Weather & Earth Science News

Two dead as severe flooding swamps south-central Texas; multiple tornadoes reported   Some good news as rain clears haze over south-east Asia for first time in months Photos show 1,000-year flood striking Death Valley The gigantic 'crack in the earth' in Wyoming: Landslide in the Big Horn Mountains causes canyon-like gash And interestingly, Arctic snow not darkening due to soot, dust, Dartmouth-led study finds - though it doesn't necessarily let such pollution off the hook entirely as this is only across inland elevations.

Cyclone Chapala Rapidly Intensifies to a Category 4 Storm in Arabian Sea; Unprecedented Landfall Threat to Yemen, Oman with eight year's worth of rain being predicted.   A similar storm may well have been the origin of the "Noah's Flood" story ... When rain falls on the world's driest desert this is the jaw-dropping result (and this year's display is the most spectacular in 18 years) South Africa sets Earth's hottest October temperature on record: 119f Meanwhile, in Australia, October to be the hottest on record - and global warming is likely to blame Severe storms trigger floods across Middle East   Antarctic ozone hole expands due to cold UN: Climate plans must go further to prevent global warming Has Cassini discovered life on Saturn's moon?   No ... not yet. And it's not just the elderly who get concerned by nonsense stories in the Express.  The poor souls in Holyrood have been panicing as well with th...

Several homes left uninhabitable after wild storm hits Fernvale in Brisbane's west whilst large hail hits Chinchilla as severe storm moves across state Bikini islanders seek US refuge as sea levels threaten homes   The fiery world before dinosaurs: New research reveals fires were more common 300 million years ago than today Scientists find traces of enormous solar storms in the ice of Greenland and Antarctica And weather on demand: making it rain is now a global business

Afghanistan earthquake:  Pakistan army leads rescue   as the death toll reaches 311 in quake-hit Pakistani, Afghan areas And more info on the cause of the Afghan quake: The corner of a continental collision  Elsewhere in Pakistan, thousands of tourists trapped in Kaghan Valley by heavy snowfall whilst unseasonal snowfall brings winter in October to parts of Kashmir, India .   And heavy snow hits large swathe of north China too. Rainfall records, tornado surveys, high water follow storms in Louisiana But how did Mexico escape the strongest hurricane in recorded history with no deaths? The USA's 10-year major hurricane landfall drought may be 'arbitary' but it's far from meaningless Glacier melt in B.C. mountains reaches 'shocking' level  And NZ's glaciers have shrunk by a third in the past 30 years  Scientists confirm that East Antarctica's biggest glacier is melting from below Whilst Antarctic sea ice maxi...

Remnants of Hurricane Patricia head east after soaking Texas - with no reports of major damage or casualties in Mexico In the eastern Mediterranean, storm kills man, leaves hundreds of thousands of Israelis in the dark Arrival of snow in Scottish mountains creates buzz on the slopes , but it won't last and  Glen Coe Munro's 'longest-lasting' snow patch melts Cryosat tracks Arctic sea ice freeze-up EU aid 'ineffective' against illegal logging And today, powerful earthquake strikes northern Afghanistan

Afte rmaking landfall in Mexico as the strongest hurricane ever recorded, Hurricane Patricia weakens but still 'extremely dangerous' - the full scale of the devastation - and any casualties - will not be known until daylight so a lot more on this on Monday.  The latest on Hurricane Patricia includes the fact that 5,000mm of rain have fallen in 24 hours.   That's over sixteen feet!   Although it could be a misprint .... ? And how and why Patricia stands above the four other most severe hurricanes in history Meanwhile, rain lashes Texas as Hurricane Patricia raises flood fears there too A party in space?  Scientists find sugar and alcohol molecules on Comet Lovejoy And is there a 99.99% chance of 'big' L.A. earthquake soon?  Why NASA and USGS can't shake on it ...

Hurricane Patricia becomes strongest Pacific hurricane in history; Catastrophic Mexico landfall expected Friday - no doubt a lot more on this tomorrow With record-breaking September, 2015 continues pace as warmest year on record .  Despite the imminient catastrophic ice age .... Severe storms batter Italy and the Balkans again Too much even for Siberia: Worst blizzard in 10 years turns Omsk into huge snowball Permafrost warming in parts of Alaska is accelerating And is snow to fall over half-term holidays?    Er, no.   Unless you live at 3,000ft in Scotland this weekend.   And even then it will be only very brief before milder air moves in later on Sunday ....   Looking a bit wet and windy at times next week, but if anything, mild for the time of year.