Storms
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Cloud Lightning

Extreme weather creates havoc in Perth, Australia


News.com.au
Wed, 07 Dec 2011 07:30 UTC
Extreme weather conditions have left thousands of passengers stranded at Perth Domestic Airport and 12,000 homes across Western Australia without power.

At the domestic terminal, Qantas planes have been grounded since mid-morning yesterday as storm activity made conditions dangerous for flying.


Perth Airport yesterday afternoon advised 17 aircraft were waiting to be allocated into bays at the domestic terminal, with airline staff unable to service the planes due to safety concerns.

It is understood Virgin had grounded all flights out of Perth since yesterday morning.
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Cloud Lightning

Canada: Gale-force windstorm wreaks havoc in Rocky View, Alberta

Dawn Smith
Rocky View Weekly
Mon, 05 Dec 2011 09:34 UTC
Image
© Covy Moore/Rocky View PublishingBeiseker's Jim Fox survived two near-misses during the Nov. 27 wind storm that blew through the County causing damage to buildings, trees and homes. Two buildings lost their roofs in the village, including the fire hall.
Beiseker's streets looked like a scene from a movie after a wicked windstorm blew through the town, Nov. 27.

Wind speeds reaching close to 100 km/h ripped the roofs off several buildings, brought down power lines and sent debris flying in the village.

The Beiseker Fire Station lost its corrugated metal roof in the early afternoon, according to local firefighter Jim Fox.

"It was really scary," he said. "I have never seen wind like that before, it was more like a hurricane."

Fox, the lieutenant in charge at the fire station at the time, was preparing a second crew to assist at a Linden-area grass fire when he heard a horrifying sound.

"All of a sudden, I opened the door and (the roof) peeled up and flew off and landed right in front of me," said Fox. "It was like a freight train coming through."

Resident Fred Walters also lost a portion of his roof.
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Cloud Lightning

United Kingdom braces for bout with blizzard windstorm


4rfv.com
Mon, 05 Dec 2011 09:31 UTC
Image
© Unknown
Heavy rain and gale force winds have already wreaked havoc over Scotland, Northern Ireland, and parts of England but now the December daemon, snow, is here causing more problems.

Snow and ice are affecting roads across Northern Ireland, Scotland and parts of Northern England.

The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings for these areas and police are urging motorists to be aware of the risk of black ice on the roads.

In Northern Ireland showers have been most frequent over counties Londonderry, Antrim, Tyrone, Fermanagh as well as in north Down.

Meanwhile in Scotland the A9 and the M74 have been badly affected. The whole of the A9 is badly affected by snow and ice, especially at Helmsdale, Dalwhinnie and Badenoch. Motorists on the M74 in South Lanarkshire were stuck for three hours southbound after a lorry jackknifed in the snow.
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Cloud Lightning

US: High Winds Leave Thousands Without Power in California

Alex Dobuzinskis
Reuters
Sun, 04 Dec 2011 16:23 UTC
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© Reuters/Gene BlevinsResidents look at slabs of the broken concrete pavement and uprooted eucalyptus trees after a heavy wind storm in the morning at Highland Park in Los Angeles, California December 1, 2011.
High winds returned to the Los Angeles area early on Saturday as over 100,000 homes and businesses lost power, due to fallen trees and other damage from an ongoing windstorm.

Southern California Edison said that at mid-afternoon it still had 73,600 customers affected by the outages, which were mainly concentrated along the San Gabriel Valley foothills east of Pasadena.

The area saw "near hurricane force winds" that caused flying debris to knock over power poles, said Edison spokesman Gil Alexander.

Unusually powerful winds first began striking the Los Angeles region on Wednesday night, in a storm that has raised concern among local fire departments about potential wildfires igniting and spreading at lightning speed.

By mid-morning on Saturday, wind gusts of 73 miles per hour were clocked atop a mountain near Acton, 30 miles northeast of Los Angeles, according to automated weather stations.
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Cloud Lightning

Freak Storm and Gale-Force Winds Wreak Havoc in Malaysia

Steven Daniel
TheStar.com
Mon, 05 Dec 2011 21:30 UTC
Save the car
© TheStar.comSave the car: Fire and rescue department officers and members of the public clearing branches from a tree that uprooted near Balai Seni Lukis Negara on Jalan Tun Razak Sunday evening and fell on a car. The fallen tree blocked the road which resulted in a jam which stretched several kilometers.
Kuala Lumpur: A freak thunderstorm and strong winds referred to as a "mini-hurricane" by many, tore through the capital and parts of Selangor, wreaking havoc, uprooting trees and damaging properties.

The hardest hit areas in the 5pm storm were Kepong, Bandar Menjalara and Hartamas.

Road users on the MRR2 highway near Kepong turned to Twitter to report that the rain was so ferocious that many motorists stopped their vehicles by the roadside to wait it out.

A spokesman from the Fire and Rescue Department (FRD) said while there was very heavy rain, it was the ferocity of the wind which caused more damage as trees were uprooted, branches snapped, billboards and signboards fell, and roof tiles and tents for functions were blown off.

"There were also reports of cars crushed by fallen trees and branches but fortunately, there was no loss of life or injury. We had earlier been warned by the Meteorological Department of the possibility of storms in the Klang Valley and had been prepared for this," he said.
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Cloud Lightning

US: Violent Wind Storm Leaves Path of Destruction for Second Day

Jonathan Lloyd
NBC News
Fri, 02 Dec 2011 10:35 UTC
Some 270,000 homes and businesses remained without power for a second day on Friday after powerful winds toppled trees and power lines and left debris across a wide swath of Southern California.

The fierce gusts that tore across Western states Thursday created a path destruction that closed schools and prompted some communities to declare emergencies.

The storms, described as a once-in-a-decade event, were the result of a dramatic difference in pressure between a strong, high-pressure system and a cold, low-pressure system, meteorologists said. This funnels strong winds down mountain canyons and slopes.

The system brought high wind warnings and advisories for California, Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Arizona and New Mexico. The blustery weather was expected to next hit Oklahoma, Missouri and Indiana.

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Bizarro Earth

US: Winds buffet Utah, toppling trucks, trees, power lines

Bob Mims
sltrib.com
Thu, 01 Dec 2011 13:26 UTC
In all, the Utah Department of Transportation reported 11 semis overturned by the wind on the state's highways Thursday morning. Utah Highway Patrol Corporal Todd Johnson said that between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m., at least six semis were blown onto their sides on I-15 in Davis County in the area of the Lund Lane and Parrish Lane exits in Centerville as violent gusts - hitting 102 mph around 9 a.m. - thrashed the region.

Johnson said none of the drivers suffered more than minor injuries.


All traffic through the affected area was diverted for about two hours, Johnson said. By 7:30 a.m., traffic through the area had resumed, but was periodically suspended as new semi-related accidents occurred throughout the morning. Motorists still were advised to avoid the area, if possible. High-profile vehicles were ordered off the gusty stretch of freeway until at least 6 p.m. Thursday.
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Bizarro Earth

Scotland: Severe gale force winds cause disruption and damage throughout isles

Rosalind Griffiths
The Shetland Times
Thu, 01 Dec 2011 11:56 UTC
Severe gale force winds caused damage and disruption to national and local ferry services and flights today - and destroyed a caravan in the Skerries.

Shetland experienced the highest winds in the UK, with 81mph gusts recorded in Foula, 73mph in Lerwick and 69mph in Fair Isle.
Image
© UnknownChristopher Hay's flattened caravan in Skerries.
NorthLink's sailings were delayed or cancelled and there were no inter-island ferries on some routes. There were no ferries on Bressay or Bluemull Sounds or to Whalsay in the morning, and the Yell Sound service was down to a single ferry. Normal service resumed on these routes in the afternoon, although the Skerries service was off all day.

The reduction followed the strike yesterday when there were no ferries at all.

Flights to and from Sumburgh were also disrupted, with the early morning flight from Aberdeen and the 12.15pm departure to the city both cancelled.
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Cloud Lightning

US: Winds wreak havoc in Southern California - 200K+ without power

John Gregory, Melissa MacBride & Darsha Philips
ABC News
Thu, 01 Dec 2011 07:00 UTC

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© KABC Photo/ Eddie ShamieAn uprooted tree on the campus of California State University, San Bernardino on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011.
Los Angeles - Powerful Santa Ana winds sweeping through Southern California caused widespread damage overnight.

Trees and power lines were knocked down, and thousands of people were without power.

Southern California Edison said nearly 200,000 of its customers were without power Thursday morning. The company said the hardest hit area was in the San Gabriel Valley along the 210 Freeway.

Communities most affected were Altadena, Alhambra, Arcadia, La Canada, Monrovia, Pasadena, San Gabriel, Sierra Madre and Temple City. It's unknown when power was going to be restored.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power reported that at least 88,700 of its customers did not have power.

Pasadena declared a local emergency due to the severe conditions. Officials urged residents to stay home, if possible, in order to avoid downed trees and power lines.

Pasadena Unified School District and Arcadia Unified School District canceled classes for the day.
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Bizarro Earth

US: 97 mph! Santa Ana winds knock out power, down trees in Los Angeles


MSNBC / Associated Press
Thu, 01 Dec 2011 09:02 UTC
Power outages and downed trees were reported in several regions of Los Angeles County Wednesday night due to strong winds, NBC LA reported.

A major change in the weather pattern is expected to bring powerful gusts of up to 85 miles per hour and possible hurricane force winds into the Los Angeles region for two days.
Image
© Mark J. Terrill / APLos Angeles City firefighters look over a eucalyptus tree that fell on a house and knocked down power lines, Wednesday.
The National Weather Service issued warnings that the high winds and low humidy could cause wildfires.

On Wednesday night, a wind gust of 97 mph was recorded at Whitaker Peak in Los Angeles County, according to the weather service.
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