© Halldora Kristen Unnarsdottir / APGrimsvotn volcano
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© Stefan Wermuth/ReutersPresident Barack Obama and first lady Michelle on Airforce One at Dublin airport.
The US president flew to London on Monday evening just hours after he received a rapturous reception in central Dublin from more than 25,000 people during a speech in which he pledged that America would continue to stand by peace-makers in Northern Ireland.
A White House spokesman confirmed that concerns over the ash cloud from the Grimsvötn volcano forced the presidential entourage to make a swifter than expected exit from the Republic.
© AFP/Getty ImagesAn image released by Nasa on Sunday shows smoke billowing from the Grimsvotn, Iceland's most active volcano.
The Grimsvotn volcano began erupting on Sunday, causing flights to be cancelled at Iceland's main Keflavik airport after it sent a plume of ash smoke and steam 12 miles into the air.
However experts said the eruption was unlikely to have the dramatic impact that the Eyjafjallajökull volcano had in April last year, when flights were cancelled over the UK and much of Europe for several days.
Paul Mott, forecaster at Meteogroup, said ash from the volcano could potentially reach the UK by Tuesday.
The deadly tornado that ripped through Joplin, Mo., Sunday evening, killing at least 89 people, intensified with unprecedented speed, according to storm trackers.
The supercell thunderstorm that produced the devastating twister formed over Kansas. The National Weather Service received its first report of the tornado at 5:34 p.m. local time, from west of the Missouri-Kansas border.
Seven minutes later, there were reports of a tornado within Joplin's city limits, about 7 miles (11 kilometers) east of the first sighting.
"Every storm is a little different, but this storm went from what was just a funnel cloud to a very strong, very large and very wide and obviously very damaging tornado in a very short time," in under 10 minutes, said Andy Boxell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Springfield, Mo.
"It's something that I've not seen personally, and certainly it's a rare thing to see," Boxell told OurAmazingPlanet.
Powerful storm blew into metro, killing 1, injuring 30 and putting North Side under curfew.
Two days of threatening skies turned furious over the Twin Cities on Sunday, unleashing at least three tornado touchdowns in the metro area, killing one person in Minneapolis, injuring at least 30 others, knocking out power to thousands and leading to a curfew and school closings in north Minneapolis.
The massive, slow-moving storm also caused major damage in other metro communities, most significantly St. Louis Park and Fridley.
In the hardest-hit area, Minneapolis' Jordan neighborhood, downed trees, snapped power lines and pieces of roofs littered streets and yards. The smell of natural gas led police to call people out of some homes. Roads were blocked and residents scrambled to find loved ones; close to 200 or so people displaced by the storm made their way to an emergency shelter at the Northeast Armory, near Broadway and Central Avenue.
Mayor R.T. Rybak described the damage as "widespread and significant" after he and City Council President Barbara Johnson viewed it from a helicopter.
Two days of threatening skies turned furious over the Twin Cities on Sunday, unleashing at least three tornado touchdowns in the metro area, killing one person in Minneapolis, injuring at least 30 others, knocking out power to thousands and leading to a curfew and school closings in north Minneapolis.
The massive, slow-moving storm also caused major damage in other metro communities, most significantly St. Louis Park and Fridley.
In the hardest-hit area, Minneapolis' Jordan neighborhood, downed trees, snapped power lines and pieces of roofs littered streets and yards. The smell of natural gas led police to call people out of some homes. Roads were blocked and residents scrambled to find loved ones; close to 200 or so people displaced by the storm made their way to an emergency shelter at the Northeast Armory, near Broadway and Central Avenue.
Mayor R.T. Rybak described the damage as "widespread and significant" after he and City Council President Barbara Johnson viewed it from a helicopter.
La Crosse, Wis.- Gov. Scott Walker is in La Crosse to tour the damage caused by Sunday's tornado.
Walker says his heart goes out to everyone affected by the storm and says he's grateful no one was seriously injured. Walker toured damaged neighborhoods by car Monday afternoon.
At least 200 homes and businesses were damaged by the tornado, which was part of the same big storm system that spawned the deadly tornadoes around the Midwest.
National Weather Service meteorologist Glenn Lussky said preliminary assessments from field crews show the powerful storm was in fact a tornado and possibly an EF1.
Walker says his heart goes out to everyone affected by the storm and says he's grateful no one was seriously injured. Walker toured damaged neighborhoods by car Monday afternoon.
At least 200 homes and businesses were damaged by the tornado, which was part of the same big storm system that spawned the deadly tornadoes around the Midwest.
National Weather Service meteorologist Glenn Lussky said preliminary assessments from field crews show the powerful storm was in fact a tornado and possibly an EF1.
Comment: Enhanced Fujita Scale: EF1 is an indicator on a scale of EF0-EF5. An EF1 scale Storm has sustained winds of 86 - 110MPH or 138 - 178km/h.
More info can be obtained here.
© NasaReference Image, not actual.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said Chedeng (international name: Songda) was seen to strengthen into a typhoon in the next 24 hours and bring strong winds, thunderstorms, and moderate to heavy rains all over the country.
Robert Sawi, Pagasa's chief forecaster, said Chedeng "is so far the strongest tropical cyclone to enter the country this year."
As of 10 a.m. on Monday, Pagasa said Chedeng, the third tropical cyclone of the year, was still at open sea, about 795 kilometers east of Guiuan, Eastern Samar.
It was carrying maximum sustained winds at 95 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 120 kph. Sawi said Chedeng, which was moving west northwest at 15 kph, could reach over 100 kph in wind strength.
No storm warning signals were raised as of Monday afternoon, although Pagasa officials said they have advised local disaster coordinating councils to take appropriate actions.
© David JolesWyoming volunteer firefighter Joe Kuskey, center in white shirt, keeps a weary eye to the sky for funnel clouds near I-35.
There were no reports of injuries or serious damage from the touchdown, which was reported to the National Weather Service in Chanhassen by trained weather spotters.
But heavy rain and large hailstones slowed traffic and caused basement flooding and minor damage in the communities of Corcoran, Maple Grove, Osseo, Dayton, Rogers, Champlin, Coon Rapids, Anoka, East Bethel and Andover.
A Medina police officer said he saw a tornado tail hanging from the clouds at about 6:30 p.m., but it didn't appear to touch the ground. Sgt. Jason Nelson said hail fell and branches whipped back and forth, but he saw no tornado damage.
© UnknownA piece of wood is lodged in the bumper of a car after at least one tornado struck parts of north Minneapolis, causing extensive property damage, killing at least one person and injuring at least 18 others, Sunday, May 22, 2011.
Authorities warned that the death toll could climb as search and rescuers continued their work. Their task was made more miserable Monday morning as a thunderstorm with strong, gusty winds and heavy rain pelted part of the city with quarter-size hail.
City manager Mark Rohr announced the number of known dead at a pre-dawn news conference outside the wreckage of a hospital that took a direct hit from Sunday's storm. Rohr said the twister cut a path nearly 6 miles long and more than a half-mile wide through the center of town, adding that tornado sirens gave residents about a 20-minute warning before the tornado touched down on the city's west side.
Much of the city's south side was leveled, with churches, schools, businesses and homes reduced to ruins. Fire chief Mitch Randles estimated 25 percent to 30 percent of the city was damaged, and said his own home was among the buildings destroyed as the twister swept through this city of about 50,000 people some 160 miles south of Kansas City.
Comment: On Earth Changes - From Where I sit: Rain drops keep falling on my head: "People are noticing and all this weather weapons nonsense is designed to make people think it's all a 'game'. The controllers want people to think they are in control because if people really could see that it is really all of the long-ago-predicted Earth Changes that we are experiencing NOW, they would turn on the governments and devour them."
- Laura Knight Jadczyk
A massive tornado - the deadliest single U.S. tornado since 1953 - tore through the city of Joplin on Sunday, killing at least 89 people. Amid fears the death toll could climb, a fresh round of storms lashed the town early Monday, hampering search and rescue efforts.
City manager Mark Rohr announced the number of known dead at a pre-dawn news conference outside the wreckage of a hospital that took a direct hit from Sunday's storm. Rohr said the twister cut a path nearly six miles long and more than a half-mile wide through the center of town.
Much of the city's south side was leveled, with churches, schools, businesses and homes reduced to ruins.
Fire chief Mitch Randles estimated that 25 to 30 percent of the city was damaged, and said his own home was among the buildings destroyed as the twister swept through this city of about 50,000 people some 160 miles south of Kansas City.
"It cut the city in half," Randles said.
City manager Mark Rohr announced the number of known dead at a pre-dawn news conference outside the wreckage of a hospital that took a direct hit from Sunday's storm. Rohr said the twister cut a path nearly six miles long and more than a half-mile wide through the center of town.
Much of the city's south side was leveled, with churches, schools, businesses and homes reduced to ruins.
Fire chief Mitch Randles estimated that 25 to 30 percent of the city was damaged, and said his own home was among the buildings destroyed as the twister swept through this city of about 50,000 people some 160 miles south of Kansas City.
"It cut the city in half," Randles said.
Comment: This eruption may well merit caution, but remember that we've been here before and been bamboozled before:
'Ashteria' is a Pretext to Shut Down International Air Travel