Storms
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Cloud Lightning

UK: Weather Eye: multi-coloured lightning strikes a mysterious pose

Paul Simons
Times Online
Sat, 09 Aug 2008 22:38 UTC
[The following pictures were taken in South London during a storm.]



Lightning_1
©Unknown


There was a magnificent display of lightning on Monday night over much of the southern half of Britain. As the flashes came thick and fast, the West Midlands was hit hard by lightning strikes causing power cuts and fires, while the torrential downpours caused flash floods.
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Cloud Lightning

Brazil: Plane struck by lightning at Curitiba Airport

Simon Hradecky
The Aviation Herald
Sat, 02 Aug 2008 10:42 UTC
A TAM (Brazil) Airbus A319-100, registration PR-MAO performing flight JJ3004 from Curitiba,PR to Sao Paulo Congonhas,SP (Brazil) with 46 passengers, was already on the runway ready for takeoff, when a lightning struck the airplane.
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Cloud Lightning

Two killed, 6 injured by lightning in Mexico


The Associated Press
Sat, 02 Aug 2008 10:37 UTC
Mexico City - Police say a lightning bolt has struck a soccer match between firefighters and civil protection workers in southern Mexico, killing two and injuring six.
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Cloud Lightning

Norway: Lightning hits 91 spectators at racetrack


The Associated Press
Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:34 UTC
Oslo - A lightning bolt struck 91 auto racing fans at a racetrack in Norway Sunday, and 45 people were taken to hospital with minor burns, police said.
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Phoenix

Lightning Sparks Blaze at Fire-Plagued Complex in Massachusetts, US

Kaila Dwinel
Boston Herald
Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:57 UTC
For the third time in a little over a year, residents of a Peabody apartment complex were forced to flee as their flame- plagued complex caught fire again. A three-alarm blaze broke out on the roof of a building at the Highlands at Dearborn yesterday after a lightning bolt struck.

"I feel stupid for not moving out," said Kristina DiLorenzo, 25, who called 911.

DiLorenzo said she can't return to her place and will spend the night in a hotel. "I don't know what I'm going to do yet," she added.
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Phoenix

Lightning Sparks New Fires in British Columbia, Canada


250 News
Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:53 UTC
Lightning ignited 22 new fires in the Prince George Fire Centre yesterday and more are expected due to the continued risk of lightning.

Additional fire fighting crews from around the province have arrived in the region to help with existing fires and expected lightning-caused fires. Two additional unit crews, comprising a total of 40 firefighters, are available for sustained action on larger fires. Five additional three-person initial attack crews are also standing by to respond to smaller fires and new fire starts.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning zap traveled through head, couch, wife in New Zealand

Richard Woodd
Taranaki Daily News
Sun, 27 Jul 2008 15:05 UTC


Mark Woodhead
©Mark Dwyer / Taranaki Daily News
Mike Woodhead with his lightning-zapped computer gear after the weekend strike.


Next time Taranaki man Mike Woodhead uses his computer he'll get a weather forecast first. A bolt of lightning which struck near his Ohangai home south-east of Hawera on Saturday night has put the 36-year-old local school caretaker on edge.

He was using the family computer with earphones on, his daughter Leah standing next to him, when there was a huge flash in the middle of a storm.

"I felt a shock which was 20 times worse than an electric fence pulse," he said. "I felt it hit my heart. I was worried it might stop beating," the Tiri Rd man said. "It went through me, through the couch and into my wife Ellen who was sitting on the couch."
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Cloud Lightning

New Zealand: Lightning blasts a hole in airliner as bad luck strikes again

Steve Creedy
The Australian
Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:21 UTC
People who believe bad things come in threes may have second thoughts about flying with Lan Chile after the airline suffered a second rare accident on its Sydney-Santiago run.

The airline made international headlines last year when flaming pieces of a re-entering satellite came within five nautical miles (9.2km) of an Airbus A340 travelling from Santiago to Auckland and Sydney.

And last week, lightning punched a hole in the nose of a Lan Chile Airbus carrying almost 300 people as it approached Auckland from Sydney. A New Zealand report quoted a witness as saying the strike caused a hole "the size of a dinner plate", although the plane landed safely.
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Phoenix

Florida, US: Lightning starts fires in Clay, Nassau


The Times-Union
Fri, 27 Jun 2008 03:28 UTC
Firefighters are straining to put out a rash of wildfires sparked by lightning in Nassau and Clay counties.

Just days after putting out a 105-acre wildfire near Cedar Point and Pumpkin Hill roads in Nassau County, the state's Division of Forestry battled at least three fires over a total of about 30 acres Wednesday and Thursday. Lightning caused each of the fires, said Annaleasa Winter, a wildfire mitigation specialist for the Forestry Division.

Those come after lightning caused six fires over about 55 acres Tuesday in Clay County.
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Phoenix

Ohio, US: Lightning sparks plaza fire; wind shatters Government Center door

Bridget Tharp
ToledoBlade.com
Fri, 27 Jun 2008 21:03 UTC
A lightning strike started a fire yesterday that destroyed a strip shopping plaza near the University of Toledo as a line of thunderstorms swept across northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan causing 10,000 customers to lose power, authorities said.

The plaza at 1205 Westwood Ave., just south of Dorr Street, housed a seasonal location of the tax service franchise, H&R Block, the clothing retailer, L.A. Collections, and the yet-to-open Wings Express restaurant.
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