Storms
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Cloud Precipitation

Indian cyclone Phailin threatens 12 million, says disaster authority

Cyclone Phailin hits India
© ReutersA big wave smashes into a breakwater at a fishing harbour in Jalaripeta in the Visakhapatnam district in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
Twelve million people along India's eastern coast face mass disruption as a powerful cyclone bears down on the region in the next 24 hours, the head of the National Disaster Management Authority (NMDA) said on Friday.

Meteorologists predict Phailin could be the most catastrophic storm to hit India in 14 years, when a super cyclone pounded Odisha, leaving 10,000 people dead.

Now in the Bay of Bengal, Cyclone Phailin is forecast to reach the coast of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha states on Saturday evening, bringing gale-force winds, lashing rains, storm surges and widespread flooding.

"The affected populations ... should be about 1.2 crores (12 million)," Shashidhar Reddy, the NMDA's vice-chairman told a news conference.

Binoculars

Best of the Web: Signs of change in the last week of September 2013

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The events around the world have been unprecedented over the last few weeks. Some of the most dramatic and unbelievable footage I've ever seen from events that took place in the past week or so. Please use these videos for awareness to these ongoing extremes that seem to be getting worse each week. Prepare for disasters in your area! You're no different than others that are already dealing with them and most were not ready...

In just a couple of weeks we saw a devastating typhoon hit Japan and China, a 'one-in-one-thousand-years' flood hit Colorado, record rainfall in Mexico, the Pacific Northwest, Brazil, and India, fireballs turning night into day over Canada and the US, a powerful tornado in Sao Paulo, a 7.7 earthquake in Pakistan that formed a new island in the ocean, followed just 4 days later by 7.2 in the same region, a 7.0 earthquake in Peru, a daytime fireball in Alabama...these are just some of the highlights from the last week of another crazy month on planet Earth!

Thanks for watching here and stay safe!


Cloud Lightning

Eastern India braces for impact of major cyclone Phailin - 'very severe cyclonic storm'

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This image provided by the U.S. Naval Research Lab shows Indian Cyclone Phailin taken Friday Oct. 11, 2013 at 6:32 a.m. EDT (10:32 GMT).
Officials ordered tens of thousands of coastal villagers to flee their homes Friday as a massive cyclone - so large it filled nearly the entire Bay of Bengal - gathered strength and headed toward India's eastern seaboard. Officials canceled holy day celebrations and stockpiled emergency supplies in coastal Orissa and Andhra Pradesh states, with forecasters saying Cyclone Phailin will hit the region Saturday evening.

The Indian Meteorological Department warned that Phailin was a "very severe cyclonic storm" that was expected to hit with maximum sustained winds of 210-220 kilometers (130-135 miles) per hour. If the storm continues on its current path without weakening, it is expected to cause large-scale power and communications outages and shut down road and rail links, officials said. There would also be extensive damage to crops.

Ice Cube

100mph winds to batter Britain! Indian summer ends as UK set for '-3C Arctic plunge'

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© PAForecasters warned of a “dramatic change” from today

Forecasters warned of a "dramatic change" from today as warm conditions make way for a Polar blast.

They said fierce winds at sea will whip up huge waves triggering potentially disruptive flooding in coastal regions.

The Met Office issued a severe weather warning for winds in the East today and warned of 100mph gusts in the Scottish Mountains.

The Environment Agency warned people not to walk along coastal paths and avoid driving on sea roads at risk of flooding.

It warned 5ft waves along the east coast will send waves crashing over seafront promenades and flooding local roads.

The mercury is expected to plunge today bringing temperatures "dramatically" lower than enjoyed over the past week.

The Met Office warned parts of Scotland will shiver in overnight lows of -3C (27F) while thermometers in the South will struggle to rise out of single figures.

Spokesman Laura Young said: "On Thursday the risk is of strong winds and waves, which could cause disruption in eastern coastal regions.

"There is also the risk of hail and some potentially heavy rainfall mainly in the East and South-east, people should be aware of coastal disruption.

"Over the next couple of days it is going to feel much colder and there is the risk of localised gales.

"Over the high ground in the hills there will be some wintry showers and a dusting of snow."

Cloud Precipitation

Typhoon Fitow wreaks havoc in E China province

Flood in China
© AP
Wenzhou - Ten people were killed and five others remain missing in Wenzhou City after Typhoon Fitow brought heavy rains to east China's Zhejiang province, local authorities announced on Wednesday.

Among the dead, eight died of electric shocks, including a family of three, according to a statement from the government of Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province.

Two men died after their car plunged into a river, said the statement.

Typhoon Fitow, which made landfall in Fujian Province, just south of Zhejiang, early on Monday, has triggered heavy rain in the region, inundating roads and houses, and causing river breaches and power failures.

As of 11 a.m. on Wednesday, 254,746 households in Zhejiang Province had no power supply. About 10,000 workers are repairing electrical facilities in the province.

The typhoon has affected 7 million people in 11 cities in Zhejiang, causing direct economic losses of 12.4 billion yuan (2 billion U.S.dollars)as of 10 p.m. on Monday, according to the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters.

The county-level city of Yuyao, which is administered by Ningbo City, has been severely affected in the recent typhoon-triggered storms.h As of Wednesday, over 70 percent of the downtown area of the city had been flooded. Over 830,000 people from 21 townships in the city have been affected, though no casualties have been reported so far, according to the local government.

Cloud Lightning

Lightning strikes killed 32 people, including nine children, during weekend storms in India

Lightning
© Unknown
Lightning strikes killed 32 people, including nine children, during storms at the weekend in India.

It is not rare for lightning to strike someone when it is monsoon season, but that the sheer number of the death toll is extremely rare.

The strikes killed people in the eastern Indian states of Bihar and Jharkhand.

'About 24 people including seven children were killed Saturday and Sunday by bolts of lightning across Bihar,' State Disaster Management Minister Renu Kumari Kushwaha said.

In neighbouring Jharkhand, eight people including two children died, Puran Mahto, an official in the state's Dhanbad district said.

Torrential rains accompanied by strong winds uprooted trees, damaged houses and brought down power cables across the region on Sunday night.

Cow

October blizzard taking a toll on livestock

dead livestock
© Erick In The Woods
Along SD Hwy 212, dead cattle are being found. There are reports of losses of over 200 head from just one herd, south of Dupree, SD. Travelers came across this scene near the Gerald Woodward ranch, Dupree.
Sturgis , South Dakota - The cost to what is being called one of the worst blizzards in South Dakota's history will reach into the multi-millions. In Sturgis and other Black Hills communities, collapsed roofs, extended power outages, damage from felled trees, the cost of around the clock emergency response divisions and the equipment needed; and the extra crews that are being brought in - will be the norm in the foreseeable future.

But in the vast expanse of the foothills and prairies north, east, and west of the Black Hills, a huge economic impact is beginning to emerge. Lost livestock, drifting with 60 mile per hour wind gusts and blinding snow, were driven with the storm, trailing over buried fence lines. Those that made it through the blizzard, are still lost or stranded. And reports of hundreds of head of livestock that didn't make it, are beginning to come in.

According to Meade County Dispatch, owners are attempting to locate lost livestock. Being hampered by poor road conditions and unable to reach livestock once located, is slowing not only that process but an accurate count of how much producers have lost.

Cloud Precipitation

Typhoon Fitow slams Okinawa on way to China followed by Danas

Typhoon Fitow
© JRC
Winds gusting to 55 meters per second (125 miles per hour) halted air traffic and caused power outages on Okinawa's Miyakojima island as Typhoon Fitow blew through on course for northern Taiwan and China's coast, with a second storm following close behind.

Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau hoisted a typhoon warning as Fitow neared the island's north coast today, while Chinese maritime authorities issued red alerts, the highest level, for storm tides and waves, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Fitow was heading west-northwest at about 20 kilometers per hour, some 220 miles (350 kilometers) north of Taipei at 1 p.m. Japan time, the Japan Meteorological Agency reported. Its central atmospheric pressure was 960 hectopascals with maximum sustained winds of 40 meters per second.

Typhoon Danas, with a central pressure of 970 hectopascals, was about 650 miles southwest of Okinawa's main island, moving west-northwest at 35 kilometers per hour, according to JMA. The storm is forecast to curve northward after passing over Okinawa tomorrow, brushing past the southwest coast of Kyushu and southern South Korea before turning northeast through the Sea of Japan.

Fitow caused blackouts of 6,800 homes in Miyakojima city, public broadcaster NHK reported. It also forced delays and cancellations of some flights to and from Okinawa, All Nippon Airways Co. and Japan Airlines Co. said on their websites today.

Fitow is forecast to make landfall between east China's Fujian and Zhejiang provinces tomorrow morning, Xinhua said. Storm tides are expected to rise as much as 2 meters above normal along the coast, Xinhua said.

Cloud Lightning

Evacuations ordered as Tropical Storm Karen nears U.S. coast

Authorities issued mandatory evacuation orders for low-lying areas south of New Orleans on Friday as a weakened Tropical Storm Karen closed in on the Louisiana coast after disrupting U.S. energy output in the Gulf of Mexico. Karen's top winds were holding at 50 mph (85 kph), down from 65 mph (105 kph) a day earlier, and National Hurricane Center forecasters in Miami said the storm looked less likely to strengthen into a hurricane.
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Oil output in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico had been cut in half as oil and gas firms shut platforms and evacuated some workers in preparation for the storm, which could still strengthen before landfall. The Gulf accounts for about 19 percent of U.S. oil production and 6 percent of natural gas output.

The mayor of Grand Isle, Louisiana, clamped a mandatory evacuation on the popular vacation and fishing destination on a barrier island south of New Orleans. Evacuations were also ordered in Lafourche Parish in the south, and residents in much of Plaquemines Parish, southeast of New Orleans, were told to be out of their homes before nightfall.

The Sand Dollar Motel and Marina on Grand Isle was a frenzy of activity on Friday as boaters scrambled to get their vessels to higher ground and marina employees secured the premises. "It's already pouring here and the wind is real strong," said marina owner Susan Gaspard, who added that squalls had been hitting all morning.

Karen's projected path shifted slightly westward and it was expected to move ashore over Louisiana on Saturday night and into Mississippi on Sunday.

Snowflake Cold

"Unseasonably" intense fall snow storm hits U.S. upper Midwest - up to 3 feet of snow and high winds expected

Powerful storms crawled into the Midwest on Friday, dumping heavy snow in South Dakota, spawning a tornado in Nebraska and threatening dangerous thunderstorms from Oklahoma to Wisconsin.

A foot of snow had fallen in western South Dakota's scenic Black Hills by early Friday, bringing blizzard conditions that shuttered roadways and even canceled a polka bar crawl in an Old West tourist town. Residents were bracing for as much as 3 feet of snow, along with wind gusts of up to 70 mph, from an unseasonably intense fall snow storm.
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© State of WyomingTraffic cam from I-80 in Wyoming
The typically bustling Pilot Travel Center just west of Rapid City was like a ghost town Friday morning, as drivers were likely heeding forecasters' warnings to stay off the roads, said store general manager John Barton.

The blowing snow was picking up outside the truck stop along Interstate 90, which was closed for about 30 miles thanks to a storm gaining strength as it moved in from Colorado and Wyoming. Conditions were expected to deteriorate throughout the day.