They say lightning never strikes twice but the CN Tower was not so lucky as it was struck repeatedly during a ferocious storm in Canada.

As the lightning lit up the stormy night sky, photographer Richard Gottardo captured the natural phenomenon as more than 25,000 strikes were detected in the storm.

Toronoto's landmark building is the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere and is struck by lightning an average of 75 times a year.
Mr Gottardo from Toronto, Canada said: 'This was from a severe storm system in southern Ontario where rain, hail and over 25,000 lightning strikes were detected.

'The CN Tower was battered by six lighting strikes over a half hour period.

'I was in awe of the power of the storm, the thunderclaps were so loud and the lightning pierced the sky. You can see for miles in the CN Tower photos as though it was daylight.'

Mr Gottardo set up a remote camera to take the shots of the tower and went out storm chasing for the rest.

Typhoon Saola looks like a monster tropical cyclone in infrared imagery from NASA's Aqua satellite today, July 30. Although Saola's center is over 300 nautical miles (368 miles/592 km) south-southeast of Taiwan, it stretches over the north and central Philippines and has triggered a number of warnings throughout the country.

Heavy rains in central and eastern Costa Rica have triggered floods that have forced evacuations and may be responsible for at least one death, relief workers said Sunday. Four people are missing, down from eight earlier, according to Freddy Roman, a spokesman for the local Red Cross.

The government has declared a "yellow alert" in various parts of Cartago, a central province where one person was reported dead, said Roman. The person was rescued after a landslide, but died on the way to the hospital from injuries and heart failure, he said. A yellow alert is also in effect for parts of Limon, an eastern province. More than 1,500 people have taken refuge at shelters and others are waiting to be rescued, according to the Red Cross.

"We have reports of people trapped in their houses that have been flooded by overflow from the Chirripo River, also of several communities that are isolated in other parts of Limon," said Guillermo Arroyo, director of operations of the Costa Rican Red Cross.

A second cloud of yellow in less than a week overwhelmed suburban Phoenix on Sunday, mixing with torrential rains and gusty winds that wreaked havoc on midday traffic in the area. The thick wall of dust, known as a haboob, which is Arabic for 'strong wind,' was seen making its way through the town of Laveen about eight miles southwest of downtown Phoenix. The greater Phoenix area and northwest and north central Pinal County were under a dust storm warning that expired at 7pm on Sunday.

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It doesn't happen very often, but Colorado had a rare mountain tornado touchdown near Mt. Evans. Saturday afternoon at 2:51 pm. Thunderstorms strengthening over the mountains west of Denver were strong enough to produce a weak, short-lived twister. The National Weather Service has analyzed pictures from the area and confirms that it was a bona fide tornado.

Typically, these types of storms can produce what are known as cold air funnels. Which are not tornadoes but do develop from cold air pooling in the upper levels of a thunderstorm. And with differing temperatures at altitude wind shear can cause a funnel-shaped cloud to drop from a thunderstorm. These funnels tend to be very weak and almost never touch the ground.

But in this situation the air entering the bottom of this Mount Evans storm was warm enough to produce a tornado touchdown. The National Weather Service is estimating this to be the second highest tornado ever recorded in the United States. The spot where the touchdown occurred to be roughly at 11,900 feet.

It is estimated that the highest recorded tornado in the U.S. happened in 2004. On July 7 of that year, at 12,000 feet a hiker took a picture of a tornado in Sequoia National Park in California.

© SNN Local News

Sadie Muniz and her children, 2-year-old Isabella Muniz and 10-year-old Julien Guevara, outside their Sarasota home that was damaged by lightning.

"I heard the crash and immediately thought it was a bomb," Donald Sheeler of Sarasota said.

His next-door neighbor, Renee Peterson, instead thought a plane crashed.

But the loud boom and the sound of shattering glass they both heard came from something more ordinary than a bomb or a plane crash.

A lightning bolt struck a house in the 100 block of North Jefferson Avenue the night of June 22, leaving its occupants temporarily homeless.

Sadie Muniz was with her husband, Javier, and two children, 2-year-old Isabella and 10-year-old Julien, when lightning struck an electrical box outside their home.

"I was so scared," Julien said. "I ran down the hall to find a place to hide, and my dad told me to go to the other room."

Muniz describes herself as being "in shock" from the blast. "I had no clue what happened," she said. "I was shaking so bad, I couldn't figure out how to use my phone."

The fire department was on the scene within three minutes. Six fire trucks lined the street as firemen went through the house with thermal readers to make sure the walls were not producing heat.

After deeming the house uninhabitable, firemen then connected the Muniz family with the Red Cross for emergency assistance.

Florida Power & Light had to shut power off from the main line.

Three windows popped from their frames without breaking, but four others shattered completely along with a sliding glass door.

Electrical sockets blew out of the walls. Black marks cover the electrical panel. And in the Florida room, where most of the damage occurred, a wall under one of the windows tore open.

The Red Cross paid for the family to stay at a hotel for six nights. Resurrection House moved them to a different hotel, where they may stay until Friday.

After Friday, the family does not know what they will do. Still, Muniz feels grateful.

Dhunche - A huge quantity of potato produce has been stranded on the way to market due to road disruption after landslide.

Farmers belonging to Gatlang of Northern Rasuwa are facing trouble to supply the vegetable item with no smooth traffic.

A total of 300,000 kgs of potato harvested by 284 farmers has been left behind due to landslide-triggered traffic blockage, said Mi Lama of Gatlang.

The landslides that took place in Ramche and Mulkharka area have put the supply of potato produce worth Rs 6.5 million on hold, said farmers.

The aggrieved farmers further said the road obstruction has hit them hard as potato sale is the only source of income to meet daily household expenses and education for children.

Meteorologists have confirmed a tornado touched down in northern Pennsylvania during powerful storms that knocked out power to thousands statewide.

The National Weather Service says a twister with winds of 80 mph touched down Thursday afternoon near Coudersport, Potter County.

Later that night, authorities say a woman was killed by a falling tree. The Potter County coroner says 66-year-old Linda Button died in Genesee Township, about 150 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

First Energy Corp. reports that about 24,000 customers in western and northern Pennsylvania still were without power Friday night. Numbers had been much higher earlier in the day.

The high winds tore the roof off a volunteer fire hall in Butler County. In Cambria County, WJAC-TV in Johnstown had its Thursday evening newscast knocked off the air by lightning.

North Korea says torrential rains spawned by a typhoon have caused at least 88 deaths and 134 injuries, and have left thousands homeless.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency reported Saturday that more than 5,000 homes were destroyed or damaged and nearly 63,000 people were left homeless by flooding that began on July 18. About 4,800 hectares of cropland were washed away when typhoon Khanun swept through North Korea on July 23 and 24.

The KCNA warned of more heavy rains on Sunday and Monday.

A recent U.N. report said that two-thirds of North Korea's 24 million people face chronic food shortages. Analysts say the latest flooding could make matters worse, since it came on the tail-end of a drought.

A tropical cyclone in the southern Philippines has caused flooding in up to 20 villages.

Dozens of families have been evacuated in the southern province of Maguindanao because of heavy flooding caused by torrential rains from Cyclone Saola.

A passenger ship ran aground in the central province of Cebu, but the nearly 200 passengers and crew have been rescued.

Rains have blanketed most of the Philippines over the weekend, forcing the cancellation of at least thirteen domestic flights on Sunday.

With winds of up to 100 kilometres an hour, Cyclone Soala is now moving north-west towards Taiwan and China.