Storms
S


Road Cone

Torrential rain inundates Valencia region of Spain for second month in a row - Two dead as storm washes away hundreds of cars, spawns tornadoes

Victoria Torres Benayas & Ferran Bono
El Pais
Thu, 12 Sep 2019 19:47 UTC
flooding valencia spain
Torrential rain that has been falling in Spain's Mediterranean area left two people dead today in Caudete, a municipality in Albacete, in the Valencia region. Although they were originally reported to be a married couple, the latest reports by government officials describe them as a brother and sister aged 61 and 51. The victims' car was dragged along by flooding, according to a tweet from the 112 emergency services.

The extreme weather has caused flooding in other parts of Valencia, as well as in Murcia and Castile-La Mancha. The Clariano river in Ontinyent, a village in Valencia, has also burst its banks, requiring 40 people to be rescued and 150 evacuated from their homes.

A small tornado formed at around three in the morning on Dénia's Raset beach, in Alicante province, damaging the municipal sports center and ripping up trees, traffic signs and roofs. Winds of 104 kilometers per hour were recorded.




Comment: Here's one of the tornadoes, which touched down outside the city of Alicante this morning:


The same front produced an equally spectacular storm over the Balearic Islands yesterday:


This happened in the same region a month ago:

Flash-floods in Valencia Region, Spain after 40mm of rain in less than 1 hour

This happened in the same region in April this year:

The worst April storm in 73 years hits Costa Blanca, Spain - Cities of Valencia and Alicante flooded

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Cloud Lightning

College student struck by lightning in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina has died

Kari Pugh
OBXToday.com
Wed, 11 Sep 2019 19:04 UTC
lightning
© MGN
A Columbia University student from Northern Virginia has died, weeks after being struck by lightning in Kitty Hawk.

Matt Summerill, 23, was swimming with friends Aug. 23 when he was struck in the back by a lightning bolt, according to police and a GoFundMe account set up to cover medical costs.

Summerill had been hospitalized at a trauma center in Greenville since the accident and in a medically-induced coma, the GoFundMe page said.

"He was in the water near shore, throwing a frisbee with two friends, when a lightning bolt came out of the clear blue sky and struck him in the lower back," organizer Cameron Blount wrote. "His two friends collected themselves and realized Matthew was facedown in the water. They took him to shore and started performing CPR, and the lifeguard rushed an oxygen tank to him right away. Medical services took over soon after and after over an hour of more CPR got him to where they could move him, but not in a HelEvac because by that point the storm had moved in."
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills 4 people, severely injures 2 in Uganda

Robert Muhereza and Edson Kinene
Daily Monitor (Uganda)
Thu, 12 Sep 2019 18:34 UTC
lightning
Lightning has struck dead four people at Kyashamiro Trading Centre, Rutenga Sub County in Kanungu District, leaving two others with severe injuries.

Mr Moses Atuheire, an eyewitness, said the incident occurred on Wednesday evening at around 05.00pm during a heavy downpour that lasted for about three hours.

Mr Elly Maate, the Kigezi regional police spokesperson confirmed the incident, identifying the deceased as; Hebert Kanyonyi,38, Byamukama Binyonyi,40, Avitus Niwamanya,20, and Fred Akandwanaho, 13.

Comment: Elsewhere in Africa recently lightning killed 2 in Kenya on September 7.

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Attention

Adapt 2030 Ice Age Report: More government preparedness warnings & deep snow in Europe


Adapt 2030
Wed, 11 Sep 2019 19:03 UTC
Grab bag
© Police Scotland Control Rooms/Twitter
UK government using BBC Morning to cover three separate segments on getting a grab bag ready and keeping it handy, which puts this along with the US, Switzerland and Sweden to tell its citizens to get ready for emergencies. Deep summer snow for Italy, France and Switzerland of 1-3 feet and massive hails blanket beaches in Italy. Huge hail stones Algeria along with a grain loading port strike.


Comment: It is always best to be prepared. See also: And do have a listen to the SOTT Talk Radio show that was devoted to this subject:

Surviving the End of the World (as we Know it)

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Snowflake

Dorian remnants brought early snow to parts of Atlantic Canada

Nathan Howes
The Weather Channel
Mon, 09 Sep 2019 12:46 UTC
Light snow fell in Labrador after post-tropical storm Dorian swept through.
© Spencer RobinsonLight snow fell in Labrador after post-tropical storm Dorian swept through.
As remnants of Dorian moved east and merged with a trough, some light snow fell on parts of New Brunswick and Labrador

After Dorian made landfall as a hurricane-strength post-tropical storm in Nova Scotia Saturday and tracked east, it left behind more than a trail of damage and power outages -- it even dropped some light flurries in parts of New Brunswick and Labrador, later that evening and overnight Sunday, respectively.

What led to the dusting of the white stuff (no accumulations) was a trough merging with Dorian. As it transitioned into a post-tropical storm, the wind field expanded and the storm lost its tropical characteristics, Weather Network meteorologist Matt Grinter explained.

Comment: Early snowfall for Labrador, Canada

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Windsock

Powerful Typhoon Faxai kills three, injures 40 and wreaks havoc on Tokyo transport system


The Japan Times
Mon, 09 Sep 2019 11:38 UTC
Typhoon Faxai
© KYODOTyphoon Faxai, which assaulted the Kanto region from late Sunday night to early Monday morning, toppled a utility pole and pillars, several stories high, that held up netting around a golf driving range in Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture.
A powerful typhoon landed near Tokyo early Monday morning, killing at least three people and injuring about 40 as well as affecting hundreds of thousands of rush-hour commuters in the metropolitan area at the start of the week.

East Japan Railway Co., also known as JR East, had suspended all lines in the greater Tokyo area as Typhoon Faxai made landfall near the city of Chiba, shortly before 5 a.m., as one of the strongest typhoons on record in the Kanto region.

A woman in her 50s in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, was confirmed dead after a security camera captured her being blown off her feet and into a wall, according to police.

An 87-year-old man died in the town of Otaki in Chiba Prefecture after being struck by a tree that fell as he tried to clear storm debris nearby.

At the Yokosuka base of the Maritime Self-Defense Force in Kanagawa Prefecture, a 47-year-old company employee who was working to fix a power generation unit was found collapsed and later confirmed dead at a hospital. Police believe he was blown off balance by a strong gust in the typhoon and may have fallen from a terrace on the second floor.

The weather agency had warned that central and eastern Japan, including Tokyo, could see record winds, forcing airlines to cancel flights and some major roads to be closed. Authorities issued voluntary evacuation warnings to more than 390,000 people, as forecasters cautioned the rain and wind could reach "record" proportions.

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Cloud Lightning

Lightning kills 246 across Bangladesh in 7 months


Daily Star (Bangladesh)
Sun, 08 Sep 2019 18:39 UTC
lightning
A total of 246 people were killed and 97 injured in lightning strikes across the country in last seven months this year, said a press release.

Of the victims, 202 were male persons, 30 female persons, eight teenage boys and girls and six children, Save the Society and Thunderstorm Awareness Forum said in a press release today.

According to the release, 11 people were killed in February while 8 in March, 20 in April, 60 in May, 66 in June, 47 in July and 37 in August.
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Cloud Lightning

About 1,250 lightning strikes recorded in western Washington state within three hours

Faith Karimi and Artemis Moshtaghian
CNN
Sun, 08 Sep 2019 16:03 UTC
Lightning in W WA state
© Lisa Bergman
About 1,250 lightning strikes were recorded in western Washington state during a storm that caused widespread power outages Saturday night, the National Weather Service said.

A strong line of thunderstorms developed over western Washington, bringing frequent lightning, heavy rains, flooding and hail to the Puget Sound region, according to the National Weather Service's office in Seattle.

The 1,250 lightning strikes were between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. local time, it said. Of those, 200 were recorded in the Seattle metro area from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Lightning occurs when ice particles within a cloud interact with each other through collision, causing the particles to fracture and break apart, according to NASA. The intense heat of the lightning generates a sound called thunder that is transmitted through the air at the speed of sound, it added.
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Ambulance

Hurricane Dorian aftermath: Thousands still missing, militias form to stop looting and altered topography prevents rescue efforts

Ryan Fahey, Sophie Tanno, Megan Sheets & Lauren Fruen
Daily Mail
Fri, 06 Sep 2019 14:14 UTC
Abaco Island
© AFP/GettyAbaco Island
The death toll from devastating Hurricane Dorian will be 'staggering' with thousands still missing, officials have warned amid reports looters are 'trying to shoot people' in the scramble for food and water.

Up to 70,000 are in need of 'life-saving assistance' while Great Abaco is said to be virtually uninhabitable, with bodies piled up and witnesses say there is a 'smell of death' with corpses floating in the water.

While the official death toll stands at 30, that number is expected to rise and hundreds of body bags have been ordered along with extra freezers.

A massive international relief effort was ramped up today as survivors revealed horrifying details of the 'apocalyptic' aftermath of the 185mph, Category-5 storm which hit the islands five days ago.

One survivor, Alicia Cooke, broke down in tears as she revealed: 'Everything is gone, people are starting to panic. Pillaging, looting, trying to shoot people for food and water. It's just no way everyone's going to get out.'

'No homes. No banks. No gas stations. No hardware stores. Everything is gone,' she added, as others said they feared the spread of disease.

Hundreds have gathered hoping to be evacuated today, but efforts have been complicated by flooded runways at Grand Bahama International Airport.

Comment: Officials are having a difficult time reaching the Northern Bahamas as the topography of the coast has changed.
Steve Harrigan reports from Abaco Island in the Bahamas as search and rescue efforts continue. The scale of the devastation is incredible; everything is gone, and worse yet the topography has changed removing the ability of deep water ports to be used in/around most of the northern Bahama islands. The anticipated death toll is expected to be dramatic. [Disturbing Content]


The duration of Hurricane Dorian has changed the underwater topography making access to the Island communities even more difficult, if not impossible. The Bahamian National Emergency Management Agency and the Royal Bahamian Defense Force have warned all ocean vessels to stay clear of the Northern Bahama islands.

The equipment needed, and the fuel to make the equipment operational, is not able to reach the Islands because the underwater topography has changed. Deep water channels and port routes need to be remapped. Most previous ports in/around the Northern Bahamas are no longer feasible for use. What used to be deep water is now shallow water.

Air crews from the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Military are working under the authority granted by the Bahamian National Emergency Management Agency and the Royal Bahamian Defense Force to reach as many island residents as possible. However, the mass delivery of tonnage is severely limited by the inability to open the airports and use fixed wing carriers.

Large ships cannot port, and hovercrafts are needed to avoid the issues with topography changes. All coastal maps are essentially useless around Abacos and Grand Bahama Island. Near shore navigation is currently impossible for large vessels.

This recovery effort is going to be complex and long duration.


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Cloud Precipitation

India recorded 1000 extreme rainfall events in the first 12 days of August!

Jayashree Nandi
Hindustan Times
Thu, 05 Sep 2019 06:58 UTC
India rainfall
© NASA/IMERG, GSFC

There were 1,000 "extreme rain events" in the first 12 days of August, according to data collated by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) from the India Meteorological Department. IMD describes "extremely heavy rain events" to be more than 20cm rain in a day and "very heavy rainfall events" to be more than 12cm rain in a day.

CSE head Sunita Narain red-flagged the rise in extreme weather events and how they are going to exacerbate land degradation in future at a media briefing on desertification.

Calling on the attention of leaders gathered at the 14th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) being hosted by India between September 2 and 12, Narain said, "We are seeing extremely heavy rain in very few number of days. There were 1,000 extremely heavy rain events in the first 12 days of August and data shows rain has been as extreme as up to 3,000% more rain in a day. There were droughts and floods in the same state this monsoon. We have documented unusually high spikes in rainfall for several states. Nature's revenge is on us."


Comment: Rainfall 3000% above normal in a single day in the Indian state of Karnataka


She gave the example of Maharashtra and Kerala, which have experienced both floods and drought this monsoon. "Not climate change alone, our mismanagement of resources is exacerbating impacts. Let's not let leaders blame the extreme events on the inevitable," she said.

Comment: Watch SOTT's monthly Earth Changes weather roundup to understand the alarming and extreme weather events that are occurring worldwide these days.



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