Storms
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Cloud Lightning

Centre of Hurricane Leslie now expected to hit Newfoundland on Tuesday


Yahoo! News - Canada
Sun, 09 Sep 2012 00:00 UTC
Halifax - The Canadian Hurricane Centre says the likelihood of tropical storm Leslie's centre making landfall in Newfoundland is quite high.

But Chris Fogarty, the centre's manager, says it's difficult to predict where the storm will land because its circulation is about 800 kilometres in diameter.

Fogarty says the storm's effects will be far-reaching and winds could gust up to 100 km/h when it hits on Tuesday.

He says Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and Newfoundland could see 100 to 150 millimetres of rain over about 36 hours.

The centre says the small Category 2 hurricane Michael will likely be pushed northward out of the area by Leslie.

Fogarty says Leslie is expected to reach hurricane status sometime today or Monday, but he could not say if it will maintain that status for its arrival in Atlantic Canada.

Source: The Canadian Press
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Cloud Lightning

Tornado Strikes Beachfront Neighborhood in New York City

Karen Matthews
Associated Press
Sat, 08 Sep 2012 00:00 UTC
Image
© The Associated Press/Joey MureThis photo shows a storm cloud over the Breezy Point area of Queens section of New York, on Saturday, Sept. 8, 2012.
A tornado swept out of the sea and hit a beachfront neighborhood in New York City on Saturday, hurling debris in the air, knocking out power and startling residents who once thought of twisters as a Midwestern phenomenon.

Firefighters were still assessing the damage, but no serious injuries were reported and the area affected by the storm appeared small.

Videos taken by bystanders showed a funnel cloud sucking up water, then sand, and then small pieces of buildings, as it moved through the Breezy Point section of the Rockaway peninsula in Queens.

Residents had advance notice. The National Weather Service had issued a tornado warning for Queens and Brooklyn at around 10:40 a.m. The storm took people by surprise anyway when it struck about 30 minutes later.

"I was showing videos of tornadoes to my 4-year-old on my phone, and two minutes later, it hit," said neighborhood resident Peter Maloney. "Just like they always say, it sounded like a train."

In the storm's wake, the community of seaside bungalows was littered with broken flower pots, knocked-down fences and smashed windows.
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Cloud Lightning

Deaths as storm sweeps mobile home into Oklahoma ravine


NBC News
Sat, 08 Sep 2012 03:42 UTC
Image
© Jeff Roberson/APStorm clouds roll in over Busch Stadium as the St. Louis Cardinals prepare to take on the Milwaukee Brewers in a baseball game on Friday night.
Powerful storms rumbled across parts of the Midwest and the southern Plains late Friday evening, leaving a total of four people dead.

The storms left damaged homes, downed trees and thousands of power outages in their wake as they swept across Oklahoma, weather.com reported.

Two adults and an infant were found dead inside their destroyed mobile home after it was blown into a ravine in Nowata County, according to Doug Sonenburg, undersheriff of Nowata County.

The storms sent high winds through much of northeastern Oklahoma late Friday, causing road closures and evacuations in some areas.

Public Service Company of Oklahoma reported 17,790 customers without power, and at least 2,885 Oklahoma Gas and Electric customers were without electricity.
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Gear

Massive dust cloud billows over Phoenix skies


NBC Today
Fri, 07 Sep 2012 10:11 UTC
In Phoenix, Ariz., a massive dust cloud more than 2,500 feet high and stretching some 30 miles blew through the area. The phenomenon, known as a haboob, is becoming a familiar sight in the skies around Arizona. TODAY's Tamron Hall reports.

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Cloud Lightning

Hurricane Leslie and Category 3 Michael stir in the Atlantic Ocean


NYDailyNews.com
Fri, 07 Sep 2012 08:50 UTC
Hurricane Michael has strengthened to a Category 3 storm, the first one of the Atlantic hurricane season. The hurricane is not an immediate threat to land. Michael's maximum speed sustained winds increased to 115 mph early Thursday. Michael is centered about 1,020 miles west-southwest of the Azores and is moving northeast near 7 mph.
Image
© Weather Underground
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Cloud Lightning

Wild storm dumps torrential rain, hail on Perth, South-West Australia - more coming


PerthNow
Tue, 04 Sep 2012 17:11 UTC
hail
© PerthNow / Twitter
Thousands of homes were without power across Perth this afternoon in the aftermath of a cold front that lashed the city today.

A Western Power spokeswoman said thousands of homes had without power at different times during the day, but the number was steadily decreasing.

Midland, Upper Swan and Pickering Brook were the worst affected areas.

Many home owners are tonight counting the cost of damage caused by the storm.
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Cloud Lightning

Severe weather watch after 'amazing' storm in Christchurch, New Zealand


ONE News
Wed, 05 Sep 2012 16:51 UTC
lightnong storm Christchurch
© Aaron Campbell Photography Lightning display in Christchurch.
A severe weather watch is in place for Canterbury today, after Christchurch was hit by freakish weather last night leaving conservatories damaged and lifting a roof off a house.

Emergency services in Christchurch were kept on their toes when lightning, thunder, rain and hail the size of golf balls hit the region shortly after 6pm. It finished just after 7pm.

MetService said that the weather watch covers the possibility of northwesterlies gusting to severe gale strength at times in inland parts of Canterbury, Otago and Southland from late Wednesday through Thursday.
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Cloud Lightning

Incredible video: man narrowly misses being struck by lightning

Deacon Greg Kandra
Patheos
Mon, 03 Sep 2012 22:00 UTC
Unbelievable.It happened in West Yorkshire in Northern England. I suspect that after it happened, he not only had to replace his car window, but probably had to replace his underwear, too.

Details:
A man cheated death by seconds when a freak lightning bolt sent a tree branch hurtling through the rear of his car. Bernard Williams had just removed his gym bag from the boot during a rainstorm when the bolt hit an adjacent willow tree catapulting a 10-foot long piece of wood across the road. The branch smashed into the car's back window - directly where Bernard had been standing - and ended up in the alleyway next to the house after taking a tail light with it.

CCTV footage taken on the property's security camera shows Bernard arriving back home in torrential rain and then grabbing his gym bag before running towards the front door of the house. But just four seconds after leaving the car there is a massive flash as lighting hits the tree and blows it apart. Jagged pieces of wood flew across the road hitting the car and neighboring houses.

Bernard, 55, initially thought the explosion on Wednesday afternoon was a sonic boom but his wife Alison, who was in her car waiting to pull on the drive, saw how close he came to being killed. "If he had been stood at the car four seconds later he would almost certainly have been killed or maimed," she said.
See how it happened below.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning kills two young girls


Newsroom Panama
Mon, 03 Sep 2012 22:07 UTC
Two young girls, one of them pregnant, were struck by lightning and killed on Sunday September 2 in the remote community of La Chumicosa on Sunday. The girls, aged 10 and 16 were sitting under a mango tree watching a football game in Olá district of Cocle. Witnesses said there had been drizzle, but no stormswhen lightning struck the tree, killing the two girls.

The local deputy who visited the scene, called for a public awareness program. to help the population understand precautions to be taken when there is thunder and lightning.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning kills 3 in Rajkot as Gujarat faces rain fury


The Indian Express
Mon, 03 Sep 2012 22:04 UTC
Image
Traffic was thrown out of gear by the downpour
Three people died after they were struck by lightning in Rajkot district as heavy rains lashed many parts of the state, including Kutch and Saurashtra, regions on Monday.

Many parts of Saurashtra received up to 75 mm rainfall in the last 36 hours. Jamnagar recorded 65 mm, Amreli 77 mm, Junagadh 40 mm and Gondal in Rajkot 75 mm of rainfall, district control room said.

Police said Devgan Jhala (14) and his cousin Kisan Jhala (13) were working in their field at Kotda Sanghani in Rajkot when lightning struck them. The duo sustained serious injuries and were taken to Rajkot Civil hospital where they died, said Dr Harsha Patel.

In another incident, a farmer was killed by lightning when he was working in his farm in Jagdan town of the district, officials said.

Meanwhile, heavy rain accompanied by thunderstorm lashed Ahmedabad and nearby areas on Monday evening, leading to waterlogging which disrupted vehicular movement at many places.
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