Storms
S


Cloud Lightning

US: Heavy rains have California farmers more concerned

Maggie Creamer
Lodi News
Sat, 26 Mar 2011 11:00 UTC
Image
© Maggie Creamer/News-SentinelTom Gotelli, plant manager with O-G Packing, holds cherry blossoms in an orchard Friday, March 25, 2011. With the rain and wind during the past weeks, Gotelli is worried bees will not pollinate some of the blossoms and other plants could suffer from blossom rot.
In the past week, Lodi has received three times more rain than normal, causing everyone to pull out their rain coats and farmers to worry about how some of their crops are faring.

From March 18 through 4 p.m. Friday, the Stockton area received 1.8 inches of rain, said John Feerick, a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather.com, a private forecasting service. The average precipitation for that week is usually 0.55 inches.

According to News-Sentinel records, Lodi received even more rain - 3.30 inches during that time period.

Below is a summary of how this is affecting the Lodi area.
Read More...
Umbrella

US: Huntsville area due day-long rain and possible severe weather

Lee Roop
Al News
Sat, 26 Mar 2011 05:15 UTC
Alabama - It's a good day to clean the closets, watch basketball or shop for a new raincoat, because the wet stuff will fall all day.

It'll fall tonight, too, if that affects your plans.

Having a radio, TV or smart phone nearby is also a good idea, because the National Weather Service says high winds, hail and even tornadoes are possible this afternoon.

The dangerous weather isn't a sure thing, meteorologist Dan Dixon said Friday, but prolonged rain is certain. Look for 1 to 2 inches in most areas and more in some places before the rain ends overnight or early Sunday morning.

"We're not looking for widespread flooding," Dixon said, "but could see some nuisance flooding." Translation: If the road near your house floods when it pours, it may flood today. Be prepared.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Tsunami of Sand Tortures Kuwait

Awad Al-Farhan & Mohammad Al-Enezi
Arab Times
Sat, 26 Mar 2011 15:26 UTC
Sandstorm
© Yasser Iqbal AhmedA wall of dust seen rising in the distance before it hit Mangaf coastal area Friday evening.
Kuwait City: A menacing black dust storm hit the country at a speed of over 50 kms per hour Friday evening, plunging the country into complete darkness before sunset. The storm reduced visibility to almost zero in some areas of the country and disrupted mobile phone services for almost 30 minutes as panicked citizens and residents tried to call to check the safety of their loved ones.

The Operations Room of the Interior Ministry received more than 200 calls for assistance; the most urgent among them was from a boat stranded in mid-sea. Nearly 100 female students were onboard and were on their way to Failaka Island when the storm came threatening. Security forces and Coast Guard members sprung into action and managed to bring the boat safely to shore.

To add to all the panic, rumors about an enormous fire near the beach spread like wild fire and subsided only when it became evident that the black cloud was a dust blanket and not smoke from a fire.

The dust storm first entered Jahra and moved towards the Capital area and then to the rest of the areas. Meteorologist at the Weather Forecast Department of the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Issa Ramadan said northwesterly winds blowing at a speed of more than 50 kms per hour caused the dust storm. He and astronomer Saleh Al-Ojairi confirmed that there was almost zero visibility in some areas of the country.
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

US: Flooding Damages N. Calif. Businesses and Homes

Sudin Thanawala
San Francisco Chronicle/ AP
Wed, 23 Mar 2011 15:28 UTC
Image
© KGO-TV San FranciscoThe Bay Area is beginning to clean up from Thursday's storm as residents brace for more problems.
Crews on California's Central Coast were working Friday to reopen a highway through the Big Sur area and repair damage from a flood that forced the evacuation of a mobile home park, as the region got a respite from a powerful storm that brought heavy wind and rain.

Residents in the 45-unit Pacific Cove Mobile Home Park in Santa Cruz County were ordered to evacuate on Thursday when a failed drainage pipe tore a roughly 15-by-100 foot hole in the ground near homes and sent a 3-foot surge of water into Capitola Village, authorities said.

"The water was moving really rapidly and carrying debris, garbage cans, kids' toys, chairs," Pamela Bone, 52, a resident of the mobile home park said. "My neighbor and I were looking across from each other at the river running between us."

Bone said the area around her home was left caked in mud but the home itself had remained dry.

"I think we're the lucky ones," she said.

Four of the homes have been red-tagged, said Derek Johnson, a city spokesman, and crews were trying to restore electricity and other utilities to the area. The gas was not expected to be back on for at least another week.

Capitola is just south of Santa Cruz, where this month's tsunami caused millions of dollars of damage to the harbor.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

California's Tornado Alley? Third Twister This Year for Colusa County

Brett Israel
OurAmazingPlanet
Thu, 24 Mar 2011 17:22 UTC


Northern California is looking a lot like Tornado Alley these days.

Just north of Sacramento, two reported weak tornadoes struck this week in Colusa County, which did not have a single tornado report from 1950 to 2010, according to the Weather Channel. Colusa has now had three reported tornadoes this year and four in the past five months. That's some serious action for a state that averages about five tornadoes per year.

No witnesses saw the touchdown of yesterday's (March 23) reported EF-0 tornado - the weakest ranking with winds between 65 and 85 mph (105 and 137 kph) - but people did see a funnel cloud and six homes reported damage, the Sacramento Bee reported. Another funnel cloud was captured on YouTube on Monday (March 21).
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

US: Tornadoes Rip Through Western Pennsylvania


MSNBC
Thu, 24 Mar 2011 10:16 UTC
Tornadoes Rip Through Western Pennsylvania

Read More...
Igloo

US: Storm brings mix of snow, sleet, ice to Michigan


The Times Hearld
Wed, 23 Mar 2011 20:26 UTC
Image
A storm packing a mix of snow, sleet and ice has created near-blizzard conditions and hazardous roadways in parts of Michigan.

The National Weather Service says that as of Wednesday morning 4-7 inches of snow fell in Saginaw and Tuscola counties, while the Flint area got more than 4 inches of sleet and snow. A glaze of ice also was seen in some areas. In the northern Lower Peninsula, the Houghton Lake area got up to 6 inches.

Rain fell in the Detroit area, with temperatures at or above freezing. Forecasters warned that could change later in the day.

By Wednesday afternoon, forecasters say an area from Ludington to Mount Pleasant could get 5-10 inches of snow and sleet by the time the storm passes.
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

US: Officials surveying Iowa tornado, storm damage


DesmoinesRegister.com
Wed, 23 Mar 2011 20:18 UTC
iowa,tornado
© James SkiversJames Skivers captures a tornado touchdown near Cromwell, Iowa on Tuesday, March 22, 2011.
The National Weather Service will send teams to Madison, Cass and Adair counties today to survey tornado and storm damage. The results will be available late this afternoon.

"We don't have any reports of injuries," Kenny Podrazik, a meteorologist with the Weather Service, said Wednesday morning.

Reports of property damage are coming in from areas all along the path of the storms. "We will know a lot more about the extent of the damage this afternoon," Podrazik said.
Read More...
Snowman

US: Defying spring, snow hits Northeast, Midwest


MSNBC
Wed, 23 Mar 2011 20:10 UTC
Albany, New York - Spring can't seem to upstage winter in the Northeast and parts of the nation's midsection, as a far-reaching storm on Wednesday brought up to a foot of snow to areas from the Dakotas to upstate New York.


Scores of schools closed or delayed opening in Wisconsin, northeastern Pennsylvania, upstate New York and northwest New Jersey because of the weather. Authorities in Wisconsin blamed icy conditions for the death of a woman whose car skidded off the road.

Communities in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains were expecting more than 11 inches by the time the storm moved out late Wednesday, The National Weather Service reported.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

US: At Least 32 Musk Oxen Freeze to Death After Winter Storm Produces Tidal Surge, Flooding


Associated Press
Tue, 22 Mar 2011 20:45 UTC
Frozen Oxen
© Associated Press / National Park ServiceIn this March 15, 2011 photo provided by the National Park Service, the carcass of a musk ox is shown frozen in ice at Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Alaska. The frozen musk oxen were found on Tuesday, March 15, 2011, during a routine flight to track at least four musk oxen that had been fitted with collars to conduct research.
Anchorage, Alaska - At least 32 musk oxen were found frozen in the ice on the northern coast of Alaska's Seward Peninsula, killed in the aftermath of a tidal surge and flooding from a winter storm blowing in off the Chukchi Sea, the National Park Service said Tuesday.

Researchers found the frozen animals March 15 while flying over the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve to track at least four of the animals, which had been outfitted with radio collars.

"Basically, the radio collars led us to the dead animals," National Park Service spokesman John Quinley said.

Officials planned to fly over the area again Tuesday to determine the fate of another 23 animals in the herd. It wasn't immediately clear if any of those were fitted with collars.

"We didn't see any carcasses, but we didn't see them walking around," he said.

The remainder of the herd could be buried deeper in the snow. If so, the bodies wouldn't be visible until spring.
Read More...