Storms

Flooding feared after storms sock south-central US

Katie Fretland
Associated Press
Tue, 20 Mar 2012 08:05 UTC

© Associated Press/Weather
This NOAA satellite image taken Monday, March 19, 2012 at 10:45 AM EDT shows dense cloud cover over much of the Plains as active weather ramps up across the region.

Residents and businesses from southeast Texas north through western Missouri braced for flooding Tuesday after a violent band of storms brought heavy rain, hail and at least one tornado, with more of the same forecast for the next several days.

The National Weather Service said a tornado touched down Monday evening about 25 miles southwest of San Antonio. The twister damaged several homes, trapping some people inside their mobile homes, but no fatalities were reported, according to The San Antonio Express-News.

The fresh crop of storms comes after two tornadoes damaged homes and railcars in North Platte, Neb., on Sunday. The EF3 twister with winds up to 165 mph injured four people.

Flooding remains a serious concern across the affected areas.

Hail, rain, snow at 1,500 feet elevation keep California utility crews busy

Loretta Kalb
The Sacramento Bee
Sun, 18 Mar 2012 17:52 UTC

© Tim Reese / Scaramento Bee
Storm clouds hover over the Sacramento Valley as seen from on top of Cantelow Hill in Yolo County looking east on Sunday.

Rain and hail pounded the chilly Sacramento region, snow shrouded the foothills at elevations as low as 1,500 feet, and thousands of customers were without power Sunday, capping one of the year's wettest weeks.

By mid-afternoon Sunday, pea-sized hail was reported throughout the area - from Curtis Park to midtown to Rancho Cordova.

"We got hail here for about 10 minutes," Rancho Cordova Councilwman Linda Budge emailed The Bee. "Also thunder once. Temps dropped noticeably between noon and three."

And if you thought it was colder than usual, you were right. Sunday's daytime high of 55 was well below the normal temperature on March 18 of 67 degrees, the National Weather Service said.

Baseball-Sized Hail in Forecast for Oklahoma and Texas

Katie Fretland
ABC News
Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:18 UTC

Storms are expected to sweep through the middle of the country over the next several days, bringing heavy rain and the threat of hail and tornadoes. Flood warnings stretch from southeast Texas north through western Missouri on Monday, but after a year of drought in much of the region and a largely snowless winter, fears of flooding aren't what they otherwise might be in several states, where the ground is expected to absorb inches of rain with ease.

The forecast for northern Texas and southeast Oklahoma also calls for baseball-sized hail, damaging winds and possibly tornadoes, according to the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla. Two tornadoes damaged homes and rail cars in North Platte, Neb., on Sunday.

Eight inches of rain are expected in southeastern Kansas, which has been unusually dry for nearly a year. The area has had less than three-fourths of the precipitation it typically gets since last April, state climatologist Mary Knapp said.

Tornadoes strike Nebraska, flipping tractor-trailer and rail cars

MSNBC
Mon, 19 Mar 2012 11:00 UTC

Severe storms overnight in Nebraska, Texas and Ohio damaged homes and tossed rail cars as well as at least one tractor-trailer, and the threat continued Monday with a large part of the central U.S. on alert.

The greatest damage overnight was just outside North Platte, Neb., where two confirmed tornadoes tore roofs off several homes, downed power lines and injured two people.

One twister crossed Interstate 80, flipping a tractor-trailer in its path. The truck's driver was hospitalized.

A rail yard also was hit, with 15 cars derailed or knocked over, the North Platte Telegraph reported. One worker there was hit by flying debris, treated at a hospital and then released.

In central Ohio, tornado sirens went off as large hail and high winds swept through Sunday night. In Gardendale, Texas, two people were hurt when high winds flipped over their mobile home. No tornadoes were reported in either state.

The mix of warm weather in recent weeks with cold pockets across the Midwest and central U.S. has led to an early start to the tornado season.

"It has been an active season already for tornadoes, and that's part of the reason we've scooched up our siren testing starting in March," Paul Johnson, emergency manager for Douglas County in North Dakota, told KETV.

Tornado watches have been issued for parts of Texas and Oklahoma for Monday, while the rest of the central U.S. is under severe weather warnings that include the possibility of large hail and high winds.

The threat will shift slightly to the east on Tuesday, weather.com reported, with parts of Illinois, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas seeing the biggest threat.

Arizona cities buried in rare snowstorm as much of U.S. enjoys balmy weather

The Christian Science Monitor
Mon, 19 Mar 2012 08:58 UTC

© Joshua Lott/REUTERS
Flagstaff, Arizona was hit with a late winter storm that dumped more than of foot of snow in the area on March 18.

A winter storm and high winds struck parts of Arizona and New Mexico on Sunday, causing hazardous driving conditions, power outages and school cancellations. The fast moving storm forced the National Weather Service to place parts of northern New Mexico under a winter storm warning until midnight Monday as heavy snow and wind from Arizona quickly blanketed the area.

The electric company PNM reported that around 33,000 customers were out of power at one point Sunday afternoon in the Albuquerque area due to high winds. A spokesman for PNM said emergency crews were working to restore power, and by 9 p.m. the number without electricity was down to 4,500.

Heavy winds and blowing dust forced the closure of parts Interstate 10 in southern New Mexico due to low visibility, but the road was back open later in the day. A flight carrying the University of New Mexico men's basketball team home after its loss in the NCAA tournament was delayed due to high winds.

Arizona Department of Transportation crews were fully deployed Sunday after heavy snow in Arizona fell from Flagstaff to the White Mountains. The winter storm forced officials to temporary close Interstate 40 in both directions and parts of Interstate 17. Both highways later reopened Sunday afternoon.

Australia: Cyclone Lua hammers the Pilbara region

ABC News
Sat, 17 Mar 2012 20:10 UTC

As residents in Western Australia's Pilbara region assess the damage caused by Tropical Cyclone Lua overnight, Queensland's Gulf communities are being warned to prepare for a cyclone heading their way.

Pilbara residents emerged from a night of wild weather this morning after a cyclone crossed the coast north of Port Hedland as a category four system yesterday afternoon, before later weakening to category two strength.

There are reports of extensive damage at the small community of Pardoo, while Nullagine, Newman and Marble Bar were also in the firing line overnight.

St. Patrick's Day Strong Storms: Missouri to Indiana

Kristina Pydynowski,
AccuWeather.com
Sat, 17 Mar 2012 12:43 UTC

Strong thunderstorms are threatening to ruin St. Patrick's Day celebrations from southern Missouri to southern Indiana into this evening.

The stage is set for potent thunderstorms to erupt from St. Louis and Poplar Bluff, Mo., to Louisville, Ky., with record warmth and moist air in place.

Other cities at risk include Cape Girardeau, Mo., Paducah, Ky., and Evansville, Ind.

Some of the same areas being threatened this St. Patrick's Day were the targets of the massive tornado outbreak earlier this month.

A repeat of that outbreak is not expected since any tornado that touches down into this evening will be an isolated event. Damaging winds, hail and downpours are greater concerns.

Washington state dust storm

The Guardian
Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:18 UTC

A severe dust storm sweeps through Washington state, causing five vehicles to crash on a major road 160 miles south-east of Seattle. State officials closed the road for five hours. One man was taken to hospital for treatment, according to Washington state police

Scientists detect unusual seismic signals from tornado

Terra Daily / SPX
Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:15 UTC

An Indiana University geophysical experiment detected unusual seismic signals associated with tornadoes that struck regions across the Midwest last week - information that may have value for meteorologists studying the atmospheric activity that precedes tornado disasters. The experiment by IU researchers involves deployment of more than 100 state-of-the-art digital seismographs in a broad swath of the U.S. midcontinent. One of the twisters that struck southeastern Missouri and southern Illinois on Feb. 29 passed through the seismic detection array.

"In examining the seismograms, we recorded unusual seismic signals on three of our stations in southern Illinois," said Michael Hamburger, professor in the department of geological sciences at IU Bloomington and one of the researchers conducting the experiment. "The seismograms show a strong, low-frequency pulse beginning around 4:45 a.m. on Feb. 29. Our preliminary interpretation, based on other seismic records of tornadoes, suggests that we were recording not the tornado itself, but a large atmospheric pressure transient related to the large thunderstorms that spawned the tornadoes."

White Cliffs of Dover Suffer Large Collapse

Rob Cooper
The Daily Mail
Wed, 14 Mar 2012 11:03 UTC

Thousands of tons of chalk from the famous White Cliffs of Dover have collapsed into the sea following a huge rockfall.

Tons of cliff-face sheared off near an area known as Crab Bay, but no-one was injured, the coastguard said.

The collapse may have been caused by rain over the winter months being absorbed into the chalk and freezing.

The collapse may have been caused by rain over the winter months being absorbed into the chalk and freezing here.

Comment: Considering the sentimental value the Cliffs have for the British people, a collapse of this magnitude could be taken as a symbol of their current state.

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Storms

Flooding feared after storms sock south-central US

Hail, rain, snow at 1,500 feet elevation keep California utility crews busy

Baseball-Sized Hail in Forecast for Oklahoma and Texas

Tornadoes strike Nebraska, flipping tractor-trailer and rail cars

Arizona cities buried in rare snowstorm as much of U.S. enjoys balmy weather

Australia: Cyclone Lua hammers the Pilbara region

St. Patrick's Day Strong Storms: Missouri to Indiana

Washington state dust storm

Scientists detect unusual seismic signals from tornado

White Cliffs of Dover Suffer Large Collapse

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