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An unprecedented 20 inches of rain descended on the town of Aso in southwestern Japan, inundating homes and rice paddies and killing at least 6 people. 20 people are still reportedly missing.
Images on local news reports showed cars being dragged into the raging rivers and houses destroyed by landslides. But by around noon time the rain had stopped, allowing for the clean up efforts to kick in.
The local fire department in Aso District said they had managed to rescue 8 people trapped in mudslides.
© NASA Earth Observatory A strange type of lightning called a sprite that occurs above thunderstorms and extends to the edge of space was photographed by an astronaut aboard the space station on April 30th, 2012.
Sprites and elves are reddish, ultrafast bursts of electricity that are born near the edge of space, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) up in the atmosphere. Sprites are jellyfish-shaped, starting as balls of light that stream downward, whereas elves take the shape of ring-like halos.
One sprite was captured with a digital camera by Expedition 31 astronauts aboard the International Space Station as it traveled over Myanmar on April 30.
Scientists first captured images of sprites and elves dancing above thunderstorms in the late '80s and early '90s. Pilots actually saw them decades earlier, but since they flicker in and out of existence so quickly, the sightings couldn't be verified.
© Bobosh_t/FlickrOne-horned rhino.
According to Bora, various species of deer accounted for more than 500 of the animal victims, which also included 14 rhinos and two elephant calves. Assam has been the focus of severe regional flooding in recent weeks, triggered by heavy monsoon rains that caused the Brahmaputra river to burst its banks, inundating large areas of the state.
© AP Photo/Ignat KozlovA local resident stands at a flooded house in Krimsk, about 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) south of Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 8, 2012. The death toll from severe flooding in the Black Sea region of southern Russia has risen to at least 150.
Monday has been declared a national day of mourning in Russia. Families of the flood victims were beginning to bury the dead in the hard-hit town of Krymsk, where torrential rain and flooding turned streets into swirling muddy rivers, inundated thousands of homes and forced people to flee from their beds in the middle of the night. Nearly 19,000 people have lost all their belongings.
The Emergencies Ministry said it sent warnings out by text message, but some local residents said they never received the alerts. Ministry head Vladimir Puchkov acknowledged under pressure that they were insufficient to reach everyone on time.
"A system to warn the residents was set up," Puchkov said at a government meeting where he was grilled by the deputy prime minister about the early Saturday flood. "But, unfortunately, not everyone was warned early enough."
Additional images
A community just outside of Austin, Texas, was pounded by about 10 inches of rain over a few hours early Tuesday, causing flash floods and leaving at least 15 residences surrounded by water, a Texas emergency management official told CNN.
Webberville, Texas, near the western edge of Bastrop County, received about 10 inches of rain starting around 5 a.m., according to Mike Fisher, the county's emergency management coordinator.
"Residents at the end of the subdivision are our concern right now, if anybody's home," Fisher said around midmorning, before the water started receding.
At least four residences were evacuated, but it was unclear how many people were affected by the flooding, he said.
"It was a slow-moving thunderstorm that came through in that one particular little spot of Webberville," Fisher said.
By 12:30 p.m. the water had receded and everything was "back to normal," said Sue Cerf of emergency management department. No one was injured, she said.
Webberville, Texas, near the western edge of Bastrop County, received about 10 inches of rain starting around 5 a.m., according to Mike Fisher, the county's emergency management coordinator.
"Residents at the end of the subdivision are our concern right now, if anybody's home," Fisher said around midmorning, before the water started receding.
At least four residences were evacuated, but it was unclear how many people were affected by the flooding, he said.
"It was a slow-moving thunderstorm that came through in that one particular little spot of Webberville," Fisher said.
By 12:30 p.m. the water had receded and everything was "back to normal," said Sue Cerf of emergency management department. No one was injured, she said.
© UnknownParts of Edinburgh have already been flooded this week
The Met Office have issued rain alerts for most of Scotland, including an Amber Warning of likely flooding covering South West Scotland and the Lothian and Borders area.
The Scottish Environmental Portection Agency say Edinburgh and East Lothian in particular could be badly hit on Wednesday as river levels rise.
A Yellow Warning of potential flooding has also been issued for Central, Tayside, Fife and Strathclyde.
Transport Minister Keith Brown said: "Unfortunately some of those communities who were caught up in the heavy rain in over Edinburgh and the Lothians at the weekend are now being warned to expect more testing conditions over the next 24 to 36 hours.
© REUTERS/NASAHurricane Emilia shown in the eastern Pacific Ocean when still designated a tropical storm in this July 8, 2012 NASA satellite image. Emilia's maximum sustained winds have now reached 140 miles per hour, as a Category 4 hurricane.
Within 24 hours of becoming a hurricane, Hurricane Emilia has rapidly strengthened into a major Category 4 storm, making it the strongest storm of the hurricane season so far.
Emilia first formed as a tropical storm on Saturday night, and strengthened into a hurricane early yesterday morning (July 9). It then rapidly gained Category 2 strength on the Saffir-Simpson scale and as of this morning had strengthened further into a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (220 kph).
© Chris Morriss/7NEWSFlooding in the Denver Metro area on Monday 9 July
The good news: Fire danger is dramatically lower thanks to all this rain.
The bad news: Most of central Colorado is now under flood watch, according to the National Weather Service.
Denver saw heavy rains on Saturday and should see more on Sunday. 9News reports that on Saturday afternoon at the Cherry Creek Arts Festival the downpour destroyed tents, signs and streets filled with water. A lightning strike even set fire to a power line in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.
© NASAHurricane Emilia (right) and Daniel in the Pacific Ocean
The hurricane's maximum sustained winds Monday were near 100 mph (160 kph) with additional strengthening expected.
Emilia is centered about 710 miles (1,145 kilometers) south of the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California and is moving west-northwest at 12 mph (19 kph).
Meanwhile, farther west over the Pacific, Hurricane Daniel had maximum sustained winds near 85 mph (140 kph). The hurricane is expected to weaken slowly during the next 48 hours and was moving west at 15 mph (24 kph).
© Dan TelvockCheer Fusion gym in Fredericksburg was severely damaged by a reported tornado on July 8, 2012.
What is a microburst?
"A microburst is a downdraft (sinking air) in a thunderstorm that is less than 2.5 miles in scale," according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). "... Although microbursts are not as widely recognized as tornadoes, they can cause comparable, and in some cases, worse damage than some tornadoes produce. In fact, wind speeds as high as 150 mph are possible in extreme microburst cases."
Update 7:12 p.m.
Just nine days after a "super derecho" hit Fredericksburg, the area is dealing with another natural disaster - what may have been a rare tornado.
The event occured just after 5 p.m. and damaged buildings on Lafayette Boulevard and Fleming Street.
Comment: Reign of Fire: Meteorites, Wildfires, Planetary Chaos and the Sixth Extinction