Storms
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Cloud Lightning

Rina Becomes 17th Hurricane of the Season

Brian K. Sullivan
Bloomberg
Mon, 24 Oct 2011 22:07 UTC
Rina grew into a Category 1 hurricane today and is expected to become stronger as it moves toward resorts on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Rina map
© Weather Underground
Rina's top winds are now 75 miles (120 kilometers) per hour, up from 40 mph earlier today, according to a center advisory at about 2 p.m. New York time. The system is the sixth hurricane of the 2011 Atlantic storm season.

"Additional strengthening is expected during the next 48 hours and Rina is forecast to become a major hurricane by late Tuesday," the center said. "Interests in Belize, the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula and the adjacent islands should monitor the progress of Rina."

Matt Rogers, president of Commodity Weather Group LLC in Bethesda, Maryland, said Rina won't be a threat to Gulf of Mexico oil and gas production.
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Igloo

Sudden winter weather causes nightmare in Bulgaria


The Extinction Protocol
Wed, 19 Oct 2011 14:22 UTC
A sudden onset of harsh winter conditions caused transport chaos in Bulgaria on Tuesday, with one man freezing to death, eight people missing in mountains, 600 villages without power and schools closed. A 73-year-old man chopping wood in southeastern Bulgaria died on the way to hospital after being snowbound overnight along with 15 other Roma, including eight children, authorities said.

Image
© Unknown
Six hikers including two children plus two rescue workers were missing in the Balkan mountain range near the eastern city of Sliven, where a tempest blew over trees and fences, even lifting roofs off buildings. Hundreds of vehicles including lorries without winter tyres were stranded along mountain roads, while two trains carrying 100 people were stuck in snowdrifts 10 hours after setting off.
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Arrow Down

Sudden winter weather causes Bulgarian mayhem


Agence France-Presse
Wed, 19 Oct 2011 14:25 UTC
Image
© AA Heavy snowfall has closed down the roads in Bulgaria, causing huge traffic jams.
A sudden onset of harsh winter conditions caused transport chaos in Bulgaria on Tuesday, with one man freezing to death, eight people missing in mountains, 600 villages without power and schools closed.

A 73-year-old man chopping wood in southeastern Bulgaria died on the way to hospital after being snowbound overnight along with 15 other Roma, including eight children, authorities said.

Six hikers including two children plus two rescue workers were missing in the Balkan mountain range near the eastern city of Sliven, where a tempest blew over trees and fences, even lifting roofs off buildings.
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Cloud Lightning

US: 20-25 foot waves forecast for ... Chicago


MSNBC
Wed, 19 Oct 2011 13:41 UTC
A high wind warning goes into effect for the Chicago area Wednesday afternoon, and the city could see waves of up to 25 feet along the city's Lake Michigan coast.

Gusts up to 60 mph could lead to a replay of the high waves that knocked down runners and bikers last month along the lakefront (link). Chicago Police closed the lakefront path that day, and on Wednesday they again warned people to stay away.

Milwaukee, along Lake Michigan to Chicago's north, also is expected to see high winds and waves. By 7 a.m. CT, waves were splashing onto the lower portion of the path between North Avenue and Oak Street Beach in Chicago. The Weather Channel reported that today's winds could be strong enough to topple trees and power lines, resulting in some potential power outages. The winds and rain could also cause hazardous road conditions, the forecast said
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Bizarro Earth

US: Huge Haboob Hits Lubbock, Texas


OurAmazingPlanet
Tue, 18 Oct 2011 16:08 UTC
Dust Storm
© SomeFineFella/YouTubeA screenshot of a video that Sandy Clem shot as the haboob swept over Lubbock.
A giant dust storm known as a haboob swept through Lubbock, Texas, on Monday, blotting out the sun and turning everything a hazy copper.

The 8,000-foot-tall (2,400 meters) dust cloud knocked down trees and power lines, sparked small wildfires and damaged a hangar at the local airport, reported the Los Angeles Times.

Jerald Meadows, a meteorologist based in Lubbock, told the L.A. Times that smaller haboobs of around 1,000 feet (305 m) in height are fairly common in the area, but that yesterday's whopper was "fairly rare." He attributed the storm to the dry condition in the area, which have plagued most of Texas this year, and strong cold front with whipping winds that moved in from the Rockies. The storm traveled at an estimated 75 mph (120 kph).

Haboob is Arabic for "strong wind."
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Cloud Lightning

US: Dust Storm Roils Through Texas South Plains


The Associated Press
Tue, 18 Oct 2011 07:34 UTC
Winds gusting at more than 70 mph churned up a dust storm that roiled through the Texas South Plains during the Monday afternoon commute. Dust kicked up by westerly breezes ahead of a strong cold front restricted visibility in Lubbock to about 5 miles all afternoon, said National Weather Service Lubbock meteorologist Matt Ziebell.

That was nothing compared to the 8,000-foot-high rolling dust cloud that moved through the city just before 6 p.m., dropping visibility to between zero and less than a quarter of a mile, Ziebell said. North winds gusting as high as 74 mph had begun forming the dust cloud about 100 miles north of Lubbock around 4:30 p.m., he said.

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Cloud Lightning

Thai PM says floods costs to top $3.3bn, death toll reaches 300

Thanaporn Promyamyai
Jakarta Globe
Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:57 UTC
Thailand floods
Three months of heavy rains have deluged about one third of Thailand's provinces
The Thai premier on Monday said reconstruction from massive floods swamping vast swathes of the country is expected to cost the government over $3.3 billion -- a fifth more than previously estimated.

Fears for the capital Bangkok appeared to have eased as authorities battled to contain Thailand's worst flooding in decades, which has claimed over 300 lives, swallowed homes and shut down industry.

But Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra warned: "The original budget to support the recovery of both the industrial and agricultural sectors is not likely to be enough."
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Cloud Lightning

Storms Kill Dozens in Central America


The Star Phoenix
Sat, 15 Oct 2011 18:53 UTC
search for victims of a landslide 170 kilometres west of Guatemala City
© Getty Images, Agence France-PresseRescuers search for victims of a landslide 170 kilometres west of Guatemala City on Friday. Guatemala remains under red alert with 56.000 people affected by torrential rains.
Two storm systems left at least 38 people dead and forced tens of thousands from their homes after heavy rains battered Central America and Mexico's Pacific coast, officials said Friday.

Guatemala alone accounted for 21 killed, according to local authorities and emergency services.

The toll in Mexico rose to eight Friday with three more reported dead from flooding and landslides in the wake of Hurricane Jova, which hit the Pacific coast as a category two hurricane Tuesday before weakening to a tropical storm.

Torrential rains destroyed and carried away bridges in Guatemala, where authorities confirmed 21 deaths and 55,000 people affected by a tropical depression, which hit Central America at the start of the week.
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Cloud Lightning

Australia: Hail storms lash southeast Queensland, killing one and causing flash flooding, havoc on roads


The Courier-Mail
Fri, 14 Oct 2011 16:21 UTC
Southeast Queensland will be hit with a second day of heavy rain after yesterday's violent storms killed a driver seeking shelter.


The deadly rain and thick hail that lashed the southeast on Thursday left thousands of homes without power and hundreds of homes and businesses severely damaged.

The 42-year-old Crestmead man was killed by a tree that fell on his car as he parked at the side of Johnson Rd at Hillcrest in Logan City.

A woman was killed when a car smashed into two other cars that had stopped on a road in the heavy rain at Pittsworth, near Toowoomba.
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Cloud Lightning

Residents Evacuate From Thai Floodwaters

Paula Hancocks
CNN
Sat, 15 Oct 2011 15:32 UTC
The Thailand government is diverting floodwaters to protect Bangkok's inner city.

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