Storms
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Cloud Precipitation

Record-setting rain this year across the United States

Judson Jones
CNN
Wed, 19 Dec 2018 13:21 UTC
Mike Pollack searches for a drain in the yard of his flooded waterfront home a day after Hurricane Florence hit the area, on September 15, 2018 in Wilmington, North Carolina.
© Mark Wilson/Getty ImagesMike Pollack searches for a drain in the yard of his flooded waterfront home a day after Hurricane Florence hit the area, on September 15, 2018 in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Places like Washington, DC, have seen the most rain they have ever seen in a calendar year.

In fact, 78 cities across the United States are on track to have their wettest years on record. At least 16 of those have already broken their yearly records, according to data from NOAA Regional Climate Centers.

The continental United States as a whole is on pace to be the fifth wettest year on record and eight states are on track to have their wettest years on record.

Much of the Mid-Atlantic has observed 20 inches above what they get in an average year.

Comment: See also: Record rainfall! North Carolina city hits 100 inches of rain for 2018

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Cloud Precipitation

Hockey-ball-size hailstones smash Sydney, Australia

Jessica Dunne and Viki Gerova
Ten Daily
Thu, 20 Dec 2018 11:53 UTC
The size of the hail that just fell
The size of the hail that fell in Sydney
A series of extremely fast-moving storms have swept through Sydney, dumping hail and delaying flights at the airport.

UPDATE: The NSW SES has received more than 1400 calls for help since the storms began on Thursday afternoon.

Sydney metropolitan was the hardest hit area, Andrew Galvin from NSW SES told 10 Daily.

There have been about 350 requests for help in Hornsby in the city's Upper North Shore, while more than 270 calls have been received from Liverpool in the west.

"We have had huge demand on the telephones with a large number of calls," Galvin said.

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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills mother, two daughters in Malawi

Archangel Nzangaya
Malawi 24
Thu, 20 Dec 2018 11:20 UTC
lightning
Lightning killed a woman and her two daughters aged 8 and 4 during thunderous rains on Monday in Mchinji district.

Confirming the development was Mchinji public relations officer, Lubrino Kaitano, who said the incident occurred on December 17, 2018, when the district experienced heavy rains associated with cloudburst.

Kaitano said at around six o'clock in the evening on Monday, the 34-year-old mother with her two daughters and a son were in the kitchen preparing food when they were hit by the lightning.

The publicist identified the woman as Clara Andrew Mbewe who died together with her two daughters; Judith and Enelesi Banda

Comment: Also within the last week lightning killed one individual in Kenya and a teenage girl in South Africa while in Odisha, India a bolt fatally hit 2 youths.

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Tornado2

Extremely rare EF2 tornado rips through Seattle area, strongest to hit Washington state since 1986 - UPDATE


The Weather Network
Wed, 19 Dec 2018 02:07 UTC
seattle tornado damage
© TedLandk5/ Twitter
A powerful tornado tore through a Seattle-area town on Tuesday afternoon, damaging homes and vehicles along its path.

The twister touched down just before 2 p.m. local time, according to the National Weather Service (NWS), raking through the Puget Sound community of Port Orchard, about 13 miles west of Seattle.

Images of significant damage to homes and trees in the area quickly started appearing on social media as well as via local news agencies. There are no reports of any injuries at this time.

The NWS will send a survey team on Wednesday morning to asses the damage and classify the intensity of the storm. "Until we conduct a tornado survey tomorrow morning, we can not speculate on the strength of the tornado," the weather agency said via Twitter.


Comment:

UPDATE: On 20th Dec. AP reports:
An extremely rare tornado that touched down west of Seattle was the strongest to hit Washington state since 1986, the National Weather Service said Wednesday.

A Weather Service storm team surveyed the damage just south of Port Orchard, Washington, and rated the twister an Ef2 on the Enhanced Fujita scale with top wind speeds of up to 130 mph (210 kph). The scale rates an Ef2 as "significant."

In five minutes Tuesday afternoon, the twister's 1.4 mile-path (2.3 kilometers) tore roofs off homes, shattered windows and toppled large fir trees, but no injuries have been reported.


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Attention

'Stay well back ... or risk certain death': Giant waves slam California coast

Ian Livingston
Washington Post
Mon, 17 Dec 2018 06:53 UTC
Large waves crash ashore in California
© Kent Porter, APLarge waves crash ashore at Duncan's Landing north of Bodega Bay, Calif., Monday, Dec. 17, 2018, as a large swell train arrive on the Sonoma Coast.
Storm systems, driven by persistent low pressure near Alaska, are churning waters to dangerous levels along the West Coast of the United States.

The focus of the punishment from massive waves is from southern Washington state through central California. The San Francisco Bay area is one region taking the brunt, with waves expected to reach 30 to 40 feet in height through Tuesday. It's even been enough to postpone a surfing competition.

This event is huge, and truly affecting the whole West Coast. High surf warnings extend from north of the Oregon and Washington border to about a two-hour drive north of Los Angeles. High surf advisories or gale warnings stretch from the Canada to Mexico border.

"The dramatic wave heights are related to a consistent fetch of wind action that . . . has origins up near Alaska," Marshall Shepherd, professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Georgia, writes at Forbes.

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Snowflake Cold

Up to 2.5 metres (98 inches) of snow in last 7 days in North America

Patrick Thorne
Inthesnow.com
Tue, 18 Dec 2018 15:39 UTC
snow
Ski areas in the Pacific Northwest region of Canada and the USDA have reported huge snowfalls over the past week, and there's much more in the forecast for the week ahead.

Mt Baker in Washington state in the Northwest corner of the USA, which holds the record for the most snowfall in the world in a single season, as well as the average biggest snowfall every season, has had 98 inches (over 8 feet or 248cm) of snowfall in the last seven days and is expected to get over a metre more by Thursday.


Comment: See also: From zero to hero: 80 inches of snow in 8 days for the Cascades - Mount Baker 92 inches in 7

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Ice Cube

Freak hail storm pummels Sun City, South Africa


The Weekly Times
Sun, 16 Dec 2018 17:23 UTC
Sun city hail storm
© @Namritha_ / Twitter
A sudden hailstorm slammed the South African resort town of Sun City on December 15, causing flash flooding and damage to various properties and vehicles. Sun International, which operates the Sun City Resort, said day visitors were immediately bussed away from the worst affected areas and said guests whose hotel rooms were affected were asked to return home, if possible.

Multiple social media users shared videos and photos showing the hail storm, leaks and flooding inside resort buildings and piles of hail in parking lots.

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Cloud Precipitation

Weekend deluges flood areas of south Thailand


Bangkok Post
Mon, 17 Dec 2018 15:54 UTC
Vehicles crawl through a flooded road in Surat
© Supapong ChaolanVehicles crawl through a flooded road in Surat Thani.
Some provinces in the South were affected Sunday by flooding triggered by torrential rain that erupted in the region over the weekend.

The Meteorological Department also warned of more torrential rain in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung, Songkhla, Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, Trang and Satun today.

As of Sunday, Nakhon Si Thammarat, in particular, appeared to have suffered the worst of the downpours.

In Thung Song district of the southern province, run-off from the forest burst into the municipality areas where the flood levels reached between 30cm and 50cm, said a source.

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Cloud Precipitation

Flash floods cause havoc in Melbourne, Australia


The Guardian
Fri, 14 Dec 2018 13:31 UTC
floods
Flash floods have caused havoc for some in Melbourne on Saturday afternoon, with flash flooding turning backyards, suburban streets and ponds into gushing rivers.

A Christmas party at a Pakenham housing estate in the city's outer southeast was called off Saturday afternoon when heavy rainfall halted celebrations.

Organiser Samantha Thorpe said a little pond nearby became "like a raging river".

"It has never happened like this before."

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Cloud Precipitation

Parts of Victoria in Australia hit with a month's worth of rain in a day as cyclone menaces north


The Guardian
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 12:50 UTC
A pedestrian walks along a flooded street
© Julian Smith/EPAA pedestrian walks along a flooded street in the south of Melbourne on Thursday
Seventeen people have been rescued by helicopter and 100 people are stranded in their cars on a flooded Hume Highway in northeast Victoria.

With more than a month's worth of rain already fallen across parts of northeast Victoria as wild weather rages across the state, authorities say some people have not heeded warnings about driving into floodwaters.

"We've seen people that have had to be rescued from the roofs of their cars, 17 people in total, and 100 people have been stranded just to the south of Wangaratta," Victoria State Emergency Service chief officer Tim Wiebusch told reporters.
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