Storms
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Cloud Lightning

At least 2 die after storm hits Belgium music festival


MSNBC
Thu, 18 Aug 2011 14:40 UTC
Stage equipment dangles in high winds as rain-soaked concertgoers run for cover

A storm has hit an open air music festival east of the capital, killing at least two people, Belgian media reported Thursday.

Video from the Pukkelpop festival near the town of Hasselt showed stage equipment dangling in high winds as rain-soaked concertgoers ran for cover.


Winds toppled trees and blew over the Chateau tent, dining tent and several sponsor booths, said Nieuswblad.be. Heavy rain and hail drove the audience to seek shelter in festival tents. A collapsed metal frame blocked the main entrance, preventing many from leaving when the storm swiftly moved in and dumped up to four inches of rain, witnesses said.

The dead were described as one young man and one adult. At least 11 people with serious injuries were sent to hospitals, The Standard newspaper reported. Others with lesser wounds were treated at a nearby sports hall.

In the smallest tent, the Chateau, the support structure broke, The Standard reported. The boiler-room partly collapsed.
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Cloud Lightning

Flash-flooding across southern Britain as the coast is deluged by a fortnight's rain in 30 MINUTES

Rob Cooper
DailyMail.co.uk
Thu, 18 Aug 2011 10:56 UTC
A mid-summer monsoon-style downpour caused flash flooding across the South today as a fortnight's worth of rain fell in just 30 minutes leaving homes, shops and roads underwater.

The force of the rainwater caused huge cracks to open up along main roads and lifted manhole covers clean off, leading to fountains of water gushing out.

At a beach in Bournemouth - which is normally crowded with holidaymakers at this time of the year - water was flooding off the road, along the beach and into the sea.

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© BNPS.CO.UKI don't like to be beside the seaside: A torrent of water swept onto the beach causing lifeguards to run for cover. If you have any pictures of the downpour, please send them to mailonlinepictures@dailymail.co.uk
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Umbrella

UK: Floods hit Bournemouth

Caroline Davies
The Guardian
Thu, 18 Aug 2011 11:07 UTC
Torrential rain brings flash floods to Dorset resort, with water reaching level of car bonnets in some areas


Torrential rain has drenched residents and holidaymakers in the south coast resort of Bournemouth, causing flash floods and traffic chaos.

Dorset police have reported floodwater up to the level of car bonnets in some areas, with manhole covers lifting and, in one case, a "fountain" of water gushing upwards as a road split under the pressure. The fire brigade dealt with more than 100 incidents in the area over a two-hour period.

Bournemouth's Central Gardens and Boscombe Gardens were both underwater after heavy storms accompanied by thunder and lightning. Parts of Poole and Christchurch were also affected.

The storms hit on the first day of the Bournemouth Air Festival, with emergency calls starting to come in between 10.30am and 11am on Thursday.

Dorset police said the flooding was predominantly in central Bournemouth. Roads had to be closed and several vehicles broke down.
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Cloud Lightning

Pakistan PM Declares Disaster Areas Following Monsoon Rains

Mark Dunphy
Irish Weather Online
Wed, 17 Aug 2011 11:28 UTC
Monsoon rains have resulted in serious flooding in Pakistan's southern Sindh Province. A drain breach in Badin District left residents marooned on dry spots separated by high water.

The flooding in southern Pakistan affected 100 villages and more than 200,000 people, according to news reports. Pakistan's prime minister declared parts of the region disaster areas and pledged thousands of tents to provide temporary shelter.

Pakistan typically receives most of its moisture between July and September. Despite some cloud cover, these images, acquired one month apart, show significant changes to the landscape. In mid-August, flood water sits on areas that had been dry a month earlier. Although conditions remain relatively dry around the city of Hyderabad, flooding is obvious around the city of Badin.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite captured these images on August 16, 2011 (top), and July 17, 2011 (bottom). The images show southern Pakistan, near the coast and near the border with India.
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© NASA images courtesy MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center.Both images use a combination of visible and infrared light to increase contrast between water and land. Water ranges in color from electric blue to navy. Vegetation is green, and bare ground is pink-beige. Clouds are pale blue-green.
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© NASA images courtesy MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center.
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Cloud Lightning

US: New York Breaks City's Rainfall Record with Nearly Eight Inches Soaking City

Barry Paddock, Sam Levin and Helen Kennedy
Daily News
Sun, 14 Aug 2011 15:33 UTC
New York broke an all-time record for a one-day rainfall Sunday as up to 8 inches of water soaked the city, snarling trains and flooding roadways.


By 9 p.m., 7.7 inches of rain had fallen at Kennedy Airport.

It was the most recorded there in a single day since the National Weather Service began keeping records 116 years ago.
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Attention

US: Governor - Wind Gust That Fell Indiana Stage a 'Fluke'

Tom LoBianco
The Associated Press
Sun, 14 Aug 2011 00:00 UTC

The wind gust that toppled a stage at the Indiana State Fair Saturday night, killing five and injuring dozens of fans waiting for the country band Sugarland to perform, was a "fluke" that no one could have anticipated, the governor and others said Sunday.

The wind was far stronger than that in other areas of the fairgrounds, said Dan McCarthy, chief meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Indiana. He estimated the gust at 60 to 70 mph.

Gov. Mitch Daniels said precautions were taken before the storm, but no one could have foreseen such a strong gust focused in one place. Some witnesses have said that while a storm was expected, rain hadn't begun to fall when the wind sent the stage rigging falling into the crowd of terrified fans.

"This is the finest event of its kind in America, this is the finest one we've ever had, and this desperately sad, as far as I can tell fluke event doesn't change that," Daniels said.

Four people were killed when the metal scaffolding that holds lights and other stage equipment fell, and a fifth died overnight at a hospital, Indiana State Police 1st Sgt. Dave Bursten said. The county coroner's office identified the victims as Alina Bigjohny, 23, of Fort Wayne; Christina Santiago, 29, of Chicago; Tammy Vandam, 42, of Wanatah; and two Indianapolis residents: 49-year-old Glenn Goodrich and 51-year-old Nathan Byrd. Byrd died overnight.
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Arrow Down

Indiana, US: Stage Collapse Kills At Least 4 and Injures Dozens Before Sugarland Concert

Cliff Brunt
The Associated Press
Sun, 14 Aug 2011 06:22 UTC
Sugarland concert
© The Indianapolis Star/Matt KrygerFans waiting to see Sugarland run away after high winds blew the stage over at the Indiana State Fair Grandstands, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2011, in Indianapolis.
A stage collapsed during a powerful storm at the Indiana State Fair on Saturday, sending steel scaffolding into the terrified crowd below and killing at least four people among fans awaiting a performance by the country band Sugarland.

The collapse came moments after an announcer warned of the advancing storm and gave instructions on what to do in event of an evacuation. Witnesses said a wall of dirt, dust and rain blew up quickly like a dust bowl and a burst of high wind toppled the rigging. People ran amid screams and shouts, desperate to get out of the way.

Hundreds of concert-goers rushed afterward amid the chaos to tend to the injured, many with upraised arms seeking to lift heavy beams, lights and other equipment that blew down onto the crowd. Many of the injured were in the VIP section closest to the stage. Emergency crews set up a triage center in a tunnel below the grandstand at the Indianapolis fairgrounds.

About 40 people were injured, including at least one child, WTHR reported. Witnesses reported seeing many people with head and neck injuries and broken bones.
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Cloud Lightning

New Zealand braces for a snowstorm for the record books: Snow, ice 'could last all week'


The Press
Sat, 13 Aug 2011 14:05 UTC
Image
© NASA
Canterbury is bracing for what could be a snowstorm for the record books.

Forecasters warn a major storm is about to be unleashed across much of the country.

Frigid Antarctic air has left the Ross Ice Shelf and is heading for the South Island.

Bitter weather could hit Canterbury between tomorrow afternoon and Wednesday, when snow flurries to low levels and cold southerly winds may ease.

However, snow and ice are likely to be a problem all week, with heavy frosts likely to stop the snow melting as quickly as it did after last month's fall.

MetService and Blue Skies Weather predict that gales and heavy snow will combine to cause chaos for Canterbury farmers, workers, schools, motorists and travellers over the next few days, with up to 20 centimetres settling close to sea level, 40cm on Banks Peninsula and inland, and more than 50cm above about 200m by Wednesday.
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Cloud Lightning

Russia: Ball lightning strikes German tourist bus near Kaliningrad


RIA Novosti
Thu, 11 Aug 2011 14:55 UTC
Image
© Unknown
Ball lightning struck a bus with German tourists near Russia's western city of Kaliningrad, chairwoman of the regional tourist association Tamara Toropova said on Thursday.

None of the 19 passengers on board the bus was injured when the ball lightning struck the bus during a thunderstorm on Monday.
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Bizarro Earth

Australia: Victoria - Floods Inundate Gippsland Farms, Close Roads

Darren Gray
The Age
Thu, 11 Aug 2011 06:00 UTC
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© Wayne TaylorFollowing heavy rainfall the Thomson Dam is 46.3 per cent full, it's highest level in almost six years.

Extremely heavy rainfall this week in eastern Victoria has caused widespread flooding of Gippsland farms, closed local roads and threatens to affect townships in low-lying areas as rivers swell.

But the rainfall has been a boon for the Thomson Dam where 85 millimetres fell in 24 hours, pushing the dam to 46.3 per cent full, its highest level in almost six years.

Seven locations in Gippsland and East Gippsland received more than 100 millimetres of rain in the 24 hours to 9am yesterday, with Reeves Knob recording the highest total, a massive 137 millimetres.

Late yesterday major flood warnings were in place for the Mitchell and Thomson rivers and moderate warnings for the Avon, Latrobe and Macalister rivers. Widespread flooding has occurred on farmland at Cowwarr, Denison, Nambrok and Lindenow, but no homes have been inundated.
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