Hurricane “Debby” has claimed at least 5 lives since landfall near Steinhatchee in Florida’s Big Bend on August 5, 2024. 4 deaths have been reported in Florida while one has been reported in Levy County.
Hurricane “Debby” made landfall near Steinhatchee in Florida’s Big Bend at 11:00 UTC on Monday, August 5, 2024. Debby had minimum central pressure of 979 hPa and maximum sustained winds of 130 km/h (80 mph) at the time of landfall, making it a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. It was moving NNE at 17 km/h (10 mph).
A highway bridge in Sichuan province, China, collapsed on August 3, 2024, causing three vehicles to plunge into the mountainous terrain below and leaving five people missing.
Strombolian activity at Italy’s Etna volcano increased during the night of August 3 to 4, 2024, evolving into strong lava fountaining by 03:20 UTC on August 4. In response, the Aviation Color Code was raised from Orange to Red at 02:45 UTC, indicating a higher level of volcanic threat to air travel. The last significant eruption at Etna occurred on July 23.
Tropical Depression Four is expected to strengthen into a Tropical Storm as it tracks west of the Florida Peninsula this weekend and impact Florida this weekend by bringing hazardous rainfall and flooding, gusty winds, life-threatening inundation from storm surge along portions of the west coast, and the threat of a few tornadoes.
A series of moderate to very strong earthquakes hit near the coast of Mindanao, Philippines, on August 2 and 3, 2024. The strongest in the series was M6.8 at 22:23 UTC on August 2, at a depth of 25.8 km (16 miles), followed by M6.3 at 04:20 UTC on August 3, at a depth of 15.9 km (10 miles).
On July 30, 2024, NIWA reported that the anomalies from the recent stratospheric warming have started to propagate downward and are affecting tropospheric weather patterns in the southern hemisphere.
A series of large landslides caused by heavy rains struck Wayanad in the Indian state of Kerala at 03:00 local time (LT) on July 30, 2024. Revenue Minister K. Rajan’s office confirmed 54 deaths as of 12:36 LT, with over 100 people remaining missing. Rescue operations are currently underway, and over 250 people have been rescued according to the latest reports.
Millions of Australians are facing record-breaking sub-zero temperatures as an icy blast sweeps across the country from July 28 to August 2, 2024. A strong high-pressure ridge is causing dry conditions and frosty mornings, with temperatures plummeting below seasonal averages in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, and other regions.
Solar activity was at very high levels over the past 24 hours, with a series of moderate to strong solar flares, including an M9.9 flare on July 28 with an Earth-directed component. This, coupled with the cannibal CME expected to arrive late on July 29 into July 30, suggests significant geomagnetic storming is possible, potentially in the range of G3 – Strong or even G4 – Severe on July 30.
