Storms
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Tornado1

'Mothership' supercell thunderstorm drops two tornadoes on Tulsa, Oklahoma

Kathryn Prociv
The Washington Post
Fri, 08 Apr 2016 15:09 UTC
Supercell over Tulsa
© Lanny Dean, Extreme Chase ToursA tornadic supercell wreaks havoc on Tulsa, Oklahoma last week.
This, ladies and gentleman, is what we call a "mothership" supercell.

Meteorologists and storm chasers refer to a select few supercell thunderstorms as "motherships" for a simple, very non-meteorological reason: they resemble spaceships. To be considered a mothership supercell, the whole structure of the storm must typically be seen from top to bottom and end to end. They often have a striated appearance (also known as "frisbee stacks") spiraling up and resembling a barber pole to altitudes higher than where planes fly. These striations are a visible cue the storm has a strongly rotating updraft, the prerequisite needed to be considered a "supercell" thunderstorm.


These storms can be striking to those in the path, resembling UFO's over typical thunderstorms. Need more convincing. Check out this photo that was snapped of the same supercell. "Mothership," right?

Comment: A couple of weeks before an ominous supercell hit Illinois, spawning a tornado that caused structural damage

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Cloud Precipitation

Flash floods kill 2 during rain storm in Oman

Fahad Al Mukrashi
Gulf News
Fri, 08 Apr 2016 18:53 UTC
A taxi washed away by floodwaters smashes into a four-wheel-drive during heavy rains in Oman on Friday.
© TwitterA taxi washed away by floodwaters smashes into a four-wheel-drive during heavy rains in Oman on Friday.
Despite repeated warnings by Omani authorities, two Omanis were killed when their vehicle was swept away by flood waters in Wadi Kabeel of Qurayat province on Friday.

Three other Omanis were rescued in Wadi Bani Karoos in the Dhank province according to the Public Authority for Civil Defense and Ambulance (PACDA).

Heavy rain has been lashing northern parts of the country due to a deep depression which is expected to last two more days.

The rain forced the cancellation of the Red Bull F1 Showrun, where Scottish driver David Coultard was expected to make an appearance in Mutrah Corniche on Friday afternoon.

The race lasted for less than two minutes instead of the planned two-hour event. Hundreds of racing fans had gathered along the sea road in Mutrah to watch the race.


Rain in Oman.
© TwitterRain in Oman.
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Bizarro Earth

Dust storm blankets Texas Panhandle and northern Oklahoma

Adonai
The Watchers
Wed, 06 Apr 2016 00:00 UTC
dust storm texas panhandle
Strong winds associated with a cold front picked up dust and debris and created a heavy, 160 km (100 miles) wide dust storm that blanketed much of Texas Panhandle late April 5/April 6, 2016.

NWS Amarillo forecaster Nicholas Fenner said the storm threw dust about 610 meters (2,000 feet) into the air. The storm reached as far north as Oklahoma Panhandle and as far south as Lubbock, Texas before it dissipated.

There were no reports of any road closures or anyone hurt from the dust storm.
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Cloud Lightning

Storm kills 5,000 birds in Jessore, Bangladesh


The Financial Express
Thu, 07 Apr 2016 16:18 UTC
Dead birds
Dead birds
Roughly 5,000 birds of different species were killed as a nor'wester wreaked havoc at Tirerhat village in Jessore Sadar upazila on Wednesday night.

Locals said they found around 5,000 birds, including Doel, Shalik, Masranga, Bulbuli and Ghughu, lying dead at different places of the village after the storm on Thursday morning, according to a news agency report.

Later, they buried the dead birds at the village.

Dr. Saibur Rahman Mollah, dean of the Environmental Science Faculty of Jessore University of Science and Technology, said the death of such a large number of birds will certainly have a bad impact on the biodiversity of the area.

Source: SRS
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Ice Cube

Block of ice weighing 30kg falls from the sky in India

Neeraj Santoshi
Hindustan Times
Thu, 07 Apr 2016 14:49 UTC
The chunk, believed to be a megacryometeor (ice-stone) or blue ice, came crashing down in a field on Monday, creating a three-foot-deep crater upon impact.
© Hindustan Times The chunk, believed to be a megacryometeor (ice-stone) or blue ice, came crashing down in a field on Monday, creating a three-foot-deep crater upon impact.
Reeling under an early heat wave, people in Harda district of Madhya Pradesh received a cool surprise — an ice chunk weighing about 30kg falling from the sky.

The chunk, believed to be a megacryometeor (ice-stone) or blue ice, came crashing down in a field on Monday, creating a three-foot-deep crater upon impact. This comes nearly three months after a similar incident in Sagar district in which a 60-year-old woman was injured.

The latest incident occurred at Nousar village in Timarini, 40km from Harda district headquarters. The field belonged to Raj Kumar Patil, whose younger brother Jitendra Patil was irrigating it at the time. On hearing the thundering sound, locals came running to the field to find the chunk had broken into three.

Jitendra said another chunk came crashing down in a field nearby. "I was very scared. Nearly 14 seconds after the first chunk of ice fell, another smaller chunk fell in a nearby field. We informed other villagers who came rushing," he said.

Comment: See also: Icy 'Window Fallers' or Frozen Harbingers of Change? The Peculiar Phenomenon of Megacryometeors

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Cloud Precipitation

Update: Rains, landslides and floods kill over 200 in northern Pakistan

Aamir Latif
The Muslim News
Wed, 06 Apr 2016 19:04 UTC
The weekend's heavy rains turned the streets on the outskirts of Peshawar in northern Pakistan into rivers
The weekend's heavy rains turned the streets on the outskirts of Peshawar in northern Pakistan into rivers
Rescue workers in northwestern Pakistan dug through debris and mud on Tuesday in hopes of finding survivors after a landslide buried at least 30 people alive on Monday as the death toll from days of torrential rains and flashfloods passed the 200-mark, local officials have said.

Footage aired on local television channels showed army troops and rescue workers digging through the rubble on the outskirts of the Kohistan district where they managed to recover six dead bodies and two survivors.

Some six hundred army troops and engineers are currently engaged in clearing the roads and assisting in rescue operations, an army spokesman said.

Traders try to prevent their vehicles being washed away by floodwaters near the city of Peshawar
Traders try to prevent their vehicles being washed away by floodwaters near the city of Peshawar
Ongoing bad weather has hampered rescue operations, in which desperate local residents have used spades, shovels — even their hands — to help find people trapped under the mud.

Comment: See also earlier video reports here: 24 killed as torrential rains wreak havoc in northern Pakistan

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Windsock

Lighthouse is swamped by 160ft waves in Quessant, France

Corey Charlton
Daily Mail
Wed, 06 Apr 2016 18:11 UTC
The huge swell engulfs the entirety of the island lighthouse, meaning the enormous wave was as high as 11 double-decker buses
The huge swell engulfs the entirety of the island lighthouse, meaning the enormous wave was as high as 11 double-decker buses
This is the dramatic moment a lighthouse off the coast of France was pummeled by massive 160ft-high waves while in the epicentre of a storm.

Winds reaching 85mph helped whip up the massive swell - which was so powerful spray from the sea was felt in the helicopter carrying the photographer.

Mathieu Rivrin spent around five hours flying near the lighthouses located on the French island of Quessant, as well as Finistere and Penmarc'h.

The winds, which were blowing at 85mph during the storm frenzy, helped drag the wave up and over the tall building
The winds, which were blowing at 85mph during the storm frenzy, helped drag the wave up and over the tall building
This particular lighthouse in Quessant, off the coast of Brittany, with its white paned windows and a red lantern room, is 160ft tall and the waves easily engulfed it.

Mr Rivrin, 26, of Brest, said: 'The lighthouse is located in Quessant, an island 20km from the coast of Finistere.
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Cloud Lightning

Two killed by lightning strikes in India


The Hindu
Wed, 06 Apr 2016 14:10 UTC
lightning
Two persons were killed by lightning in separate incidents in the district on Tuesday evening.

Shankaramma (25), a resident of Vithal Nagar village in Shikaripur taluk, who had been to the farm on the outskirts of the village to harvest coriander crops, was killed when she was struck by lightning. Four other women working with her have been admitted to the government hospital in Shikaripur town.

Lightning also claimed another life in Muddinakoppa village. Shafi Ahmed, a resident of Bapuji Nagar in the city, was waiting below a tree when the incident took place. Afeez, a friend of the deceased, was also injured.
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Snowflake

April snowstorm shattered record in Syracuse, New York

Glenn Coin
syracuse.com
Mon, 04 Apr 2016 13:47 UTC
Runners walk past Firemen's Park to the start of the race. The Syracuse Half Marathon 2016, Sunday April 3, 2016.
© Michael Greenlar Runners walk past Firemen's Park to the start of the race. The Syracuse Half Marathon 2016, Sunday April 3, 2016.
The snowstorm that swept through Central New York was a record-smasher.

In Syracuse, 6.6 inches of snow fell Sunday. That sets a new record for the snowiest April 3; the previous record was 2.5 inches, set in 1937.

Sunday also ranks as the fourth-snowiest April day on record in Syracuse. The most was 10.5 inches, on April 2, 2013.

Normal snowfall for the month of April in Syracuse is 3.8 inches.

Sunday's snow puts Syracuse ahead in the national Golden Snow Globe race. Syracuse edged past Lakewood, Colorado. Through Sunday, Syracuse has had 79 inches. The normal for the entire season is about 124 inches.
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Tornado2

Video and pictures show a rare twister over Cornwall, UK

WMN David Wells
Plymouth Herald
Tue, 05 Apr 2016 19:22 UTC
Twister
© Alan MorrisTwister forming over the moors in Cornwall
These pictures and video show the moment powerful storm clouds gather over the moors in Cornwall - forming into a twister.

The funnel from the clouds was spotted over Bodmin Moor at Minions by Alan Morris, from Callington, who quickly turned his camera to the sky to capture the moment the wild weather unfolded.

He shot this video as the twister as it dissipated over the hills after capturing a series of images of the powerful weather phenomenon as the twister formed before reaching down to the ground.

The images show how the weather turned pretty wild over Bodmin Moor.

The pictures were taken on Monday afternoon.

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