Prophecy, Drought, Earthquakes, Famine, Pestilence, War, and Strange Weather.

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Winter storm watch starts at noon today; 4 to 8 inches of snow predicted

By Susanne Nadeau

Herald Staff Writer

Snow predicted for Sunday in Grand Forks fizzled out, but forecasters said it's a sure thing today.

Saturday night, snow did fall, but it fell more heavily west of Grand Forks, with anywhere from 1 to 5 inches accumulating in places.

In Leeds, N.D., 5 inches of the fluffy white stuff fell, but it didn't stay long.

According to a dispatcher at the Lake Region Law Enforcement Center, the small amount of snow that fell overnight in Ramsey County and Benson County "burned off during the day" Sunday.

In Pierce County, a dispatcher said a slight "dusting" of snow hit the area, but roads were clear Sunday night.

In Grand Forks, a little less than half an inch of moisture fell, but it just didn't stick, according to meteorologist Vince Godon of the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Grand Forks.

"Anything that hit the ground pretty much melted," he said. Godon said a combination of warmer-than-average ground and not enough moisture kept the area devoid of snow.

"When it snows hard enough, it can overcome those warm ground temperatures," he said.

Winter storm watch

There's an 80 percent chance of snow today, with a winter storm watch going into effect about noon. The watch will continue through Tuesday afternoon, Godon said.

"It covers most of eastern North Dakota and a lot of Minnesota," he added.

Godon said the expected snow is part of a system moving from Montana.

"Northeast Montana already has a blizzard warning," he said Sunday night.

Temperatures are predicted to be cooler all week, matching normal November readings, according to Godon.

Four to 8 inches

It is likely snow will accumulate today, provided the storm system moves through as predicted. Anywhere from 4 to 8 inches are predicted to fall by Tuesday afternoon.

"Really, the big change comes when you can keep some (snow) on the ground," Godon said. "Temps will change - the highs and lows - when there is snow on the ground. Once that happens, you are never going to get those record highs anymore."

So, the snow might just be here to stay, after today's storm.

"It's looking pretty good because we're already cooler," Godon said.

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Powerful earthquake hits northern Japan
Tokyo, Japan   
15 November 2005 07:30
A powerful earthquake shook northern Japan early on Tuesday, triggering small tsunami waves that struck towns along the north-eastern coast about 350km away. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

Japan's Meteorological Agency said the magnitude-7,1 quake hit at 6.39am local time off the east coast of Japan's main island of Honshu, and issued a tsunami warning.

About 400 households along the coast were temporarily ordered to evacuate, public broadcaster NHK reported. Local authorities also ordered fishing boats to move to open water to avoid being washed up on the shore.

Small tsunami waves measuring up to 50cm hit Ofunato city on the coast of Iwate prefecture nearly an hour after the quake, the agency said.

Smaller tsunami waves hit at least four other coastal towns in Iwate, Aomori and Miyagi provinces, but there were no immediate reports of damage.

The agency called off the tsunami warning about two hours after the quake.

Tsunami waves -- generated by earthquakes -- are often barely noticeable in the ocean, but can rise to great heights once they arrive at shore.

Tuesday's quake shook buildings across a wide area of northern and eastern Honshu, including Tokyo, and Hokkaido.

Express train services between Tokyo and north-eastern Japan were temporarily suspended for safety checks, but resumed later, NHK said.

Tokyo's metropolitan area is home to about 35-million residents, or a quarter of Japan's population.

Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries because it sits atop four tectonic plates. A 7,2-magnitude earthquake shook north-eastern Japan in August, injuring at least 59 people, triggering landslides, damaging buildings and causing widespread power outages.

There was no destructive Pacific Ocean-wide tsunami threat following Tuesday's earthquake, based on historical quake and tsunami data, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Ewa Beach, Hawaii.

However, earthquakes as large as Tuesday's can generate a local tsunami capable of causing destruction along coastlines within 100km of the epicentre, according to the centre.

In 1993, a quake off Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido triggered a tsunami measuring 30m tall on Okushiri Island, flattening homes there within minutes. More than 200 people died in the waves, and in fires caused by the quake.

A quake with an estimated magnitude of 8,3 hit Tokyo in 1923, killing 142 000 people. Tsunami waves followed that quake, but caused relatively little damage. -- Sapa-AP

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Colombian volcano threatens eruption
15/11/2005 - 14:11:43

Authorities today began evacuating 1,500 residents living on the slopes of a volcano in south-west Colombia over concerns it is about to erupt.

The evacuation order was given last night and emergency officials early today began knocking on the doors of the poor subsistence farmers who live on the Galeras volcano, located near the Ecuador border 340 miles south-west of Bogotá, said Roberto Torres, a geologist at Colombia’s Geology and Mines Institute.

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Tropical Depression 27 forms over the eastern Caribbean

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

MIAMI, USA: The twenty-seventh tropical depression of the 2005 hurricane season has formed over the eastern Caribbean Sea, bringing heavy rains to portions of the Lesser Antilles.

According to the 11pm EST advisory from the National Hurricane Center in Miami, the depression could become Tropical Storm Gamma on Tuesday.

Interests throughout the Caribbean should monitor the progress of this system.

At 11 am EST Monday, the centre of tropical depression twenty-seven was located near latitude 14.5 north, longitude 65.3 west, or about 275 miles south of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The depression is moving toward the west-northwest near 9 mph and a turn to the west is expected during the next 24 hours.

Maximum sustained winds are near 35 mph, with higher gusts.

The depression is expected to produce total rain accumulations of 5 to 8 inches over the Windward Islands and 1 to 3 inches over the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Isolated maximum amounts of 10 to 12 inches will be possible over the higher terrain areas of the Windward Islands, the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

For storm information specific to your area, including possible inland watches and warnings, please monitor products issued by your local weather office.

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Central U.S. cleans up after tornadoes

NASHVILLE, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- Clean-up and damage assessment began in five central U.S. states Wednesday after at least 32 tornadoes swept through the region, killing one person.

Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana were all struck Tuesday afternoon. The only known fatality was in Marshall County in western Kentucky when a mobile home overturned and caught fire after a tornado strike, CNN reported.

The most extensive damage was reported around Madisonville, Ky, where Mayor Karen Cunningham said a tornado touched down around 4 p.m., leaving 20 or 30 homes "severely damaged." Dozens of other homes and buildings sustained moderate damage.

At least 22 people were injured, three critically, Cunningham said.

National Guard troops were deployed to assist police as various communities imposed nighttime curfews.

CNN said as of 8 p.m. there had been 32 confirmed reports of tornadoes connected with the storm system, stretching from Kentucky and Tennessee as far south as the Gulf Coast.

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Tropical depression claims first victims in Caribbean, two fishermen buried in mudslide

By E. Glenford Prescott
ASSOCIATED PRESS

8:02 p.m. November 15, 2005

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent – Mudslides killed two fishermen and destroyed seven homes as heavy rains brought by a tropical depression overflowed river banks and made roads impassable in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, emergency officials said Tuesday.

Torrents of rain also swept away two bridges outside of the Trinidad capital, Port-of-Spain, and flooding has forced 20 schools to close in the country's east.

The poorly organized depression was moving south of the Dominican Republic and was expected to strengthen into Tropical Storm Gamma on Wednesday or Thursday, said Richard Knabb, a meteorologist with the U.S. Hurricane Center in Miami. It is not expected to threaten the United States.

It would be the 24th named storm of an already record-breaking Atlantic hurricane season. The previous record of 21 named storms had stood since 1933.

On the Grenadine island of Bequia on Monday, a mudslide buried two men in a party of 10 camping on a fishing trip near Rocky Bay, emergency management coordinator Howie Prince said.

The victims' friends tried to dig them out but were overtaken by a second landslide and fled. Emergency workers recovered the bodies of Randolph Matthews, 27, and Alwyn Williams, 32, early Tuesday, Prince said. The men were from the fishing village of Questelles, on the main island of St. Vincent.

Near the capital, Kingstown, landslides destroyed three houses and rivers burst their banks, making several roads impassable, Prince said.

One man was hospitalized with a head injury after his house collapsed. Another man lost all of his personal papers and most of his furniture.

The airport in St. Vincent was closed because of heavy rain and flooding in the terminal and debris on the runway. National emergency officials said 18 homes suffered major damage, and there were 33 reported incidents of landslides, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves told NBC Radio St. Vincent.

In Trinidad, a river in the country's east jumped its banks, leaving several homes flooded under 4 feet (1.2 meters) of water. Landslides have also left several roads impassable.

The depression was centered about 265 miles south-southeast of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic Tuesday evening. Maximum sustained winds remained near 35 mph.

The storm has been a poorly organized system due to the unchanged wind speed, said Richard Pasch, a U.S. hurricane specialist in Miami.

It was expected to produce 3 to 6 inches of rain over the Windward Islands and northern Venezuela, possibly over Bonaire and Curacao in the Netherlands Antilles, and Aruba.

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Tropical Depression Weakens in Caribbean


Wednesday November 16, 2005 6:31 PM

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent (AP) - A tropical depression that had threatened to become yet another named storm in an already record-breaking season dissipated Wednesday following its damaging passage over the Windward Islands.

Although the depression was no longer expected to become a tropical storm, its remnants could be absorbed by another system and pose a new threat in one to two days, said Jack Beven, a hurricane specialist with the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

By midday Wednesday, the depression's remnants were centered about 370 miles southwest of the Dominican Republic and about 305 miles southeast of Jamaica.

``It just sort of weakened and fizzled out,'' Beven said of the system, which forecasters had earlier warned could become the 24th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.

In the Windward Island nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, authorities evaluated the damage from a day earlier, when the storm system's heavy rain caused flooding and mudslides that killed two fishermen.

Authorities also evaluated the damage in Trinidad and Tobago, where flooding swept away two bridges outside the capital, Port-of-Spain. Several towns and villages along Trinidad's north coast were cut off because roads had been washed out.

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 Earthquake rocks Taiwan, no reports of damage

 TAIPEI: An earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale rocked eastern Taiwan today, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, officials said.

The epicentre of the quake, which struck at 5.14 p.m.

(1444 Hrs IST), was about 26 km east of Taitung county on the eastern coast at a depth of 125 km, the Central Weather Bureau said in a statement.

Earthquakes occur frequently in Taiwan, which lies on a seismically active stretch of the Pacific basin.

One of Taiwan's worst quakes occurred in September 1999. It measured 7.6 on the Richter scale and killed more than 2,400 people.

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Strong earthquake jolts northern Chile, Bolivia

SANTIAGO, Nov. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- A strong earthquake hit northern Chile and southern Bolivia on Thursday, causing panic among local residents and cutting utilities, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, officials in Chile and Bolivia said.

    The quake, measuring 6.9 on the Richter Scale, occurred at 16:29 p.m. (1929 GMT) and triggered panic along the border in the Andes mountains, according to Chile's National Emergency Office (ONE).

    The epicenter of the quake was 40 kilometers southeast of the northern Chile resort town of San Pedro de Atacama, near the Bolivian border, at a depth of 155.4 kilometers, it said.

    In the Pacific coastal city of Antofagasta, 1,100 km north of Chile's capital, hundreds of residents rushed to the streets out of fear of a tsunami.

    Despite the subterranean shaking, there were no reports of casualties yet, according to Chilean officials.

    Officials in Bolivia also said there were no immediate reports of injury or damage there and that the earthquake zone was sparsely populated.

    The University of Chile Seismology Institute put the magnitude at 6.8 on the Richter Scale, still the second most intense quake registered in northern Chile.

    A more powerful quake in June left 11 Chileans dead and destroyed hundreds of houses in the Andes mountains along the border with Bolivia. Enditem

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Section of Plymouth Mass. hit by minor earthquake

PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — A small-scale earthquake shook a section of Plymouth on Thursday.

Officials with the Weston Observatory, which monitors earthquake activity, say the 2.5 registered tremor was centered two miles south of the center of town.

The quake was felt just after 12:30 p.m., according to the observatory's Web site.

A quake of that magnitude is the smallest generally felt by people and not severe enough to cause damage.

"We deal with about half a dozen earthquakes a year felt somewhere in the New England region," said the observatory's director, John Ebel.

In Massachusetts, Ebel said, a majority of the seismic activity happens in the eastern portion of the state, usually concentrated north and northeast of Boston. The third area of activity is from Plymouth to the South Coast.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, according to the Plymouth police and officials at the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

Peter Judge, a spokesman for MEMA, said the quake caused no problems at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in the town.

A local cultural institution, Pilgrim Hall Museum which houses many artifacts from the 17th-century, was also safe.

"Pilgrim Hall has not fallen," said Peggy M. Baker, the museum's director.

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Tropical Storm Gamma Forms Near Honduras

Tropical Storm Gamma Forms Off Central America, May Threaten Florida by Start of Next Week

MIAMI Nov 18, 2005 — Tropical Storm Gamma the 24th storm of the busiest hurricane season on record formed Friday off the coast of Central America, and forecasters said it could threaten Florida by the beginning of next week, perhaps as a hurricane.

Tropical storm warnings were issued for the coast of Belize and the Bay Islands of Honduras. Mexico issued a tropical storm watch for the eastern Yucatan Peninsula, which was hit hard in October by Hurricane Wilma. Six to 15 inches of rain were possible.

The long-term track from the National Hurricane Center indicated that Gamma may take a path similar to Wilma's and head northeast toward the Florida Peninsula. Wilma sliced across the southern portion of the state Oct. 24, causing widespread power outages and more than 20 deaths.

At 10 p.m. EST, Gamma's maximum sustained winds were near 45 mph and it was located about 45 miles north-northwest of Limon, Honduras, and about 175 miles east-southeast of Belize City, Belize, moving northwest at near 5 mph.

The storm causing flooding and landslides in Honduras that killed at least two people and prompted the government to evacuate hundreds from coastal towns. President Ricardo Maduro said soldiers were bringing in food, water, medicine and blankets.

In Belize, a small plane belonging to the exclusive Blancaneaux Lodge resort, owned by filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, disappeared Friday shortly after taking off with two passengers, whose names were not released. A search was also under way for five fisherman whose boat capsized.

Gamma extended the Atlantic's record-breaking storm season. The previous record of 21 named storms had stood since 1933, and for the first time, officials had to turn to the Greek alphabet for names.

National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov

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Florida Fears Tropical Storm
# The south of the state, still recovering from Hurricane Wilma, could be vulnerable to Gamma, forming in the western Caribbean.

By Ken Kaye, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

MIAMI — This can't be happening again. Can it?

Just as South Florida comes up for air, it could be under attack again in a scenario extremely similar to that of Hurricane Wilma.

 Forming in the western Caribbean on Friday, Tropical Storm Gamma was projected to hit southwest Florida by Monday afternoon. It could bring winds as high as 65 mph, heavy rains and a high potential for tornadoes — almost exactly one month after Hurricane Wilma.

The good news, at this point: Gamma was not expected to grow into a hurricane. In addition, a cold front could weaken it or guide it south of the state, said meteorologist Jamie Rhome with the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

The bad news: Even if it arrives as a weak, sloppy system, it could be devastating to the thousands of homes in the region with blue tarps and roof damage after Wilma, said Tony Carper, Broward County's director of emergency management.

"We have a lot of homes that are in a weakened condition," he said. "There's a lot of patchwork roofs all over the place, and it could severely impact those. And that's not to mention mobile homes."

Rhome says residents shouldn't panic.

"While we want people to pay really close attention to this system, we don't want mass hysteria — given South Florida's sensitivity to tropical systems," he said.

South Florida already has been struck twice this year, first by Hurricane Katrina on Aug. 25, then by Wilma on Oct. 24.

Late Friday, Gamma, the 24th named storm of what already was the most active hurricane season on record, was southeast of Belize City, wobbling northwest at 5 mph. It had maximum winds of about 45 mph, barely tropical storm strength.

It was expected to graze Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula by Sunday and get pushed toward Florida by a cold front.

"What you have here is a Midwest cold front versus a tropical system, clashing," Rhome said, adding that the course of the storm would be determined by "whichever one is stronger."

If the forecast track holds, Gamma could dump widespread rains of three to five inches over South Florida, starting as early as Sunday. Some areas could get more than six inches, said meteorologist Dan Gregoria of the National Weather Service in Miami.

Gamma's track had much uncertainty because "the models are all over the place," said Paul Milelli, Palm Beach County director of public safety.

His greatest concern: The storm's rapid forward speed combined with the cold front means that "the potential for tornadoes is very great." Tornadoes can cause severe damage beyond the winds and rain in a tropical system.

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Firefighters Battle 4,000-Acre Calif. Fire

By JEFF WILSON
The Associated Press
Saturday, November 19, 2005; 10:35 AM

VENTURA, Calif. -- Calming winds have helped firefighters battle a 4,000-acre wildfire that prompted a voluntary evacuation of about 200 ridge-top homes.

Fierce Santa Ana winds fanned the late-season blaze that started early Friday in School Canyon _ a hilly, rocky area between Ventura and Ojai, about 60 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

The blaze was 15 percent contained late Friday and officials hoped to make significant progress through the night as crews dug around the fire's borders and the winds died down, said Inspector Ron Haralson of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

"We still have a few hot spots, but the fire is mostly laying down," he said.

The origin point and cause of the fire were under investigation.

At midmorning, a wall of flames as high as 30 feet snaked along hillsides, and by early afternoon a huge plume of whiskey-brown smoke carried ash to the nearby Pacific Ocean.

In just a few hours, the wind-driven fire tripled in size. But the fire calmed down in the early evening as a cooler onshore breeze helped decrease winds and temperatures.

The National Weather Service canceled a wind advisory, but forecasters cautioned winds would continue in the area through early Sunday at 15 to 25 mph with isolated gusts near 35 mph.

The fire roared down School Canyon heading to the northern edge of Ventura. At one point, it burned to the backyards of several large homes.

"We have a lot of crews up there and are making every effort to protect those structures," said Joe Luna, a spokesman with the Ventura County Fire Department. "But we are confident that the winds _ when they calm down _ will allow us to put this out."

Many of the stucco homes in the area have tile roofs, and fire officials said requirements that brush be cleared around houses had helped.

Still, firefighting equipment was headed to Ventura from throughout the state. Bulldozers and hotshot crews worked their way up Highway 101 from Los Angeles. Water-dropping helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft also were called in to assist firefighters on the ground.

Late Friday, FEMA authorized the use of federal funds to help the state battle the fire.

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 Strong quake hits Indonesia
From correspondents in Washington DC
November 20, 2005

A MAGNITUDE 6.5 earthquake has hit Simeulue, Indonesia, the US Geological Survey says.

"A strong earthquake occurred at 1410 GMT (1:10 AEDT) on Saturday, November 19," the USGS said on its website.

"The magnitude 6.5 event has been located in Simeulue, Indonesia," (1440km) north-west of Jakarta.

Simeulue is near the Aceh region devastated by the Indian Ocean tsunami last year.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii said it had no information on the quake because it has no monitors outside the Pacific region.

The centre said, however, that earthquakes of such a size had the potential to create a tsunami.

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 Quake jolts southeastern Iran

A mild earthquake measuring 4 on the Richter scale hit the provincial capital of Yassouj in southeastern Kohgilouyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province in the wee hours of Saturday.

According to the seismological base of the Geophysics Institute of Tehran University, the quake occurred at 01:11 hours local time (21:41 GMT Friday).

The tremor was felt in an area measuring 51.53 degrees in longitude and 30.58 degrees in latitude, the report added.

There are no reports of any casualty or damage to property.

Quakes of varying magnitudes often occur in Iran, which is situated on some of the world's most active seismic faultlines.