Storms
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Red Flag

70-foot waves hit Hawaii

Giant wave
© Clark Little/FacebookNorth Shore
Waves with up to 70-foot faces rolled into Oahu's North Shore on Monday, forcing an hours-long closure of Kamehameha Highway and damaging homes, according to Hawaii News Now.

On Tuesday, National Weather Service officials said the swell was one of the strongest surf events in Hawaii in the last 50 years. And, they warned, another swell is on its heels.

At least one home sustained serious damage from the waves, officials said, and they feared other homes were at risk. Officials also said surf had undermined the foundation of a lifeguard stand at Laniakea.

Waves toppled a Haleiwa home's seawall, undermined the home's foundation and washed away a tree. Waves were also showering cars, creating hazardous driving conditions and pushing rocks onto the roadway.



Ice Cube

4-inch hail pellets found in Pembroke, North Carolina

Large hail
© Adrienne Locklear
Large pellets of hail were found in North Carolina after a powerful storm made its way through the state.

US National Weather Service Wilmington NC shared a photo of two pieces of hail measuring about four inches each next to a ruler for comparison.

Large hail fell in Pembroke, NC
© Jason LloydLarge hail fell in Pembroke, NC
"Large hail fell in Pembroke, NC from a tornado-warned supercell in Robeson county earlier this evening - check this out!" They wrote while crediting Jason Lloyd for taking the photo.

A commenter shared a photo of seven large pieces of hail that also measured about three inches wide.

The storm left several homes across North Carolina damaged as tornado warnings were announced in various parts of the state.

Snowflake

Snow way out: Blizzard leaves crew stranded on Antarctic ice-breaker

ice-breaker hit by blizzard
© ABCScienceOnline / YouTube
A crew of 68 people remain stranded on board a polar research ship more than a day after it broke from its moorings and ran aground near Australia's oldest harbor in the Antarctic Circle.

The Aurora Australis, a 94-meter long ice-breaking ship, was ripped from its anchoring as a raging blizzard hit Mawson Station, East Antarctica, on Wednesday morning.

Efforts are being made to bring the crew back to base. However, the blizzard conditions are hampering the operation.


Footage recorded from inside the stricken vessel shows strong gusts of ice and snow battering the upper deck.

Tornado2

More weird winter weather: Tornado strikes southeast Virginia town, kills 3, injures 8

Tornado damage
© Reuters
Virginia State Police said three people were killed and eight others were injured after a tornado hit the farming town of Waverly, southeast Virginia. Nearly 123,000 were without power.

Police officials have not released the names of the victims but said a 2-year old boy, 26 year-old man, and a 50-year old man were killed when their mobile home was destroyed in Waverly, according to WTVR.

The bodies, found 300 yards from the mobile home, were transported to the Office of the Medical Examiner in Norfolk for positive identification.

The strike in Virginia on Wednesday came from a severe storm that had pummeled the southern states over the last two days with 20 tornadoes reported, and is now sweeping up the East Coast.


The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for Virginia, and weather radars showed a twister did touch down in the state.

The tiny farming town of Waverly, in the state's peanut-growing region, took the brunt of the storm, #tornadogeddon, with winds as fast as 60 miles per hour.

Five structures in town were damaged, according to officials, in a town of approximately 2,000.Emergency Management said they spotted the twister touch down along Route 460 before slamming into Waverly. "It was only 3 minutes, but it was fast and ripped things apart," one witness told WTVR of the twister.

Leaving in its wake flipped cars, and snapped trees. In a separate incident, Timothy Williams told AP a friend had just come to take his new car for a drive when the storm hit.

Tornado2

Rare triple waterspout spotted off Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain as tornadoes pound the state

waterspouts over Lake Pontchartrain
© Reuters
Spectacular images and video footage of three simultaneous waterspouts over Lake Pontchartrain in southern Louisiana emerged online after multiple tornadoes hit the state.

The waterspouts were spotted moving northwards over the lake situated between New Orleans and Mandeville on Tuesday afternoon.

Bizarro Earth

Tornado season begins as dangerous storm system tears through southern US

storm Kenner LA
© Nesaih TerrebonneDark clouds roll across the sky on Feb. 23, 2016, in Kenner, La.
At least three people were killed Tuesday night in as strong storms blasted through the southern U.S.

One death was reported in Lamar County, Miss., according to the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson.

Lamar County Coroner Cody Creel confirmed one fatality in Lamar County as a result of the storms that passed through.

Two more deaths were were reported in southern Louisiana after a tornado hit an RV park in Convent, according to Fox 8 New Orleans.

Several RVs were overturned and emergency workers were trying to reach victims, the news organization reported.

Word of the deaths came amid at least 15 reports of tornadoes in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama that were recorded by the Storm Prediction Center as of 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Tornado1

Dozens killed after powerful cyclone Winston ravages Fiji; experts warn of Zika & Dengue threats

Fijian village
© NZ Defense ForcesA remote Fijian village is photographed from the air during a surveillance flight conducted by the New Zealand Defence Force on February 21, 2016
Dozens of people have been killed by the powerful cyclone Winston, which has been ravaging Fiji in recent days. Experts warn that the island country can suffer possible outbreaks of the Zika and Dengue viruses.

The footage posted on the Fijiian government website shows a massive scale of destruction on the small island - whole villages have been flooded amid Winston's destructive winds, which reportedly reached about 325 kph.

"The images emerging from early aerial assessments of affected areas are truly heartbreaking, leaving little doubt about the ferocity of this cyclone," said Osnat Lubrani, UN Resident Coordinator in Fiji.
Fiji Island aftermath
Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said that the recovery process will take "a long time."

"Almost no part of our nation has been left unscarred. And many of our rural and maritime areas bore the brunt of Winston's fury," he said.

Aid agencies said that Fiji now may face outbreaks of the Zika and Dengue viruses, both of which are caused by infected mosquitoes.

"The threat of dengue and Zika in the coming days in Fiji is real," said Chris Hagarty, senior health program manager at Plan International Australia. "The period immediately following a disaster of this scale can be a particularly dangerous one."


According to the UN, more than 8,100 people "are currently sheltering in evacuation centers" and 150 houses have been destroyed in the storm.

Snowflake

Heavy snowfall paralyses daily life in Sivas, Turkey

Heavy snowfall in Sivas, Turkey
© Turan TemelHeavy snowfall in Sivas, Turkey
Central Turkish province of Sivas, which had been witnessing spring weather conditions in the middle of the winter for a while, took heavy snowfall, paralyzing daily life across the city.

Snowfall which has begun with blizzard in the late hours continued until the morning hours of Saturday. Following the snowfall the snow has reached 50 centimeters in depth across the province. As walking on the pavement has nearly become impossible since the thick snow layer also many cars have stayed under the snow drift.

Many people, who intended to reach their working place, had difficulty while clearing their car from the snow banks. People shovel up the ways of their working place.


Tornado2

Tornado activity in Illinois well above average for 2015

tornado damage in Coal City, Illinois
© CBSAerial view of tornado damage in Coal City, Illinois, the morning after a storm on June 22, 2015.
Illinois was hit hard by tornadoes in 2015, well above its average and the fourth-most in the nation, according to the National Weather Service.

Based on preliminary data, Illinois had a total of 69 twisters, well above the state's 25-year average of 53.

By August, the Chicago area had set a record for the number of tornadoes in 2015.

Only Texas (239), Kansas (125) and Oklahoma (110) had more, and all three states were well above their state's average.

Illinois' neighbors to the west, Iowa (58) and Missouri (48), were slightly above their average.

Interestingly, another Plains state, Nebraska, was well below its average, with only 26 reported tornadoes.

In total, the United States reported 1,152 tornadoes in 2015, with the overwhelming majority (1,069) reported as relatively weaker EF-0 or EF-1 storms.


Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills family of 5 in Siavonga, Zambia

Lightning
Lightning has killed a family of five people in Siavonga District of Southern province.

Siavonga District Commissioner (DC) Lovemore Kanyama confirmed the development to ZANIS saying the family who include father, mother, and three children were struck by lightning on Sunday night.

The incident happened during a downpour in Munyama area.

He said a combined team of police officers, council officers and health officers rushed to the village where the incident happened to assess the situation.