MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

UPI – “Dallas residents set to work Thursday cleaning up and repairing damage from a sudden hailstorm forecasters called one of the city’s worst in 10 years.

Tennis ball-sized hailstones began to shower down with alarming speed around 6 p.m. Wednesday, smashing windows and skylights, tearing apart trees and denting cars — although no injuries were reported — The Dallas Morning News reported Thursday.

‘This will definitely be up there in the rankings of Dallas’ worst hailstorms in the last 10 years,’ said Nick Hampshire of the National Weather Service.” Read more.

“Fresh blasts from Mexico’s Popocatepetl volcano spewed fiery rock and caustic ash over residents around the Mexico City suburb of Puebla, already on edge after weeks of ongoing eruption.

Ash soared 2.5 miles into the sky during early Saturday’s explosion, forcing a local airport to close.

Residents of the nearby village of Santiago Xalitzintla rushed into the town square during the middle of the night as terrifying rumblings and blasts caused buildings to shudder.

Last week residents in eastern parts of Mexico City were provided with face masks to protect them against ash raining over the region from Popocatepetl’s blasts.

Prevailing winds have so far spared the capital district from significant ash falls.

Popocatepetl has become increasingly active during 2012.

A major eruption in 2000 forced 50,000 people to evacuate in three states that surround the towering mountain.” Source – Earthweek.com.

Respiratory Diseases and Infections due to Mexican Volcano’s Activity – “Acute respiratory infections increased by three percent among the inhabitants of the southeastern area of the State of Mexico, who are exposed to ash thrown by the Popocatepetl volcano, said the Ministry of Health. The head of the Department of Epidemiological Surveillance of the Mexico State Health Institute, Hector Resendiz, said the increase in these diseases has occurred in children under eight years old and adults over 60. According to the state agency, residents of Amecameca, Ozumba, Tepetlixpa, Ecatzingo and Atlautla are those who mostly received medical attention after April 21 when volcanic dust began to fall in those municipalities that are closest to Popocatépetl on the Mexico State’s side.” Read more.

“The Masaya Volcano has another case of indigestion. On Saturday, authorities from the National System of Prevention, Mitigation and Attention to Disasters (SINAPRED) announced they are monitoring the volcano due to the presence of “unusual activity” in the past couple of days, although they say there’s no cause for alarm at the moment.

Angélica Muñoz, director of geophysics at the Institute of Territorial Studies (INETER), says authorities have noticed an increase in micro-seismic activity and an increase in gas emissions from the volcano’s Santiago Crater over the past week. She said authorities have also discovered a new fissure near the crater, which is emitting gases and ‘an unusual noise’ that sounds like ‘an airplane turbine,’ according to the Sandinista media.

The government’s media arm reports that President Daniel Ortega has ‘instructed’ Guillermo González, the head of SINAPRED, to intensify vigilance of the volcano. At the moment, however, González says there no type of emergency alert in place and the national park remains open.

‘We just want the population to be informed about the situation, which we are paying close attention to. But there is no alarm,’ González told Ortega’s journalists.

Masaya Volcano—Anastasio Somoza’s old dumping ground for political dissidents— is one of six active volcanoes under constant vigilance in Nicaragua. Since 1520, Masaya Volcano has erupted 18 times, but it was most nettlesome between the years 1772-1820, even after the Spanish dubbed it with the untouristy moniker, ‘The Gate to Hell.'” Source – The Nicaragua Dispatch.

The Telegraph – “Widepread flooding, property damage and power cuts are expected as April’s fiercest storm delivers another month’s rain and 70mph winds from tomorrow – but the Environment Agency says the drought has got worse.

Homes and businesses in York city centre were flooded today, with other roads and farmland submerged as an inch of rain fell, with tornadoes also expected.

Trains were cancelled and delayed in West Yorkshire, while beach hut owners sobbed as their holiday bases in Seaton, Devon, were destroyed in gales.

The Environment Agency had 13 flood warnings and 42 alerts in place – with the north-east worst-hit – with 38 previous alerts making a total of 93 in 48 hours.

The month’s most powerful storm will batter the country for 24 hours from Saturday with the south and west worst hit as two inches’ rain – almost a month’s worth – and 70mph winds strike.

Flooding and fallen trees are forecast. Damaged properties, downed power lines, bridge closures and cancelled ferries are likely.

The Met Office is considering upgrading the severe weather alert for England and Wales to amber – meaning ‘be prepared’ – one level below the maximum red alert meaning ‘take action.’

The Environment Agency expects to issue dozens more flood warnings and alerts.

Independent forecasters Netweather predicted 70mph gusts in Wales.

Deluges mean England and Wales are on track for the wettest April since records began in 1766.” Read more.

By Charles Q. Choi, FOX News – “The volcano that may have given rise to the legend of Atlantis has awakened, researchers say.

The cataclysmic eruptions at the Greek isle of Santorini about 3,600 years ago that spewed forth about 9.5 to 14.3 cubic miles (40 to 60 cubic kilometers) of lava devastated the ancient seafaring Minoan civilization, potentially inspiring the legend of the lost city of Atlantis. From the air, the resulting caldera, or volcanic crater, appears as a small cluster within the larger collection of Greek islands in the Aegean Sea.

Over the next four millennia, the largely underwater caldera at Santorini has experienced a series of smaller eruptions, with five such outbursts in the past 600 years, ending most recently in 1950. After a 60-year lull, Santorini awakened in January 2011 with a swarm of tremors, each magnitude 3.2 or less, new GPS research has revealed.

Magma on the move

Investigators had installed a GPS monitoring system in the area in 2006. These sensors keep track of their location in space, and can thus shed light on when the Earth is moving.

The scientists found that by June 2011, the 22 GPS stations had been pushed 0.2 to 1.3 inches (5 to 32 millimeters) farther from the caldera than they had been just six months earlier. The researchers then improved the existing GPS stations and installed two more GPS stations, and data from September 2011 to January 2012 showed the land near the volcano was swelling at an accelerating rate …” Read more.