Storms
A powerful storm lashed Japan with heavy rain and strong winds, killing four people and paralyzing air and train traffic in Tokyo, officials said Wednesday.
The spring storm swept across Japan's main island of Honshu on Tuesday, with winds of more than 144 kilometers (89 miles) per hour -- typhoon strength. The Meteorological Agency said the storm had left the region by Wednesday, but it urged caution as strong winds would persist in parts of northern Japan.
Two people were killed in separate warehouse collapses in Toyama in the north and Kagawa in the south on Tuesday. Police reported two more deaths overnight -- an elderly man who fell off a roof in Iwate and a woman crushed to death by a fallen tree in nearby Miyagi.
Officials said hundreds more were injured across the country.
Snow is predicted to fall in northern England and Ireland and possibly in the Midlands and Wales, after around eight inches (19cm) came down across parts of Scotland.
It is very much a 'Tale of Two Britains' today, as Scotland and England bask and shiver respectively in very different weather.
While England continues to enjoy warm spring conditions, Scotland is facing sub-zero temperatures and heavy snowfall.
England should not feel too smug - the icy weather is likely to forge south, bringing an end to the burst of unseasonal warmth that has lit up the country over the last week.
But this will not be enough to alleviate the much-publicised drought in England. A hose-pipe ban is still set to be introduced on Thursday.
© Gordon Jack / Scotimage.com
Treacherous: The driving conditions became dangerous as more than six inches of snow hit parts of Scotland, forcing emergency services to attend a number of accidents, including a seven vehicle pileup on the Newmill and Canthill Road near Shotts
Treacherous: The driving conditions became dangerous as more than six inches of snow hit parts of Scotland, forcing emergency services to attend a number of accidents, including a seven vehicle pileup on the Newmill and Canthill Road near Shotts
While England continues to enjoy warm spring conditions, Scotland is facing sub-zero temperatures and heavy snowfall.
England should not feel too smug - the icy weather is likely to forge south, bringing an end to the burst of unseasonal warmth that has lit up the country over the last week.
But this will not be enough to alleviate the much-publicised drought in England. A hose-pipe ban is still set to be introduced on Thursday.
© AFP/Jiji Press
Two trucks lie on their sides on a bridge at Toyama city
Two trucks lie on their sides on a bridge at Toyama city
Gusts of up to 150 kilometres (93 miles) per hour have been recorded in western Japan, with coastal areas likely seeing even stronger winds, Japan's weather agency said.
At least 163 people suffered injuries across the country, knocked over by sudden gusts or hit by flying debris, public broadcaster NHK said.
With the agency warning of possible tornadoes in the western part of Japan, airlines grounded over 550 flights and a number of train services were suspended.
Millions of people are being urged to seek shelter immediately as dramatic news footage shows trucks and other massive debris being thrown across the skies in Texas. Weather service advisories issued today said storm spotters and radar revealed separate tornadoes south of Dallas and Fort Worth. Incredible news footage of the twister shows a massive funnel cloud and tractor trailers being launched above the area.
Crumpled orange tractor trailers were later visible in a Dallas County parking lot, as well as flattened trailers along the sides of highways and access roads. The weather service said 'considerable damage' also was reported near Cleburne, south of Fort Worth, and Lancaster, south of Dallas. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that officials at DFW International Airport have warned anyone in the airport to retreat to terminal storm shelters and to stay away from windows. All flights into and out of the airport have been cancelled.
Crumpled orange tractor trailers were later visible in a Dallas County parking lot, as well as flattened trailers along the sides of highways and access roads. The weather service said 'considerable damage' also was reported near Cleburne, south of Fort Worth, and Lancaster, south of Dallas. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that officials at DFW International Airport have warned anyone in the airport to retreat to terminal storm shelters and to stay away from windows. All flights into and out of the airport have been cancelled.
© CNN
© AFP
Flooding in Nadi
Flooding in Nadi
At least four people have died in some of the worst flooding the country has seen in decades.
Officials in Fiji say locals are likely to be spared a further heavy downpour, with Cyclone Daphne, which formed on Monday afternoon, expected to pass the island.
Tafazul Gani, a correspondent for a Fijian magazine, says many of the island's residents are struggling to cope.
© WxRisk.com
WxRisk.com, a private weather forecasting firm, posted this photo from the hail overnight in Madison, Kan., on its Facebook page.
WxRisk.com, a private weather forecasting firm, posted this photo from the hail overnight in Madison, Kan., on its Facebook page.
A twister nearly formed near the town just after midnight, the national Storm Prediction Center noted, but the biggest impact was from hail.
"That was a HUGE bow-hook, a monster funnel cloud," WxRisk.com, a private weather forecasting firm, posted on its Facebook page. "Hail in excess of 4.25 in[ches] (107.95 mm). Slightly larger than softballs at times."
The firm said one of three storm cells that moved through the town of 700 "produced monster-size hail for almost 30 minutes ... lots of reports of cars and structures being damaged due to the large hail. Tennis-ball hail, CD hail, Soft-ball hail, and even larger."
Large hail pounded other parts of Kansas overnight as well, and the forecast for Thursday had much of the region, including Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri, with a high chance of severe weather, weather.com reported.
"We're getting into that time of year when we get severe thunderstorms just about every day," said Greg Forbes, weather.com's severe weather expert.
The storm system will trigger strong storms in the Ohio Valley on Friday, weather.com forecast.
It woke up sleepy Tulsans, set-off car alarms and freaked out the family pet. Many people thought it was an earthquake that hit Tulsa at 3:33 this morning. Instead, says National Weather Service Meteorologist Steve Amburn, is was a "Super Bolt." Amburn says a super bolt is a positively-charged cloud-to-ground stroke of lightning. Computer records indicate a single "super bolt" struck in the heart of South Tulsa just after 3:30. No damage from the super bolt is reported.
© Unknown
© Agence France-Presse
The devastation caused by a "mini-tornado" after it tore through the Australian city of Townsville, ripping roofs off houses, bringing down power lines and injuring nine people
The devastation caused by a "mini-tornado" after it tore through the Australian city of Townsville, ripping roofs off houses, bringing down power lines and injuring nine people
The Queensland State Emergency Service (SES) said it received dozens of calls for help, with 13 people needing treatment, mostly for cuts and abrasions. Three were hospitalised.
"Rapid Damage Assessments in the Townsville area have recorded approximately 60 homes with varying degrees of roof damage," the SES said, adding that at least six of the properties suffered significant structural damage.
Meteorologists, who said the freak storm could not officially be called a tornado as there was no funnel, recorded winds of up to 111 kilometres (69 miles) per hour, leaving thousands of homes without power.
The weather bureau forecast further heavy rain.
One resident told Sky News that when the storm hit it sounded like "a jet taking off". Another said it was like "being in a washing machine".
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh, who faces being thrown out of office in state elections this weekend, said it was a frightening experience for the people affected.
A low pressure area is centered over eastern Oklahoma, and its associated cold front drapes south into eastern Texas. The front is stalled over eastern Texas and eastern Oklahoma and is generating severe weather today. NASA's Aqua satellite and NOAA's GOES-13 satellite have been providing infrared, visible and microwave images to forecasters of the stalled frontal system.
On March 20, a flood warning was in effect up and down the eastern sides of Texas and Oklahoma, including Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. The National Weather Service posted a flood warning for the double cities because of heavy rainfall over the last 36 hours. More isolated thunderstorms are expected to develop late afternoon and evening, generating more heavy rainfall, lightning and small hail.
On March 20, a flood warning was in effect up and down the eastern sides of Texas and Oklahoma, including Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. The National Weather Service posted a flood warning for the double cities because of heavy rainfall over the last 36 hours. More isolated thunderstorms are expected to develop late afternoon and evening, generating more heavy rainfall, lightning and small hail.
© NASA/JPL, Ed Olsen
The AIRS instrument onboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured an infrared image that showed cloud top temperatures in the severe frontal system over Texas and Oklahoma on March 20 at 0753 UTC 34:53 am EST). The strongest thunderstorms, heaviest rainfall and coldest cloud top temperatures (around 220 Kelvin/ -63.6 F/-53.1 C) appear in purple.
The AIRS instrument onboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured an infrared image that showed cloud top temperatures in the severe frontal system over Texas and Oklahoma on March 20 at 0753 UTC 34:53 am EST). The strongest thunderstorms, heaviest rainfall and coldest cloud top temperatures (around 220 Kelvin/ -63.6 F/-53.1 C) appear in purple.
US - Severe weather hammered the Midwest and South from Minnesota to Texas including a tornado that touched down in San Antonio, where at least 50 homes were damaged or destroyed.
Residents across this broad region were bracing for flooding Tuesday after the severe weather brought heavy rain and hail that is anticipated to continue for the next few days. With the storm system slowing significantly, tornadoes are becoming less likely but flash flooding becomes a major concern, forecasters said.
The slow-moving weather pattern will bring thunderstorms with heavy rain as it moves over the same area, according to the National Weather Service, which said that some locations will receive a foot of rain by midweek.
The NWS reported that the tornado touched down 25 miles southwest of San Antonio on Monday evening, and that parts of the city and surrounding areas were under a tornado warning. Although some were trapped inside their homes, no fatalities were reported by early Tuesday morning.
Tornado warnings across the San Antonio area were canceled around 11 p.m. Monday, according to ABC News affiliate KSAT. Crews began assessing damage to the area late Monday night.
