Storms
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Tornado1

Tornado hits town in midwest Netherlands: Dozens of homes damaged

windhoos westland
© NOSGreenhouses in the area were damaged by the landspout.
Dozens of homes in the Zuid-Holland town of 's-Gravenzande were damaged by a tornado on Thursday. Roof tiles were blown off, windows shattered and trees were blown over. The tornado lasted around 25 seconds, according to the Telegraaf.

The tornado happened in the vicinity of Marsmanstraat, also hitting a number of greenhouse companies. No one was injured. According to the fire department, none of the homes were so badly damaged that the residents had to be evacuated. The fire department couldn't say exactly how many homes were damaged, but estimated between 20 and 40. The affected residents were visited by the mayor of Westland, the municipality that covers 's-Gravenzande.

Comment: Dutch news sources report that the type of tornado that hit 's-Gravenzande was a 'landspout'. In case anyone hasn't noticed yet, the weather is increasingly chaotic on our planet. Where is it all leading? We suppose we'll find out soon enough. Keep an eye on Sott.net's Earth Changes category to stay up to date.


Cloud Lightning

Is smog breeding storms? Researchers in China explore rise in lightning deaths

lightning
China is investigating whether air pollution has played a part in the rapid increase in the number of people struck by lightning in some of its largest cities in recent decades, according to a scientist involved in the project.

The investigation follows a discovery by US scientists that fossil fuel exhaust fumes could double the lightning risk at sea, which raised concerns about the risk to vessels in some of the world's busiest waters, including the South China Sea and the Malacca Strait.

Lightning now kills or injures nearly 4,000 people in China annually, according to government statistics, but less than 20 years ago the reported casualties were only a tenth of the present level.

The cost of the damage it causes to businesses in sectors such as telecommunications, power and transport is estimated to be somewhere between 5 billion and 10 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion).

Cloud Precipitation

Powerful one minute microburst swamps, sinks powerboats, jet skis at Lake Powell, Arizona

The National Weather Service says the 56 mph microburst swept through the region in about a minute accompanied by rain showers.
© Jimmy RexThe National Weather Service says the 56 mph microburst swept through the region in about a minute accompanied by rain showers.
A sudden, powerful downward gust of wind swamped or sank dozens of powerboats and jet skis Thursday at Lake Powell along the Arizona-Utah border.

Authorities say at least three people were injured with a 60-year-old woman suffering a severe arm injury that required amputation.

They say a 57-year-old woman suffered head and hip injuries while another person had a dislocated shoulder.

The National Weather Service says the 56 mph microburst swept through the region in about a minute accompanied by rain showers.


Windsock

Typhoon Doksuri kills 4 in Vietnam; more than 100,000 homes damaged

Typhoon Doksuri hits Vietnam
© AFP/Getty ImagesHeavy rain and wind lashed Vietnam's central coast Friday as Typhoon Doksuri made landfall, prompting mass evacuations
At least four people have been killed and 10 more were injured by the effects of Typhoon Doksuri as it made landfall in Vietnam on Friday, officials said.

A disaster official told the Associated Press that a man was killed in Quang Binh province when he tried to reinforce his home and fell to his death. The man's identity has not been released. An elderly man was also killed in the province when he fell to the ground and died of his injuries in his yard, disaster official Nguyen Duc Toan told the AP.

Officials also confirmed to the AP the death of an 83-year-old woman in Nghe An province, and in Thua Thien Hue province, a man was swept away by floodwaters and died.

The provinces of Ha Tinh and Quang Binh were hardest-hit, with upwards of 100,000 homes sustaining damage in the hours before and after landfall, the AP also reported. Power was cut to entire provinces before the storm arrived, leaving hundreds of thousands in the dark.

"It looks terrible, worse than war time," Tran Thi Hong, principal of the Ky Xuan school in Ha Tinh province, which lost its entire roof, told Reuters. "I could just cry, it took us so long to build this school."

Windsock

Storm Sebastian kills three people across Germany with hurricane-force winds

Windstorm Sebastian damage in Germany
© picture-alliance/dpa/C.CharisiusSebastian's winds caused scaffolding to fall on pedestrians in Hamburg, killing one man
Windstorm Sebastian killed at least three people in Germany on Wednesday as hurricane-force winds of up to 150 kilometres per hour were recorded in the north of the country.

A man in a wheelchair was found dead in a river in the northern city of Hamburg, according to local firefighters.

Witnesses saw him fall into the water and despite a rescue effort that included divers, a boat and a helicopter, he could not be saved.

A pedestrian also died in Hamburg after he was hit by scaffolding that fell from the seventh floor of a building, police said. He was taken to hospital where he later died.

A 53-year-old man was the third person to be killed in the storm after being crushed by a tree near the west German spa town Brilon. The man was working in the forest when a 20-metre tall spruce tree fell on him, local police said.

The first autumn storm of the year also managed to uproot numerous trees across Germany. According to the Deutsche Bahn, trees had to be cleared from tracks and damaged overhead lines had to be repaired.


Cloud Precipitation

Record rainfall as typhoon Talim batters southern Japanese islands

Typhoon Talim hits Japan
© EPATyphoon Talim brought sporadic wind and showers to Taipei on Wednesday (Sept 13). It has now shifted north and will not make landfall in Taiwan, although the capital and other cities can expect heavy rain from the storm.
A strong typhoon lashed islands in southern Japan Thursday, packing gusts of up to 252 kmph and leaving thousands without power as it headed towards the mainland.

Authorities warned of landslides and high waves as Typhoon Talim battered the southern Okinawan island chain, dumping the most rain seen over a 24-hour period in 50 years on the city of Miyako.

According to Okinawa Electric Power, more than 18,000 homes were without power in Miyako, a city of around 54,000 people some 1,840 km southwest of Tokyo.

Japan's Meteorological Agency said the typhoon was expected to approach the Kyushu island by early Sunday.

Local media said it was poised to cross Japan's mainland - which includes Tokyo - on Monday. Big storms regularly strike Japan, with 22 people killed when Typhoon Lionrock pounded the country last September.

Last month, Typhoon Noru killed two and injured 51.

Cloud Lightning

San Francisco sees 1,200 lightning strikes in rare September thunderstorms

lightning San Francisco
© Instagram / Lacey_bannister
Updated on September 12 at 7:20 a.m.: The National Weather Service reported Tuesday morning that 1,200 cloud-to-ground strikes and 5,800 in-cloud strikes hit the Bay Area Monday night.

"You can see both," says Scott Rowe, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Monterey. "Both are just as dangerous."

It started with strong wind gusts between 35 and 50 mph that roared through Monterey County and parts of the South Bay in the early morning hours. Later in the day, temperatures climbed to the 90s in San Jose and the high 80s in San Francisco.

Then came the rain, thunder, and lightning. The National Weather Service tweeted out that the Bay Area saw more than 800 lightning strikes and cloud flashes between noon and 5 p.m.

Comment:


Cloud Lightning

At least 9 killed, 5 injured by lightning strikes across Odisha, India

lightning
At least nine people were killed and five others injured in separate lightning incidents in Odisha on Tuesday.

While Laxmi Majhi (35) and her sister-in-law Bhagabati Majhi (20) at Baruamunda village under Komna police limits in Nuapada district were killed due to lightning strikes one died another injured in Banta block of Bhadark.

Among other deaths, two persons- one each from Bada Barahampur in Kholar panchayat under Delang block and Pubasasan village under Pipili in Puri district were killed due to lightning.

Similarly, a man was killed his wife sustained injuries at Sosa Sankatapali villager under Anandapur of Keonjhar district.

Cloud Lightning

80 people killed by lightning strikes from April 1 to August 28 in Myanmar (Burma)

lightning
From April 2016 to the end of last year, 59 people died from lightning strikes, but this year the figure rose to 80 between April and August 28, with another 25 people injured, according to the Department of Relief and Resettlement.

Previously, lightning strikes were not taken as seriously as today. Lightning strikes are often associated with cumulonimbus clouds, which are dense tower-shaped clouds at the origin of thunderstorms and atmospheric instability. These clouds are capable of producing lightning and other dangerous weather, such as tornadoes, according to the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology.

Cumulonimbus clouds are the main source of lightning strikes. In the past few years, lightning strikes used to happen at the end and beginning of the monsoons. This year, cumulonimbus clouds remained for the whole rainy season due to irregular raining, said U Kyaw Moe Oo, associate director general of the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology.

Comment: See also: Lightning strikes kill 57 within 10 weeks in Myanmar (Burma); compares to 10 deaths for roughly the same period in 2016


Cloud Precipitation

Tropical Storm Maring floods metro Manila, Philippines

A man pedals his bicycle along a flooded street in Manila, Philippines on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017.
A man pedals his bicycle along a flooded street in Manila, Philippines on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017.
The torrential rains brought by Tropical Depression Maring flooded several parts of the National Capital Region on Tuesday, leaving roads impassable and commuters stranded.

The floods congested at least four major intersections in Malabon City alone, GMA 7 news program "24 Oras" reported on Tuesday.

Among them flooded intersections were Governor Pascual Avenue corner Maria Clara Streets, Maya Maya corner Pampano Street, and the intersection of Tonsuya and Sitio 6 in Katmon.

Rain poured heavily in Malabon around 2 p.m., and a waist-high flood rose within the next hour, particularly along Samson Road.

With PUV's unable to ply their routes, commuters had no choice but to wade through the flooding.


Comment: According to site Floodlist nearly 20 inches of rain fell within 24 hours: Philippines - Tropical Storm Dumps 500mm of Rain in 24 Hours