Storms
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Cloud Precipitation

Powerful winds, large hail strike U.S. Southern Plains

lARGE HAIL
© KTRKSoftball size hail causes damage in North Texas.
Forecasters say strong storms that swept through parts of Texas and Oklahoma are just the beginning of what's expected to be a busy week of severe weather.

The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, says the storm system that struck the Southern Plains on Sunday will take aim Monday at Mississippi Valley and Ohio Valley states.

Forecasters say damaging winds and large hail are the biggest threats Monday, particularly in western Kentucky, northern Mississippi and western Tennessee, including the Memphis area.

Bad weather is again in the forecast Tuesday and Wednesday in Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma.


Windsock

Cyclone Debbie: 'Monster' storm makes landfall in Australia

Cyclone Debbie
© AAP /Dan Peled / Reuters
Thousands of people have been evacuated as a monster category four cyclone smashed into the coast of Australia, with winds over 260 kilometers per hour (160 mph) ripping off roofs and uprooting trees in Queensland.

The 50-kilometer-wide eye of Cyclone Debbie struck along the north Queensland coastline; starting with Whitsunday Islands and the nearby mainland. The hurricane strong winds are currently packing a force of roughly 185 kilometers per hour, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said, warning that gusts could reach 270kph near the center.

The category four storm has already left more than 30,000 people without power in Airlie Beach, Proserpine, Bowen, Mackay and Cannonvale, Ergon Energy reports.

"We're getting some reports already of roofs starting to lift, including at some of our own facilities in the Whitsundays," the state's deputy police commissioner, Steve Gollschewski, told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Furthermore, some 25,000 people have already evacuated from Queensland due to the severe weather conditions, where a tidal surge of up to 2 meters is expected.


Umbrella

Spring snow falls in Madrid, Spain

Snow in Madrid, Spain
© YouTube/Rafael New
Fuerte nevada a mediodía en Madrid el 23 de marzo de 2017.

Strong snow blizzard in Madrid March 2017...Springtime!! :)


Comment: Spain experiences its heaviest snowfall in 35 years


Windsock

Cyclone Debbie forces evacuations in Queensland, Australia

cyclone debbie path
The Bureau of Meteorology’s track map for debbie issued at 8am Sunday.
Queensland is preparing for the worst tropical cyclone since Yasi six years ago, and authorities are warning residents that they need to act now as Monday will be too late.

Authorities have begun evacuating parts of the Whitsunday region as cyclone Debbie continues to bear down on the north Queensland coastline.

The Bureau of Meteorology expects 'the very destructive core' of Debbie to cross the coast between Townsville and Proserpine as a category 4 early on Tuesday morning, with winds up to 260km/h and flash flooding.

More than 1000 emergency services personnel have already been sent to the region.

Cloud Precipitation

Hailstones bombard car, smash through windows near Cleveland, Tennessee (VIDEO)

A man driving on I-75 outside of Cleveland, Tennessee on Tuesday decided to record the hail storm he was stuck driving through.
© MGNA man driving on I-75 outside of Cleveland, Tennessee on Tuesday decided to record the hail storm he was stuck driving through.
A man driving on I-75 outside of Cleveland, Tennessee on Tuesday decided to record the hail storm he was stuck driving through.

On a post to his YouTube page, Judd Rambo says "it was cool until the back window blew out and glass and ice started flying around the car."

Rambo captured the deluge of hail that broke through his car, hitting him from behind. Rambo can be heard at one point stating he was forced to pick glass out of his hands due to the windows shattering.


Strong winds and hail crossed through portions of the state on Tuesday, causing damage to structures and even tipping a semi over onto a car in Murfreesboro.

Tornado2

Another tornado record's in sight for U.S. as thunderstorms set to rip across the Great Plains and South

US tornado activity
© Bloomberg
Another wave of tornado-spawning thunderstorms is set to rip across the Great Plains and South this week, putting the U.S. within reach of a record year for life-threatening twisters.

Severe storms will drench a swath of the country from Texas to Mississippi over the next five days, according to the U.S. Storm Prediction Center. Through Thursday, 369 tornadoes have been reported across the country, the most in five years and more than double the normal number of sightings.

An active jet stream and unusually balmy weather are to blame for the burst of deadly tornado activity, the storm prediction center said. Strong winds have dragged storms into the warm, humid air that's blanketed the eastern half of the nation, creating conditions ripe for a weather phenomenon that leads to at least $400 million in damage a year in the U.S.

"We have a severe threat starting today and continuing for each of the next five days through at least Monday," said Patrick Marsh, warning coordination meteorologist at the storm prediction center in Norman, Oklahoma. "Through mid-March, we are on a record or near-record pace."

The atmospheric moisture across the southern U.S. in January was more typical of April, Marsh said. A confirmed tornado touched down in central Massachusetts in February, a first, while there was still snow on the ground.

Comment: A tornado outbreak in January this year was the deadliest since 1969 and exceeded the entire 2016 death toll in two days.


Igloo

Northern Manitoba town desperate for groceries after series of blizzards

Snow in Churchill, Manitoba
© Keith McDougal/YouTubeChurchill has been under a local state of emergency since March 10, after the area was hit with 60 cm of snow over three days.

Comment: According to the Canadian Press, after three weeks of blizzards, the first food arrived in Churchill, Manitoba on Tuesday.


Another winter blizzard is hitting the remote northern Manitoba community of Churchill, where people are already desperate for groceries that have been delayed since the last blizzard two weeks ago.

But there could be relief as soon as Monday afternoon, if the train can get all the way through to the town of about 900 residents.

OmniTrax, the Denver-based company that owns the rail line that brings supplies into Churchill, cleared the tracks and is trying to get supplies delivered as soon as possible. A train with supplies departed from the northern Manitoba town of Gillam, about 270 kilometres southeast of Churchill, at around noon Monday.

"A lot of families are suffering because they have young children and they need milk," said local resident Lana Bilenduke. No bread or vegetables are for sale at the local store and meat is scarce, she said. "Everyone's in a crisis until we get our groceries in."

Empty grocery shelves in Churchill, Manitoba
© Lana BilendukeLocals say there is hardly any meat left at the one store in Churchill.

Snowflake

Blizzard of '17 dumped 23.6 inches in 2 days on Northeast Pennsylvania, most ever in single storm

Snow in Pennsylvania
© Times-Tribune
The Blizzard of 2017 dumped 23.6 inches of snow on Northeast Pennsylvania over two days, the most ever from a single storm, the National Weather Service reported Tuesday in releasing the final snowfall totals.

The snowfall from March 14 into March 15 at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport beat the old record of 21.4 inches on March 13-14, 1993, during the Blizzard of 1993.

The total included 22.1 inches of snow on March 14, the most for any calendar day since record-keeping began locally in 1901. The previous record was 18.7 inches on the first day of the 1993 blizzard.

This month now stands as the third snowiest March on record with 30.6 inches, which also makes its the sixth snowiest month ever, the weather service said. The record for March is 38 inches in 1916. The snowiest month on record is January 1994 with 42.3 inches.

Cloud Precipitation

Up to baseball sized hailstones reported in the Carolinas

hailstone
The southern Piedmont of North Carolina and the upstate of South Carolina took a pounding from hail storms Tuesday evening. In some locations, the hail looked more like snow covering the ground.

Hail up to the size of golf balls was reported near UNC-Charlotte. However, the hail was even larger in South Carolina. Locations near Greenville, South Carolina reported baseball sized hail that shattered car windows in some neighborhoods.
@NWSGSP Brother sent me this picture of hail from Travelers Rest around 6pm. More hail on Wade Hampton moments ago #scwx #severewx #hail pic.twitter.com/U6ml8uqk7z

— Melissa Griffin (@mlgriffinWX1) March 21, 2017

Tornado2

Two waterspouts filmed near Carmila, Australia

Waterspouts off Carmila
Two waterspouts were spotted near Carmila in Queensland on March 20. Severe thunderstorm warnings were in place for the area, according to local reports. Rain rates of up to 2.3 inches were also recorded in Queensland.

This video shows the waterspouts from a distance. The uploader told Storyful that the waterspouts "only lasted for a couple of minutes."


Source: Storyful News