EXTREME WEATHER: Firefighters Battle Large Brush Fire In South Wichita - Associated With Loud, Mysterious Booms?!

Brush fire in south Wichita. © Justin Provence

January 17, 2016 - KANSAS, UNITED STATES - Wichita firefighters have contained a large brush fire Saturday afternoon on the city's south side.

Crews were called around 3 p.m. to a fire the area of South Hydraulic and the Kansas Turnpike.

Dispatchers said they received several reports that the fire was spreading within a row of evergreen trees near a neighborhood.

Fire in Wichita

Crews were able to keep the flames from spreading to any homes and had the fire under control about 30 minutes later.

Firefighters remained on scene through the afternoon.

No injuries have been reported.

There's no word yet on what caused the fire.

- KAKE.

EXTREME WEATHER: More Effects From Magnetic Polar Migration - Lightning Storms Spark 50 Fires Overnight In Tasmania!

© AAP

January 14, 2016 - TASMANIA, AUSTRALIA - Lightning has sparked almost 50 fires across Tasmania overnight as authorities start a race to extinguish them before the next wave of hot weather.

A total fire ban was in place for the state's south on Wednesday as temperatures reached more than 35C at several centres, and while there were no significant problems through the day, the storm that followed put crews on high alert.

"Approximately 47 fires started in bushland ... by lightning with very little rain," Tasmania Fire Service deputy chief Jeremy Smith said.

"The majority of these fires are in remote areas and do not present a risk to people or homes."

Many of the fires have burnt out or been extinguished but aircraft continue to search for blazes not already reported, Mr Smith said.

"Some are still burning freely in remote areas and will require careful management over the next few days to ensure they are bought under control before the next hot weather change."

Temperatures are forecast to be near 30C in part of the state on Monday. - 9 News.

EXTREME WEATHER: Deadly Lightning Bolt In Zimbabwe - Six Family Members Killed!

File photo.

November 21, 2015 - ZIMBABWE - Six members of the same family have been burnt to death in Chienge while two others are battling for their lives at Mwabu Rural Health Post after the house in which they were sleeping was struck by lightning.

The dead are five children and an adult, identified as Jennifer Musonda, 28, Emmanuel Nyinda, three, and Musonda Chipampe, six, all of Kamasansa village in Chief Puta's area, Jennifer Musange, 16, Nancy Chanda, 11, and Anthony Mulambwa, 9, all of Kalendwe village.

Luapula Province deputy commissioner of police Webby Shula said in an interview yesterday that the incident happened on Wednesday around 23:00 hours at Kalendwe village in Senior Chief Puta's area.

Mr Shula said the survivors have been identified as Jennifer, 30, and four-year-old Kalwa Tonto, both of Kalendwe village.

"The family has been advised to proceed with burial and to mark the graves for any future investigations," he said. - Zambia Daily News.

 

EXTREME WEATHER: Deadly Lightning Strikes In Bolivia - Kills Footballer And Injures Eight Others!

November 20, 2015 - BOLIVIA - A Bolivian footballer has been killed after being struck by lightning.

The incident, which happened during a match last Saturday, injured eight other players in the town of Villazon.

According to reports, a lightning strike hit the ground killing David Alvarez.

Villazon borders Argentina, in south Bolivia.

Local media are reporting eight other players were electrically shocked, although it's unknown how serious these injuries are. - The Sun.



 

EXTREME WEATHER ANOMALIES: Freak Hailstorm Hits Zimbabwe - Three Children Killed!

File photo.

November 20, 2015 - ZIMBABWE - Three Bulilima District pupils have died following a deadly hailstorm that hit the area on Monday. Many more pupils were stranded and their families searched for them well into the night, leading to their rescue after large hailstones pounded several villages.

Two Early Childhood Development pupils from Sevako Primary School, both girls aged six years, died in the violent weather while a third, a boy from Ndolwane Primary School whose age and grade could not be ascertained, drowned yesterday.

The Bulilima Civil Protection Committee chairperson who is also the District Administrator for Bulilima, Ethel Moyo, said the ECD pupils died on their way home from school while the other pupil drowned in a flooded pit latrine at the school.

The hailstorm which hit the area on Monday afternoon also destroyed homes, shops and schools in different parts of the district. "I'm coming from Ndolwane area where I left villagers trying to retrieve the body of the pupil who drowned in a school toilet pit. The area received heavy rains and the toilets were flooded. This pupil couldn't make out where the pit was and he fell inside," said Moyo.

"There's another incident involving two ECD pupils from Dombolefu area who were killed by the hailstorm while they were going home."

The councillor for Dombolefu Ward, Morgen Ndebele, said the two pupils who are from Village 24 knocked off from school when the rains were starting at around 3PM. He said the weather condition worsened, trapping some children before they reached home.

He said some of the pupils were left stranded in the bushes and they were only rescued by villagers in the middle of the night.

"Two children from my area, girls both aged six-years-old, were killed by a hailstorm which struck the area on Tuesday. The rains started in the afternoon and later worsened amid a hailstorm which was raining large hail stones," he said.

"A lot of children were stranded in the bushes and villagers had to conduct a search for them at night. Unfortunately two children didn't survive the harsh storm and they were found dead in the bushes. It's fortunate that most survived because that storm was severe."

Ndebele said in his ward, a homestead belonging to Thomas Nkomo of Village 29 was reduced to ashes after it was struck by lightning during the storm.

He said Nkomo and his family fled from the homestead during the storm.

A villager from the area Mtshiyeni Nleya, who has a child who was trapped in the bushes during the hailstorm, said the once-in-a-lifetime incident had left a number of pupils and parents terrified. "I can't recall experiencing such a terrifying ordeal and I can't even imagine what the children were going through. Some of the pupils had reached their homes but those walking long distances such as my child were still on the way," he said.

"I was troubled throughout the storm for the safety of my child and when the rains stopped we decided to search for them. Some children were hiding under trees. Some were lying in pools of water, it was a terrible sight. It's unfortunate that our neighbours lost their children in the process."

Benjamin Nleya, the councillor for Dombodema Ward, one of the affected areas in the district said several homesteads and a primary school in his area had been severely damaged. chronicle. - Zimbabwe Daily.

 

POLE SHIFT: Undeniable Signs Of Magnetic Polar Migration - Video Collection Of Stunningly Incredible Lightning Strikes! [VIDEOS]

June 09, 2014 - EARTH -  A surveillance video has caught a freak moment of a truck turning into a fireball as it gets hit by a lighting while on a road in Canada. Watch this and other shocking videos of recent devastating lighting strikes.

Reuters / STR

Miraculously the elderly Canadian couple inside the car survived, though the strike was so strong that it melted parts of their pickup truck, trapping them inside. Door and windows were locked as the electrics malfunctioned, while smoke started to fill the car.


WATCH: Lightning strikes pickup truck.

 


In the US, lightning is one of the leading weather-related causes of death and injury. The odds of becoming a lightning victim in the US in any one year is 1 in 700,000.

This is why hiding under a tree during lightning storm is a bad idea.


WATCH: A surveillance camera in Saratoga Springs, New York, caught a lightning bolt splitting a whole tree into woodchips.

  


A Polish lorry driver was lucky to survive a lightning strike. A giant discharge of electricity hit his vehicle on a busy highway. The lightning spark can reach over eight kilometers.


WATCH: Lightning strikes lorry in Poland.

 


The lightning can strike you even when the storm is 10 miles away and the sky is clear. Walking under trees during lightning storm may also be dangerous.


WATCH: Surveillance camera catches a man getting hit by lightning.

 


Storm chaser Scott Sheppard was shooting a video when lightning hit his arm. The force of the strike blew a hole in the pavement. This video went viral with nearly 2 million views on YouTube!

After hitting his arm, the bolt then traveled down to the ground and blew a hole in the pavement. The lightning also disabled his vehicle and a passing car, both of which had to be towed.


WATCH: Storm Chaser Scott Sheppard hit by lightning.

 


This man was brave enough to sail his boat in a storm. Here is his bone chilling experience.


WATCH: Lightning strikes near boat on a lake.

This looks both stunning and scary. A Tokyo resident captured this dramatic moment of a commuter train struck by lightning.


WATCH: Lightning strikes commuter train in Tokyo.

 


Huge lightning fireball caught on camera as it hits a power line.


WATCH: Lightning strikes power lines.

- RT. 

WEATHER PHENOMENON: "Strange Clouds" - Stunning Noctilucent Clouds Over Northern Europe!

August 01, 2013 - SPACE - Sky watchers across northern Europe are reporting a vivid display of noctilucent clouds on July 31st. Nické Eriksson sends this sunset image from Karlstad, Sweden:

"It reminded me of a magic carpet," says Eriksson.

Normally the coming of August signals a downturn in sightings of noctilucent clouds (NLCs). The northern noctilucent daisy is brightest in June and July. This year, however, might be different.

So far, 2013 has been one of the best years ever for these strange clouds at the edge of space. Sightings could continue long after than usual end of NLC season.

Observing tips: Look west 30 to 60 minutes after sunset when the sun has dipped 6^o to 16^o below the horizon.

If you see luminous blue-white tendrils spreading across the sky, you've probably spotted a noctilucent cloud. - Space Weather.

WEATHER PHENOMENON: Very Striking Images Of Lightning Storms Raining Down On Earth - Captured By An Astronaut 400 Miles Above!

July 28, 2013 - SPACE - Stunning pictures from the top of the world show a unique view of lightning storms as they rain down on Earth.

The stellar images take storm chasing to new heights, having been snapped from a space station 400 miles above the Earth.

As the UK endured summer thunderstorms, here's how lightening looks from space. The images, taken
by NASA, demonstrate the power of nature seen as flashes of white over the Earth's surface.

One of the most the impressive images shows the early morning Californian skies above Los Angeles and San Diego aglow with powerful flashes of lighting.

The white bursts can clearly be seen forming abstract patterns above the orange lights of the cities below.

The photographs were taken from the International Space Station (ISS) orbiting the planet by NASA astronaut Karen L. Nyberg.

The storms erupted earlier this week, providing a spectacular light show for the astronaut.

She also photographed storms above West Africa and Asia, with one of her images capturing an elusive red sprite.

NASA astronaut Karen L. Nyberg captured the stunning images. They reveal storms above West Africa
and Asia, with this one of capturing an elusive red sprite. Sprites are shards of light caused by
large-scale electrical discharges that take place high above thunderstorm clouds.

Storm clouds, trails of meteor showers and the Sun rising on the horizon can also been seen in
Nyberg's breath-taking photographs.

The phenomenon occurs when instead of shooting down towards the ground, lightning explodes in the clouds 50 miles up and fire the red tendrils even higher.

The massive explosion happened above Malaysia and the red sprite seen in this rare picture is six miles wide.

 Strom clouds, trails of meteor showers and the Sun rising on the horizon can also been seen in Nyberg’s breath-taking photographs.

Nyberg, 43, was the 50th woman in space and is on board the ISS as a flight engineer – one of six astronauts taking part in the mission, Expedition 36.

The mother-of-one grew up in Minnesota and is married to fellow NASA astronaut Douglas Hurley.

The storms erupted earlier this week, providing a spectacular light show for the astronaut.

Karen Nyberg, 43, who took the photos, was the 50th woman in space and is on board the
International Space Station as a flight engineer.

Her images follow that of an amateur astronomer, released yesterday, who has become the first person to capture a massive lightning strike 'into space' above the British Isles.

The atmospheric phenomena, known as sprites, had never been recorded in the UK before an amateur astronomer in East Yorkshire managed to take the photographic first.

Richard Kacerek, 33, spotted the sprite - caused by an upward lightning discharge five miles east of Hull. - Daily Mail.

EXTREME WEATHER: Unprecedented Intense Super Storms In Texas - Thousands Of Lightning Strikes Houston As Severe Hail Storm Stuns Residents In Hitchcock!

April 05, 2013 - UNITED STATES - Houston had one of its most intense lightning storms in some time late Tuesday night.

Houston's Super Lightning Storm Mapped Out.

© KHOU.

How intense? For the answer I turned to Dick Orville, a professor of meteorology at Texas A&M University who helped establish a network that tracks lightning in Houston.

For Tuesday night's event you can see an hourly map here showing lightning strikes - both cloud-to-ground and within clouds - within 100 miles of Houston.

Between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. the progression of lightning across southeast Texas looked like below.

The first hour:

Lightning in Houston between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.© Texas A&M University

The second hour:

Lightning in Houston between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m.© Texas A&M University

The third hour:

Lightning in Houston between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m.© Texas A&M University

The number in the upper right hand corner - 118,097 in the second map - means there were that many electrical breakdowns over the time interval. According to Orville these electrical breakdowns are some unknown multiple of breakdowns per lightning flash. There, for example, could have been 10-100 "electrical breakdowns" per flash.

Which means during the 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. hour there were thousands of lightning strikes in Houston.

"Yes, there was a lot of lightning in Houston on Tuesday night," Orville said.

It was quite a light show.  - Houston Chronicle.

Residents Amazed By Severe Hail Storm Damage In Hitchcock, Texas.

People in Hitchcock spent the day patching up windows on their homes and cars after an intense hail storm pounded the community Tuesday night.

People said the hail was the size of softballs.

WATCH: Hailstorm in Hitchcock.

"I didn't know what to think," Betty Whittington said.

Hail busted out the rear window of her SUV.

Surveillance video captured images of the hail falling at the Bostonian Inn on Highway 6.

The storm also had strong winds.

"It sounded like the house was fixing to fly away," said Hardy Whittington.

Several Hitchcock police vehicles were also knocked out of service.

Some people said it sounded like cannon balls were hitting their homes.

"It was pretty scary. Don't walk out the door because it probably would have knocked you out," David Morales said.

The hail also tore fenders and mirrors off cars at Dwayne's Car Shop.

Throughout the day wreckers were hauling cars totaled by the storm.

Sonia Mendoza's kids were screaming and took cover.

A section of her home's roof caved in around midnight.

"It's horrible and the cleanup is going to be worse," she said.

Stained glass windows at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church were also broken.

Parishoners were collecting the pieces so the windows imported from Italy could be repaired.

The storm moved through in just a matter of minutes.

Still hours later, Betty Whittington was still shaken.

"I've been through hurricanes, but I've never been through anything like that that happened last night about midnight," she said.

Many residents said not even Hurricane Ike did this much damage. - KHOU.

AUSTRALIAN WEATHER ANOMALIES: Lightning Storms, Flash Floods And High Winds Lash Melbourne Suburbs!

February 22, 2013 - AUSTRALIA - Flash and lashing rain saw homes damaged in Melbourne's north and west as a storm hit the suburbs overnight.

The wild weather flooded a police station, caused a supermarket roof to collapse and grounded flights at Melbourne Airport.

Residents in South Morang and Mernda are cleaning up today after flash flooding hit some homes and streets.

More than 50mm of rain bucketed down in Melbourne's outer north last night in little more than a few hours.

And the Bureau of Meteorology is warning there is a possibility of more storms later this afternoon.

'I took this photo shortly after 8pm at Melbourne Airport looking towards Sunbury.'  © Aaron Stanley, Taylors Hill.

Sunbury FoodWorks manager Ben Duffy said last night there was ''an extreme bang then the roof went''.

His was one of 130 requests for help the State Emergency Services received since noon yesterday when the thunder and lightning first struck.

Mr Duffy expects the damage bill to exceed $50,000.

"I know people always say this but I have never seen anything like it before," he said.

"I couldn't see three feet in front of me, the car park flooded, water was half way up my car."

The damage caused by the storm in Melbourne has left FoodWorks in Sunbury, a bit worse for wear.

Lightning strike seen from Doreen. © Aaron Lowe.

Shoppers and staff were evacuated ten minutes before part of the roof fell in.

"We'll be here all night cleaning up, everyone is just getting around like wet rats at the moment," Mr Duffy said.

Sunbury was the worst hit with emergency receiving about 30 pleas for help.

"We had quite a few reports of trees over roads and reports of low-level flooding in homes and residential streets," SES spokesman Lachlan Quick said.

Lightning can be seen from Westfield Shoppingtown in Doncaster. © James Demetrie.

"There was some flash flooding in the South Morang and Mernda area after about 50mm of rain fell during the storm.

"Thankfully there have been no injuries and no reports of SES crews having to rescue people from flood waters, which means people are not driving through the floods."

Lightning stopped planes from landing and taking off at Melbourne Airport, causing long delays.

Airport spokeswoman Anna Gillett said it was a normal safety procedure because of the wild weather.

While Epping police station was closed due to storm damage.

Weather Bureau senior meteorologist Phil King said 60mm had fallen in Mernda - 47mm fell in one hour.

"That's above our flash-flood warning of 25-30mm an hour," Mr King said.

Sunbury had 30mm of rain in 20 minutes.

"These storms are producing some really heavy rain that will continue throughout the night."

Melbourne is expected to hit a top of 31C today.

The weekend is expected to bring more settled weather before more storms are predicted for Monday and Tuesday.

The mercury is set to reach a maximum of 33 tomorrow and 32 on Sunday.

Afternoon showers are expected on Sunday.

To report damage, contact the SES on 132 500.  - Herald Sun.

WEATHER ANOMALIES: Lightning Storms Wrecks Havoc in the UK?!

I have never ever seen so many stories about lightning strikes and lightning storms. In addition to ones I have highlighted before, here comes another out of the United Kingdom, where residents fled in terror yesterday from a block of flats that was set on fire by a bolt of lightning as storms caused chaos across Britain.

The building in Bermondsey, south-east London, was struck at around 2pm – the same time as a control tower at Gatwick Airport was hit, forcing flights to be suspended. Meanwhile, a teaching assistant escaped unhurt after he was knocked to the ground by a lightning strike at his primary school today. And tennis fans at Wimbledon were swamped by heavy rain – as were spectators watching the England vs Sri Lanka cricket match at the Oval. In Hertfordshire, a two-storey terraced home in London Colney was devastated by a lightning strike. It set the roof and two neighbouring ones ablaze and filled the upper floor with ash and rubble. It took 11 fire engines to stifle the flames. Strikes also set houses on fire in Sussex, Suffolk and Kent with one witness describing a house in Felixstowe as erupting ‘like a bomb going off’. Lightning also hit railway signals, causing serious delays to train services around the South East. It came after 33c heat yesterday also caused problems on the tracks.

Around a quarter of the average monthly total of rain fell in the region yesterday afternoon as flood alerts remained in place in parts of the Thames valley. A spokeswoman for the Met Office said 9mm fell in Cavendish, Suffolk, between 3pm and 4pm. In Bermondsey, ambulance and fire crews raced to the tower block after a blaze broke out on the 17th floor. Some 40 residents fled as smoke billowed out of the 21-storey building. One woman was treated at the scene for minor smoke inhalation by ambulance staff but there were no other casualties reported. London Fire Brigade said it was investigating the cause of blaze, which broke out at Lupin Point on Abbey Street in Bermondsey this afternoon. Eight fire engines were deployed when the brigade was called just before 2pm and the fire was brought under control by 3.44pm. Station manager Richard Welch said: ‘Our crews did really well to quickly gain entry into the flat where the fire started and stop the fire from spreading further than it did.’ A London Ambulance spokesman said: ‘We can confirm that we were called at 2.02pm today to reports of a fire on Abbey Street, SE1. - Daily Mail.