Extreme weather news and discussion

[weatheriscool]

France goes 31 days without rainfall, unprecedented in winter
https://www.france24.com/en/france/2023 ... -in-winter
Issued on: 21/02/2023 - 12:08
A picture taken on May 19, 2022 in Saint-Gilles, southern France, shows soil cracked by drought during an exceptional period of heat in France.

France has matched its record dry spell of 31 days without significant rainfall, the country's weather service said Tuesday, amid concerns over water reserves in parts of Europe still reeling from last year's severe drought.

With rainfall over the entire country of less than one millimetre a day since January 21, weather service Meteo France said the absence of precipitation equals the record set in spring 2020.

Winter is normally a crucial period for recharging groundwater levels with rainfall.

The number of days without rain has "never been seen" in winter before in records going back to 1959, Meteo France said Tuesday.

Last month was the third-warmest January on record in Europe, with temperatures on New Year's Day reaching all-time highs in some parts of the continent, according to the European Union's Copernicus climate monitor (C3S).

[weatheriscool]

1 million without power as winter storm grips U.S., Calif. blizzard alerts
Source: Axios

A sprawling, high-impact winter storm continues to affect the Lower 48 states, with the worst effects felt in the Upper Midwest, Northeast and West Coast Thursday.

Threat level: Ice took down trees and powerlines overnight in Michigan, leaving more than 817,000 customers without power. Combined outages due to ice, high winds and heavy snow across the country total close to 1 million as of Thursday at 8 pm EST.

Heavy snow has ended Thursday in the Twin Cities, with amounts so far coming in at 13 inches officially, but eclipsing 15 inches in some spots since Tuesday.

In the Northeast, heavy snow is falling in the higher elevations, with lighter precipitation in valleys and southern New England.

Read more: https://www.axios.com

[weatheriscool]

Winds tear through Southern Plains; Northeast to see snow
Source: AP

By RICK CALLAHAN and CHRISTOPHER WEBER 20 minutes ago

Parts of the Southern Plains counted the injured and surveyed the damage Monday after tornadoes and other powerful winds swept through, while some Michigan residents faced a fifth consecutive day without power following last week’s ice storm.

In California, the National Weather Service said a series of winter storm systems will continue moving into the state through Wednesday after residents got a brief break from severe weather Sunday.

Parts of the Northeast that have seen little snow this winter were under a winter storm warning. And forecasters warned of continued high winds in parts of the Plains and of thunderstorms and possible tornadoes in the Ohio Valley.

A look at the weather threats around the country:

TORNADO CLEANUP, FORECAST

Police in Norman, Oklahoma, responded Sunday night to storm damage in parts of the city, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Oklahoma City. Officials said there were 12 confirmed weather-related injuries there, none considered critical.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/winter-storm ... osition_01

[weatheriscool]

Death toll rises to 13, hundreds of thousands in the dark from massive winter storm
Source: USA Today

Almost half a million Americans from Kentucky to Michigan were in the dark Sunday after a massive front dumped heavy snow across much of the nation's northern tier and slammed parts of the South with powerful thunderstorms and tornadoes.

At least 13 deaths were reported from the storm, which began by dumping several feet of snow in California's mountains and pushing east, AccuWeather said.

Five deaths were confirmed in Kentucky as wind gusts surpassing 70 mph downed trees and power lines and damaged homes and other buildings, Gov. Andy Beshear said. The storm spawned straight-line winds, possible tornadoes and powerful thunderstorms

More than 224,000 homes and businesses were without power Sunday, according to the tracking website poweroutage.us. An additional 117,000 were dark in Michigan, 36,000 in Tennessee. Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia also were struggling with outages.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topst ... r-AA18f7Po

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

[weatheriscool]

Storm breaches California river's levee, thousands evacuate
Source: AP

By NIC COURY and STEFANIE DAZIO 19 minutes ago

WATSONVILLE, Calif. (AP) — A Northern California agricultural community famous for its strawberry crop was forced to evacuate early Saturday after the Pajaro River’s levee was breached by flooding from a new atmospheric river that pummeled the state.

Across the Central Coast’s Monterey County, more than 8,500 people were under evacuation orders and warnings Saturday, including roughly 1,700 residents — many of them Latino farmworkers — from the unincorporated community of Pajaro.

Officials said the Pajaro River’s levee breach is about 100 feet (30.48 meters) wide. Crews had gone door to door Friday afternoon to urge residents to leave before the rains came but some stayed and had to be pulled from floodwaters early Saturday.

First responders and the California National Guard rescued more than 50 people overnight. One video showed a member of the Guard helping a driver out of a car trapped by water up to their waists.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/california-a ... osition_05

[weatheriscool]

Northeast winter storm shuts schools, knocks out power

Source: AP

By The Associated Press an hour ago

The start of a winter storm with heavy, wet snow led to hundreds of school closings, canceled flights and thousands of power outages in parts of the Northeast on Tuesday.

The storm's path included parts of New England, upstate New York, northeastern Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey. Snow totals by the time it winds up Wednesday were expected to range from a few inches to a few feet, depending on the area.

"This is shaping up to be a unique winter storm for our small state in that there will be big differences in snowfall amounts depending on where you are located," said Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, who ordered all executive branch state office buildings closed. "Some towns may receive a significant snowfall total, while others may receive a fraction of that amount or maybe even just rain."

More than 400 flights traveling to, from or within the U.S. were canceled Tuesday, with Boston and New York City area airports seeing the highest number of scrubbed flights, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/winter-storm ... fb467395f2?

[weatheriscool]

California faces more flooding after strong Pacific storm
Source: AP

By MARTHA MENDOZAan hour ago

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) — A strong late-season Pacific storm that brought damaging winds and more rain and snow to saturated California was blamed for two deaths and forecasters said additional flooding was possible Wednesday in parts of the state.

Tuesday’s storm focused most of its energy on central and southern parts of the state, bringing threats of heavy runoff and mountain snowfall. In the north, intense hail was reported in Sacramento, the state capital.

Locally heavy rain and snowmelt may cause flooding Wednesday in southern California and central Arizona, the National Weather Service warned. On Tuesday, some residents of north-central Arizona were told to prepare to evacuate because of rising water levels in rivers and basins.

Trees and power lines were reported downed in the San Francisco Bay Area. An Amtrak commuter train carrying 55 passengers struck a downed tree and derailed near the East Bay village of Porta Costa. The train remained upright and nobody was injured, Amtrak and fire officials said.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/california-s ... a879c27353

[weatheriscool]

Rare tornado near Los Angeles rips building roofs; 1 injured
Source: AP

By JOHN ANTCZAK and CHRISTOPHER WEBER today

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A rare tornado touched down in a Los Angeles suburb, ripping roofs off a line of commercial buildings and sending the debris twisting into the sky and across a city block, injuring one person.

The National Weather Service sent teams to assess damage in Montebello and later confirmed that a tornado had touched down around 11:20 a.m. Wednesday.

The weather service said that the tornado was an EF1, a measurement on the Enhanced Fujita Scale that indicates it had winds of 86 mph to 110 mph (138 kph to 177 kph). That made it the strongest tornado to hit the Los Angeles metropolitan area since March 1983, the weather service said.

“It’s definitely not something that’s common for the region,” said meteorologist Rose Schoenfeld with the weather service.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/california-s ... a879c27353

[weatheriscool]

Mississippi tornadoes kill 23, injure dozens overnight (UPDATE)

Source: AP

ROLLING FORK, Miss. (AP) — Emergency officials in Mississippi said 23 people have been killed by tornadoes that tore through the state on Friday night, destroying buildings and knocking out power as severe weather that produced hail the size of golf balls moved through several southern states.

The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency confirmed there had been 23 deaths as of 6:20 a.m. Saturday with dozens of injuries and four people missing throughout the state. The agency said in a Twitter post that search and rescue teams from numerous local and state agencies were deployed along with personnel to assist those impacted by the tornadoes.

The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado caused damage about 60 miles (96 kilometers) northeast of Jackson, Mississippi. The rural towns of Silver City and Rolling Fork reported destruction as the tornado swept northeast at 70 mph (113 kph) without weakening, racing towards Alabama through towns including Winona and Amory into the night.

The National Weather Service issued an alert as the storm was hitting that didn’t mince words: “To protect your life, TAKE COVER NOW!”


Original story below.

an hour ago

ROLLING FORK, Miss. (AP) — A powerful tornado tore through rural Mississippi and Alabama on Friday night, killing at least seven people, destroying buildings and knocking out power as severe weather that produced hail the size of golf balls moved through several southern states and prompted authorities to warn some in its path that they were in a “life-threatening situation.”

The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado caused damage about 60 miles (96 kilometers) northeast of Jackson, Mississippi. The rural towns of Silver City and Rolling Fork were reporting destruction as the tornado continued sweeping northeast at 70 mph (113 kph) without weakening, racing towards Alabama through towns including Winona and Amory into the night.

At least seven people were killed by the tornado in Mississippi, Sharkey County Coroner Angelia Easton told ABC News. Rolling Fork is located in Sharkey County.

ABC News early Saturday reported an additional six deaths, including three in Carroll County, two in Monroe County and one in Humphreys County, citing the county coroners and a Mississippi Highway Patrol trooper. The Associated Press was not immediately able to confirm those fatalities.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/tornado-texa ... c588850505

[weatheriscool]

New tornadoes menace Georgia as Biden approves disaster relief for Mississippi

Source: ABC News

At least two twisters touched down Sunday morning in Georgia -- both described by the National Weather Service as "large and extremely dangerous" -- as President Joe Biden approved disaster relief for storm-battered Mississippi, where at least 25 people were left dead in the wake of a powerful tornado. Residents of the Macon, Georgia, suburbs of Milledgeville, Linton, Beulah and Underwood were being advised by the weather service to "take cover now."

A second tornado was confirmed to have touched down Sunday morning near LaGrange, Georgia, about 65 miles southeast of Atlanta, and was moving east at 40 mph, according to the weather service. "You are in a life-threatening situation," the weather service warned residents in the path of both funnel clouds. While the amount of damage and possible casualties remain unclear in Georgia, the weather service warned that flying debris could be deadly for those caught without shelter, and there is a likelihood homes, businesses and vehicles "will be destroyed."

A tornado watch is in effect until at least 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time for parts of Alabama and Georgia. At least 4 million people in the South are also under a severe thunderstorm watch forecast to be accompanied by golf ball-sized hail and 60 mph winds. As the severe weather continued in the South from the early spring storm that began in California, where it spawned twisters near Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, towns in rural Mississippi were starting the clean up from a massive tornado on Friday.

Biden approved disaster relief for Mississippi on Sunday, making funding available to those impacted by the storm devastation. Federal funds will be available to government, tribal and other agencies in Carroll, Humphreys, Monroe and Sharkey counties, the White House said in a statement.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/biden-approve ... d=98133211

[Xyls]

Tornado threat dramatically increasing again today:

[caltrek]

Extreme Weather Rips Through Mississippi, Killing Dozens
by Abigail Weinberg
March 25, 2023

Introduction:

(Mother Jones) A powerful tornado ripped through rural Mississippi last night, killing at least 24 people and injuring dozens more.
The tornado hit Rolling Fork—a town with a population of less than 2,000, and the supposed birthplace of Muddy Waters—particularly hard when it rolled through at about 8 p.m. local time Friday night. Nearly a third of Rolling Fork residents live in mobile homes, which are especially susceptible to tornado damage. Drone footage shows decimated homes, overturned cars, a toppled water tower, and trees stripped of their bark.

The link between climate change and more frequent or intense tornadoes is unclear, but tornadoes do appear to be increasing in frequency in the Mississippi Valley. As my colleague Emily Hofstaedter reported last year, “Runaway climate change is making extreme weather more common and deadly,” with tornadoes and other storms “striking in new territory and throughout more of the year, especially in the Midwest and Southeast.”

Ultimately, conditions were prime for destruction in Rolling Fork, where about one in five residents lives below the federal poverty line.

Read more here: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2 ... g-dozens/

[caltrek]

Why Tornadoes are Still Hard to Forecast – Even Though Storm Predictions are improving
An interview with Chris Nowoktarski
March , 2023

Introduction:

(The Conversation) As a deadly tornado headed toward Rolling Fork, Mississippi, on March 24, 2023, forecasters saw the storm developing on radar and issued a rare “tornado emergency” warning. NOAA’s Weather Prediction and Storm Prediction centers had been warning for several days about the risk of severe weather in the region. But while forecasters can see the signs of potential tornadoes in advance, forecasting when and where tornadoes will form is still extremely difficult.

We asked Chris Nowotarski, an atmospheric scientist who works on severe thunderstorm computer modeling, to explain why – and how forecast technology is improving.

Why are tornadoes still so difficult to forecast?

Meteorologists have gotten a lot better at forecasting the conditions that make tornadoes more likely. But predicting exactly which thunderstorms will produce a tornado and when is harder, and that’s where a lot of severe weather research is focused today.

Often, you’ll have a line of thunderstorms in an environment that looks favorable for tornadoes, and one storm might produce a tornado but the others don’t.
The differences between them could be due to small differences in meteorological variables, such as temperature. Even changes in the land surface conditions – fields, forested regions or urban environments – could affect whether a tornado forms. These small changes in the storm environment can have large impacts on the processes within storms that can make or break a tornado.

Read more here: https://theconversation.com/why-tornad ... ng-202704


caltrek's comment: When we were in Virginia, we actually received a tornado warning. I remembered looking out my window and seeing nothing but fog. I had never heard of a tornado emerging out of a bank of fog, but it was still a puzzle as to the reliability of the warning. Hours later, when I discussed the warning with a local, he laughed and indicated that such warnings were common, but never amounted to anything. When I indicated that the news reports were that a tornado had actually touched down in Midlothia, Virginia, he was very surprised. Midlothia was actually about seventy miles or so to our south, but he was surprised that a tornado had touched down anywhere in Virginia. My sister-in-law made the intelligent observation that these overly cautious alerts meant that nobody would take a genuine alert seriously, and so wondered why they bothered.

[wjfox]

[weatheriscool]

Latest storm piles more snow on California mountains
Source: AP

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A cold low pressure system spinning off the coast of California sent bands of rain and snow across the state Wednesday, making travel difficult and adding to an epic mountain snowpack.

Forecasters said the storm was not as strong as the systems that pounded the state all winter, but that chains were required for vehicles on highways through the Sierra Nevada. A section of U.S. 395 on the eastern side of the range was closed due to snowfall.

The Mammoth Mountain ski resort in the Eastern Sierra declared its snowiest season on record after 28 inches (70 centimeters) of snow since Tuesday afternoon pushed season snowfall totals to 695 inches (17.6 meters) at its main lodge and 870 inches (22.1 meters) at the summit of the 11,053-foot (3,369-meter) peak.

“It’s deep out there,” the resort wrote on its website.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/california-s ... 5796cd80fe

[weatheriscool]

Tornado strikes Little Rock as dangerous storms spread across 15 states
Source: CBS News

A tornado plowed through Arkansas' capital and surrounding areas Friday afternoon, reducing rooftops to splinters, toppling vehicles and tossing debris on roadways as people raced for shelter. The Little Rock Fire Department reported heavy damage and debris in the western end of the city, saying on its Facebook page that firefighters were performing rescue operations in the area.

More than 350,000 people were at risk as what the National Weather Service called a "confirmed large and destructive tornado" tore through business districts and neighborhoods in Little Rock and North Little Rock. The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Medical Center in Little Rock was operating at a mass casualty level and expecting at least 15 to 20 patients from the tornado, spokesperson Leslie Taylor said. Several people had already been transported to the medical center, but an exact count was not immediately available.

Mark Hulsey, a special projects manager for Pulaski County, which includes Little Rock, said at least one person was in critical condition. The county's unincorporated areas saw structural damage from the tornado but crews haven't yet encountered any buildings that were "flattened or completely destroyed," Hulsey said. Passengers and airport employees at Clinton National Airport in Little Rock took shelter in bathrooms. And aerial footage showed several rooftops were torn from homes in Little Rock and nearby Benton.

Nearly 70,000 customers in Arkansas were out of power on Friday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages; about 37,000 were without power in neighboring Oklahoma. "Significant damage has occurred in Central Arkansas," Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted. "I'm in constant communication with AR State Police and @AR_Emergencies who are working with local law enforcement to assist anyone injured. Praying for all those who were and remain in the path of this storm."

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dangerous- ... nsas-iowa/

[weatheriscool]

Storms strike Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana; 7 reported dead
Source: AP

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A monster storm system tore through the South and Midwest on Friday, spawning deadly weather including tornadoes that shredded homes and shopping centers in Arkansas, collapsed a theater roof during a heavy metal concert in Illinois and made a fatal sweep into rural Indiana.

The storm caused three deaths in Sullivan County, Indiana, Emergency Management Director Jim Pirtle said in an email to The Associated Press early Saturday. The storm damaged homes and some residents were missing in the county seat of Sullivan, located near the Illinois state line about 95 miles (152 kilometers) southwest of Indianapolis.

At least one person was killed and more than two dozen were hurt, some critically, in the Little Rock area, authorities said. The town of Wynne in northeastern Arkansas was also devastated, and officials reported two dead there, along with destroyed homes and people trapped in the debris.

Authorities said a theater roof collapsed during a tornado in Belvidere, Illinois, killing one person and injuring 28, five of them severely. The Belvidere Police Department said the collapse occurred as a heavy storm rolled through the area and that calls began coming from the theater at 7:48 p.m. It said that an initial assessment was that a tornado had caused the damage.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/us-storms-to ... osition_01

[weatheriscool]

NWS confirms tornadoes in N.J. as severe storms leave destruction across Delaware Valley

Source: FOX 29

Updated April 2, 2023 4:57 PM

PHILADELPHIA - A line of severe thunderstorms claimed the life of one person in Sussex County, Delaware Saturday, as they ripped through the Delaware Valley, dumping copious rain, dousing the region with frequent lighting, strong, gusty winds and hail.

Forecasters warned of the potential for severe weather, as part of a system that produced many strong tornadoes in the Midwest and southern states Friday evening, advanced into the northeast Saturday.

Across the Delaware Valley, storms began to develop about 5 p.m., moving west to east, igniting the northern and western Philadelphia suburbs with warnings, both severe thunderstorms and tornadoes, as the system marched across the area on its way to the Jersey shore. In its wake, the system dumped drenching rain, causing flooding in some locales, such as the Schuylkill Expressway, in King of Prussia and frequent cloud to ground lighting.

In Sussex County, Delaware, officials say one person died after a reported tornado caused a house to collapse. The person's age and identify have yet to be released. Delaware Gov. John Carney offered his condolences, saying "Our prayers are with the family of the victim in Sussex County, and everyone affected by today’s severe storms."

Read more: https://www.fox29.com/news/nws-confirms ... are-valley


Mt. Holly NWS confirmed 4 tornadoes - 1 in southern Delaware with a fatality and 3 in New Jersey.

Locations surveyed -




NWS Mount Holly
@NWS_MountHolly
·
Follow
We will have several teams out surveying later today. Here's a rough outlook of where we are heading.

https://nwschat.weather.gov/p.php?pid=2 ... S41-PNSPHI
Map of the Mount Holly Forecast area with 4 location tracks based on areas where the NWS expected to survey for potential tornado damage. General locations are: 1. Sussex, DE 2. Burlington, NJ 3. Monmouth, NJ 4. New Castle, DE
6:45 AM · Apr 2, 2023