Storms
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Tornado1

'Wall of dirt': Huge dust storm rolls over Phoenix, Arizona


RT
Mon, 22 Aug 2016 15:00 UTC
Phoenix dust storm
© Flashwing / YouTube
A dust storm swept through Arizona's largest city Sunday, delaying flights at Phoenix Sky Harbor airport and creating spectacular visuals. The phenomenon is also known by its Arabic name, "haboob."

Phoenix on Sunday evening resembled a scene from Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. While such sandstorms cannot actually happen in Dubai, as depicted in the movie, they are fairly common in the American Southwest.

Visibility at Sky Harbor International Airport was reduced to a quarter-mile or less, with winds gusting to 60 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service. At least 16 flights were delayed, with the average delay running about 49 minutes, according to FlightAware.

"It was impressive. I've been watching it on the news, and it looks pretty imposing as you see it rolling through the Valley, and then you look outside and it's all hazy and orange with the sunset," Simon Norton, who was traveling through Sky Harbor, told KNXV-TV.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills two and injures five in Bajaur, Pakistan


The International News
Mon, 22 Aug 2016 10:05 UTC
lIGHTNING
Two persons were killed and five others sustained injuries when lightning struck them in Adad Banda in tehsil of Bajaur Agency on Sunday.

The two persons identified as Kashif and Inam were killed and five others injured when they were struck by lightning.

The Frontier Corps personnel reached the area and shifted the injured to the Agency Headquarters Hospital in Khar.

The torrential rain also destroyed crops in several villages of the Bajaur tribal region.
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Cloud Lightning

Man dies after being struck by lightning in Roosevelt National Forest, Colorado

Anica Padilla and Ashley Michels
kdvr.com
Sat, 20 Aug 2016 09:38 UTC
lIGHTNING
An Arvada man died after being struck by lighting Friday in the Roosevelt National Forest in northern Colorado.

Chad Trover, 45, was at a cabin near Red Feathers Lakes in Larimer County Friday afternoon when a storm rolled through.

A friend who was with Trover at the time told FOX31 Denver the storm seemed mild and they did not see a lot of lightning.

Trover was talking to his daughter on his cell phone while standing between two 60-feet-tall trees when he was struck.
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Windsock

Typhoon Mindulle hits Tokyo, bringing risk of floods and landslides

Chris Cooper
Bloomberg
Mon, 22 Aug 2016 01:35 UTC
Typhoon Mindulle
© Japan Meterological AgencyTyphoon Mindulle
Typhoon Mindulle unleashed heavy rains on Tokyo, bringing the risk of floods and landslides as the tropical storm made landfall near the Japanese capital shortly after noon Monday.

The typhoon's center was about 74 kilometers (46 miles) south of Tokyo as of 1 p.m. local time and heading north, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. With maximum sustained winds of 126 kilometers per hour (78 mph) and a maximum wind gust speed of 180 kilometers per hour, Mindulle is the equivalent of a category 1 hurricane, the weakest on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale.

The weather agency issued heavy rain and flood warnings for all 23 wards of central Tokyo, while the Prime Minister's Office warned of possible landslides and damage from strong waves. A total of 250 millimeters of rain was predicted in the Tokyo region for the 24 hours to noon, the agency said, and it issued tornado warnings for Tokyo and surrounding areas. Nine rivers were at a dangerous risk of flooding, according to national broadcaster NHK.

Japan Airlines Co. canceled 148 domestic flights, affecting about 28,000 passengers, while ANA Holdings Inc. scrubbed 112 flights, affecting about 26,500 passengers, according to statements from the airlines. Tokyo Electric Power Co. said about 66,000 homes were without power as of 2:25 p.m., mostly in Chiba prefecture where the typhoon made landfall.
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Ice Cube

Golf ball sized hail hits Great Falls, Montana


KRTV Great Falls News
Thu, 18 Aug 2016 18:02 UTC
Giant hail in Great Falls
© Jeff Fenner Sr
People in and around Great Falls were awakened by the sound of huge hailstones coming down overnight.

Hail up to the size of golf balls was reported throughout Great Falls, causing damage to trees, vehicles, and property.

Among the damage - the Great Falls Police Department, who said: "Most of our fleet was damaged by last night's storm. We have dings and cracked windshields galore."

STORMTracker meteorologist Mike Rawlins says the storms virtually came out of nowhere.

"One minute we were fine and the next, the radar lit up with storms," said Rawlins.

The STORMTracker Weather Team was expecting showers and thunderstorms, but severe weather wasn't a big concern.

Rawlins noted, "I expected some small hail, but nothing like what we got in Great Falls."

The National Weather Service did issue a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for the city of Great Falls at 12:33 a.m. Thursday, but the storm was already dropping large hail on the city by the time it was disseminated.

Much cooler, wetter weather is expected on Thursday, however severe thunderstorms are unlikely.

Comment: Meanwhile in France, a brutal hailstorm destroyed half the grape crop in Languedoc. See also:Atmospheric changes: Strange cloud anomalies, rare ball lighting and more hail damaged aircraft

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Cloud Precipitation

Hail wipes out vineyards in Languedoc, France; half of crop destroyed


Wine-searcher
Sat, 20 Aug 2016 20:22 UTC
Hail hits vines near the Pic-St-Loup
© Jérôme DespeyHail hits vines near the Pic-St-Loup
France's weird weather causes more chaos - just as the grapes are due to be harvested.

Growers in Languedoc are in shock after a brutal hailstorm wiped out half the grape crop just days away from the start of harvest.

The sudden storm arrived in the Hérault department on Wednesday afternoon and pelted the vineyards - especially in the area around Pic Saint-Loup - with hailstones the size of golfballs, according to French media reports.

In the village of Lauret, where the storm was at its fiercest, some vineyards were wiped out, according to Mas de l'Oncle winemaker Fabrice Bonmarchand.

Bonmarchand, who has been in the region for five years, said he had never seen a storm like it. "I don't have much experience of this kind of disaster, but I was speaking to the former winemaker, who is 92, and he told me this morning that he can't remember as violent an incident of hail either."
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Tornado2

Waterspout caught on camera over the Tennessee River near Decatur, Alabama

Jake Reed
whnt.com
Sat, 20 Aug 2016 19:12 UTC
Waterspout
Several WHNT News 19 viewers sent in pictures of a waterspout near Decatur on the Tennessee River Friday evening.

The picture above was submitted through our Live Alert 19 app by user "baker630456."

Waterspouts can sometimes cause damage if they move onshore, but the National Weather Service in Huntsville said it had not heard of any damage reports from this storm system.

Waterspouts fall into two categories: fair weather waterspouts and tornadic waterspouts.

Tornadic waterspouts are tornadoes that form over water, or move from land to water. They have the same characteristics as a land tornado. They are associated with severe thunderstorms, and are often accompanied by high winds and seas, large hail, and frequent dangerous lightning.


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Tornado2

Photo captures waterspout at Donner Lake, California


kcra.com
Thu, 18 Aug 2016 19:06 UTC
A water spout was spotted on Donner Lake on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016
© Jeremy JensenA water spout was spotted on Donner Lake on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016
A water spout was spotted at Donner Lake Thursday as thunderstorms moved through the Sierra.

Jeremy Jensen posted a photo of the water spout on his Facebook page. He said the spout picked up a paddle boat and knocked two children into the water. The children were okay, he said.

The spout formed around 4:30 p.m. near Chine Cove at the lake, Jensen said.

KCRA's Mark Finan reported Doppler looked quiet at the time, but there were thunderstorms over the area earlier.

"Nature is wild, I've never seen something like this in Truckee," Jensen said on Facebook.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills 2 in Thailand

Khouth Sophak Chakrya
The Phnom Penh Post
Thu, 18 Aug 2016 13:16 UTC
lIGHTNING
The bodies of two Cambodian men were sent back to the Kingdom yesterday from Thailand, where they were struck dead by lightning while working at a sugarcane plantation in Aranh district in Sa Kaeo province.

Chhun Chhit, police chief at the Malai border checkpoint, said the victims were identified as Eng Det, 25, and his nephew Eng Na, 20, both from Banteay Meanchey province's Malai district.

"According to the report we received from Aranh district authorities, the victims were struck dead by lightning while they were clearing grass in the sugarcane plantation," he said.

Eng Sokchea, 45, the brother of Deth and father of Na, who also works at the same plantation, said the incident took place at about 3:15pm on Tuesday.
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Tornado1

Rare extratropical cyclone forms over Hudson Bay, Canada

Jon Erdman
The Weather Channel
Fri, 12 Aug 2016 12:00 UTC
Hudson Bay cyclone
© The Weather ChannelVisible satellite image of the Hudson Bay, Canada, storm on August 10, 2016 at 10:45 a.m. EDT, showing the occluded storm's "apostrophe" shape.
A strong storm in Canada Wednesday was easily the most interesting feature in satellite imagery, grabbing the attention of meteorologists and weather geeks alike.

This extratropical storm intensified Tuesday over Hudson Bay, eventually reaching peak strength Wednesday, before weakening Thursday.

A visible satellite image showed the storm's classic mature phase as a cold occlusion, with relatively cool air completely wrapped around the low center, and a trailing band of clouds ahead of the cold front, resembling an apostrophe or the number 9.

Here is what the frontal structure of this storm looked like Wednesday, courtesy of NOAA's Weather Prediction Center.

Comment: Elsewhere within the past year some record-breaking and rare storm events include:

July 2016: Hurricane drought in Gulf of Mexico hits a new record of three years - the longest streak in the past 130 years, since formal record-keeping began in 1886.

April 2016: Cyclone Fantala became the Indian Ocean's most powerful storm on record

February 2016: Cyclone Winston caused devastation in Fiji as the most-potent cyclone on record in the Southwest Pacific

January 2016: Hurricane Pali became the earliest-forming hurricane in either the Central or Northeastern Pacific, forming unusually close to the equator

January 2016: Hurricane Alex, a rare January storm in the Atlantic and the first storm of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season

October 2015: Hurricane Patricia became the strongest-known storm in the Northeast Pacific

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