Storms
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Cloud Lightning

Gigantic Lightning-like Jets over Oklahoma

Think of them as sprites on steroids: Gigantic Jets are lightning-like discharges that spring from the top of thunderstorms, reaching all the way from the thunderhead to the ionosphere 50+ miles overhead. They are enormous and powerful.



©Richard Smedley


Cloud Lightning

Ohio: Storms bring evacuations, warnings, lightning, cancellation

Thunderstorms that hit Ohio on Monday brought flooding, tornado warnings and lightning that apparently struck a 911 center in northwest Ohio.

The 911 center in Defiance County lost use of the equipment that automatically locates where calls are originating. No problems were reported due to the loss of the equipment.

Low-lying roads throughout northwest Ohio were closed because of flooding, including state routes in Defiance, Fulton and Seneca counties.

Toledo officials said some areas received as much as 4 to 5 inches of rain since Saturday.

Cloud Lightning

UK: Kent storms lead to major disruption

Overnight storms led to flooding in Kent, road closures, and major railway disruption for commuters during the morning rush hour.

Kent fire crews received more than 70 calls after the floods. In Canterbury, the council delivered sandbags to 30 homes and pumped water from a car park.



©Unknown
Kent fire crews received more than 70 calls after the downpours


Southeastern railway services were hit by cancellations after lightning hit a signal box in the Folkestone area.

And roads were closed in Dover, Hawkinge, and Alkham, Kent Police said.

Cloud Lightning

New Jersey: Lightning kills matron of honor before wedding

A woman who was to serve as the matron of honor at her best friend's wedding was struck by lightning and killed during the rehearsal dinner on the eve of the ceremony.

Cindy Osler, 45, had gone outside the restaurant with the best man Friday night to check their car windows when she was hit by a bolt of lightning in this central New Jersey town.

Cloud Lightning

Lightning kills 306 people in three weeks in China

Lightning strikes have killed 306 villagers in China over the past three weeks as severe weather continues to batter the countryside, the Xinhua news agency said Friday.

Heavy rains have already unleashed numerous mudslides and floods in southern and central China, with damage estimated in the billions of dollars.

All the victims have been rural residents, and 79% of them were killed while working in the fields.

Cloud Lightning

Lightning kills 12 cattle

The carcasses of 12 cattle were airlifted from a valley in southern Austria after they were killed by a lightning storm.

Cloud Lightning

Pennsylvania man survives second lightning strike

Lightning can strike twice. Just ask Don Frick.

Frick says he survived his second lightning strike Friday - 27 years to the day of his first - and emerged a bit shaken, with only a burned zipper and a hole in the back of his jeans.

Cloud Lightning

China summer storm deaths approach 700

Deaths from floods, lightning and landslides across China this summer have reached nearly 700, state media said on Monday, with experts warning that global warming is likely to fuel more violent weather.

Over the weekend alone, fierce storms and hail killed 17 people across four provinces.

Cloud Lightning

Lightning deaths rise in China

Lightning strikes have killed 403 people in China so far this year, equalling the total number of deaths from lightning in the whole of last year, the China Meteorological Administration said.

The administration attributed the higher rate of deaths to more frequent and severe lightning storms, Xinhua news agency reported.

Cloud Lightning

Lightning kills five South Koreans climbers

Five South Koreans were killed by lightning in mountains near the capital on Sunday, while six other climbers were injured, KBS news said.

Two men and two women were struck and killed near a hill at Bukhan Mountain, northeast of Seoul, when heavy rains swept through the area, the report said, citing police and rescue workers.