Summer In The USA 2013

[Mark]

At least 3 killed, up to 100 injured by Texas tornadoes

Texas tornadoes upend North Texas on Wednesday night

Several tornadoes slammed into the Dallas Fort Worth area Wednesday night, causing at least three deaths and injuring several dozen.

Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds says one of the tornadoes touched down 3.5 miles southeast of Granbury Wednesday night, in the Rancho Brazos subdivision, destroying mobile homes and single-family homes. Deeds said at least three residents were killed and up to 100 injured, some critically. The injuries range from amputations to minor bumps and bruises, Deeds says.

"There were probably 75 homes in that subdivision that are totally destroyed,'' Deeds said. "We haven't had a bad one like this for a while.''


http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/05/16/texas-tornado/2164895/

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[Mark]

At least six people were killed and seven were missing after as many as 10 tornadoes ripped through north-central Texas Wednesday evening, leaving a trail of destruction from the worst severe storm outbreak in the United States so far this year. Authorities warned the death toll could rise from the storms, which struck from early evening to around dusk, flattening homes and uprooting trees across at least four counties near the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The hardest hit area was around Granbury, a town of 8,000 people about 35 miles southwest of Dallas-Fort Worth. In Hood County, where Granbury is located, spokesman Tye Bell said seven people were still missing and at least 45 injured, most from a single subdivision of homes in the town. “The main concern is life safety and finding any victims that still need our help,” Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds said at a press conference on Thursday. All six of the people confirmed killed were found in Rancho Brazos, a neighborhood of around 110 mostly single family homes on the fringe of Granbury that bore the brunt of the winds, Deeds said. Video of the area showed homes flattened, power lines down and roads blocked by debris in the area. Bulldozers were clearing roads so people could be moved out of their houses. Until Wednesday, the tornado season had been unusually mild so far in 2013 after two years of intense activity. The tornado season in the United States typically starts in the Gulf Coast states in the late winter, and then moves north with the warming weather, peaking around May and trailing off by July. -WHTC

[Mark]

May 25, 2013 – SAN ANTONIO, TX – The wet weather plaguing many parts of the U.S. this holiday weekend has turned fatal in sodden San Antonio. Two people are dead, and nearly two hundred more have been rescued as heavy rain has pummeled the Texas city, causing flash flooding. The majority of rescues were people trapped in their vehicles in low-lying areas of the city, San Antonio Fire Department spokesman Christian Bove told NBC News. Bove confirmed one fatality thus far, a 29-year-old woman who was trapped in her vehicle and tried to escape the rising water by climbing onto the car’s roof. She was washed away, and her body was found down the road against a fence. A man who had been trapped in his vehicle is unaccounted for. Weather Channel Meteorologist Nick Wiltgen said San Antonio received 12.16 inches of rain in the 24 hours ending at 11 a.m. Central Time on Saturday. That is just shy of the 24-hour record for the city of 13.35 inches in October 1998. –NBC News

[Mark]

TS Andrea, the first named Atlantic storm of the season continues to organize, but so far has only maximum sustained winds of 40mph. Florida will get quite a but of rain in addition to winds. The real issue will be what happens after it crosses the Florida peninsula and re-emerges in the Atlantic. Right now tracking models suggest it will be hugging the coast closely, which will prevent much strengthening.

http://wattsupwiththat.com/reference-pages/tropical-cyclone/

[Mark]

At least four major wildfires broke out along the front of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado Tuesday, burning a handful of houses and chasing people from thousands of homes in hot, gusty weather.

Thick smoke plumes visible for miles billowed from fires near Colorado Springs, in southern Colorado, and in Rocky Mountain National Park to the north.

A wildfire in a residential area northeast of Colorado Springs forced mandatory evacuations of 2,530 homes, including some worth more than $1 million, El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa said.

Video from a helicopter showed several large homes engulfed in flames. Maketa said about eight homes had burned but had no exact number because the fire was moving so quickly across parched forest.

-CSM

[Mark]

June 13, 2013 – CHICAGO - A gigantic line of powerful thunderstorms could affect one in five Americans as it rumbles from Iowa to Maryland packing hail, lightning and tree-toppling winds. Meteorologists are warning that the continuous line of storms may even spawn an unusual weather event called a derecho, which is a massive storm of strong straight-line winds spanning at least 240 miles. Wednesday’s storms are also likely to generate tornadoes and cause power outages that will be followed by oppressive heat, said Bill Bunting, operations chief at the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. The risk of severe weather in Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, is roughly 45 times higher than on a normal June day, Bunting said. Detroit, Baltimore, Washington, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Louisville, Kentucky, have a risk level 15 times more than normal

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2340158/Mid-West-braced-giant-240-MILE-line-thunderstorms-One-Americans-told-prepare-devastating-wave-tornadoes.html

[Mark]

June 27, 2013 – ARIZONA – Temperatures will be at full throttle later this week over the interior West, reaching dangerous levels, challenging records and elevating the wildfire threat. While many folks over the interior West are accustomed to and expect hot weather during the summer the developing pattern will take the heat to the extreme. In some cities record highs for any date throughout the year could be equaled or breached. The weather this week will favor an expanding area of sunshine and building heat over the West. As temperatures soar to record-challenging levels, dry fuel and the potential for spotty dry thunderstorms will push the wildfire threat to new areas and raise the risk in other locations. Once the pattern sets up, the heat wave will last through next week in many areas. Grassy and wooded areas that are green now may become dry fuel for fires as the atmosphere heats up. Cities that will experience record-challenging heat on a daily basis during the pattern into next week include Las Vegas, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Denver, Boise, Idaho, Rawlins, Wyo., Medford, Ore., and Fresno, Calif

[Mark]

RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS, NV
450 PM PDT SUN JUN 30 2013

...LAS VEGAS TIES THE JACKPOT OF ALL-TIME RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES...
...ALL-TIME JUNE RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE SET AT LAS VEGAS...

THE HIGH TEMPERATURE SO FAR TODAY AT MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
IN LAS VEGAS HAS REACHED 117 DEGREES. THIS TIES THE ALL-TIME RECORD
HIGH FOR LAS VEGAS FOR ANY MONTH FIRST SET ON JULY 24, 1942 AND TIED
ON JULY 19, 2005.

THIS ALSO SETS THE ALL-TIME JUNE RECORD HIGH FOR LAS VEGAS. THE
PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 116 DEGREES ON JUNE 15, 1940.

THE ABOVE INFORMATION IS PRELIMINARY AND IS SUBJECT TO A FINAL
REVIEW AND CERTIFICATION BY THE NATIONAL CLIMATIC DATA CENTER.

[Mark]

The eastern New Mexico town of Santa Rosa will celebrate a white Independence Day.

According to ABQjournal.com, nearly 2 feet of hail fell in parts of the city, which lies about 60 miles west of Tucumcari.

Some of the hail reached golf-ball size, damaging roofs, skylights and the like, and backed up traffic on I-40.

Two feet of hail? Looks more like Amarillo after the historic blizzard in February, says this Amarillo blog.

See photos from Wednesday’s weather in Santa Rosa.

See entire article:
http://amarillo.com/blog-post/ricky-treon/2013-07-03/report-eastern-nm-town-gets-two-feet-hail

[Mark]

Breaks old records set almost 90 years ago, in 1925.

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The temperature in Norfolk, Nebraska fell to 44 degrees this morning, breaking the old record of 48 set in 1925.

In Des Moines, Iowa, the temperatures fell to 51 to break the record of 53 also set in 1925.

In Omaha, Nebraska, the mercury fell to 48 degrees, eclipsing the old mark of 52 from 1994. The temperature in Lincoln dropped to 47 to tie the 1994 record.

Meanwhile, temperatures in Ottumwa, Iowa, the temperature dropped to 48 degrees, breaking the 1925 record of 50.

http://www.wowt.com/news/headlines/Record-Lows-In-Jeopardy-This-Weekend-217150941.html#.UfV8E-tHPvg.email

[Mark]

July 30, 2013 – HAWAII - A flood advisory remains in effect for Hawaii Island at least through 6:15 p.m. as the brunt of Tropical Storm Flossie moved past Hilo and East Hawaii and began pestering Kailua-Kona and West Hawaii with heavy rains and high winds. The lower Puna and Kau areas appeared to be the most badly hit portions of East Hawaii. The Hawaii Police Department reported fallen trees on Highway 132, the Pahoa-Kapoho Highway in the area of Lava Tree State Park. The highway was closed around noon but reopened about 2:30, Hawaii County Civil Defense officials said. More than 6,000 customers of the Hawaii Electrical Light Co., mostly from Volcano to Pahoa, lost power after high winds knocked down power lines in various areas of Puna, said Kristin Okinaka, HELCO deputy corporate communications officer. At the peak there were about 6,300 homes and businesses without power, according to Hawaii Electric Light Co. That included 2,800 customers from Volcano to Glenwood, 2,200 customers from Kalapana to Nanawale and 1,300 in Panaewa. Power was restored to some areas, and by mid-afternoon there were 5,000 customers without power, HELCO reported. Power has since been restored to about 500 customers, but HELCO crews are still working on the rest of the outages, Okinaka said about 3:45 p.m. Portions of Kona and Kohala began feeling the brunt of the storm about mid-afternoon. –Star Advertiser

Flights canceled from Alaska: Alaska Airlines has canceled more than two dozen flights to and from Hawaii Monday, in response to Tropical Storm Flossie’s approach to the islands overnight Sunday. Bobbie Egan, a spokesperson for the airline, says morning flights to and from Hawaii through 2 p.m. Pacific Time have been canceled Monday. “Due to the tropical storm, Flossie, we’ve had to cancel 26 flights,” Egan said. None of the affected flights are out of early evening hours onward — about 8 p.m. Pacific time onward — should continue on schedule. Operations at the Lihue airport on Kauai may be affected past that point due to a lack of airport staff there. -KTUU

[Mark]

August 8, 2013 – CALIFORNIA – A wildfire raged out of control in the high desert east of Los Angeles on Wednesday, injuring two firefighters and one civilian and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of residents of three small communities. The fire broke out shortly after 2 p.m. near a back-country road south of Banning, about 90 miles outside Los Angeles in Riverside County. Within hours it had blackened more than 5,000 acres, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Daniel Berlandt said. The department’s website said three people had been injured but provided no additional details. Poppet Flats, Twin Pines and Silent Valley were under mandatory evacuation orders, and Highway 243 had been closed, Berlandt said. Shelters had been set up at high schools in nearby Hemet and Beaumont, the department’s website said. Berlandt said several structures had been destroyed by the flames, but it was not immediately clear whether any of them were homes. Local TV images showed what appeared to be single-family residences in flames. He said some 500 firefighters assisted by water-dropping aircraft were working to protect homes and other buildings, and more crews were on the way. Authorities have not yet determined how the fire started. Berlandt said conditions were “extremely dry” in the area and across California and the West. The fire is the latest to break out during what experts say could become one of the worst U.S. fire seasons. A Colorado wildfire, ranked as that state’s most destructive on record, ravaged more than 500 homes and killed two people. In Arizona, 19 members of an elite “hotshot” firefighting crew died while battling a wildfire on June 30. –Reuters

[Mark]

September 12, 2013 – LYONS, Colo. (AP) — Heavy rains and scarring from recent wildfires sent walls of water crashing down mountainsides early Thursday in Colorado, cutting off mountain towns, forcing the University of Colorado to cancel classes, and leaving at least three people dead. Boulder County was hit hardest, with up to 6 inches of rain falling over 12 hours. But flooding was reported all along the Front Range, from Colorado Springs to north of Fort Collins. Capt. John Burt of the Colorado State Patrol said a storm cell moved over the mountains during the night, headed east over the Plains, then circled back around. The National Weather Service warned of an “extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation” throughout the region as the flooding forced people from their homes and caused mud and rockslides in some areas. “Move to higher ground now. Act quickly to protect your life,” the Weather Service warned throughout the morning. Boulder Office of Emergency Management spokeswoman Gabrielle Boerkircher said many roads were blocked and volunteers were trying to help stranded people until emergency crews could arrive. Boerkircher told The Associated Press one person was killed when a structure collapsed in the tiny town of Jamestown. Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said another person was also found dead in northern Boulder. “We’re trying to get to Jamestown,” Boerkircher said of a mountain community northwest of Boulder. “A lot of towns need assistance, and we cannot get through.”
http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/article/Colorado-flooding-leaves-3-people-dead-4807640.php

[Mark]

The summer monsoon here in east central Colorado has persisted for nearly a month beyond its normal limit in mid August,” J Bird continues. “Rainfall accumulations have been exceptional, amounting to nearly 7 inches in a 24 hour period in places. The rain has resulted in flash flooding not seen in at least 50 to 100 years.”

“Rock and mud slides have forced the closure of roads while flooding has forced the closure of schools.”

“The floods have killed at least three people and forced hundreds to seek higher shelter.”
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/12/20450541-a-river-over-my-house-coloradans-take-shelter-as-deadly-floods-sweep-boulder-area?lite