaska has brought tens of thousands of Pacific walruses up onto land recently. The 2010 NSIDC figures tally with the idea of a gradual decline in summer Arctic ice cover. But computer models projecting a disappearance very soon - 2013 was a date cited by one research group just a few years ago - seem to have been too extreme. "The chances of a really early melt are increasingly unlikely as the years go by, and you'd need a couple of extreme years like 2007 in a row to reach that now. But the 2040/2050 figure that's been quoted a lot - that's still on track. It could end up being wrong, of course, but the data we have don't disprove it." NSIDC will release a full analysis of the 2010 data next month.

HEALTH THREATS -

Injury claims over 2009 H1N1 vaccine increase - The number of people who intend to submit claims that they were harmed by the 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine has grown to 275 in recent months, up from 106 in mid-March, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services. Reports have generally indicated that the monovalent 2009 H1N1 vaccine is just as safe as seasonal flu vaccines. But people who believe they were harmed by the vaccine can file claims. The 275 letters regarding H1N1 vaccine-related injuries so far are roughly comparable with the numbers of claims filed in the VICP in recent years for problems related to all vaccines, excluding autism claims. For example, in fiscal year 2010 there have been 387 non-autism injury claimst. The numbers for the past few fiscal years included: 288 claims in 2009, 163 in 2008, 238 in 2007, and 155 in 2006. 505 VICP injury claims have been filed over seasonal flu vaccine since the program began in 1989, including 29 involving deaths. So far, 170 of those have resulted in compensation and 45 have been dismissed.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

**If you want to run out in front, prepare to be tripped from behind.**
S.A. Sachs

LARGEST QUAKES -
This morning -
None 5.0 or higher.

Yesterday -
9/14/10 -
5.5 ISLAS MARIAS REGION, NAYARIT, MEXICO
5.0 SONORA, MEXICO
5.1 MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES
5.0 MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES
5.0 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE

VOLCANOES -

ICELAND - The Scientists’ Council of the Civil Protection Department is not ready to formally declare the end of the Eyjafjallajökull eruption. Therefore, the alert status in the area has not been lifted. According to the Department Manager of the Civil Protection Department, in light of the volcano’s history, it is impossible to determine the duration of such an event. Declaring a formal end to the eruption, thereby reversing a number of decrees regarding the sealing of areas and other precautions, would be premature. Furthermore, the drifting of ash and the mud floods have had considerable effect on the surrounding area. The council will however reassess the situation later this week.

TROPICAL STORMS -
-Tropical depression 12W was 502 nmi SE of Taipei, Taiwan.

-Category 4 Hurricane IGOR was 483 nmi NE of Bridgetown, Barbados.
-Category 2 Hurricane JULIA was 1677 nmi E of Bridgetown, Barbados.
-Tropical storm KARL was 168 nmi SSE of Cancun, Mexico and 218 nmi NE of Puerto Cortes, Honduras. [KARL EXPECTED TO REACH THE EAST COAST OF THE YUCATAN PENINSULA EARLY THIS MORNING, very possibly at hurricane strength.]

Tropical Storm Karl has formed over the northwestern Caribbean Sea. Karl has maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and is expected to make landfall over the Yucatan Peninsula today. It should move into the southwestern Gulf of Mexico later tonight or on Thursday. Mexico’s government has issued a tropical storm warning for the east coast of the peninsula – from Chetumal at the Mexico/Belize border northward to Cabo Catoche. Belize’s government has issued a tropical storm watch for the coast of northern Belize from Belize City to the Mexico/Belize border. Karl is expected to strengthen before it hits the Yucatan and weaken after landfall. (map)

Igor, the Atlantic season’s most powerful hurricane, and Hurricane Julia won’t threaten the oil-rich U.S. Gulf and may miss the country entirely, forecasters said. Igor, with winds of 150 miles (241 kilometers) per hour, and the weaker Julia behind it are both on tracks that will take them into the northern Atlantic.
“Despite all this activity, the Gulf looks to remain out of harm’s way. Bermuda certainly has to watch out for Igor, they are by no means off the hook.” Igor is a “major” Category 4 storm. The storm’s track is expected to pass just west of Bermuda this weekend, meaning its strongest winds may hit the island. Bermuda has a 10 percent chance of being struck by a hurricane with winds of at least 74 mph in about 5 days, according to Tropical Storm Risk. Igor’s hurricane force winds extend 50 miles from the center and winds of 39 mph to 74 mph reach 195 miles from the eye.
Earlier, forecasters said Igor would probably become the first Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic since 2007. The center’s latest forecast analysis says while there may be some fluctuations in power, “Igor is near peak intensity.” It may still strengthen because it is in an area of warm water and low wind shear. Trailing Igor is Julia. Julia is moving away from the southern Cape Verde islands off west Africa and may dump as much as 4 inches (10 centimeters) of rainfall. “These rains could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides."

A tropical depression has formed over the Pacific Ocean south of Okinawa and is forecast to develop into a tropical storm today. Tropical Depression 12W was 694 kilometers (431 miles) south of Naha on the Japanese island of Okinawa at 9 a.m. Tokyo time. The weather system had maximum sustained winds of 56 kilometers per hour and was moving northwest at 17 kph. Winds may strengthen to 65 kph today, and 12W is forecast to become a typhoon in four days. The center’s forecast shows the storm tracking southwest of Okinawa after it reaches typhoon status.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

A powerful coalition wants to engineer the world's climate - Businessmen, scientists and right-wing thinktanks are joining forces to promote 'geo-engineering' ideas to cool the planet's climate. A powerful coalition of forces is quietly constellating around the idea of transforming the Earth's atmosphere by simulating volcanic eruptions to counter the warming effects of carbon pollution. Despite the enormity of what is being proposed — nothing less than taking control of Earth's climate system — the public has been almost entirely excluded from the planning.
Techniques ranging from the intriguing to the wacky have been proposed to remove carbon from the atmosphere, including fertilising the oceans with iron filings to promote the growth of tiny marine plants that absorb carbon dioxide, installing in the ocean a vast number of floating funnels that draw nutrient-rich cold water from the deep to encourage algal blooms that suck carbon dioxide from the air, and construction of thousands of 'sodium trees' that extract carbon dioxide directly from the air and turn it into sodium bicarbonate.
But the option that is taken most seriously is altogether grander in conception and scale. The scheme proposes nothing less than the transformation of the chemical composition of the Earth's atmosphere so that humans can regulate the temperature of the planet as desired. Like volcanic eruptions, it involves injecting sulphur dioxide gas into the stratosphere to blanket the Earth with tiny particles that reflect solar radiation. If the nations of the world resort to climate engineering, and in doing so relieve pressure to cut carbon emissions, then the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would continue to rise and so would the latent warming that would need suppressing. It would then become impossible to call a halt to sulphur injections into the stratosphere, even for a year or two, without an immediate jump in temperature.
In March this year a private meeting of leading climate engineers, held in California, aimed to develop guidelines to govern research and testing. The invitees wanted a voluntary code of conduct that would forestall regulation by governments and the international community so that the experts could work unhindered at their task of understanding how to control of the Earth's climate system. Indeed, one wealthy individual could transform the atmosphere and, with enough determination, bring on an ice age.
(very long article)

**Tough and funny and a little bit kind:
that is as near to perfection as a human being can be.
Mignon McLaughlin

LARGEST QUAKES -
This morning -
5.0 BIO-BIO CHILE

Yesterday -
9/13/10 -
5.2 IZU ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
5.4 IZU ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
5.8 HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
5.0 BANDA SEA
5.9 SOUTHERN PERU

VOLCANOES -

ALASKA - The Alaska Volcano Observatory twitter account mentioned that a ~7.5 km / 25,000 foot ash plume has been detected from Cleveland volcano in the Aleutian Islands. They have noted potential activity from Cleveland over the last few months, but there is little in the way of instrumentation for the remote volcano. Sadly the Cleveland webcam looks out of commission (not related to any eruption). Cleveland is quite an active volcano, even for the Aleutians high standards, with VEI 2-3 eruptions almost every year for the past decade (and possibly longer).

TROPICAL STORMS -
-Hurricane IGOR was 559 nmi ENE of Bridgetown, Barbados. [LARGE SWELLS FROM IGOR WILL BEGIN AFFECTING THE LEEWARD ISLANDS TODAY AND REACH PUERTO RICO AND THE VIRGIN ISLANDS BY WEDNESDAY.]
-Tropical storm JULIA was1841 nmi E of Bridgetown, Barbados.

HEAVY RAINS, SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -

CHAD - Some 70,000 people have been left homeless by flooding triggered by heavy rains in the central African nation of Chad. wenty-four people have been killed and 29 others injured. Forty-six others have died from cholera that broke out in the wake of the floods. Some 700 people are suffering from cholera. Overall, nearly 145,000 people in Chad have been affected by the flooding, and that number is rising. "Today is the worst, and it's getting more and more out of hand. This is the crisis point, at the moment." Flooding has affected more than half of Chad's regions. The same regions were hit by extreme drought last year. About 31,500 hectares (77,000 acres) of crops have been destroyed. About 6,000 people have been displaced. They have moved in with family or sought shelter in schools and open areas. Most roads are closed in the affected areas, meaning aid has to be airlifted. Chad's rainy season typically stretches from June through the end of September, but it began earlier than usual this year. Rains were very heavy from the beginning.

EXTREME HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE -

Intense Summer Heat Balances Winter's Big Chill - Weather normals are often an average of extreme weather events. Take the past 12 months in the Deep South in the U.S., for example. Although the region endured THE HOTTEST SUMMER ON RECORD, temperatures have been average or below average during the past 12 months. The entire eastern half of the country was much hotter than normal from June through August, with all-time record heat - the hottest summer in the past 116 years - extending from Tennessee and Alabama northeastward to New Jersey. Rhode Island also had its hottest summer on record. In total, 35 of the 48 states in the continental U.S. had one of the top 16 hottest summers on record. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, this has been the fourth warmest summer nationally.
What might be surprising, given the intensity of the summer heat, is that temperatures during the past 12 months (September 2009 through August 2010) were close to average or even below average in the Southern states that had all-time record heat this summer. The yearly rankings in Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia are all below normal, having the 31st, 35th and 33rd warmest years on record, respectively. The reason for the low 12-month rankings in the South is the intensity of the cold last winter, which was ONE OF THE TOP 10 COLDEST ON RECORD in many Southern states. Nationally, it was also much colder than average, being the 18th coldest winter on record.
In the Northeast and the upper Midwest, the summer has been much warmer than average following a winter that was not as cold (relative to average) as areas farther to the south. September 2009 through August 2010 was the second hottest on record in Maine, for instance. While the winter and summer extremes of the past 12 months have largely balanced each other across the United States, the global trend of warm weather continues. During the first seven months of 2010, JANUARY THROUGH JULY HAS BEEN THE HOTTEST ON RECORD GLOBALLY, according to the NOAA. (maps)

HEALTH THREATS -

Bird Flu - Reversing a trend that began in 2007, the number of countries affected by H5N1 avian influenza and the number of reported H5N1 outbreaks in birds have increased this year. Sixteen countries (plus Hong Kong) had H5N1 outbreaks this year through August, compared with about 11 in all of 2009. In the first 6 months of this year, 390 H5N1 outbreaks were reported, versus 297 for all of 2009. However, those numbers do not include Indonesia, which reports the majority of H5N1 poultry outbreaks worldwide, because Indonesia, unlike other countries, counts outbreaks at the village level rather than the household level.
The report says a big increase in reported H5N1 outbreaks in Egypt this year "is most likely the result of improved surveillance through the effectiveness of the CAHO [Community Animal Health Outreach] programme." (Egypt has had 264 poultry outbreaks this year, compared with 71 for the same period last year.) The peak month for outbreaks this year was February, with close to 150, which was well above last year's 1-month peak of about 70 outbreaks, also in February.
H5N1 outbreaks have occurred this year in several countries where the disease was thought to have been eliminated: Cambodia, Israel, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, and Romania. The only country newly affected by the virus so far this year is Bhutan. As for H5N1 outbreaks in Indonesia, the FAO does not list specific numbers of outbreaks reported, but a chart shows that Indonesia has had the majority of reported outbreaks every month since April 2009. Sixty-three countries and territories have had outbreaks since 2003.

RECALLS & ALERTS:
-Midland Farms, located in Menands, New York, is voluntarily recalling certain milk products due to the potential of improper pasteurization.
-Whole Foods Market's North Atlantic Region regarding the voluntary recall of Morningland Dairy of Mountain View, Missouri, Raw Goat Milk Mild Cheddar Cheese. Whole Foods Market's North Atlantic region is announcing a voluntary recall Morningland Dairy and Ozark Hills Farm Raw Goat Milk Mild Cheddar Cheese due to possible contamination by Listeria and Staphylococcus aureus.

-Morningland Dairy of Mountain View, Missouri, is recalling 68,957 pounds of cheese because it may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogene and also has the potential to be contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus.
-QUESERIA CHIPILO INC. is announcing a recall of cheese products - Fresco and Oaxaca, Oaxaca String Cheese Queso Fresco, Queso Fresco, Hoja De Platano.
-Azteca Linda Corp. of Brooklyn, NY, is recalling QUESO FRESCO (FRESH WHITE CHEESE) and QUESO HEBRA (FRESH WHITE STRING CHEESE) and Queso El Azteca brand REQUESON (RICOTTA CHEESE) because they have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

-GloryBee Foods, Inc., of Eugene, Oregon recalled Aunt Patty's brand 5 pound bags of Whole Raw Pistachios and 25 lb. boxes of Specialty Commodities brand Whole Raw Pistachios Kernels, because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.
-Real Taste Noodle Manufacture of Chicago, IL is recalling bags of Egg Noodle (5lbs per bag), because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.
-Good Taste Noodle MFG. of Chicago, IL, is recalling its "EGG NOODLES and WONTON SKINS because they have the potential to be contaminated with salmonella.
-Recall of Goya Foods, Inc. frozen mamey pulp; therefore Fruiti Pops, Inc. of Santa Fe Springs, CA is recalling its Fruiti Pops 4 oz. Mamey frozen fruit bars due to a potential health risk from Salmonella typhi.

- The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is voluntarily recalling a small number of bags from a specific lot of one of its dry cat food products due to potential salmonella exposure.
-Hartz Mountain Corporation is recalling one specific lot of Hartz Naturals Real Beef Treats for Dogs due to concerns that one or more bags within the lot may have been potentially contaminated with Salmonella.
-Merrick Pet Care, Inc. of Amarillo, Texas recalled all lots of its 10 oz "Beef Filet Squares" for Dogs and "Texas Hold'ems" pet treats because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.