Science Daily News | 17 Jun 2023
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Perryton tornado: Three killed and dozens injured in Texas
The small town of Perryton is at the centre of an intense storm system carving its way through the South.
A deadly tornado has swept through a northern Texas town, killing three people and injuring dozens more.
Perryton, which is near the Oklahoma border, appears to be at the centre of an intense storm system that has carved its way through the South.
Surrounding areas are sending emergency crews to assist the town, home to about 8,000 people.
At least 30 mobile homes took a "direct hit" from the tornado and were damaged or destroyed, said a local fire chief.
Perryton Fire Chief Paul Dutcher told CNN one person died in a mobile home park and two others died in the devastated downtown area.
At least two people are missing and up to 100 people are in hospital, local officials added.
A spokesperson for Ochiltree General Hospital said they are operating on generators amid widespread power outages.
Patients, including 10 people in critical condition who were transferred to larger hospitals, have wounds ranging from "head injuries to collapsed lungs, lacerations, broken bones", the hospital's CEO said.
The city's power facilities were shut off for safety purposes, the Xcel Energy company said.
The local school district has cancelled summer programming for Friday and opened its gymnasiums as shelters for the displaced.
"If you are in the area, I ask that you do whatever you can to help your neighbors," Ronny Jackson, the congressman who represents the town said. "Food, fuel, water, generators - anything you can."
The National Weather Service (NWS) reported the tornado touched down around 17:00 local time (23:00 BST) on Thursday.
It reported a total of seven tornado reports but said the risk of further severe storms over the next few days will diminish.
On Friday, storms across parts of Oklahoma and Kansas, as well as in parts of Arkansas, Mississippi and west Florida could bring large hail, damaging winds gusts and a few tornadoes.
By Saturday, that risk will be mainly centred over the Southern Plains, before lessening further into Sunday.
Roughly 245,000 customers were without electricity in Texas and Oklahoma as of Friday morning, according to the Poweroutage.us website.
Some 187,000 more were in the dark in Louisiana and 15,000 in Florida.
The mayor of Eufaula, Alabama, told local media on Thursday that a tornado carved a nearly four-mile path through town, tearing down at least one building and toppling 40 trees.
This was the fourth time a twister hit the small town in as many years, the mayor said.
In neighbouring Georgia, two people narrowly escaped a house that collapsed during storms in the south-west of the state, the town's sheriff was quoted as saying by local media.
Trees and downed power lines were also reported in other parts of the state.
More than 50 million people in the US south and southeast regions are under severe weather warnings, some of which will remain in effect through Saturday, according to the NWS.
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How to watch a rare 5-planet alignment this weekend
The planetary alignment will include Saturn, Neptune, Jupiter, Uranus and Mercury.
Five planets will align on June 17 in a rare astronomical event. The planetary alignment will include Saturn, Neptune, Jupiter, Uranus and Mercury.
Here's how to see the planets.
What is a planetary alignment?
A planetary alignment actually has two definitions, according to Star Walk. When planets gather on one side of the sun at the same time, that's a planetary alignment. The term can also apply when planets appear close together, as seen from Earth, in a small section of the sky.
The planets will form a line, but not necessarily a straight one, because planets operate on different elliptical orbits. From some angles, they may appear to be in a straight line.
When is the June 2023 planetary alignment?
The alignment will be best visible on the night of June 16 until the morning of June 17. The best time to see all five planets in the sky will be an hour before sunrise, Star Walk said.
The alignment may be visible for a few days before and after the 16th, depending on where you are in the world.
The alignment will start with Saturn, which will rise in the middle of the night near the constellation Aquarius. Neptune will be next, followed by Jupiter appearing in the Aries constellation. Uranus will appear after that, near Jupiter but a few degrees lower. The final planet to rise will be Mercury, which will be low on the horizon and visible an hour before sunrise.
What's the best way to watch the five planets align?
Three of the planets — Jupiter, Mercury and Saturn — will be bright and visible with the naked eye. However, the remaining two planets, Neptune and Uranus, will require at least a pair of binoculars, according to Star Walk.
It can also help to download an app that explores the night sky and can provide direction about where to look for the alignment.
When you're watching the skies, make sure you know what to look at: According to Star Walk, stars will twinkle, but planets won't. Jupiter will be the brightest object in the sky until the sun rises, but the other planets will be fainter, so it will be harder to tell them apart from stars.
Will there be more planetary alignments in 2023?
There will be another alignment later in the summer, according to Star Walk. That alignment will take place in July and be best visible on July 22. It will feature just three planets, with Mars, Venus and Mercury appearing in the evening sky.
The next planetary alignment with five or more planets won't be until April 2024, according to Star Walk.
Cyclone Biparjoy: At least two people dead as storm hits India
Dozens more have been injured after the large storm made landfall along the India-Pakistan coastline.
At least two people have been killed and 22 injured after Cyclone Biparjoy made landfall in western India near the Pakistan border.
The storm weakened after hitting the Gujarat state coast on Thursday night, but is still moving across the state bringing strong winds and rains.
It has uprooted trees, ripped out electricity poles, and damaged roads in some districts.
The full extent of the damage is still yet known, say authorities.
Pakistan's Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman said the country was largely spared the full force of the cyclone.
Coastal areas of the Sindh province were inundated because of high sea levels "but most people had been evacuated to safe ground," she said.
Makeshift shelters were also set up in school auditoriums and other government buildings in both countries.
Cyclone Biparjoy, which means "disaster" in Bengali, first hit India's port city of Jakhau in Gujarat on Thursday packing winds up to 125 km/h (78mph).
The India Meteorological Department has since reduced the classification of the storm from "very severe" to "severe".
Authorities had, however, been unable to start rescue operations due to heavy rains and strong winds in Gujarat's Mandvi district, the district chief told the BBC.
India's weather office said heavy rainfall is expected to continue in the neighbouring Rajasthan state till Saturday as the cyclone moves northwest.
Gujarat officials said around 99 train services would remain cancelled as the storm barrels across the state.
Cyclone Biparjoy was classified as a category one storm, the least severe on a scale of one to five, but forecasters had said it could be the area's worst storm in 25 years.
Cyclones, also known as hurricanes in the North Atlantic and typhoons in the north-west Pacific, are a regular and deadly phenomenon in the Indian Ocean. Rising surface temperatures across the Arabian Sea in recent years due to climate change have made the surrounding regions even more vulnerable to devastating storms.
At least 33 deaths were reported in Pakistan last week due to heavy rains, while seven deaths were reported in India this week amid downpours.
With additional reporting by Sahar Baloch in Karachi and Roxy Gadgekar in Mandvi.
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Thunder weather warning issued for weekend - Met Office
The forecaster has warned people there may be floods and businesses and homes could be damaged.
Heavy rain and thunderstorms could cause sudden flooding and power cuts on Sunday, the Met Office has said.
The forecaster has issued a yellow weather warning covering all of Wales and most of England.
There is a small chance homes and businesses could be flooded quickly and buildings could be damaged from floodwater, lightning strikes, hail or strong winds, the Met Office warned.
There could also be delays or cancellations to trains and buses where flooding or lightning strikes happen and there is a slight chance some communities may be cut off by flooded roads.
Fresh warning of storms and flooding
The region may see heavy rain, lightning and hail along with travel disruption, the Met Office says.
Heavy rain could bring more flooding and disruption across the West Midlands at the weekend, the Met Office has warned.
A yellow weather alert for thunderstorms has been issued for the whole of the region on Sunday.
Some areas would see little rain, forecasters said, but some places could see 30mm in an hour and 60mm in six hours, with the potential for frequent lightning, strong winds and hail.
Where flooding or lightning strikes occur, there is a chance of delays and some cancellations to train and bus services, passengers have been advised.
“While there is a high likelihood that thunderstorms will develop over England and Wales, there remains a large amount of uncertainty in exactly where these develop," said a Met Office spokesperson.
Is it OK to let your snakes sunbathe in the park?
A man who takes his snakes to his local public park sparks a debate about what animals are acceptable in public spaces.
A man who takes his snakes to sunbathe in his local park has sparked an online debate about what animals are - and are not - acceptable in public spaces.
It urged anyone who saw the snakes to immediately call the police.
Far from being horrified, many locals have defended the snake owner, who appears to be a regular visitor.
They said the man was clearly doing no harm and kept his snakes under control at all times, and questioned why the police would need to get involved.
Photos of the man posted on social media show him happily posing with the snakes draped around his neck or standing close to them as they slithered on the grass.
But the Friends group said in a post on its Facebook page that it had been told by the local council that "no-one has permission to bring snakes into Barshaw Park".
It added: "The police request that if you see anyone in the park with snakes, please do not approach the person but call the police on 101 and they will attend".
A woman who responded to the warning said she had met the man a couple of times with her kids.
She added: "Really nice guy, answered the 1,001 questions we had about snakes. The snakes were under control and enjoying a little sunbathe.
"Can we show the same concern for people bringing their out-of-control dogs to the park?"
Another said the snake owner was "really nice and full of smiles" and that any concerns about him were "OTT".
One local wrote that the man only had two snakes when she saw him - one around around his arm and another on the grass - and that she had to warn a passing family not to stand on one of them.
Another pondered what newspaper headline writers would make of the snakes going for a ride on the park's miniature railway, while someone else chose to open up a second front in the debate by claiming to have once seen people with ferrets in the park.
Support for the snakes was not universal, however, with potential safety issues also being raised and one social media user responding simply: "Nope. Ban it. Ban him. No no no."
He added: "People have, much to my surprise, been loving this.
"I had never thought about it before, but I guess when it come to things like dogs in the park we are kind of cool about that even though they can still present some form of danger if not well looked after or not treated properly.
"I guess people's arguments here are not any different and I probably agree with that."
A spokesman for Renfrewshire Council confirmed: "Non domestic pets such as snakes should not be brought into our parks and consent has not been provided for this to take place."
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