Storms
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Bangladesh: More rains ahead

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Heavy rains, caused by the active monsoon at different parts of the country, may prolong for one or two days more.

Bazlur Rashid, an official at the Met Office, told bdnews24.com on Friday that the active southwestern monsoon had created deep clouds over the North Bay.

The country's coastal areas, he said, might be affected by heavy winds due to the deep clouds.

The maritime ports of Chittagong, Cox's Bazar and Mongla were advised to keep hoisted local cautionary signal No 3.

Fishing boats and trawlers plying the North Bay were also advised to move cautiously until further instructions.

It is feared that tidal waves, surging 1-3 feet higher than usual ones due to the southwestern monsoon and the appearance of the new moon, could flood the coastal areas of Cox's Bazar, Chittagong, Noakhali, Feni, Lakshmipur, Chandpur, Comilla, Bhola, Barisal, Patuakhali, Barguna, Pirojpur, Jhalakati, Bagerhat, Khulna, Satkhira, and adjacent islands and chars, Rashid said.

Cloud Lightning

U.S.: Storm pounds Chicago area with hail, causes power outages

Violent storms pelted the area with rain and golf ball-sized hail Thursday night, leaving more than 100,000 ComEd customers without power.

The "supercell" storm hit shortly after 9 p.m. The south suburbs had about 56,000 ComEd customers without electricity. About 16,000 customers did not have power in Chicago and near west suburbs.

The severe storm collapsed part of the roof at the conference center at Illinios Beach State Park and felled trees and snapped utility poles, knocking out power in Waukegan, Beach Park, Zion and Winthrop Harbor and as far north as Racine.

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US: Falling Tree Kills Wisconsin Man in Severe Hail Storm

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© Abel Uribe/Chicago TribuneGolf ball-sized hail that fell in the Little Village neighborhood (Chicago) Thursday evening.
A powerful storm system raced through the upper Midwest Thursday night, killing a Wisconsin man when a tree collapsed onto his motorcycle, pelting Chicago skyscrapers with golf ball-sized hail and packing winds so strong they spun a grounded military cargo plane.

Several injuries were reported in Kenosha, Wis., where winds between 70 and 80 mph downed or damaged hundreds of trees and knocked out power to some 22,000 homes and businesses by early Friday, authorities said.

The 31-year-old man who died was riding his motorcycle on a local road at 8:12 p.m. CDT when he was struck by the tree, according to a news release from the Kenosha County Sheriff's Department. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Two other residents were injured when they touched live electrical wires, and a woman was treated for a broken hip after she was struck by debris from a shed, authorities said.

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South Carolina, US: Heavy Rains Hit Beaufort, Lowcounty

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© Getty Images
In case you missed it, the skies opened up late yesterday throughout Beaufort, the Lowcountry and Coastal Empire.

We don't have specific rain totals for Beaufort, but reports from the surrounding areas show we indeed got hammered.

The National Weather Service in Charleston is reporting rain totals of 2+ inches all around Jasper, but seems Savannah got the worst of it with 5.6 inches at Fort Pulaski and almost 5 inches at Savannah airport.

Today's forecast shows a 30% of more thunderstorms late today and tonight.

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Philippines: 27 Dead, 15 Missing in Davao Flash Flood

The death toll from a flash flood that caught Davao City residents by surprise Tuesday night has now climbed to 27.

Five barangays have also been placed under a state of calamity.

As the local government assesses the damage, the search for the 15 people who are still missing continues.

Weather bureau PAGASA, meanwhile, warns of even more rains in the coming days.

Local officials and residents said the rains began around 10 p.m. Tuesday, with the Balusong river overflowing its banks that led to flashfloods in 4 barangays.

While some residents were able to evacuate in time, many were caught unprepared.

The latest bodies to be found were those of 16-year-old Keizl Tanio, who was seen floating on the bay in front of a resort in Punta Dumalag, and 1-year and 8-month old Rogelio Valderosa from Matina Pangi.

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Tropical Storm Arlene Forms in Gulf

Arlene
© NOAATropical Storm Arlene, the first named storm of the 2011 hurricane season, is expected to affect northeast Mexico.
Tropical Storm Arlene, the first named storm of the 2011 hurricane season, has formed in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico.

At 5 a.m. Wednesday, the center of Tropical Storm Arlene was located about 190 miles east of Tampico, Mexico, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Arlene is moving west-northwest at 8 mph. Maximum sustained winds are near 40 mph, with higher gusts. Some strengthening is forecast, the Weather Service predicted.

Tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 115 miles, mainly to the northeast of the center.

A turn toward the west is forecast during the next day or so, and the center of Arlene is expected to reach the Mexican coast by Thursday. The Mexican government has issued a tropical storm warning for the coast of northeastern Mexico from Barra de Nautla north to Bahia Algodones, the Weather Service said.

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Montana, US: Fast, Strong Storm Knocks Out Power Around Great Falls

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© Ryan Hall/Tribune PhotoA NorthWestern Energy crew works on putting up a downed powerline Tuesday evening on 29th Street and 3rd Avenue North following a storm.
A brief but burly storm moved through Great Falls on Tuesday evening on a northeast trajectory that took it through northcentral Montana.

The storm knocked out power about 6 p.m. Tuesday, affecting around 2,000 customers in the downtown Great Falls area, according to NorthWestern Energy spokeswoman Michelle Sullivan.

The brief outage occurred when wind blew two power lines together. Sullivan said NorthWestern crews responded to several scattered outages Tuesday night all over Great Falls. One was caused by a broken pole, one by a broken power line, and others by trees or branches falling on lines.

As of 9 p.m. Tuesday, firefighters with Great Falls Fire/Rescue said they still were responding to calls related to outages or down power lines.

Sullivan said NorthWestern workers also were sent to repair outages in Portage, Carter and Fort Benton.

"Our crews are pretty busy," she said.

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US: Freak Storm Breaks San Francisco Rainfall Records For June

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© Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesHeavy rain in the North Bay.
A record-breaking rain fell throughout the Bay Area much of the day Tuesday as a hefty storm system doused the region.

While rain was heaviest in the North Bay, the most surprising figures came in San Francisco where Tuesday's rainfall of just over three quarters of an inch marked the most precipitation to fall on the date since 1849 (the year of the earliest recorded rainfall statistics in the entire state) according to KTVU Channel 2 Chief Meteorologist Bill Martin.

Tuesday's rain also lifted monthly totals to make this the second wettest June since the Gold Rush Era.

One positive result of the late rain would be that the saturation of dried brush around the Bay Area should shorted the fire season in the region by about a month, Martin said.

The messy afternoon commute could also be blamed on the unseasonable rainfall as the wet roadways led to accidents and slowed freeway traffic.

In San Francisco, a branch of a tree weighed down by wet leaves split and fell on Hyde Street. The branch narrowly missed parked cars and temporarily stopped cable cars service.

Attention

Canada: Mudslide closes Highway 1 between Chilliwack and Hope

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© The Canadian Press / Jonathan HaywardA mudslide covers Highway 1 east of Chilliwack, B.C. Wednesday, June 29, 2011.
A mudslide hit Highway 1 Wednesday, trapping at least one driver and leaving work crews scrambling to remove debris and eliminate the possibility of further victims.

Front-end loaders and trucks worked into Wednesday night on the stretch of highway between Chilliwack and Hope in an attempt to clear the road before the rush of vacationers descends on the highway for the long weekend.

The slide left a mess five metres deep and 60 metres wide across the eastbound lanes of the highway, about 100 metres from the Herrling Island exit.

"We weren't able to see that there was [anyone else trapped] by foot, but the equipment, as it begins to move the debris will make a determination if there's anyone else impacted," said RCMP Sgt. Peter Thiessen.

"The mudslide is large enough that it could easily cover a number of vehicles and we wouldn't know it until we uncovered them."

A woman whose vehicle was flipped over and pushed against the median escaped with minor injuries, said B.C. Attorney-General and Chilliwack-Hope MLA Barry Penner. Penner toured the site Wednesday afternoon and said cleanup crews began work at about 3:45 p.m., after geotechnical experts concluded the area was safe.

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Alnwick Garden's Himalayan lilies ruined by heavy rain

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© UnknownThe plants would usually be in flower for about three weeks
Gardeners faced a major blow after rare flowers which take seven years to bloom were ruined by storms.

The Himalayan lilies had been cared for by staff at Alnwick Garden, in Northumberland, since 2004 in anticipation of long-awaited blooms.

Head gardener Trevor Jones said heavy rains since the weekend had ripped most of the flowers from their stems.

He said they had started coming into flower at the beginning of last week and would have been a summer highlight.