South Saskatchewan
Throughout province, 163 wildfires so far in 2015 (click here)
May 21, 2015
CBC News
Crews have been busy fighting forest fires in Saskatchewan this year, with almost double the number compared to this time last year.
As of Wednesday, there have been 163 fires in the province this year, compared to 85 by this time last year.
Most of the fires are in the Prince Albert and Buffalo Narrows area, with a smaller number in the La Ronge area.
Twelve wildfires were burning on Wednesday.
In the southern half of the province, the risk of fires is elevated, according to the environment ministry.
On the east side of the region, the risk has been deemed high while in western and central areas, it's extreme, according to the ministry's Thursday fire forecast map.
One forest fire was burning close to Creighton, Sask. A water bomber and a helicopter dropped water on the blaze late Wednesday afternoon.
Portugal
VIANA DO CASTELO, Portugal (AP) " Race organizers (click here) of the Rally of Portugal have canceled a stage on Friday because of forest fires.
Organizers canceled the 27.53-kilometer (17.1-mile) stage around the town of Ponte de Lima near the northern border with Spain "because of nearby forest fires."
That was scheduled to be the day's fourth stage.
Portugal has had a dry winter and spring, and May has seen record monthly temperatures.
In the US, there are less than ten wildfires, but, most are occuring in Florida. Alaska has two large incident fires.
May 21, 2015
By Susan Miller Degnan
Two small Miami-Dade wildfires (click here) were extinguished by firefighters Thursday, but the huge, now 30,000-acre Everglades fire battled for the past several days is still raging on.
The blaze in the Big Cypress Preserve “way out west in the Everglades’’ cast smoke over Miami-Dade and Broward on Friday as well, as forecast by Florida Forest Service senior forest ranger Gabriel Llamas Thursday evening.
Miami-Dade County spokesman Luis Espinoza of the Division of Environmental Resources Management said the air quality index was expected to be in the moderate range Friday.
“Residents – especially active children, the elderly and people with respiratory problems – should avoid prolonged outdoor exposure,” Espinoza said.
Llamas said the Big Cypress Preserve fire is on the south and north sides of I-75 in Collier County, and was about 13 percent contained as of Thursday...
While the northern hemisphere is hot and on fire, the southern hemisphere is experiencing frigid temperatures.
New Zealand
May 22, 2015
Two big weather systems (click here) will bang both ends of New Zealand this weekend and the year's coldest blast yet is expected early next week.
MetService said the sunniest skies this weekend will likely be in the middle of the country, as rain and strong winds strike the north, and a polar blast brings snow to the south.
MetService said a low pressure system from the Tasman Sea will hit Northland and the Coromandel Peninsula on Saturday, bringing rain and strong winds to places as far south as Ruapehu.
Meanwhile, snow in Otago and Southland was forecast to reach altitudes as low as 200m above sea level....
US Drought Map
May 19, 2015
The storms are not helping. As a matter of fact, the drought west of the Mississippi and central of that region is where severe storms were recently recorded.
May 21, 2015
CBC News
Crews have been busy fighting forest fires in Saskatchewan this year, with almost double the number compared to this time last year.
As of Wednesday, there have been 163 fires in the province this year, compared to 85 by this time last year.
Most of the fires are in the Prince Albert and Buffalo Narrows area, with a smaller number in the La Ronge area.
Twelve wildfires were burning on Wednesday.
In the southern half of the province, the risk of fires is elevated, according to the environment ministry.
On the east side of the region, the risk has been deemed high while in western and central areas, it's extreme, according to the ministry's Thursday fire forecast map.
One forest fire was burning close to Creighton, Sask. A water bomber and a helicopter dropped water on the blaze late Wednesday afternoon.
Portugal
VIANA DO CASTELO, Portugal (AP) " Race organizers (click here) of the Rally of Portugal have canceled a stage on Friday because of forest fires.
Organizers canceled the 27.53-kilometer (17.1-mile) stage around the town of Ponte de Lima near the northern border with Spain "because of nearby forest fires."
That was scheduled to be the day's fourth stage.
Portugal has had a dry winter and spring, and May has seen record monthly temperatures.
In the US, there are less than ten wildfires, but, most are occuring in Florida. Alaska has two large incident fires.
May 21, 2015
By Susan Miller Degnan
Two small Miami-Dade wildfires (click here) were extinguished by firefighters Thursday, but the huge, now 30,000-acre Everglades fire battled for the past several days is still raging on.
The blaze in the Big Cypress Preserve “way out west in the Everglades’’ cast smoke over Miami-Dade and Broward on Friday as well, as forecast by Florida Forest Service senior forest ranger Gabriel Llamas Thursday evening.
Miami-Dade County spokesman Luis Espinoza of the Division of Environmental Resources Management said the air quality index was expected to be in the moderate range Friday.
“Residents – especially active children, the elderly and people with respiratory problems – should avoid prolonged outdoor exposure,” Espinoza said.
Llamas said the Big Cypress Preserve fire is on the south and north sides of I-75 in Collier County, and was about 13 percent contained as of Thursday...
New Zealand
May 22, 2015
Two big weather systems (click here) will bang both ends of New Zealand this weekend and the year's coldest blast yet is expected early next week.
MetService said the sunniest skies this weekend will likely be in the middle of the country, as rain and strong winds strike the north, and a polar blast brings snow to the south.
MetService said a low pressure system from the Tasman Sea will hit Northland and the Coromandel Peninsula on Saturday, bringing rain and strong winds to places as far south as Ruapehu.
Meanwhile, snow in Otago and Southland was forecast to reach altitudes as low as 200m above sea level....
US Drought Map May 19, 2015
The storms are not helping. As a matter of fact, the drought west of the Mississippi and central of that region is where severe storms were recently recorded.
