Storms
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Tornado2

Tornado whips through Canterbury, New Zealand


Radio New Zealand
Sun, 13 Dec 2015 06:21 UTC
Tornado in mid Canterbury, NZ
© Phillippa FlemingTornado in mid Canterbury

A tornado whipped through Canterbury this afternoon, while heavy rain and lightning strikes caused flooding and small fires.

The Fire Service said it had been stretched to the limit, with callouts to several small fires caused by lightning, trees crashing down on powerlines and flooding.

A hail storm hit just after 2pm, and left more than 5000 homes in south-west Christchurch without power.

Orion said it had restored supply to homes in Rolleston, Burnham and Springston, but about 1400 properties were still without electricity.

Orion expected electricity would be restored to all homes by 7pm tonight.

Mayfield cropping farmer Phillippa Fleming said she saw a tornado at about 3pm. She described it as looking like a Nike tick in the sky.

The tornado lasted about five minutes and there was lots of dust and debris when it touched the ground, Ms Fleming said.

People in Hinds and Mayfield posted videos of the tornado to Youtube.
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Cloud Lightning

Oregon declares state of emergency in 13 counties due to winter storms


RT
Sat, 12 Dec 2015 04:50 UTC
Flooded home
© Jason Redmond / Reuters
Oregon Governor Kate Brown declared a state of emergency in 13 counties late Thursday after days of extreme winds and rainfall caused flooding and landslides in the northwestern part of the state.

The affected counties include: Benton, Clackamas, Clatsop, Columbia, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Multnomah, Polk, Tillamook, Washington, and Yamhill.

The declaration allows the counties to apply for state funding to repair damage, in addition to providing them with emergency response personnel that can respond to communities if local resources are stretched too thin.
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Windsock

"Some good Ol' apocalypse weather": Thousands of tumbleweeds filmed blowing across frozen Montana lake

Daniel Uria
UPI
Fri, 11 Dec 2015 15:02 UTC
tumbleweeds blowing across a frozen lake.
© Tom Forwood JrTumbleweeds blowing across a frozen lake
A Montana man captured video of thousands of tumbleweeds blowing across a frozen lake.

Tom Forwood Jr. posted the video to Facebook describing it as "Some good Ol' apocalypse weather" as frigid temperatures and strong winds caused the strange sight.

"Insane. The temp dropped 19 F in as many minutes and there had to be thousands of Tumbleweeds," Forwood wrote.


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Cloud Precipitation

Flash floods hits Singapore for second day in a row: 3 inches of rain in under 2 hours

Toh Ee Ming
Today (Singapore)
Fri, 11 Dec 2015 12:47 UTC
Flood Singapore
© Lucas/ TwitterToa payoh stadium
For a second day in a row, roads clogged up with traffic after heavy downpours triggered flash floods in several parts across the island this afternoon (Dec 11).

Flash floods were reported in areas at Thomson Road, Balestier Road, Cambridge Road and at several junctions, including Mandalay Road/Balestier Road and Boon Keng Road/Bendemeer Road, although these cleared up by 2.50pm, according to national water agency PUB's Twitter posts.

On social media, users posted pictures of ankle-deep waters at bus stops, and traffic congestion on flooded roads. A tree came crashing down outside Orchard Central while parts of Junction 8 shopping mall in Bishan were flooded.

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Tornado2

Rare winter tornado batters homes in Battle Ground, Washington, US

Ed Adamczyk
UPI.com
Fri, 11 Dec 2015 11:24 UTC
Battle Ground tornado path
© National Weather ServiceBattle Ground tornado path
The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado with maximum sustained winds of 104 mph damaged dozens of buildings in Battle Ground, Wash.

The EF-1 tornado touched down late Thursday morning. Downed trees, broken fences and damage to at least 36 homes were reported, though there were no injuries.

The town of about 18,000 people is located 160 miles south of Seattle in southwestern Washington. Stores and businesses were evacuated, and students were ordered to shelter in place in schools.

The Weather Service warned of a significant weather event affecting Clark County, Wash., that morning, with isolated thunderstorms expected. The area had already been affected by heavy rains since last week, and Wednesday Gov. Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency in the state.

More rain was expected, as were wind gusts of up to 50 mph.

During the cleanup after the tornado in Battle Ground, utility crews responded to reports on a possible gas leak in the Tukes Mountain area. Power was shut off in the area.

Comment: As well as this rare tornado, recently the Pacific Northwest region has also been pummeled by deadly storms, experienced more than 50 small earthquakes within a week and an exploding meteor lit up the night skies.

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Horse

Lightning bolt kills three horses in Warwick, Australia

Sophie Lester
Warwick Daily News
Fri, 11 Dec 2015 16:44 UTC
Lightning
UPDATE 4.45PM: A lightning strike has killed three horses this afternoon as a thunderstorm ripped through Warwick.

Owner Terryanne Kalms is mourning the loss of the horses that were struck while grazing in their paddock near the Victoria St Bridge.

"There were people driving past who knew who owned them," Ms Kalms said.

"They called us saying 'these guys have been hit, they're not moving and the others are afraid of them'.

"It's definitely a shock - they're like family."
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Cloud Lightning

South Australia hit by 140,000 lightning strikes


Herald Sun
Tue, 08 Dec 2015 04:04 UTC
Southern Australia lightning storm
Reader Jess Nies captured this picture of lightning illuminating the night sky at Darlington.
Trees came crashing down and some homes leaked as a thunderstorm and 140,000 lightning strikes lashed the state last night.

The State Emergency Service responded to 45 calls overnight, about a dozen of which were around the Gawler region north of Adelaide, where 14.2mm of rain was recorded.

State duty officer Sara Pulford said there had been no major damage reported overnight, but more people were likely to call the service as they noticed damage this morning.

"We had calls right across the state; obviously the storm pretty much pushed right across the state.

"Mostly trees were impacted, but obviously the thunderstorm in places caused some leaking."

Comment: Elsewhere in Australia, Sydney experienced one of the most active lightning storms in a decade, whilst dramatic storms lashed Victoria bringing heavy rain and massive hailstones.

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Windsock

Violent storm hits Iceland, strongest in 25 years

Eric Chanry
Weather Wunderground
Tue, 08 Dec 2015 11:38 UTC
Iceland Storm
© Kristinn Ingvarsson mbl.is
Iceland saw its worst storm in 25 years Monday as a severe polar low hit the island, bringing with it rain, snow and massive wind gusts.

The East Iceland weather station of Hallormsstaðaháls picked up a wind-speed reading of more than 160 mph, reports the Iceland Monitor. At Bolungarvík on the Westfjords peninsula, a personal weather station recorded a wind gust of 96 mph, with sustained maximum wind speeds of more than 60 mph.

Icelandic authorities raised the country's severe-weather preparedness level to "hazard" Monday in preparation for the storm, the Iceland Monitor reports, and 700 rescue workers fielded around 350 calls Monday, and are still working in the northern part of the country.

There were no reports of severe injuries to people as a result of the storm, said the Iceland Review, and the Iceland Department of Civil Protection in Iceland thanked the public for heeding warnings, which, it says, no doubt saved people from injuries. But here were numerous reports of property damage.

The worst weather affected populated areas by Eyjafjöll, South Iceland, and Vestmannaeyjar (the Westman Islands), where several roofs came loose and one of them landed in the neighbor's yard, Vísir reports.

Two boats sank in Reykjavík Harbor, the Iceland Review reports, and a bus shelter in town was torn to pieces by the wind. In Kópavogur, near Reykjavík, a windowpane blew out of an apartment building in one piece, and many old window panes in Reykjavík shattered. Domestic flights in Iceland were still grounded as of Tuesday morning, the Iceland Monitor reported. The Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration was still reporting numerous roads closed throughout the country due to hazardous conditions.

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Cloud Precipitation

2 deaths, many rescues after latest storm pummels the Pacific Northwest


Daily Mail,UK
Thu, 10 Dec 2015 05:36 UTC
Pacific Northwest storm damage
© AP Photo/Steve DipaolaA large fir tree fell on a house overnight and killed an 60-year-old woman in Portland, Ore., Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015, as the Pacific Northwest was soaked by another night of heavy rain. More than 5 inches of rain have fallen on Portland since Sunday, and strong winds have uprooted trees from the saturated ground.
Torrential rains pummeled parts of the Pacific Northwest early Wednesday causing mudslides and flooding roads, leaving two women dead in Oregon and sweeping seven people into a Washington river, where they were rescued.

A large Douglas fir tree crashed into a Portland home early Wednesday, killing a 60-year-old woman who was in bed.

The tree, roughly 30 inches in diameter, was uprooted and sliced through the house, pinning the woman underneath.

Next door neighbor Sam Choumxay said he watched in horror as the tree fell onto his neighbor's house with a thud. The tree top slammed into two cars in Choumxay's driveway.

Choumxay said he ran outside, made it around the tree, and raced to his neighbors' front door.

"Is anybody hurt? Is anybody hurt? I just kept calling to them," he said.

On Wednesday afternoon, a woman drowned after her car became submerged on a flooded road about 60 miles northwest of Portland in Clatskanie, Oregon, The Oregonian reported.

Firefighters rescued a man they found standing on top of a car in knee-to-waist deep water. They said the man drove himself and the woman into high water where the road was closed near U.S. Highway 30 and Lost Creek Road. The car then sank.

Responders found the woman dead at the scene.

Comment: Recently the Pacific Northwest region has also experienced more than 50 small earthquakes in a week as well as an exploding meteor lighting up the night skies.

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Cloud Precipitation

Flooding in Congo capital kill at least 31 in three weeks

Aaron Ross
Reuters
Wed, 09 Dec 2015 14:42 UTC
Floods Congo
Floods in Kinshasa December 2015
At least 31 people have died in Democratic Republic of Congo's capital Kinshasa in the last three weeks in the worst flooding in years, the provincial interior minister said on Tuesday, warning conditions could get even worse.

The deaths since Nov. 17, concentrated in neighbourhoods along the Congo River and its tributary, the Ndjili, have resulted mainly from home collapses, Emmanuel Akweti said.

The flooding has made 20,000 families homeless and inundated the main water collection station, preventing two-thirds of Kinshasa's communes from accessing drinkable water, he added.

An employee at the public water utility said officials hoped to resume service there by Thursday.
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