Storms
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Cloud Lightning

Residents amazed by severe hail storm damage in Hitchcook, Texas

People in Hitchcock spent the day patching up windows on their homes and cars after an intense hail storm pounded the community Tuesday night.

People said the hail was the size of softballs.


"I didn't know what to think," Betty Whittington said.

Hail busted out the rear window of her SUV.

Surveillance video captured images of the hail falling at the Bostonian Inn on Highway 6.

The storm also had strong winds.

"It sounded like the house was fixing to fly away," said Hardy Whittington.

Snowflake

Record April snow: 10.5 inches falls in Syracuse, New York State

New York snow
© Tami Galesky via WKTVLake effect snow fell across central New York on Tuesday, including here in the Town of Grant, NY.
According to the National Weather Service office in Binghamton, New York, a record daily maximum snowfall was set in Syracuse, New York on Tuesday. Measurements indicate that a record snowfall of 10.5 inches fell at Syracuse Hancock Field yesterday. This crushes the old record for April 2nd of 1.4 inches, set in 1991.

In addition, the 10.5 inches also breaks the one-day calendar day record for the entire month of April in Syracuse. The previous record was 7.1 inches on April 4, 1975.

Attention

Update: 'Tsunami of rain' hits Buenos Aires - Death toll rises to 54 as millions left without power and water - Event was 'deluge without historical precedent'

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Record-breaking flash-flooding has drowned countless people in Buenos Aires, Argentina
The death toll from the heavy rains and flash floods that have pounded Buenos Aires City and La Plata, capital of the Buenos Aires province have climbed to at least 54, and could increase, Argentine authorities said on Wednesday.

The "tsunami of rain," as it has been called, has forced thousands of people to be evacuated and caused significant damage to homes and infrastructure. An estimated 600,000 people in the area have no power, drinking water or working phone lines.

The Argentine government is working with provincial and local authorities to evacuate homes which in some La Plata neighborhoods were flooded with more than 1.5 meters of water.

Of the 48 confirmed fatalities in La Plata, 60 kilometers south of the national capital, only 24 have been identified, said Buenos Aires provincial security minister Ricardo Casal, adding that among the identified dead there was just one young person, a 21-year-old man, and all the rest were people over age 50.

Comment: Keep in mind that 'the worst flooding in over a half-century' hit Buenos Aires just four months ago in December 2012...


Cloud Precipitation

Record-breaking deluge hits Buenos Aires, leaving five dead

Torrential rains in Argentina's capital have triggered flooding responsible for at least five deaths.

A record 6.1 inches (155 millimeters) of rain fell in just two hours in Buenos Aires on Tuesday. That's equal to all of normal rainfall for April.

The storm caused power outages, flooded subway lines and turned the streets into rivers.

Emergency officials are asking people to stay at home after a subway worker died when he was electrocuted after stepping on wet railway lines and after three men and a woman drowned to death.

Service on a subway line has been interruupted, and trains on other lines are delayed. Officials are asking people to avoid driving to prevent accidents.

The Argentine National Metereological Service expects more storms Tuesday in Buenos Aires and says heavy rains will continue until Friday.


Cloud Precipitation

Continuous hailstorms cause extensive damage in northern Vietnam

Vietman hailstorm
© UnknownHailstorms collapsed several houses in Lao Cai Province
Continually occurring hailstorms in the northern mountainous region in recent days have killed one person, injured 44, left tens of thousands of houses roofless or damaged, and destroyed thousands of hectares of rice and vegetable crops.

Hailstorms also hit provinces like Lao Cai, Ha Giang, Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Thai Nguyen, Son La, Tuyen Quang, Thanh Hoa and Nghe An. Of these, Lao Cai was the worst hit.

After recently being slammed by a cold front, Meo Vac District in the northeastern province of Ha Giang experienced a 15-20 minute hailstorm on March 31, which blew roofs off nearly 100 houses and devastated almost 700 hectares of plants and vegetables.

Hailstones of 6-7cms were accompanied by rain and thunderstorm. Lung Pu and Pai Lung Communes and Meo Vac Town suffered the most.

Cloud Precipitation

At least 11 dead as flash floods ravage Mauritius

A day of mourning has been declared in Mauritius after at least 11 people lost their lives in savage flash floods that caught the Indian ocean island by surprise on Saturday.


Most of the dead were caught in an underground car park in the capital Port Louis, and police and rescuers are still looking for survivors two days after 152 millimetres of rain fell in less than two hours.

Windsock

First April 1st US tornado in four years hits northwest Texas

April tornado Silverton, Texas
© Leslie RichardsonRare April 1st tornado touches down near Silverton, Texas.
A rare United States tornado for April 1st touched down in northwestern Texas, causing some damage on Monday.

Storm chasers and the public reported the tornado touched down near the small city of Silverton in Briscoe County, just after 4:30 p.m. Monday.

The National Weather Service reported the tornado caused damage to a metal barn in its path. Power poles were also snapped and blown over as winds were recorded up to 66 mph with the tornadic storm.

Snowflake Cold

Blizzard grips Poland, leaves 100,000 without power

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© Getty ImagesOver 100,000 people in Poland have been left without power as the country battles with a paralysing blanket of snow that also brought chaos to its transport system.
Heavy snow falls dumped as much as 10 inches across the country on Sunday, and more is forecast for Monday as an unusually prolonged winter maintains a severe grip over the Central European country.

In an Easter address to Poland Bronislaw Komorowski, the Polish president, described the weather as a bad "April Fool's Day joke".

Engineers from electricity companies struggled to restore power to towns and homes after the weight of snow brought power lines down and caused tree branches to snap and bring more lines down. The worst affected regions were to the east and south of Warsaw where as many as 80,000 people were left without power.

Cloud Precipitation

11 killed in flash floods in Mauritius capital

Port Louis, Mauritius - Officials say flash floods blamed on climate change killed at least 11 people in the capital of the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. Officials said most drowned in rivers of water that rose swiftly Saturday in a pedestrian underpass and an underground car park.
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Mauritius has declared a day of national mourning after flash flooding kills at least ten.
Torrential downpours slammed Port Louis. The meteorological office reported 152mm (6 inches) of rain fell in less than an hour. It warned there could be more storms. Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam declared Monday a day of mourning. On national radio Sunday he blamed climate change for the floods.

Bizarro Earth

Incredible North Atlantic storm spans Atlantic Ocean, coast to coast

I'm not sure I've ever seen a storm this big before.
Atlantic Storm
© NASA
The storm shown here stretches west to east from Newfoundland to Portugal. Its southern tail (cold front) extends into the Caribbean and the north side of its comma head touches southern Greenland.

Not only is it big, but it's also super intense - comparable to many category 3 hurricanes. The storm's central pressure, as analyzed by the Ocean Prediction Center, is 953 mb. Estimated peak wave heights are around 25-30 feet.