Storms
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Cloud Lightning

Colorado, US: Flood Damages Buildings in Vail

Scott N. Miller
Vail Daily
Wed, 06 Jul 2011 00:00 UTC
Mud, water create big cleanup job, do minimal damage

A combination of rainfall, snowmelt and crumbling debris dams pushed Middle Creek in Vail out of its banks Tuesday, causing minor flooding at two lodges and two town buildings.

The Vail Library was closed Wednesday so crews could clean mud and water from the floors. Town crews were also cleaning mud from the entryway and the ice sheet at Dobson Ice Arena.

Meanwhile, maintenance crews were cleaning the pool and some of the conference rooms at the Evergreen Lodge, as well as the parking garages at the Lodge at Lionshead.

While none of the condos were damaged, guests at the Lodge at Lionshead spent a mostly-sleepless night Tuesday.

"We asked a couple of people to move out of their units, and the cars were moved out of the underground parking garages," Joy Dunham, of the Lodge at Lionshead, said. "As water continued to flow into the garages, one had water almost knee-deep before the flooding started to subside around midnight."
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Cloud Lightning

Torrential Rains Continue to Wreak Havoc in China


The News International
Thu, 07 Jul 2011 02:00 UTC
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© The News International
The western part of the of Sichuan Basin and the northeastern part of the southwest China's Sichuan Province had been hit by a three-day continuous downpour.

Cities such as Bazhong and Guangyuan in northeastern Sichuan suffered most, with a precipitation over 300 millimeters at some areas during the new round of heavy rainfall.

The water level was recorded at 368.20 meters at a hydrometric station in Bazhong on Wednesday, 5.27 up from the alarm level.

Statistics of the Sichuan Provincial Command Center for Flood Control and Earthquake Relief show that 1.5 million people had been affected, with two dead and six missing, in 21 counties of cities of Guangyuan, Mianyan, Suining and Bazhong, by 20:00 on Wednesday.

More than 170,000 people had been evacuated and 10,000 houses were destroyed by torrential rain.

Mudslides triggered by the heavy rain had caused damages to a bridge on National Highway No. 212 and National Highway No. 317. Road traffic was suspended due to blocks on two provincial highways.
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Cloud Lightning

India: Heavy rains lash Bhopal


The Hindu
Wed, 06 Jul 2011 18:25 UTC
Heavy rains lashed the city following which water-logging was reported in some of the low-lying areas.

The Raja Bhoj Airport here recorded a rainfall of two cms in around three hours last evening.

Before the showers started, cloud cover had reduced the visibility.

Power supply was also disrupted in some areas due to high speed winds and rains.

MeT officials said that more rainfall is expected in the days ahead.
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Cloud Lightning

South Carolina, US: Forecast: Heavy rains causing flooding in Pee Dee

Andrew Phillips
WMBF News
Wed, 06 Jul 2011 04:03 UTC
Scattered thunderstorms continue in the Pee Dee Tuesday evening. Very heavy downpours and frequent cloud-to-ground lightning are occurring with the storms. Some areas are seeing three inches or more of rain which is causing flooding.

A Flood WARNING is in effect for central Florence and Marion counties until midnight tonight. Flooding is occurring in these areas, especially along and south of Highway 76.

As of 10:00 PM, Progress energy reports 750 customers without power in Marion County and around 560 in Florence County.

The majority of us will remain warm and muggy overnight with a chance for thunderstorms. Temperatures tomorrow will climb to near 90 along the coast with low 90s inland. There is once again a chance of storms tomorrow afternoon. Not everyone will see rain but those who do will likely experience very heavy downpours and frequent lightning.

A large area of high pressure parked in the Atlantic will continue to pump heat and humidity into the region right on through the weekend. The increased humidity also means increased rain chances as we head later into the week.
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Cloud Lightning

US: Arizona Washes Away Dust Deposited by Massive Storm


The Associated Press
Wed, 06 Jul 2011 16:53 UTC
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© Rob Schumacher/The Arizona RepublicA giant dust storm covers Phoenix, Ariz., Tuesday, July 5, 2011.
Arizonans are calling it the mother of all dust storms.

The mile-high wall of ominous, billowing dust that appeared to swallow Phoenix and its suburbs is all that locals can talk about.

It moved through the state around sundown Tuesday, halting airline flights, knocking out power to nearly 10,000 people, turning swimming pools into mud pits and caking cars with dirt.

The sky was still filled with a hazy shade of brown Wednesday as residents washed their cars and swept sidewalks.

Because dust storms, also known by the Arabic term haboobs, are so hard to predict, Tuesday's took everyone by surprise.

Seemingly out of nowhere, the 100-mile-wide storm moved like a giant wave, the dust roiling as it approached at up to 60 mph. Once it hit, visibility dropped to zero in some areas, the sky turned nearly black, trees blew sideways, and even downtown Phoenix skyscrapers became invisible.

"Just the height of it looked like a special-effect scene from a movie, like a dust storm out in Africa," said Charlotte Dewey, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Phoenix. "It looked so huge, looking at the city down below, it was just specks of light and miniature buildings.
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Cloud Lightning

Rainstorms in China kill 25 in less than a week


The Associated Press
Tue, 05 Jul 2011 23:31 UTC
Chinese state media say heavy rains across the country have killed at least 25 people in less than a week.

The deaths add to more than 260 people who were killed or left missing last month from seasonal floods in eastern and southern China.

The official Xinhua News Agency reported Wednesday that seven people have died in Sichuan province since new downpours started last Thursday. They included a villager who was killed Tuesday when a wall collapsed while he was removing water from his yard.

It cited rescuers in northwest Shaanxi province as saying a rain-triggered landslide there killed 18 people on Tuesday.
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Cloud Lightning

US; Shoshone floods campgrounds while storms damage radio towers

Martin Kidston
Billings Gazette.
Wed, 06 Jul 2011 16:54 UTC
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© Martin Kidston/Gazette StaffPortions of Wapiti Campground and others in the North Fork drainage west of Cody remain closed due to flooding of the Shoshone River.

Wapiti, Wyoming - High winds and lightning knocked out two U.S. Forest Service communication towers and flooding along the Shoshone River prompted the agency to close several campgrounds over the weekend.

Wapiti District Ranger Terry Root of the Shoshone National Forest said the campground closures will last another week, as the Shoshone River continues to flood low-lying areas within the drainage.

"We still have numerous camping sites in Wapiti Campground closed because the sites flood at night," said Root. "We had to close Big Game Campground over the weekend, too. The water is flowing through our horse pasture and into the campground."
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People

Rains to cut Ukraine wheat harvest, USDA says

Caroline Henshaw
Dow Jones Newswires
Wed, 06 Jul 2011 15:49 UTC
Image
© Unknown
London--Ukraine could lose up to 30% of its grain in some regions as heavy rain hammers crops just as the harvest gets underway, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wednesday.

A powerful cyclone--abnormal for this time of year--has hit the center of the country, with some parts receiving 150 millimeters of rain in four days, compared to a monthly average of 80 millimeters, according to Hydrometcenter.

Some industry analysts project a 10% decline and some say the losses may reach 20%-30% in the affected regions if heavy rains continue for another week, as forecasters expect, said the USDA.

"Rains in Ukraine that lasted for over a week in the last part of June will definitely have a negative impact on the production of major winter crops, including wheat and barley," it said in the report.
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Bizarro Earth

US: Apocalyptic Time-Lapse Video of Massive Phoenix Dust Storm

Nancy Atkinson
Universe Today
Wed, 06 Jul 2011 14:16 UTC

The Phoenix Haboob of July 5th, 2011 from Mike Olbinski on Vimeo.

This isn't space and astronomy-related, but this video of the massive dust storm that swept through the Phoenix area yesterday is just amazing, if not apocalyptic! Mike Olbinski, a photographer from the area shot this timelapse, and on his website says, "There are really not many words to describe this dust storm, or what we call it here (and they also do in places like the Sahara Desert)...a haboob. This was a haboob of a lifetime. I've lived in Phoenix for my entire 35 years of existence and have never seen anything like this before. It was incredible."

Olbinski stood on the top of a 4-story parking garage and said people everywhere were snapping photos and video, "like madmen."

Olbinski says he wishes he could have shot five more seconds of video, but the dust was so thick, daytime turned into night instantaneously. He also has an amazing black & white photo of the event posted on his website.
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Bell

Shaanxi Landslide Kills 18 People

Mo Hong'e
Xinhua
Wed, 06 Jul 2011 09:55 UTC

Beijing - The death toll has risen to 18 from a rain-triggered landslide in northwestern China's Shaan-xi Province.

400 rescuers have completed a search mission and pulled out 20 people from the debris.The landslide had a volume of 5-thousand-cubic-meters and engulfed 12 houses when it hit an area near a major highway in Lue-yang County. Authorities have cleared the road and transportation is expected to resume on Wednesday morning.

More heavy rains are expected to hit the southern part of Shaan-xi, according to weather forecasters. Local authorities are on high alert and are evacuating people living in low-lying areas.
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