Storms
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Bizarro Earth

UK faces days of battering winds and blizzards

Peter Walker
The Guardian
Tue, 13 Dec 2011 08:22 UTC
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© Daniel Gilfeather / Rex FeaturesWaves batter a promenade in Ayrshire.
Met Office predicts 'classic winter weather - the sort we've forgotten all about' as parts of UK see driving rain and gales

Much of the UK faces several days of battering winds and localised blizzards as a pair of particularly severe weather systems pass over the country.

The bad weather claimed a life on Tuesday night when an HGV driver was killed in a collision involving two cars and three lorries on the M5 in Gloucestershire, police said.

Many parts of England and Wales experienced gales and driving rain on Monday night. The UK's former ambassador to Venezuela and Chile had to be rescued by firefighters after a tree crashed through the roof of his family home in Winchester, Hampshire. Emergency services said 65-year-old Richard Wilkinson had an extremely lucky escape after the 18m (59ft) tree crushed the bungalow. "I was between sleeping and awake, listening to the storm outside when there was an enormous crash like the Eiffel Tower falling into the Crystal Palace," he said.

With winds gusting up to 70mph, Hampshire police said they had received more than 200 calls about flooding and fallen trees over 24 hours.
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Bizarro Earth

UK: 100mph Storms On Their Way

David Jarvis
The Express, UK
Mon, 12 Dec 2011 13:54 UTC
Severe Winter Storm
© Express.co.ukTravelling conditions will again be treacherous with more flooding expected.
Britain was told to brace itself for the worst weather in 30 years - with forecasts of gale-force winds, snow, sleet and torrential rain.

The Met Office issued a weather warning of gales as strong as 100mph and a freezing wind chill factor bringing the coldest week of the winter so far.

Experts said there will be little respite until the New Year with more brutal weather during the run-up to Christmas.

Motoring organisations urged the public to heed the warnings and plan journeys carefully to avoid the "carpet bomb" weather heading our way.

And there were fears that already hard-hit retailers will take another financial wallop as Christmas shoppers may be put off by the extreme elements from stepping out on the high street.

A double whammy of two deep Atlantic low-pressure systems is forecast to smash in from the South-west later tonight.

High winds and rain will lash most of England with the South and Northern Ireland expected to take the brunt of the gales and storm-force winds. Snow and sleet is likely on higher ground as far south as Dartmoor and Exmoor and on the North Downs.
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Magic Wand

Mysterious Energy Bursts Recorded High Above U.S. Midwest: Lightning Sprites, Elves Caught on Camera

Richard A. Lovett
National Geographic
Wed, 07 Dec 2011 13:12 UTC
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© NHK via AGUA sprite appears above a storm cloud in a still from the new video.
Flying above the U.S. Midwest, scientists using high-speed video cameras have caught the first 3-D images of sprites, elves, blue jets, and crawlers - in the form of lightning, that is.

First seen by scientists in 1989, sprites and their menagerie of exotically named kin are bursts of electrical energy that form about 50 miles (80 kilometers) above Earth, sometimes leaping all the way from the tops of thunderheads to outer space.

Lightning sprites are huge but quick - they appear and are gone in only ten milliseconds, said Hans Stenbaek-Nielsen, a space physicist at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.

The phenomena are also extremely bright.
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Igloo

Scotland Shut Down By Icy 165mph Blasts


Sky News
Thu, 08 Dec 2011 21:23 UTC

A fierce storm with winds of up to 165mph has battered northern parts of Britain, with people warned to stay indoors, schools forced to close and flights and rail links cancelled.

Localised flooding has also caused major disruptions on roads - and more than 30,000 homes have been left without power.

In North Yorkshire, a RAF helicopter plucked a couple to safety after their car was swept away in floodwaters near Aysgarth. They were flown to hospital with suspected hypothermia.

A third person was also rescued from his car in a separate incident near the village of Gunnerside.

Police have advised against all travel until at least 2am Friday, when winds are expected to ease.

The Met Office earlier issued its strongest warning - a red alert - for winds in Scotland and warned parts of England and Wales to "be aware", as temperatures were expected to drop and snowfall was predicted as far south as Birmingham.

It said the Highland observing station at Glen Ogle reported a gust of 104mph at 11am. The Met Office later tweeted that a gust at the Aonach Mor ski area peaked at 137mph.
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Bizarro Earth

US: Oregon - Massive 18-acre landslide closes camping area in Tillamook State Forest


Statesman Journal
Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:22 UTC
A landslide has forced Oregon Department of Forestry officials to close a camping area along Ben Smith Creek in the Tillamook State Forest. The slide has created the potential for flooded trails and camping sites. The 18-acre slide dumped trees, earth and rocks into the stream and caused it to change course, creating the potential for a large debris flow down Ben Smith Creek into the Wilson River.
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© Oregon Department of ForestryPhoto shows the base of the massive slide that dumped trees and debris into Ben Smith Creek in the Tillamook State Forest.
The creek runs into the Wilson just above where Oregon Highway 6 crosses the river at Lee's Camp about 25 miles east of Tillamook. Department geotechnical specialists have determined that the slide does not pose a risk to those driving on Highway 6 or to homes along the Wilson River. Some trails on Ben Smith Creek have been closed by the Department of Forestry because of the potential for trail washouts and debris flows.
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Cloud Lightning

Hurricane-force winds hit Scotland as UK storms cause chaos


UK Guardian
Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:51 UTC
- 'Weather bomb' leads to unprecedented Met Office red warning
- Roads, trains, ferries and airports affected across Britain
- Schools and public buildings closed down in parts of Scotland and thousands left without power

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A wind turbine catches fire in hurricane-force winds at Ardrossan, North Ayrshire, Scotland, during severe weather.
Hurricane-force winds have battered parts of the UK with millions of people in central Scotland warned to stay at home and avoid travelling after 165mph gusts left thousands of homes without power, closing bridges, rail lines and roads.

One of the most powerful storms to hit inland areas led to the closure of thousands of schools across western, central and southern Scotland, and the shutdown of almost all public buildings, including sports centres, concert halls and libraries, in cities such as Glasgow and Edinburgh.

At one stage, more than 60 train passengers were stranded on the West Highland line after it was closed down near Crianlarich, north of Loch Lomond. A rescue train was sent from Glasgow to take them off the train. The gales appeared to cause a fire in one wind turbine in Ardrossan, Ayrshire, as its blades were ripped off by the gusts.

The Met Office issued a red warning for central Scotland after air pressure across the Atlantic plunged late on Wednesday; it is thought to be the first time the Met Office has issued such a warning to "take action" for high winds rather than flooding or snow.

The phenomenon is known to meteorologists as a "weather bomb" but a Met Office spokesman said it was officially described as an "explosive deepening", which is caused when atmospheric pressure drops by 24 millibars or more in 24 hours. In Thursday's storm, air pressure fell by 44mb.

Comment: Weather bombs, especially in the form of hurricane force winds, have been dropping all over the planet this past week. Most recently in Canada. Mother nature is not happy!

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Cloud Lightning

Canada: 'Weather Bomb' Hits East Coast


CBC News
Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:00 UTC

Pounding rain, high winds and the threat of heavy snow are causing power outages and school and ferry closures in parts of the East Coast as a so-called "weather bomb" rolls in.

Power outages are reported across Nova Scotia and New Brunswick due to high winds and heavy rains.

Environment Canada is forecasting gusts of 100 kilometres per hour or more in almost every county of Nova Scotia, P.E.I., northern New Brunswick and the west and north coasts of Newfoundland.

As well as the high westerly winds, northern New Brunswick is expected to see an estimated 20 centimetres of snow.

Coastal regions in eastern New Brunswick are also being warned of winds that could reach 100 km/h.
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Cloud Lightning

'Red alert': Police warn against all travel across central belt of Scotland


STV.tv
Thu, 08 Dec 2011 07:23 UTC
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© Kenny McCubbinStorm force winds expected.
Police are warning that people should avoid all travel in the central belt in an unprecedented move as 100mph winds batter Scotland.

They said the people could be putting themselves in "considerable danger by travelling".

Association of Chief Police Officers of Scotland (Acpos) told STV News that travel should be avoided in the between noon and 7pm in the west and 2pm and 9pm and the Central and Lothian and Borders area.

The Met Office warned of severe weather and gale-force winds on Thursday with councils deciding to close hundreds of schools. Gusts reached 130mph over Aonach Mor, near Ben Nevis, and 102mph over Glen Ogle in the Trossachs.

Red warnings - the higest level of Met Office alerts - were issued for wind in the Strathclyde, central belt, Tayside, Lothians and Borders areas.
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Dollar

Billion-Dollar Weather Disasters Smash US Record

Seth Borenstein
PhysOrg
Wed, 07 Dec 2011 06:00 UTC
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© The Associated Press/Kiichiro SatoIn this Feb. 2, 2011 file photo, hundreds of cars are seen stranded on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago after a winter blizzard of historic proportions wobbled an otherwise snow-tough Chicago. America's wild weather year has hit yet another new high: a devastating dozen billion-dollar catastrophes.
America's wild weather year has set another record: a dozen billion-dollar catastrophes.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Wednesday that it has recalculated the number of weather disasters passing the billion-dollar mark, with two new ones, pushing 2011's total to 12. The two costly additions are the Texas, New Mexico and Arizona wildfires and the mid-June tornadoes and severe weather.

NOAA uses $1 billion as a benchmark for the worst weather disasters. This year's total of a dozen billion-dollar calamities matches the number for all of the 1980s, even when the older figures are adjusted for inflation.

Extreme weather in America this year has killed more than 1,000 people, according to National Weather Service Director Jack Hayes. The dozen billion-dollar disasters alone add up to $52 billion in damage. Hayes, a meteorologist since 1970, said he has never seen a year for extreme weather like this, calling it "the deadly, destructive and relentless 2011."

And this year's total may not stop at 12. Officials are still adding up the damage from the Tropical Storm Lee and the pre-Halloween Northeast snowstorm, and so far they are both at the $750 million mark. And there's still nearly a month left in the year.
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Cloud Lightning

Canada: Yukon's storm broke weather records


CBC
Tue, 06 Dec 2011 10:26 UTC
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© CBCHeavy snow and winds in Whitehorse on Monday, Dec. 5.
Monday's storm in Yukon broke a variety of weather records around the territory.

High winds and rain sent temperatures up to 14 degrees in Burwash Landing. It was the warmest December day ever for the community on the shores of Kluane Lake.

The community of Haines Junction got the same temperatures, along with some gale-force winds in excess of 100 kilometres per hour.

Haines Junction resident Amy McKinnon says it made a mess of some yards in town.

"Yeah, it was really warm. We woke up to quite a windstorm as well, so there were stories about damaged roofs, trampolines that took flight, tents that ended up in the bush, downed trees all over town, power outages and I heard the winds peaked at over 114 kilometres per hour. So a little more excitement than we wanted," said McKinnon.

Then a cold front sent temperatures plummeting and produced record snowfalls in some areas.
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