Storms
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Bad Guys

Bogota Cut off From Northeast Colombia

Landslide
© Santander Hoy
Colombia's capital Bogota has been cut off from a large part of the northeast of the country after a landslide destroyed a bridge connecting the capital with the city of Bucaramanga Tuesday evening.

According to media reports, the landslide took place 15 miles south of Bucaramanga and has disconnected Bogota to Bucaramanga, Cucuta and forces travelers to the Caribbean city of Barranquilla to take a large detour.

The landslide reportedly did not only destroy the bridge, but also a police post and swept away a motorbike and a car. Media reports are contradictory about injuries. According to newspaper El Espectador no injures were reported, while Caracol Radio reported 15 people were injured.

Info

Eastern Turkey sees snow as other regions enjoy sun

A blanket of snow has covered the eastern province of Ardahan in mid-May as temperatures continue to rise in the rest of the country.

Heavy rainfall turned into snow late Sunday through Monday morning. Residents of the province were surprised to wake up to a snowy day in the middle of May, a time when many expect spring to arrive. The provincial capital saw five centimeters of snowfall and registered a low of zero degrees Celsius.

Bizarro Earth

Austria - Tornado ravages Müllendorf

Austria Tornado 1
© FF Müllendorf
An 80 meter wide tornado front leaves shambles near Eisenstadt.

Karl Tinhof is left in disbelief about having actually experienced this scene. "It was like a bomb attack. Trees simply snapped off, the bricks of houses were ripped off and dashing like bullets into the walls of other houses, terrible." The operations manager of the fire department of Müllendorf says it's a miracle that nobody died.

Since Saturday 3:28 pm the tranquil location in the district of Eisenstadt-Umgebung has been in shock. An 80 meter wide tornado swept over houses and gardens, unroofed dozens of houses, uprooted trees, and in three of the houses the trusses came off. A weather phenomenon that's in fact only known from Hollywood Blockbusters such as Twister has become an eerie reality.

Cloud Lightning

Winter comes early as Melbourne is hit by chilly blast

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© Chris Hocking Sunday Herald SunZoe and Ella at Falls Creek yesterday after fresh snow fell at the resort
Melburnians have been swamped with enough rain in the past two weeks to last the month of May and more is yet to come.

Other parts of the state have seen their coldest start to May since records began, with snow already falling in low-lying areas.

Mt Baw Baw has been blanketed with more than 30cm of fresh snow as eager snowboarders take to the slopes well ahead of the official opening to the ski season.

Cloud Lightning

Heavy Rains Falling Across Africa

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© Unknown
Above average rainfall has been falling in many parts of the sub-Saharan African region since 2010, including countries like Angola, Namibia, Tanzania, Cameroon, Congo, and Madagascar.

The data comes from the Climate Prediction Center of the U.S. National Weather Service, which noted that large rainfalls have, in some places, exceeded the yearly average in a single day. In many parts of the continent, flooding persistent rains have flooded temporary rivers like the Kuiseb in Namibia and the Boteti in Botswana, both of which have recorded highs over the past year or so.

The map below depicts the rainfall for Namibia and South Africa on May 5, 2011, a day which saw more rain fall in the Namib Desert than normally falls in an entire year.

Sun

Earth currently in a Solar Windstream

Earth is inside a solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole:

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© SDO/AIA

Cloud Lightning

Palestine: Thunder, Lightning Bring in Heavy Rains Across Country

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© Marc Israel Sellem
Unseasonal downpours spread throughout central and northern regions; rain expected to continue with risk of flash floods in Negev.

Unseasonal rainfall continued overnight Friday, with local thunderstorms breaking out across the country.

Heavy downpours were felt in central and northern areas. There were heavy downpours in central and northern areas, and rain was expected continue on Saturday, with the chance of flash floods in the Negev.

Unseasonal amounts of rain were measured, with 9.8 mm falling in Ariel, 8mm in Ashdod and 2.8 mm in Tel Aviv.

Attention

US: Floods Hit Bridgeport Ohio

Pounding rains shut down roads in Bridgeport on Friday.

Heavy rains pounded the Ohio Valley Friday. Water rushed down through the streets of Bridgeport, tearing up roads, crippling cars, and creeping into the basements of the people who live there.

Crews were called in around 4 p.m. Friday. Bridgeport Mayor, John Callarik, says that the heavy rain was just too much for the sewers to handle

"What happened up above, is our main sewer line is all clogged up and it came over the top", he says. Authorities say all that water than came rushing into town, closed a number of roads in the Kerwood section for about four hours and backed up traffic during rush hour. The Bridgeport Fire Department says that aside from flooding, the biggest issue was making sure people were able to get around..

Cloud Lightning

US: Flash flooding; State of Emergency in Wellsville

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© Yahoo! 2010 Data NavteQ2009
Buffalo, New York - A flash flood watch is posted for Southern Erie, Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua and Wyoming Counties from Noon Saturday through the evening.

Heavy rains caused flash flooding for portions of the Southern Tier Friday.

A state of emergency is in effect in the Village of Wellsville in Allegany County. Roads were damaged and flooded in Wellsville, Belmont and Scio.

Emergency crews evacuated some of the residents.

Wellsville Police say dozens of streets and roadways are impassable and are closed. Some of the roads could be closed for the next several days.

Officials are asking residents to avoid any unnecessary travel in areas affected by the flash floods.

Cloud Lightning

US: Fort Worth lightning strikes create fireball explosions

Dramatic explosions lighting up the Fort Worth night sky on Tuesday provided a multi-colored display that left residents in awe and thousands without power, thanks to an intense thunderstorm system that moved through the area.

The explosions resulted from lightning strikes hitting feeder lines used for electricity transmission throughout the neighborhoods. The explosions included intense blue, orange, purple and red colors, ranging over what appeared to be a multiple-block area.