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Torrential Rain - Scotland put on weather alert as heavy rain and floods are set to cause chaos


Daily Record
Tue, 10 Jul 2012 14:27 UTC
Image
© Unknown
Parts of Edinburgh have already been flooded this week
Torrential rain could chaos traffic chaos and flooding across Scotland in the next 36 hours - with Edinburgh and East Lothian set to be hit hardest.

The Met Office have issued rain alerts for most of Scotland, including an Amber Warning of likely flooding covering South West Scotland and the Lothian and Borders area.

The Scottish Environmental Portection Agency say Edinburgh and East Lothian in particular could be badly hit on Wednesday as river levels rise.

A Yellow Warning of potential flooding has also been issued for Central, Tayside, Fife and Strathclyde.

Transport Minister Keith Brown said: "Unfortunately some of those communities who were caught up in the heavy rain in over Edinburgh and the Lothians at the weekend are now being warned to expect more testing conditions over the next 24 to 36 hours.
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Bizarro Earth

Hurricane Emilia packs the biggest punch of 2012 season- swells to Category 4

Andrea Thompson
Cristian Science Monitor
Tue, 10 Jul 2012 11:44 UTC
Image
© REUTERS/NASA
Hurricane Emilia shown in the eastern Pacific Ocean when still designated a tropical storm in this July 8, 2012 NASA satellite image. Emilia's maximum sustained winds have now reached 140 miles per hour, as a Category 4 hurricane.
Hurricane Emilia has swelled to a Category 4 hurricane, the first major hurricane of this season. Hurricane Emilia, 700 miles southwest of Baja California, is expected to go out to sea.

Within 24 hours of becoming a hurricane, Hurricane Emilia has rapidly strengthened into a major Category 4 storm, making it the strongest storm of the hurricane season so far.

Emilia first formed as a tropical storm on Saturday night, and strengthened into a hurricane early yesterday morning (July 9). It then rapidly gained Category 2 strength on the Saffir-Simpson scale and as of this morning had strengthened further into a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (220 kph).
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Phoenix

First fire then rain: Colorado on Flash flood watch


Huffington Post
Sun, 08 Jul 2012 11:58 UTC
Image
© Chris Morriss/7NEWS
Flooding in the Denver Metro area on Monday 9 July
Sunday will mark the third day of heavy rains for much of the Front Range. According to 7News, many areas have received 2-3 inches of rain already since Friday, more than an inch could fall on Sunday and more showers are expected into Monday.

The good news: Fire danger is dramatically lower thanks to all this rain.

The bad news: Most of central Colorado is now under flood watch, according to the National Weather Service.

Denver saw heavy rains on Saturday and should see more on Sunday. 9News reports that on Saturday afternoon at the Cherry Creek Arts Festival the downpour destroyed tents, signs and streets filled with water. A lightning strike even set fire to a power line in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.

Comment: Reign of Fire: Meteorites, Wildfires, Planetary Chaos and the Sixth Extinction

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Radar

Hurricane Emilia follows Daniel, strengthens in Pacific Ocean


Seattle PI
Mon, 09 Jul 2012 11:51 UTC
Image
© NASA
Hurricane Emilia (right) and Daniel in the Pacific Ocean
Emilia has strengthened to a Category Two hurricane in the Pacific far off the coast of Mexico but is not posing a threat to land.

The hurricane's maximum sustained winds Monday were near 100 mph (160 kph) with additional strengthening expected.

Emilia is centered about 710 miles (1,145 kilometers) south of the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California and is moving west-northwest at 12 mph (19 kph).

Meanwhile, farther west over the Pacific, Hurricane Daniel had maximum sustained winds near 85 mph (140 kph). The hurricane is expected to weaken slowly during the next 48 hours and was moving west at 15 mph (24 kph).
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Cloud Lightning

Possible Tornado or Microburst Hits Fredericksburg, Virginia

Dan Telvock
Fredericksburg Patch
Mon, 09 Jul 2012 11:43 UTC
Image
© Dan Telvock
Cheer Fusion gym in Fredericksburg was severely damaged by a reported tornado on July 8, 2012.
The National Weather Service has not determined if the storm in Fredericksburg was a microburst or something else, and it may take another day or two before officials there make that determination.

What is a microburst?

"A microburst is a downdraft (sinking air) in a thunderstorm that is less than 2.5 miles in scale," according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). "... Although microbursts are not as widely recognized as tornadoes, they can cause comparable, and in some cases, worse damage than some tornadoes produce. In fact, wind speeds as high as 150 mph are possible in extreme microburst cases."

Update 7:12 p.m.

Just nine days after a "super derecho" hit Fredericksburg, the area is dealing with another natural disaster - what may have been a rare tornado.

The event occured just after 5 p.m. and damaged buildings on Lafayette Boulevard and Fleming Street.
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Cloud Lightning

Flooding and heavy rains lash Cape Town - more on the way


IOL News / Cape News
Mon, 09 Jul 2012 11:40 UTC
Image
© David Ritchie
Cars negotiate a flooded M3
Heavy rains in Cape Town on Sunday flooded roads and houses and caused the Liesbeek River to burst its banks, and there were "extreme weather" warnings of bitter cold over much of the country.

The M3 was flooded where the road dips near UCT, and traffic was backed up as motorists slowed down to plough through the muddy waters.

Many shacks on the Cape Flats were flooded and the city council and charity organisations provided hot meals, blankets and plastic sheeting to about 350 families.

The SA Weather Service said on Sunday's cold front had been particularly strong, adding that the cold, wet weather was here to stay for the next few days.

The weather office said westerly winds at Cape Point reached near gale force of 55km/h on Sunday morning, while there were rough seas with heavy swells between 4m and 5m from Lamberts Bay to the southern Cape coast.

The city council's disaster risk management centre ordered about 60 people to evacuate the River Club premises for their safety on Sunday after rising flood waters from the Liesbeek had inundated the club's parking lot and courtyard.
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Ambulance

Indian army rescues 400 tourists from massive landslide in Ladakh


Deccan Chronicle
Sun, 08 Jul 2012 09:31 UTC
Image
© reporterindia.com
The Army on Sunday said its troops rescued about 400 domestic and foreign tourists from 18,000 feet (5,475 m)-high Tangtse-Chang La (pass) in Ladakh hit by massive landslide on Saturday.

The Jammu and Kashmir police has, meanwhile, said that due to a landslide the road between Tangtse and Leh was washed away at Choltak and that it and the district administration rescued all the stranded passengers travelling in 87 vehicles to Leh and also some more vehicles on way to Leh from Chushul via Tsaga.

Defence sources said that landslide struck the mountain road in east of Leh at 10.45 am, blocking about 250 metres stretch. About 150 vehicles with 400 tourists onboard were stranded along the road and their lives threatened in view of the possibility of occurring of more landslides.

"Army troops deployed in the area immediately swung into action and provided assistance to the stranded tourists by evacuating them to safe places and to their camp in Tangtse, where they were served food and beverages and provided warm clothing and medical assistance," defence spokesperson Lt. Col. Rajesh Kalia said.
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Ambulance

Devastating India floods leave 95 dead, millions homeless

Vanessa Ko, Harmeet Singh and Sara Sidner
CNN
Sun, 08 Jul 2012 18:47 UTC
Image
© AFP / Getty Images
Villagers padddle with their belongings through flood waters in the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, 55 kms from the capital city of the northeastern state of Assam on June 28, 2012. Floodwaters have submerged 90% of the sanctuary.
Flooding described by India's prime minister as the worst in recent times, has left at least 95 people dead and almost 2 million others homeless in the country's remote Assam state.

The Brahmaputra river overflowed during monsoon rains over the past week, flooding more than 2,000 villages and destroying homes in the northeast of the country, officials said.

Most of the dead were swept away by the fast-flowing water, while 16 were reported to have been buried by landslides caused by the heavy rains.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told journalists Monday that almost half a million people were living in relief camps, and the remaining of the displaced were staying with relatives or living in the open, using tarpaulin sheets for shelter.

Sabir Ali, who lives in one of the affected villages, had to move his family to higher ground with only what they could carry. "I am stuck. How will I survive? I've been forced to move to railways tracks with my children," he told CNN-IBN.

But water levels have begun to recede, and thousands have returned to damaged homes. A report issued on Tuesday lowered the number of evacuees to 370,000. Assam's State Disaster Management Authority reported that at least 14 people are missing.

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Bizarro Earth

Update: Russia flash floods: 144 killed in Krasnodar region


BBC.co.uk
Sun, 08 Jul 2012 09:57 UTC
russia floods
© BBC
Some 28 cm of water fell in some areas
Flash floods caused by torrential rain have swept the southern Russian Krasnodar region, killing 144 people, officials say.

The floods, the worst there in living memory, struck at night, reportedly without warning.

TV pictures showed people scrambling onto their rooftops to escape.

President Vladimir Putin has flown over the region by helicopter and has had emergency talks with officials in the worst-hit town of Krymsk.

Most of those who died were in and around Krymsk, a town of 57,000 people. But nine deaths were reported in the Black Sea resort of Gelendzhik with a further two in the port town of Novorossiysk.
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Cloud Lightning

Chaos in skies over Britain: forecasters describe horrific summer as 'the worst since records began'


The Extinction Protocol
Sat, 07 Jul 2012 17:08 UTC
Image
© Unknown
Britain is facing its "worst ever" summer with cold wet weather ruining family holidays and blighting the Olympics, forecasters warned last night. August is set to be a washout following a miserable July and the wettest June since records began - meaning summer is effectively over. Gloomy forecasts suggest dire weather will continue as officials last night put Britain on flood alert after torrential downpours yesterday wreaked havoc.

As the Environment Agency warned of a "potential danger to life" with rivers swelling to breaking point in the Midlands, Yorkshire and Wales, Government forecasters were on standby to brief the Cabinet if severe floods strike. The agency last night issued 51 flood warnings - meaning flooding is expected - and 135 alerts. Monsoon-like downpours hit 85,000 music fans at the T In The Park festival in Kinross, Scotland, and 28,000 Formula 1 spectators camping for the British Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone. Race meetings today in Nottingham and Carlisle were cancelled while play was delayed on all courts at Wimbledon - other than Centre Court.
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