Storms
S


Umbrella

New deadly flood hits Russia's south: 4 killed, over 1,500 affected


Russia Today
Wed, 22 Aug 2012 05:28 UTC
Image
Four people have died, three more are missing and over 1,500 have been affected by a devastating deluge that inundated the region, already severely battered by the deadly disaster in July.

­Three of the dead have already been identified, Emergency Ministry says. They are reported to have been tourists.

The overall number of those affected by the disaster currently stands between 1,500 and 1,800 people, according to different sources.

The heavy rainfalls battering the area in the last 24 hours - in some places the average monthly falls - triggered the flooding.
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Isaac nears hurricane strength as it lashes Haiti


NBC News
Sat, 25 Aug 2012 02:25 UTC

Tropical Storm Isaac strengthened as it dumped heavy rains on Haiti on Saturday, threatening floods and mudslides in a country where hundreds of thousands of people remain homeless more than two years after a devastating earthquake.

Lashing rains and high winds were reported along parts of Haiti's southern coast and in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, where more than 350,000 survivors of the 2010 earthquake are still living in fragile tent and tarpaulin camps.

Intermittent power outages affected the greater Port-au-Prince area in the early hours of Saturday as Isaac bore down on the impoverished Caribbean country.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said at 2 a.m. ET that Isaac was 55 miles southwest of Port au Prince and moving northwest at 13 mph.

It had maximum sustained winds of 70 mph, the NHC added.

Its center was expected to pass over Haiti's southern coast early Saturday. The NHC warned there was a possibility Isaac could reach hurricane intensity before making landfall in Haiti.
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Tropical Storm Isaac heads toward Guantanamo Bay; 9/11 hearings delayed

Julie Tate
The Washington Post
Wed, 22 Aug 2012 12:24 UTC
Image
© Agence France-Presse/Getty Images/NASA Isaac strengthened on Wednesday and looked set to become a hurricane as it churned through the Caribbean on a path that could bring it to Florida during next week's Republican convention.
A tropical storm gathering strength in the Caribbean forced the U.S. military on Wednesday to postpone the latest hearings for the five detainees charged in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, as officials evacuated staff members and others from Guantanamo Bay.

Tropical Storm Isaac is forecast to make landfall Saturday morning near the U.S. naval base on the southeastern tip of Cuba, according to the National Weather Service. It is expected to become a hurricane by Thursday.

On Wednesday, a military spokesman at the Guantanamo detention center said most of the detainees are housed in concrete structures that can withstand the effects of hurricane-force winds; those who are not will be transferred to secure structures. Officials said they are also preparing to evacuate nonessential personnel, representatives of human rights groups and reporters from the island.

Residents of the base, meanwhile, were told to expect destructive winds and were advised to secure loose objects in their yards that could "become projectiles."

The last major storm to threaten Naval Station Guantanamo Bay was Tropical Storm Tomas in November 2010. It passed just east of Cuba but brought heavy rain and 60 mph winds, causing substantial flooding in the region.
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Multiple Typhoons Threaten Taiwan


The China Post
Mon, 20 Aug 2012 08:08 UTC
Image
Taipei -- Tropical Storm Tembin (天枰) has been upgraded to a typhoon and is likely to turn northwest toward Taiwan today, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday.

If the typhoon turns as forecast, its eye may make landfall on Taiwan's east coast Thursday, according to the weather bureau.

As of 8 a.m., the eye of Tembin was located 620 kilometers southeast of Eluanbi, off the southernmost tip of Taiwan, moving at a speed of 8 km per hour in a northerly direction.

Tembin, the 14th storm of the Pacific typhoon season, is packing winds of 119 kph, with gusts of up to 155 kph, and has a radius of 150 km, the bureau said.

The typhoon is likely to move toward Taiwan on a northwesterly track Tuesday and take a more westerly turn Wednesday, the bureau said.

A sea warning for Tembin is likely to be issued Tuesday morning and areas around Taiwan should be prepared for strong winds and heavy rain Wednesday to Friday, the bureau warned.
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Lightning kills two brothers in Russia's Kursk region


Pravda
Tue, 21 Aug 2012 14:48 UTC
Image
In the Kursk region of Russia, a flash of lightning killed two people. Another one was injured. Officials at the regional EMERCOM said that the tragedy occurred in the village of Begosha. It was not raining that day, but flashes of lightning would occasionally flare up the sky. Two men and a teenager were walking along the road when they were hit by lightning, reports Rosbalt. The adults were killed on the spot, whereas the injured 14-year-old teenager was taken to the regional hospital.

The boy has already come to his senses; his health is improving, Life News said. Experts said the three men became victims of a pinpoint lightning strike. "The people died as a result of a tragic combination of circumstances. There were no extremely dangerous factors nearby, which could become a "magnet" for the lightning," officials said.

RIA New Region said that in early August, in the village of Bolshaya Gryaznukha, the Sverdlovsk region of Russia, lightning killed a 35-year old woman, a mother of four. The woman came to the meadow to help her 14-year-old son, who was grazing cattle there. It started raining, and the mother and son decided to take shelter under a tree. The tree was struck by lightning in a few moments. The teen was thrown aside; he lost consciousness. The woman died on the spot.
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Lightning injures 10 New Jersey soldiers at New York's Ft. Drum


Associated Press
Wed, 15 Aug 2012 04:57 UTC
Military officials say a lightning strike has injured 10 soldiers from a New Jersey Army National Guard unit who were training at Fort Drum in northern New York.

First Sgt. David Moore tells The Associated Press that the soldiers from the Lawrenceville-based 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team were on a training ground on the Army post when the lightning struck around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Moore says six of the soldiers were checked out by medical staff and have returned to duty. He says the other four are under the care of the unit's medics and are expected to resume their duties.
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Authorities ID Wisconsin boy killed in lightning strike


AZCentral.com
Tue, 21 Aug 2012 08:50 UTC
Minnesota authorities have identified a 9-year-old Wisconsin boy who was fatally injured by a lightning strike on a Lake Superior beach.

The St. Louis County Sheriff's Office says Luke Voigt, of Iron River, Wis., was flown to a Duluth hospital after the lightning strike on Saturday, but was pronounced dead after efforts to revive him failed.

The sheriff's office also says his 7-year-old brother, Daniel Voigt, was on shore during the lightning strike and was not injured.

The boys were among eight family members and friends who were on a sailboat that took refuge from a rapidly approaching thunderstorm on the end of Minnesota Point, near the Superior Entry to the Duluth-Superior harbor.

Four others in the group were taken to Duluth hospitals with what authorities described as severe but not life-threatening injuries.
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Increase in Lightning Observed Across Japan... What the Hell Is That?!

Master Blaster
RocketNews24
Tue, 21 Aug 2012 00:34 UTC
Lightning?
© RocketNews24
In addition to two months of temperatures over ３５℃, Japan has recently been hit with a spate of lightning storms. In fact, when writing a previous story my building was hit by lightning knocking out my computer and forcing a rewrite. The son of a...

Anyway, with all this lightning around and pretty much the entire population carrying cameras built into their phones, a person's natural inclination is to try and take a picture of a bolt.

One person though was not only lucky enough to actually be able to catch a bolt in a photo, but found something far stranger.

If you're jaded like me you'd probably just assume this is a Photoshop job. But for the sake of science and wonder let's explore some other possibilities.

I once saw something like this before where a beam of light was shining after a bolt of lightning hit the ground. Afterwards I heard on the news that a gas main was hit and exploded. In that case though the light wasn't a perfectly straight pillar like that.

The other possibility is that this is a lens flare. Lens flares are those little spots or lines that appear in pictures or video when the light source is too strong. Lightning could certainly be strong enough to cause that, but in that case the buildings wouldn't be in front of the beam since the flare occurs inside of the camera.
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Five seriously injured in French lightning strike


The Daily Star
Mon, 20 Aug 2012 17:09 UTC
Image
© REUTER/Aly SongLightning is seen above buildings during a storm in central Shanghai, August 20, 2012.
Five people, including two children, were struck by lightning and seriously injured Monday at an adventure park in the Pyrenees in southwestern France, a local source told AFP.

The three adults and two children aged four and 14 had to be taken to hospital after the incident in the commune of Argeles-Gazost, while 25 others suffered lightning shocks.

The lightning struck cables at the adventure course just after park officials had begun evacuation procedures because of the weather, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

In an incident Sunday, two women in a group of eight were struck by lightning while walking along the beach on the island of Oleron off the Atlantic coast of France.

One woman suffered a heart attack, while the other remained conscious in hospital.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

"Unusual" Lightning Storm Hits Wellington


The Dominion Post
Mon, 20 Aug 2012 17:05 UTC
Lightning Storm
© David McConachieTaken from Korokoro showing lightning strikes near Somes Island.
Wellington was treated to a spectacular lightning display last night as a storm dropped hail stones the size of marbles on the Miramar Peninsula.

MetService severe weather forecaster Paul Mallinson said several storms converged south of the city about 5pm.

Between 8.15pm and 9pm the combined storm moved from Wellington Airport to Eastbourne before it began to fall apart.

About 200 lightning strikes were recorded.

The Metservice issued a severe weather watch for the capital, warning there may be surface flooding.

MetService forecaster Stephen Glassey said the thunder storm formed about 5pm when a southerly and northerly wind converged, creating lift.

Eastbourne resident Richard Mayston said it was some of the most dramatic lightning he had seen in 20 years and the thunder was so intense it shook his house.

MetService duty forecaster Mads Naeraa said last night's thunder and lightning storm was an unusual one for Wellington.
Read More...