Storms
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Cloud Lightning

US: Heavy rain, strong winds drench Western Washington


King 5 News
Tue, 22 Nov 2011 10:05 UTC
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© KING 5 News
Seattle - A late November storm is blasting Washington with high winds, drenching rains and heavy snow.

A high wind warning is in effect on the coast until noon Tuesday, along with flood watches through Wednesday night for rivers that easily flood in Western Washington, and a winter storm warning for the north Cascades until 6 p.m. Tuesday for up to a foot of new snow.

"We've had a lot of rain and a lot of wind," said KING 5 Meteorologist Rich Marriott. "The good news is the winds will begin to die down a little bit."

Moderate to heavy rain was blanketing Western Washington Monday morning. Between 1-2 inches of rain fell in the lowlands overnight, and Marriott predicts about 1-3 inches more for Tuesday. The rain will stick around through Wednesday morning, possibly causing some urban flooding due to clogged drains. Read Rich's complete forecast.

The Olympic Peninsula could see as much of 10 inches of rain, which could lead to some river flooding. A Flood Warning is in effect for Mason County on the Skokomish river at Potlatch.
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Bizarro Earth

Kenneth Becomes Latest Major Hurricane Ever Recorded in Eastern Pacific

Andrea Thompson
OurAmazingPlanet
Tue, 22 Nov 2011 09:25 UTC
Hurricane Kenneth
© NOAAHurricane Kenneth, as seen in this GOES West satellite images taken today (Nov. 21), becomes the fourth tropical system on record to form in the eastern Pacific Ocean after November 18, and the second-latest hurricane after Hurricane Winnie on December 5, 1983.
Just one day after first reaching hurricane status, Hurricane Kenneth has strengthened into a Category 4 storm. The rare mid-November hurricane is now the latest occurring major hurricane ever observed in the eastern North Pacific basin.

Kenneth has punishing winds of 145 mph (230 kph), but is currently not considered a threat to land as it pushes westward some 750 miles (1,210 kilometers) south-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Category 4 is the second-highest category on the Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane strength. The storm is expected to remain a hurricane through Thursday before weakening.

Though the official hurricane seasons for both the eastern Pacific and Atlantic last until Nov. 30, it is rare for storms to form this late in the year, as tropical ocean waters are cooler than they are at the height of the season in August and September and therefore less likely to fuel the storms.
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Bizarro Earth

Rare Mid-November Hurricane Roars to Life in Pacific

Andrea Thompson
OurAmazingPlanet
Mon, 21 Nov 2011 12:15 UTC
Hurricane Kenneth
© NHC/NOAA The forecasted path and intensity of Hurricane Kenneth over the next five days.
A rare mid-November hurricane has formed in the eastern Pacific Ocean and could be followed by an equally rare tropical storm in the Atlantic basin.

Tropical Storm Kenneth became a hurricane today (Nov. 21) after first forming as a tropical depression on Saturday.

Though the official hurricane seasons for both the eastern Pacific and Atlantic last until Nov. 30, it is rare for storms to form this late in the year, as tropical ocean waters are cooler than they are at the height of the season in August and September and therefore less likely to fuel the storms.

The average number of tropical storms seen in November between the years 1851 and 2010 amounted to half a storm; the average number of hurricanes is only 0.3, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The last Atlantic hurricane to form in November was 2009's hurricane Ida. Hurricane Tomas was still swirling in the Atlantic as of Nov. 7 last year, though it formed in October.

The latest a hurricane has ever been observed in the Atlantic basin was the second Hurricane Alice of the 1954 season, spotted on Dec. 31, according to the NHC. The latest hurricane to hit the United States was a storm that made landfall near Tampa, Fla., on Nov. 30, 1925 (this occurred before storms received names).
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Cloud Lightning

Kenneth becomes late-season hurricane in Pacific


Associated Press
Mon, 21 Nov 2011 07:49 UTC
Forecasters say Kenneth has strengthened into a rare late-season hurricane in the eastern Pacific, although there is no current threat to land.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Monday that Kenneth had maximum sustained winds near 80 mph (130 kph). The storm was centered about 705 miles (1,135 kilometers) south of the southern tip of Baja California, Mexico, but was moving away from the coast. It could become a major hurricane in the next day or so.

It is moving west-northwest at 14 mph (22 kph)

Projections show Kenneth moving west out to sea, away from land. There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect.

The eastern Pacific hurricane season ends Nov. 30.
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Ambulance

US: Chunk of LA street, cliff slide into Pacific


MSNBC
Mon, 21 Nov 2011 11:10 UTC
Los Angeles - Residents of a coastal neighborhood were worried Monday about safety and property values after a large chunk of a street and the coastal bluff it sat on crumbled into the ocean amid heavy rains on Sunday.

A section of Paseo Del Mar in the San Pedro area that for months had been creeping toward the ocean collapsed as a storm struck, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said in a statement. In recent weeks the section had been moving at about 4 inches a day.


"My greatest concern (is) that all these homes right here are going to end up in the water and that we're going to be separated and our own little island," said one resident interviewed by nbclosangeles.com just outside the closed-off area. "I have three kids and two grandkids and I want them to be able to have the ocean view and be able to stick their feet in the sand and not fall off a cliff."
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© Chuck Bennett/Torrance Daily Breeze/APA portion of Paseo Del Mar in San Pedro, Calif. slid into the ocean Sunday.
Another resident said locals were talking about how the slide would undermine property values.
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Cloud Lightning

Death toll from Thailand's floods tops 600


Associated Press
Sun, 20 Nov 2011 08:49 UTC
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© Altaf Qadri/AP
Bangkok - The death toll from Thailand's worst flooding in more than half a century has passed 600.

The floods began in late July, fed by heavy monsoon rains and a series of tropical storms. The floodwaters swamped entire towns as they moved south through the country's central heartland to Bangkok and the Gulf of Thailand. More than two-thirds of the country's 77 provinces have been affected.

The government said Sunday that the death toll has reached 602, the majority from drowning. It said the number of affected provinces is currently 17.

The situation has improved dramatically in recent days and cleanup has begun in many areas, though some still face weeks more under water.
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Better Earth

Breathtaking Time Lapse Video of Earth from Space Station

Preston Scott
camera technica
Sun, 13 Nov 2011 13:26 UTC
Image
© ISS/NASA
Maybe you've heard. There is a one-million pound tinker toy floating 200 miles above the surface of the Earth. The International Space Station zips around the Earth at 17,000 miles per hour and witnesses 17 sunrises and sunsets every day. What you may not know is that in addition to all their other duties, the space station astronauts are pretty good photographers.

The images below were captured from August to October, 2011 from the deck of the International Space Station. The stunning sequences show the Aurora Borealis, night passes over cities, and crackling lightning storms. Images were taken with a special low-light 4K camera and they give some of the best perspectives yet on what it is like to travel aboard the space station.
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Cloud Lightning

Rare Bolivian Tornado Caught on Tape


The Weather Channel
Thu, 17 Nov 2011 17:00 UTC
A resident of Cochabamba, Bolivia caught this tornado as it moved through his town. It demolished buildings, uprooted trees and ripped metal sheeting from roofs. A Bolivian meteorologist says it is unusual for a tornado to hit a mountain city.

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Bizarro Earth

Sun's Solar Flares Connected to Yesterday's US Killer Storms

Mitch Battros
Earth Changes Media
Fri, 18 Nov 2011 06:49 UTC
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Over the last 7 days, several solar flares and CMEs (coronal mass ejections) have set off from the Sun as part of Cycle 24 continues towards its apex or maximum. My research over the last 13 years, have pointed to the Sun as the main cause of cyclical natural disasters.

Since the publishing of my two books: Solar Rain: The Earth Changes Have Begun and Global Warming: A Convenient Disguise, the world's leading scientific bodies - such as NASA, NOAA and ESA have come on-board supporting my 1998 "Equation."

Beginning yesterday, six US states were hit with 'extreme weather' in the form of tornadoes, straight-line winds, micro-burst, and wind shears. The states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama S. Carolina, N. Carolina and Georgia suffered at least six deaths, numerous injuries, and severely damaged buildings.
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Cloud Lightning

Crews seek survivors as Southeast storm death toll rises to 6


MSNBC
Thu, 17 Nov 2011 07:45 UTC
The death toll from a storm system that spawned several possible tornadoes as it slammed the Southeast has risen to at least six, officials said Thursday as search crews went out to look for more victims and survivors.

Officials in central North Carolina said the deaths of a woman and a child in Davidson County were weather-related. However, Emergency Services director Jeff Smith did not have any other details early Thursday.


Suspected tornadoes were reported Wednesday in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and South Carolina. Severe weather also hit Georgia.

Dozens of homes and buildings were damaged and thousands of people were without power as trees and power lines were downed.

In South Carolina, three people were killed and five injured when a likely tornado swept through a rural community near Rock Hill, about 20 miles south of Charlotte, N.C. One person died in northern Georgia when a tree fell on a car, the fire department in Forsyth, Ga., confirmed.

NBC station WCNC reported that search crews in York County, S.C., were to head back out Thursday morning to look for anyone who still might be unaccounted for and help cleaning up.
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