Storms
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Cloud Lightning

Five seriously injured in French lightning strike


The Daily Star
Mon, 20 Aug 2012 17:09 UTC
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© 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.
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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.
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Telescope

Red Sprites - A strange and beautiful form of lightning


SpaceWeather.com
Mon, 20 Aug 2012 11:59 UTC
High above Earth in the realm of meteors and noctilucent clouds, a strange and beautiful form of lightning dances at the edge of space. Researchers call the bolts "sprites"; they are red, fleeting, and tend to come in bunches. Jesper Grønne of Silkeborg, Denmark, photographed these specimens on August 15th:

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© Jesper Grønne
After several years of hunting sprites from my location in Denmark, I finally caught some last week--the first danish Red Sprites ever photographed," says Grønne. "They were located 50 km to 90 km above a thunderstorm some 350 km away over the North Sea. There were 2 flashes, each producing 5-6 individual Red Sprites."

"Sprites are a true space weather phenomenon," explains lightning scientist Oscar van der Velde of Sant Vicenç de Castellet, Spain. "They develop in mid-air around 80 km altitude, growing in both directions, first down, then up. This happens when a fierce lightning bolt draws lots of charge from a cloud near Earth's surface. Electric fields [shoot] to the top of Earth's atmosphere--and the result is a sprite. The entire process takes about 20 milliseconds."
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Cloud Lightning

Nine waterspouts spotted on Lake Michigan

Garret Ellison
mlive.com
Sat, 18 Aug 2012 10:21 UTC
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© Derek DennisWaterspouts formed over Lake Michigan near Holland on July 27. Similar phenomena were spotted on Saturday morning off South Haven.
Saturday: The National Weather Service is now reporting nine waterspouts from two separate storms were witnessed on Lake Michigan.

Waterspouts have been spotted over Lake Michigan today and forecasters say it's possible more could spawn tonight and Sunday night.

The National Weather Service said three of the tornado-like vortices were reported to them shortly before noon on Saturday, by people who were out on a fishing boat in Lake Michigan this morning.

The spouts were spotted about 24 miles west of the South Haven lighthouse.

The storms that caused them were small, 15-minute "pop-ups," said William Moreno, a meteorologist in the NWS office in Grand Rapids.

Conditions were right this morning for the waterspouts, Moreno said, with a land breeze converging over lake water warmed by the summer heat.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning Strike Kills Wisconsin Boy, 9, and Injures Seven Others on Sailboat


Daily Mail
Sun, 19 Aug 2012 00:00 UTC
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© KODSRescue effort: The site where the group took refuge was difficult to get to, the fire chief said
A lightning strike on a Lake Superior beach killed a nine-year-old Wisconsin boy and injured seven others, Minnesota authorities said Sunday.

All eight 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, about 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office said in a news release.

Lighting struck before they could get off the boat, but one person was able to call 911.

Law enforcement and rescue agencies rushed to the site, which was about two miles from the nearest road to Duluth, by boat and ATV.

A boy identified as nine-year-old Luke Voigt from Iron River, Wisconsin, was flown to a hospital in Duluth, where he was pronounced dead.
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Cloud Lightning

Body Found in Search for Man Missing after Rains in Dallas


Seattlepi
Sun, 19 Aug 2012 04:19 UTC
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Two men were swept into rain-swollen creeks in Dallas and Fort Worth after thunderstorms brought up to 4 inches of rain to the area over the weekend. By Sunday, authorities believed they had recovered one man's body.

Fort Worth Fire Department spokesman Richard Harrison told The Associated Press a body was found in the search area Sunday afternoon but has not been positively identified as the missing man. Harrison said that a witness told them the man was swept away Saturday night after stepping into a creek on the east side of the city to cool off.

Lt. Jerome Henry of Dallas Fire Rescue told The Dallas Morning News the search resumed Sunday for a man swept away in White Rock Creek. Witnesses say the man was fishing Saturday night when he lost his footing while walking across a concrete barrier to the other side of the creek
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Cloud Lightning

Typhoon Kai-Tak kills nine in Vietnam, 2 in China


Terra Daily
Sun, 19 Aug 2012 09:50 UTC
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At least nine people were killed, thousands of homes damaged and swathes of farmland flooded as Typhoon Kai-Tak swept across northern Vietnam, authorities said Sunday.

The storm, which made landfall late Friday, brought strong winds and heavy rains that inundated several densely populated communities including part of the capital Hanoi.

Five people were swept away by floodwaters while one woman died when a landslide buried her house while she was sleeping in Bac Giang province, according to the government's central committee on flood and storm control.

A taxi driver was killed by a toppled tree while two people were electrocuted by a falling electricity cable, it said. Nearly 12,000 houses were damaged and 23,000 hectares (56,800 acres) of cropland were flooded, according to the committee.
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Cloud Lightning

Tropical Storm Helene threatens Mexico


The Extinction Protocol
Sat, 18 Aug 2012 12:48 UTC
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After forming close to shore, Tropical Storm Helene headed north along Mexico's Gulf coast early Saturday posing a threat to areas where thousands of people were still recovering from flooding spawned last week by Hurricane Ernesto. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Helene sprang up Friday then weakened to barely tropical storm strength by nighttime, but its forecast said the storm could strengthen again before making an expected landfall Saturday. Meanwhile, Portugal posted warnings for the central and eastern Azores islands as Tropical Storm Gordon moved eastward across the Atlantic and later turned into a hurricane.

The National Hurricane Center said Gordon had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph and was headed east at 18 mph. Helene had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and was moving northwest at 7 mph late Friday. It was centered about 65 miles east of Tuxpan. Landfall was predicted for the northern part of Veracruz, a lush coastal state with hundreds of towns and villages sitting along streams and rivers that can swell dangerously in heavy rain. Many were evacuated as Ernesto approached last week, and flood damage made some 10,000 people homeless. Mexico's government declared a state of emergency in more than 100 population centers in Veracruz and was providing them with emergency aid. The country's national weather service warned of intense rains and winds along the Veracruz and Tamaulipas coasts, with heavy rain, hail and lightning possible. Helene was predicted to bring 5 inches to 10 inches of rain, with as many as 15 inches across northeastern portions of Mexico.
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Cloud Lightning

Multiple waterspouts touch down in Black Sea, near Foros, Ukraine

loveforos
YouTube
Tue, 14 Aug 2012 06:12 UTC
Multiple waterspouts were filmed just offshore from the city of Foros on the Black Sea coast in early August 2012.


Comment: Meanwhile, further north...

Multiple waterspouts touch down off Polish coast

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Cloud Lightning

Multiple waterspouts touch down off Polish coast

Irydius
YouTube
Sat, 11 Aug 2012 06:05 UTC
Multiple waterspouts were filmed just offshore from the city of Darłowo on the Polish Baltic Sea coast in early August 2012.

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