Storms
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Tornado2

Twin waterspouts spotted off Maui, Hawaii (VIDEOS)

Wendy Osher
Maui Now
Wed, 07 Feb 2018 11:47 UTC
Two waterspouts appeared this afternoon off Papawai Scenic Lookout near Maui’s South Shore.
© ALLAN ROZENBERGTwo waterspouts appeared this afternoon off Papawai Scenic Lookout near Maui’s South Shore.
The state remains under a flash flood watch through this afternoon.

The unstable conditions resulted in thunderstorms, downpours and waterspout activity over south and west Maui waters on Tuesday afternoon. Two waterspouts were reported shortly after 3 p.m. on Tuesday about 3 miles west of Kīhei.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration defines a waterspout as a tornado occurring over water. It normally refers to a "small, relatively weak rotating column of air that comes into contact with the water surface" and is most common over tropical or subtropical waters, and is not associated with storm-scale rotation, according to NOAA.

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Cloud Lightning

Lightning strike kills 22-year-old man, injures his father in Honey Island, Texas


Texarkana Gazette
Thu, 08 Feb 2018 11:37 UTC
lightning
Authorities say an East Texas man has died and his father was injured during an apparent lightning strike as the two were fixing a cattle fence.

The Hardin County Sheriff's Office says the deadly incident happened Tuesday afternoon in the community of Honey Island, about 80 miles northeast of Houston.

Sheriff Mark Davis says emergency personnel found 22-year-old Sebastian Ramos of Honey Island was unresponsive. Davis says Ramos was pronounced dead at a Beaumont hospital.

The sheriff says the man's 57-year-old father was transported via private vehicle to the hospital for treatment of burns.

Further details on the father's injuries weren't immediately available. A message left with CHRISTUS Southeast Texas-St. Elizabeth Hospital was not immediately returned Wednesday.

Source: Associated Press
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Snowflake

Paris grinds to a halt as snow blankets northern France


The Guardian
Wed, 07 Feb 2018 16:10 UTC
snow paris
© Gonzalo Fuentes/ReutersMen walk with skis on a snow-covered path near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, as the record-cloudiest winter continues in western Europe.
The Eiffel Tower turned away tourists on Tuesday as snow swept across northern France, causing traffic chaos in Paris during the French capital's first real dose of wintry weather this season.

The Meteo France weather service put the greater Paris region on alert for snow and black ice on roads, among 27 departments it expected to be on alert across the country until midday Wednesday.
paris snow
© Aurelien Meunier/Getty ImagesThe Arc de Triomphe as snow falls.
The weather caused major gridlock across the city, with more than 700km (430 miles) of traffic jams recorded at 7.30pm local time (1830 GMT) on Tuesday, local information service Sytadin said.

Paris bus services were cancelled on Tuesday evening, according to the RATP transport authority, and school transport would not run on Wednesday in several areas.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt hits 7 family members, killing 2 in Zimbabwe

Jairos Saunyama
Newsday
Wed, 07 Feb 2018 13:28 UTC
lightning
A lightning bolt struck seven family members, who were resting under a tree at their homestead in Mudzi, killing two while five of them, including two babies, sustained injuries last Saturday.

Rejoice Mazhowe (17) and Monalisa Masimo (12) under Chief Goronga in Mudzi died on their way to Kotwa Hospital, while Shupikai Bhande (38), Nyarai Finiyasi (26), Memory Mutumba (26) Talent Masimo (10 months) and Wisdom Bhande (seven months) were admitted and reportedly in a stable condition.

Mashonaland East province acting police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Tendai Mwanza confirmed the incident.

Comment: A day earlier in the same country a woman and her ox were also killed by lightning while in neighbouring South Africa also on the 2nd of February, a man who was clinicallly dead for 20 minutes after being hit is now recovering:
A local man, who was declared clinically dead for 20 minutes after being struck by lightning on Friday, is in hospital recovering.

The 68-year-old man arrived home on Friday afternoon during a storm and reportedly sought cover under a tree where he was struck by lightning.

A family member started CPR almost immediately after lightning struck him and when paramedics arrived, they took over.

On Tuesday the victim, whose family asked that his name not be published, was still in a medically induced coma in the intensive care unit at a local hospital.

However, paramedics said on Tuesday that he had started moving his legs, which is "a very good sign".

ER24 paramedic Andrew Rogers, who took over CPR from KZN EMS and performed CPR for 25 minutes before he felt a pulse, said it was a case that will stand out for him in his experiences as a paramedic.

He said he and his crew member, Pitso Mdunge, rushed from Pietermaritzburg to Howick when they received the call, and immediately on his arrival he took over CPR from another paramedic from KZN EMS.

A few minutes after the man's pulse returned he had started breathing on his own, and his blood pressure came up, said Rogers.

Rogers said the fact the man had cardiac problems, and was in his sixties, counted against him in terms of recovery. However, to Rogers' surprise his "recovery post lightning strike was good".

While lightning strikes are often fatal, it was believed that this was not a direct lightning strike. This, and the fact that the family started CPR almost immediately after the strike had played a major part in the man being resuscitated, he said.

Rogers believes that had it not been for the family's quick reaction the man would not have made it to hospital.

The incident is proof of how important it is for the public to know how to administer CPR. Rogers explained that CPR helps to keep the brain oxygenated and while the man was in fact "clinically dead" and had no pulse initially, the CPR was a major factor in helping him to recover.


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Ambulance

11 killed after snow and ice cause hundreds of crashes in Iowa and Missouri


Omaha World-Herald
Tue, 06 Feb 2018 06:08 UTC
Iowa car crashes
© KCCI-TV VIA THE ASSOCIATED PRESSIn this photo provided by KCCI-TV, emergency personnel tend to vehicles on Interstate 35 in Ames, Iowa, after dozens of vehicles collided on the snow-covered freeway Monday.
Eleven people died and dozens were injured in hundreds of crashes on snow-covered Missouri and Iowa roads Sunday and Monday.

Authorities say a 50- to 70-car pileup Monday on Interstate 35 north of Des Moines claimed a life and left several others critically injured.

The Iowa fatalities included:

Two sisters, ages 13 and 17, who died in a collision in Winneshiek County, according to the Des Moines Register. Four other teenagers, ages 14 and 15, were injured and hospitalized.

Two men died and a third was injured in a crash on Interstate 380 in Cedar Rapids.

Another man died in a crash on Interstate 80 near Grinnell.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol said the crashes in that state started Sunday afternoon as snow began falling. Less than 2 inches accumulated, but the snow quickly turned to ice as temperatures plummeted into the single digits.

The largest crash happened on Interstate 44 near Marshfield, about 150 miles southeast of Kansas City. Besides the 60 to 80 damaged vehicles, another two dozen vehicles were blocked and unable to move, said patrol Sgt. Jason Pace. The pileup killed a 55-year-old man from Glendora, California, whose name wasn't immediately released. The Interstate was closed for several hours while crews cleared the wreckage.

Pace said almost 350 crashes and 50 to 55 injuries were reported in the 18-county area he is responsible for in the southwest part of the state.

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Snowflake Cold

In Pictures: Traffic freezes as Spain is covered in snow

Jay Emeny
EuroWeekly News
Mon, 05 Feb 2018 08:59 UTC
Valencia
Valencia
Weather warnings are still in place across most of Spain as more than 300 roads have been affected by the recent bad weather.

The AP-6 has been closed from kilometre 60 to 110 heading to Madrid due to ice, while a lorry has tipped over on the A-1 forcing its closure.

Parts of Alicante are also experiencing slow traffic, especially on the A-79 and A-31.

The bad weather is expected to continue until at least Wednesday, with more snow in northern and central Spain and Cataluña as well as parts of Andalucia.

A full list of the roads affected can be found here.

Even the football has been affected by the drop in temperatures.

Comment: Enough With the Global Warming Nonsense: It's Freezing Out Here!

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Tornado2

Waterspout and strong winds blow away boats, dumpster in Singapore (VIDEOS)


The Straits Times
Wed, 31 Jan 2018 14:48 UTC
Three boats were seen being swept away by the wind in a video.
Three boats were seen being swept away by the wind in a video.
Heavy rain fell across Singapore on Wednesday (Jan 31), with unusually strong winds sending a dumpster and even a few boats flying in the air at East Coast Park.

Videos circulating online show the fierce gusts blowing leaves and debris up into the air. At least three boats are seen being tossed into the air as well. The person taking the video exclaims and flees when the boats are blown in his direction.

A spokesman for the National Sailing Centre (NSC) confirmed with The Straits Times that it happened near the centre.

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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt strikes 5 people, killing 2 in Zimbabwe

Whinsley Masara
The Chronicle (Zimbabwe)
Mon, 05 Feb 2018 10:28 UTC
lightning
A grade five pupil and a woman from Nkayi died on the spot while three other people suffered serious burns after they were struck by a bolt of lightning.

One of the victims is said to be in a critical condition and was admitted to Nkayi District Hospital while the other two were treated at a local clinic.

Vusani Dube (13) of Msweli village and Priscilla Nyoni (38) of Mkhantsho village, both under chief Sikhobokhobo died after they were struck by lightning at a grinding mill.

The deceased and those who escaped with burns had sought shelter in a kitchen hut at the homestead of the owner of the grinding mill last Thursday at around 5PM, when the incident occurred.
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Cloud Precipitation

Storm kills 2 in flash floods days after devastating king tide in New Zealand (PHOTO, VIDEO)

Harrison Christianson
Stuff.nz
Sun, 04 Feb 2018 13:58 UTC
flash flood auckland new zealand february 2018
Flash floods in West Auckland's Waitakere Ranges claimed two teenagers' lives on Saturday evening.

The two people who died after being swept away in a flash flood were both teenage boys, police have revealed.

Mitch Woolley​ and Sosi Turagaiviu, both 17 years old, were swept away while trying to cross a swollen river in West Auckland's Waitakere Ranges about 5pm Saturday.

Comment: Both hemispheres of the planet are being slammed by extreme weather: Also see:

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Attention

Thousands of dead penguins wash up on beaches in Northland, New Zealand


Newstalk ZB.
Fri, 19 Jan 2018 17:36 UTC
Thousands of blue penguins are dying on New Zealand's east coast, including in Northland.
© NZ HeraldThousands of blue penguins are dying on New Zealand's east coast, including in Northland.
Rough seas and strong easterlies - and a successful breeding season - could be behind the deaths of possibly thousands of little blue penguins on Northland's east coast.

Many east coast beaches have been strewn with bodies of the world's smallest penguin species, in Maori called korora, along with shearwaters, petrels and other seabirds.

Although the sight has shocked some visitors to the region, even locals used to seeing dead seabirds are concerned at the number of birds in trouble and carcasses, Whangarei birdman Robert Webb said.

The Whangarei Bird Recovery Centre which he manages is caring for dozens of injured or exhausted seabirds brought in this week.

Comment: See also these 2 recent reports from other areas of New Zealand: Hundreds of dead and starving seabirds wash up on beaches at Tasman Bay, New Zealand

Mass of dead and dying seabirds on Bay of Plenty shores in New Zealand

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