Storms
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Cloud Lightning

Lahore, Pakistan gets rare hailstorm


Dawn.com
Sun, 27 Feb 2011 15:43 UTC
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© Dawn.comVehicles pass thought at a street during fresh snowfall in Lahore on Saturday, February 26, 2011.
The storm struck the city at 4.45pm, concentrating its intensity downtown and in areas around Gulberg. Hailstones the size of small strawberries soon carpeted streets and rooftops.

People watched the freak turn of weather with a pleasant surprise. At some places some people panicked and started giving "azans".

A traffic gridlock followed the hailstorm, making driving a misery on roads awash with a hail of stones.

But on the other hand, motorists were seen relishing the happening instead of fuming over the traffic jam and the young made the most of the opportunity by playing with hailstones. Mobile phones were taken out to take stills and make movies of the falling hailstones.

Reports from different parts of the city indicated the storm was partial as many localities like Faisal Town merely received a light shower.
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Cloud Precipitation

Fears for Guyana's rice crop as heavy rains, floods hit during dry season


Bloomberg
Sun, 27 Feb 2011 15:37 UTC
Authorities in Guyana are pumping water from flooded coastal villages following heavy rains during what is usually one of the driest months of the year.

Officials say about 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain fell in a 24-hour period this week. That's more than the South American nation normally sees in the entire month of February.

Rice farmers fear they may have lost their crops in the middle of harvest season.

Guyana is the region's largest rice producer.

Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud said Saturday he was sending drainage equipment to hard-hit areas.

Authorities blame the rains on the weather phenomenon known as La Nina. The wet weather is expected to continue into March.
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Cloud Lightning

Philippines: Heavy rains push Bulusan lahar, huge rocks into Irosin river

Joey A. Gabieta & Rey M. Nasol
Inquirer Southern Luzon
Sun, 27 Feb 2011 15:27 UTC
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Sorsogon City, Philippines - Despite a relatively calm Mt. Bulusan, lahar started to flow down its slopes into a river in Irosin town on Sunday, hours after the rain that began Saturday night.

Close to 100,000 residents in slopes around the volcano, particularly in Irosin and Juban, feared flash floods in case torrential rains followed.

But Crispulo Diolita Jr., volcanologist at the Bulusan Observatory Center based in Cabid-an, Sorsogon City, told the Inquirer on the phone on Sunday that the lahar flows were still confined to the Rangas River channel.

Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) and local officials rushed to Rangas River in Barangay Cogon, Irosin, on Sunday morning due to reports of heavy lahar flow triggered by the rain.
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Cloud Lightning

Hillside collapses in Bolivian capital after heavy rains, destroying 400 houses

Carlos Valdez
The Canadian Press
Sun, 27 Feb 2011 15:24 UTC
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© AP Photo/Juan KaritaPeople walk next to an area where around 100 houses were destroyed after a landslide was triggered by heavy rains at the Valle de Flores neighborhood in La Paz, Bolivia, Sunday, Feb. 27, 2011.
La Paz, Bolivia - Heavy rains caused a hilltop to collapse in a poor neighbourhood of the Bolivian capital Sunday, cracking roads, destroying at least 400 homes and burying people's belongings under mud and debris.

There were no fatalities but significant damage from the landslide in the barrio of Callapa, La Paz Mayor Luis Revilla said.

Edwin Herrera, a city government spokesman, called Sunday's slide the worst that La Paz has ever seen - and he said the earth was still moving downhill.

"So far we are talking about 5,000 (people) affected, but the slide is affecting neighbourhoods in lower areas," he said.

Residents began evacuating late Saturday when the hill, saturated after prolonged rains, began sliding and cracks appeared in streets and homes.
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Igloo

Heavy snowfall, rain bring temperature down in North India


NDTV
Sat, 26 Feb 2011 15:21 UTC
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Get ready for yet another spell of cold weather in North India. Heavy snowfall in the hill states like Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir have sent the mercury plummeting to freezing point.

The plains have also witnessed a drop in temperature as heavy rain lashed parts of Punjab and Haryana.

The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, the only road link to the Valley, was closed for vehicular traffic on Saturday following heavy snowfall and rains. "The highway is closed for traffic due to heavy snowfall at Jawahar Tunnel, Banihal and Patnitop areas resulting in blockade," police said.

Srinagar experienced slight rainfall with mercury plummeting to freezing point before dawn and rising to 7 degree Celsius in the day, three notches below normal.
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Cloud Lightning

US: Microburst Ripped Through New Jersey Town

Katherine Creag
nbcnewyork.com
Sat, 26 Feb 2011 14:57 UTC
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A storm with heavy rains and fierce winds ripped roofs from homes and toppled trees as a storm moved through Lakewood, N.J. Friday.

The microburst that hit Lakewood contained winds of 75 mph winds, according to the National Weather Service.

"It was spinning in a circle, like 'The Wizard of Oz.' The grills, chairs off of a patio," said Matthew Draheim a worker who witnessed the gusts.

The winds were so strong, part of the roof ripped away from an entire apartment building.

The four families that lived in the affected part of the building are staying in a hotel. They can return as soon as their homes are safe to be in, officials said.
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Umbrella

South America: State of emergency declared after floods affect 10,000 families


ABC News
Thu, 24 Feb 2011 04:53 UTC
Cochabamba, Bolivia - Authorities in Peru and Bolivia declared a state of emergency on Tuesday due to massive flooding affecting both Andean countries.

In Bolivia, three people died and almost 7,000 were left homeless by the strong rains hitting the country for the past weeks.

One of the victims died in Cochabamba and the other two in Tarija.

Six of the nine Bolivian administrative regions have been affected and the Bolivian government has released a special 20 (m) million US dollar aid package for the victims.

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Snowflake

Winter storm moving into Las Vegas area

Dave Toplikar
Las Vegas Sun
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 05:09 UTC
High winds today, rain tonight and possibly some snow on Saturday for western foothills of Spring Mountains, forecasters say

Get ready for a mostly cloudy and breezy day, with winds gusting as high as 50 mph in the Las Vegas Valley.

Temperatures will climb to the low 60s today, but the National Weather Service has issued weather advisories and warnings as a winter storm rolls in tonight, bringing wet weather and snow for the weekend.

The wind advisory, which runs from 10 a.m. today until 1 a.m. Saturday, includes Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City, Summerlin, Nellis, Mountains Edge, Seven Hills and Blue Diamond, the weather service said.
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Cloud Lightning

Heavy Rain, Winds Bring Flood Threat to U.S. Northeast

Brian K. Sullivan
Bloomberg
Sat, 26 Feb 2011 05:05 UTC
Flights to airports in parts of the U.S. Northeast were delayed as much as three hours or more as a storm packing 2 inches (5 centimeters) of rain and wind gusts as high as 60 mph (97 kph) moved across the northern U.S.

Winter storm warnings range from Ohio to Maine, while high wind warnings and watches extend from North Carolina to Massachusetts, according to the National Weather Service (link). Almost 1,100 flights were canceled today, the FlightAware tracking service reported.

A cold front will move through the New York City area about 3 p.m., raising sustained winds to as high as 30 mph with gusts of 60 mph or higher, said Lauren Nash, a weather service meteorologist in Upton, New York.
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Cloud Lightning

US: Body of 4th Amish child swept away by flood waters found


wbir.com
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 10:22 UTC
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© unknown
Emergency workers in rural Kentucky have found the body of a fourth Amish child killed a buggy flipped in a rain-swollen creek.

The discovery dashed hopes that the 11-year-old girl might have been alive and clinging to a tree or rock through the night.
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