Desert Streams

Desert streams flow only during infrequent but intense rainstorms, and when they do, only parts of the channel contain water, making the flow irregular and erratic. One rainstorm may erode sediment grains in one section of the channel, while another storm moves sediment in a different area.

"Given this localized sediment movement during rainstorms, one might expect desert channels to contain mounds of sediment that undulate down the stream course reflecting the irregular flow, but they don't," Singer said. "The water produced in the channel only flows partially down the stream and then stops because it seeps into the riverbed, and there's not enough water from upstream to replace it, so it just disappears."

Because desert river channels do not feature the river bars, pools or riffles common in perennial streams, they decline in elevation downstream very smoothly. According to the researchers' findings, feedback between two variables -- complex water and sediment movements -- shape such basins.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141023142314.htm

Snow in Tokyo Twice

Tokyo averages only about 4 inches of snow each year, roughly on par with Charlotte, N.C. 

In February, two snow events blanketed one of the world's most populous cities with significant snow in less than a week.

By the evening of Feb. 8, 11 inches of snow blanketed central Tokyo. According to Fuji TV, it was the heaviest snow in 45 years for Tokyo and in 60 years for the city of Kumagaya, northwest of Tokyo. Digital meteorologist Nick Wiltgen (Twitter) says the all-time calendar-day snow record was tied in Kumagaya (43 cm, or 16.9 inches).

http://www.weather.com/news/science/2014-world-extreme-weather-events-20140226?pageno=2

Election Day Forecast: Rain May Factor Into Turnout in Central US

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/election-day-forecast-rain-may-factor-in-central-us/36466762

While rain could deter voter turnout on Election Day in part of the Central states and the Northwest, dry weather is in store in the East and the balance of the West.

Rain is forecast to fall on areas from Texas to the lower Great Lakes on Election Day.

The rain could affect the major cities of Houston and Dallas to Oklahoma City, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Detroit, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Little Rock, Arkansas and Buffalo, New York. Rain may be close to Chicago as well.

Snow to Plaster Appalachians, New England as Cold Arrives

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/snow-appalachians-new-england-cold/36568142

A storm riding a blast of cold air will unleash heavy snow on the central and southern Appalachians Saturday and will turn toward part of New England by Sunday.

After bringing some of the first snowflakes of the season to areas from Detroit to Cleveland and Pittsburgh on Halloween evening, the storm will dive southward on Saturday.

Accumulating snow is in store for the mountains from southwestern Pennsylvania to northern Georgia.

The heaviest snow will fall in the area from western Maryland and West Virginia to western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee.

Halloween, Weekend Storm to Bring First Flakes For Some in New England, Great Lakes, Appalachians

Winter storm watches are posted for parts of the Appalachians and snow advisories are in effect in the Great Lakes as the season's first snow targets those areas from Halloween into the weekend.

Given the expected intensity of a southward plunge of the jet stream and the magnitude and depth of cold air pulled with it, we're not simply talking about chilly rain showers, but also accumulating snow for some as well as the first flakes of the season for others.

Also, with low pressure intensifying off the Eastern seaboard this weekend, the combination of strong winds and wet snow accumulations may lead to some power outages and downed trees/tree limbs in parts of the Appalachians and northern New England.

Persistent strong winds off Lakes Superior and Michigan will also whip up some impressive waves along each lake's south shore. Lakeshore flood advisories have been posted, including in the lakefronts of Chicago and Marquette, Mich. 

Even without any snow, it will be chilly and raw, with highs in much of the Great Lakes and Northeast holding in the 40s, or even 30s in some spots.

Link: http://www.wunderground.com/news/halloween-weekend-snow-first-flakes-northeast-great-lakes-20141027 

ropical Storm Hanna Forms Near Nicaragua

The 2014 Atlantic hurricane season kicked out another surprise, as Tropical Storm Hanna formed Monday morning off the coast of Nicaragua just six hours after NHC gave the system a 10% chance of development in their 2 am EDT Tropical Weather Outlook. Surface winds measured overnight by the ASCAT satellite showed sustained winds of 40 mph occurring off the northeast coast of Nicaragua, and visible satellite images just after sunrise on Monday morning confirmed the presence of a low-level surface circulation, prompting NHC to begin issuing tropical storm advisories. Hanna will be a short-lived storm. With a motion west-southwest at 7 mph, the center of Hanna will be over land on Monday afternoon, and passage over land should make the storm dissipate by Tuesday afternoon. 
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2843

95L No Big Deal; 100 Feared Dead, 300 Missing in Sri Lanka Landslide

An area of disturbed weather (95L) associated with a tropical wave interacting with an upper level trough of low pressure is a few hundred miles northeast of the northern Lesser Antilles Islands, and is headed northwestward to west-northwestward at 10 to 15 mph. Satellite loops show that 95L has a modest amount of spin and heavy thunderstorm activity, but high wind shear of 25 - 30 knots is keeping the thunderstorms disorganized. Water vapor satellite images show that 95L has dry air to its west that is likely interfering with development.
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2845

Global Warming: The Weather Channel Position Statement

The climate of the earth is indeed warming, with an increase of approximately 1 - 1 1/2 degrees Fahrenheit in the past century, more than half of that occurring since the 1970s. The warming has taken place as averaged globally and annually; significant regional and seasonal variations exist.

Impacts can already be seen, especially in the Arctic, with melting glaciers, thawing permafrost, and rapid retreat and thinning of sea ice, all of which are affecting human populations as well as animals and vegetation. There and elsewhere, rising sea level is increasing coastal vulnerability. 

There is evidence in recent years of a direct linkage between the larger-scale warming and shorter-term phenomena such as heat waves and precipitation extremes. The jury is out on exactly what effects global warming is having or will have upon tropical cyclones or tornadoes.

More than a century's worth of detailed climate observations shows a sharp increase in both carbon dioxide and temperature. These observations, together with computer model simulations and historical climate reconstructions from ice cores, ocean sediments and tree rings all provide strong evidence that the majority of the warming over the past century is a result of human activities. This is also the conclusion drawn, nearly unanimously, by climate scientists.

Humans are also changing the climate on a more localized level. The replacement of vegetation by buildings and roads is causing temperature increases through what's known as the urban heat island effect. In addition, land use changes are affecting impacts from weather phenomena. For example, urbanization and deforestation can cause an increased tendency for flash floods and mudslides from heavy rain. Deforestation also produces a climate change "feedback" by depleting a source which absorbs carbon dioxide.

The bottom line is that with the rate of greenhouse gas emissions increasing, a significant warming trend is expected to also continue. This warming will manifest itself in a variety of ways, and shifts in climate could occur quickly, so while society needs to continue to wrestle with the difficult issues involved with mitigation of the causes of global warming, an increased focus should be placed on resiliency and adaptation to the effects of global warming given the sensitivity of civilizations and ecosystems to rapid climate change.

Link: http://www.wunderground.com/news/global-warming-weather-channel-position-statement-20141029 

NASA Photos Show Big Changes to Bermuda's Waters After Hurricane Gonzalo

When Hurricane Gonzalo made landfall on the island of Bermuda as a Category 2 storm, it knocked out power to nearly the entire island, ripped roofs off buildings, downed trees and severely damaged an important shipyard.
But the powerful hurricane also kicked up sediment from Bermuda and its coral reefs, a lot of it.
The animation above, which strings together two recently released NASA photos, shows just that. The first image shows Bermuda on relatively cloud-free October 2, 2014, still 10 days before when Tropical Storm Fay passed over the island and 15 days before Hurricane Gonzalo's landfall.  The second satellite image shows Bermuda on October 18, 2014, just hours after Gonzalo's eye passed over the 20 square mile island, stirring up sediment and debris in a pattern that extended more than 18 miles out from Bermuda's beaches.
According to NASA, the murky clouds of sediment are made up of calcium carbonate and sand from the island and nearby coral reefs. The organisms in coral reefs and carbonate rich islands like Bermuda produce large quantities of carbonates, which slowly accumulate and form new islands. In fact, Bermuda's limestone cap formed from this very process.
But particularly strong storms, like Fay and Gonzalo, can send plumes of carbonate build-up out into the ocean, where it then largely dissolves. The whole process is important for climate change, too. As NASA notes, carbonate-rich sediment flows like this one help the ocean balance out the amount of carbon dioxide it absorbs from the atmosphere.

http://www.weather.com/news/science/environment/nasa-photos-hurricane-gonzalo-bermuda-20141027

Cyclone Nilofar Targets India's Gujarat State, Southern Pakistan

Nilofar: Forecast Path

Cyclone Nilofar has intensified to the equivalent of a Category 2 hurricane in the Arabian Sea, about 700 miles south-southwest of Karachi, Pakistan.

Nilofar is now tracking toward the north or north-northwest under the steering influence of an upper-level high pressure system centered over southern India. During this time, Nilofar will be experiencing minimal wind shear and is, therefore, expected to intensify to a Category 3 equivalent tropical cyclone.
By late Wednesday, Nilofar will curl sharply east-northeast and accelerate, as upper-level jet stream winds grab hold of the cyclone. On this track, Nilofar is likely to remain well east of the Arabian Peninsula.

These jet stream winds will impart increasing vertical wind shear, and drier air may also work into the cyclone. Both of these factors are expected to weaken Nilofar by the time it makes landfall somewhere along the coast of India's Gujarat state or extreme southeast Pakistan Saturday, local time. At the time of landfall, Nilofar is expected to be the strength of a mid-grade tropical storm.



http://www.weather.com/news/weather-hurricanes/cyclone-nilofar-india-pakistan-forecast-20141027

Halloween Weekend Snow to Bring First Flakes For Some

Snow Timing

Friday's Forecast

Friday's Forecast

Saturday's Forecast

Saturday's Forecast

Sunday's Forecast

Sunday's Forecast

- Friday: The cold front plunges through the Great Lakes. Rain may mix with, or changeover to wet snow in parts of Michigan early to Upstate, western and central New York, western Pennsylvania and the mountains of West Virginia later in the day into the night. Bands of lake-effect rain or snow may set up.
- Saturday: Additional snow may fall over the Adirondacks and the mountains of northern New England and West Virginia, possibly as far south as the Smoky Mountains. Some wet snow may also fall in lower elevations from New England to New York state, and Pennsylvania. Some lake-effect rain/snow may linger.
- Sunday: Some snow may persist in parts of New England, including some lower elevations.


Following closely on the heels of record warmth Tuesday, a jet stream disturbance will nosedive out of Canada into the Northeast from Halloween into the weekend.
Given the expected intensity of this upper-air disturbance and magnitude/depth of cold air plunging south, we're not simply talking about chilly rain showers, but also accumulating snow for some, and the first flakes of the season for others.
While it is far too soon to nail down specific who/when/where/how much questions, let's break down what we know.





http://www.weather.com/sports-rec/below-zero/halloween-weekend-snow-first-flakes-northeast-great-lakes-20141027

Tropical Depression Hanna Moves Further Inland Near Nicaragua, Honduras Border

Hanna, the eighth named storm of the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season, formed quickly Monday morning as a tropical storm and has now moved inland after making landfall along the Caribbean coast near the Nicaragua - Honduras border.

Due to its interaction with land, it has weakened as quickly as it has developed. As of Monday evening, it is a tropical depression.

The storm is expected to bring potentially life-threatening rain to the region. It stirred up dangerous seas, and the Nicaraguan navy said 17 people were rescued from two capsized sailboats, according to The Associated Press.The main concern for Hanna will be heavy rain, flooding and mudslides over the next few days in parts of Honduras and northern Nicaragua, where up to 15 inches of rain may fall. Tropical storm-force winds, mainly in sporadic gusts, until Hanna weakens inland.

http://www.weather.com/news/weather-hurricanes/tropical-storm-hanna-forecast-honduras-nicaragua-20141027

Cyclone Nilofar Targets India's Gujarat State, Southern Pakistan

Cyclone Nilofar is steadily gaining strength in the Arabian Sea about 750 miles south-southwest of Karachi, Pakistan.

Nilofar: Current Information

As of early Tuesday morning local time (9.5 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time), Nilofar had strengthened to the equivalent of a hurricane, with winds estimated at 105 mph, according to the U.S. Joint Typhoon Warning Center.

(MORE: Tropical Terms You Need to Know)

Incidentally, the term "hurricane" is not used in this case. 

Nilofar is expected to begin a track toward the north or north-northwest through late Tuesday under the steering influence of an upper-level high pressure system centered over southern India. During this time, Nilofar will be experiencing minimal wind shear and is, therefore, expected to intensify to a  equivalent tropical cyclone.

By mid-week, Nilofar will then curl sharply and accelerate toward the east-northeast, as upper-level jet stream winds grab hold of the cyclone. On this track, Nilofar is likely to pass well to the east of the Arabian Peninsula.

Nilofar: Forecast Path

These jet stream winds will impart increasing vertical wind shear, and drier air may also work into the cyclone. Both of these factors are expected to weaken Nilofar by the time it makes landfall somewhere along the coast of India's Gujarat state or extreme southeast Pakistan Thursday.

The  (IMD) -- the agency responsible for tropical cyclone advisories in the northern Indian Ocean, including the Arabian Sea -- has issued a yellow message cyclone alert for the northern coast of India's Gujarat state. 

The IMD warned of "extensive damage to thatched roofs and huts" near the landfall location of Nilofar Thursday and urged fishermen along and off the Gujarat coast to return to port. Coastal hut dwellers were urged to move to safer location.

The warned of isolated heavy rainfall and strong gusty winds in the Lower Sindh including Karachi, and coastal areas of Balochistan from Wednesday night into Friday.

Karachi, one of the world's most populous megacities (2014 population estimate: 23.5 million), only averages about 7.9 inches of rain each year. Depending on the track of Nilofar, over one inch of total rainfall is possible, which could trigger flash flooding. 

http://www.weather.com/news/weather-hurricanes/cyclone-nilofar-india-pakistan-forecast-20141027

Weather Service stops receiving satellite data, issues notice about forecast quality

It appears that some satellite imagery has been restored, but that the feed of satellite data used for models remains somewhat incomplete. “The last update I received was that we are not yet fully restored, but there has been some improvement in datasets for the models,” said Chris Vaccaro, National Weather Service spokesperson. A technical notice from the National Weather Service stated the “majority” of satellite data has become available for the models.

Since at least Tuesday, some satellite data – an important input to weather prediction models – has stopped flowing into the National Weather Service due to an apparent network outage.

At 1 p.m. today, the National Weather Service’s National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) issued the following statement cautioning the outage could impact forecast quality:

NCEP HAS NOT RECEIVED A FULL FEED OF SATELLITE DATA FOR INPUT INTO THE NUMERICAL MODELS SINCE 22/0000Z…POTENTIALLY IMPACTING THE MODEL FORECASTS.NESDIS AND NCEP ARE INVESTIGATING THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE ISSUE. ONCE THE SITUATION IS RESOLVED ANOTHER MESSAGE WILL FOLLOW.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2014/10/22/weather-service-stops-receiving-satellite-data-issues-warning-about-forecast-reliability/

Heavy Rain, Strong Winds Hitting the Pacific Northwest This Weekend (FORECAST)

A heavy rain maker has set up in the Pacific Northwest, and it will continue to bring much needed rain and mountain snow through the rest of the weekend. With that said, it is also producing strong gusty wind that is downing numerous trees and powerlines. A large southward dip in the jet stream has developed over the eastern Pacific Ocean and is swinging into the West Coast this weekend. The first round of rain came ashore Tuesday night through Thursday as a low pressure system and its trailing cold front barrel into the Pacific Coast from Washington to northwest California. Less rain occurred on Friday, though a band of showers did develop from the coast of Washington through Seattle and into western Montana.

On Saturday, a second low pressure system ushered heavy rain into the Pacific Northwest. This second system brought rain as far south as San Francisco and Sacramento, as well as snow over the Cascades and northern Rockies.

A general 1 to 3 inches of rain is expected from Northern California through coastal Washington through Sunday, with up to 4 to 5 inches possible in a few spots. Thunderstorms may develop in northern California and western Oregon and a few thunderstorms may be severe, with an isolated tornado possible as well.

Strong wind will also accompany this system and wind advisories are still in effect into midday Sunday.

http://www.weather.com/news/weather-forecast/heavy-rain-pacific-northwest-washington-oregon-northern-california-20141022

Greece Flooding Update: Homes and Businesses Damaged, Cars Swept Away in Greece

Authorities are assessing damage in Greece after heavy rain caused flash floods in Athens on Friday, uprooting trees and damaging roads and homes, the Times of Malta reports. Significant flash flooding in the Greek capital resulted partly from the remnants of Hurricane Gonzalo, which passed over Bermuda and plowed over Europe earlier this week. 

Greek Authorities say that the flooding led to damage in several places including Peristeri, Ilion and Parama and swept away at least 250 cars. Emergency crews were called to pump water out of at least 800 homes and businesses. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has pledged aid to affected areas. 

The Greek Reporter says that at least 12 cars were trapped inside a flooded supermarket parking lot after the heavy storms hit. Initial reports state that dozens of households were flooded. Shopkeepers say damages from the flood may exceed 100,00 Euros or $126,651. 

The tropical system previously known as Gonzalo has tracked across thousands of miles, hitting the Caribbean before making landfall on Bermuda last Friday. Then, it traveled across the Atlantic andhit the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands and Scandinavia with bouts of rain and high winds. Now, it has sunk southeast and is expected to linger over the Balkan peninsula for several days.

Link: http://www.weather.com/safety/floods/greece-flooding-update-20141026 

Polar Vortex Spiked U.S. CO2 Emissions in 2013

Last years bitter cold winter led to an increase in CO2 emissions. The good news is that despite the spike they where overall lower than they had been in 2007.

Bitter cold and a chill wind inevitably mean the heat gets cranked up inside. And as the polar vortex parked itself over Canada and the northeastern U.S. to end 2013, that’s what people did.

Largely as a result of trying to keep warm from that Arctic chill, carbon dioxide emitted from burning energy in the U.S. increased 2.5 percent in 2013 over the previous year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s annual CO2 emissions report, released Tuesday.

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What Do Our Oceans Reveal About Global Warming?

A new NASA study has revealed that the ocean abyss has not warmed in the past few years. What does this mean for global warming?

DCI

Only three other years since 1990 have seen a greater annual increase in energy-related CO2 emissions — 1996, 2000 and 2010.

The spike in emissions from burning energy last year had less to do with the United States reversing a trend in declining CO2 emissions than it did with 2012 being unusually warm — the warmest year on record, in fact.

“2012 was so warm, and then 2013 started returning to normal on its way to a chilly winter when you got to the end of the year,” EIA analyst Perry Lindstrom told Climate Central.

Even though the United States burned through more natural gas, coal and home heating fuel to stay toasty last year, CO2 emissions related to energy consumption were still lower than they were earlier in the decade when emissions peaked in 2007.

Here’s how the numbers break down: Energy-related CO2 emissions totaled 5.9 billion metric tons in 2005, peaking at more than 6 billion in 2007 and in 2012 dropped to nearly 5.3 billion tons, their lowest level in 18 years. In 2013, they spiked to nearly 5.4 billion tons.

http://news.discovery.com/earth/global-warming/polar-vortex-spiked-us-co2-emissions-in-2013-141022.htm

September 2014 Global Weather Extremes Summary

NASA and NOAA have recorded September to be the warmest month ever. This is interesting because Illinois specifically was considered to be below average.

September 2014 Global Weather Extremes Summary

September was globally the warmest such on record according to NASA and NOAA. Deadly flooding affected the Kashmir region of India and Pakistan as well as in southern France, China, and Serbia. Record heat occurred in Jakarta, Indonesia and south-central Canada. It was the driest September on record for the U.K.

NORTH AMERICA

It was a warmer than average month for the contiguous U.S. (ranked 26th warmest out of the past 120 years) and precipitation was, nationwide, average although the Southwest experienced one of its wettest Septembers on record and the Northeast one of its driest.



http://www.wunderground.com/blog/weatherhistorian/comment.html?entrynum=312#commenttop

Developing Cyclone Arabian Sea / INVEST 94L Caribbean / Warm Weather Ahead

UNUSUAL CYCLONE DEVELOPING IN ARABIAN SEA 

A disturbance (INVEST IO90) in the Arabian Sea has been slowly developing into a Tropical Cyclone over the last few days, and appears very close to reaching Tropical Depression intensity. The developing storm is located about 600NM SE of the Oman coast, and remains quasi-stationary. Most models are showing intensification to a CAT 1 storm over the next 72 hours, and is forecast to move towards the OMAN coast by Tuesday. After which, the storm should turn northeast and accelerate away from the coast and weaken quickly to minimal tropical storm intensity (or depression) by next Thursday. It’s worth mentioning that latest imagery loops suggest very dry air is approaching from the Northwest – and this may prevent the storm from intensifying beyond Tropical Storm (gale) force – AND prevent the system from even approaching the Oman coast before it turns Northeast and weakens. Tropical Storms in this region of the world are unusual – but they are not rare , 

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2842

San Francisco Rising to Threat of Swelling Seas

The fog of uncertainty cast by rising seas is starting to lift from $25 billion worth of public projects planned in San Francisco.

The City by the (rising) Bay, where bayfront shorelines will continue to experience worsening high tide flooding, where the nearby international airport is among the nation’s most vulnerable to floods, and where Pacific Ocean shoreline erosion could be accelerated by sea level rise, has adopted a first-in-the-nation approach to assessing potential infrastructure risks posed by rising seas.

(MORE: Greenhouse Emissions on the Rise)

The new guidance, which includes a simple project checklist, will help officials incorporate sea level rise into decisions about building and upgrading everything from pipes to police stations to streets. Seas have risen 8 inches since industry started burning fossil fuels, although long-term ocean cycles have temporarily spared the West Coast from some of those impacts in recent decades. Two or three more feet of sea level rise is forecast globally this century.

http://www.weather.com/news/science/environment/san-francisco-tackles-sea-level-rise-threat-20141024

Florida: Record Nine Years Have Passed Without A Hurricane Landfall, But That Streak Will End ... Eventually

Friday, October 24 marks nine years since Hurricane Wilma made landfall in southwest Florida, a record hurricane-free streak for the Sunshine State.

(MORE: Recap | Photos | One of Costliest)

This is the longest stretch on record dating to 1851 that no hurricanes have made landfall in the state. The longest hurricane-free streak prior to this one was five consecutive seasons from 1980 to 1984.

This is impressive, considering the coastline of Florida spans more than 1,260 miles from the Gulf Coast to the Atlantic Ocean, and an average of 8 hurricanes have formed each year since 2005.

Equally impressive is the barrage of storms that pummeled the state before the hurricane drought.

NOAA

Hurricane Wilma (2005)

Wilma made landfall just south of Naples, Florida, as a Category 3 hurricane, producing widespread wind damage in southern Florida.

Charley, Frances, Jeanne and Ivan pounded Florida in 2004, followed by Dennis, Katrina andWilma in the historic 2005 hurricane season. Ritapassed south of the Florida Keys that year, but did produce significant storm surge flooding in Key West.

http://www.weather.com/news/weather-hurricanes/florida-hurricane-free-streak-luck-run-out-20140801

Kelvin-Helmholtz Billow Clouds Spotted in Thornton, Colorado (PHOTOS)

Though it looks like someone painted the sky with breaking ocean waves in the collection of photos above, there's a very good atmospheric explanation for what is really happening. The rolling, wave-like cloud formations are called Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds. Sometimes they are also called billows. They are named for scientists Lord Kelvin and Hermann von Helmholtz, who discovered the process by which they form.
Severe Weather Expert Dr. Greg Forbes of The Weather Channel says, "They are the atmospheric equivalent of those great breaking waves that you sometimes see on the ocean."

These breaking atmospheric waves occur in an environment with a large amount of vertical wind shear and stable air. Wind shear is a change in the speed and direction of winds as you go higher in the atmosphere.

In this case, winds at the top of the cloud layer are moving faster than the base of that same layer. This causes the top to crash downwards in a curling manner after it hits the stable layer above.

Pacific Northwest Storm Unleashes Powerful Damaging Winds; Trees, Power Lines Down

A strong storm system moved into the Northwest this weekend, delivering damaging winds and heavy rains.

Oregon suffered the brunt of the storm's fury Saturday as wind gusts of up to 91 mph whipped areas of the state, downing trees, power lines and causing multiple power outages. 

As of Saturday evening, over 68,200 customers were without power in Oregon and Washington. 

According to the National Weather Service in Medford, several trees fell on vehicles in Madrona & 101 RV park, prompting the rescue of those trapped. One person was reported injured and hospitalized. The park suffered fires started by downed wires and was severely damaged.

KVAL-TV noted that scattered outages were reported by utilities across western Oregon after wind began picking up late Saturday morning.

Powerful winds downed trees, and firefighters and PGE responded to several reports of downed power lines, according to Fox12 Oregon. 

http://www.weather.com/safety/thunderstorms/pacific-northwest-storm-update-20141026

Kelvin-Helmholtz Billow Clouds Spotted in Thornton, Colorado

In addition to the solar eclipse, a special sight was spotted in the sky Wednesday over Thornton, Colorado.

Though it looks like someone painted the sky with breaking ocean waves in the collection of photos above, there's a very good atmospheric explanation for what is really happening. The rolling, wave-like cloud formations are called Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds. Sometimes they are also called billows. They are named for scientists Lord Kelvin and Hermann von Helmholtz, who discovered the process by which they form.

Severe Weather Expert Dr. Greg Forbes of The Weather Channel says, "They are the atmospheric equivalent of those great breaking waves that you sometimes see on the ocean."

These breaking atmospheric waves occur in an environment with a large amount of vertical wind shear and stable air. Wind shear is a change in the speed and direction of winds as you go higher in the atmosphere.

In this case, winds at the top of the cloud layer are moving faster than the base of that same layer. This causes the top to crash downwards in a curling manner after it hits the stable layer above.

Link: http://www.wunderground.com/news/kelvin-helmholtz-billow-wave-clouds-20130815

Greece Flooding, Caused By Slow-Moving Remnants of Hurricane Gonzalo, Covers Athens Streets

The storm that just won't quit is hammering Greece, and it won't be going anywhere for at least a couple of days. Heavy rain dumped on Greece Friday, flooding some roadways and creating travel problems in Athens, according to local reports. Word of significant flash flooding began in the Greek capital Friday afternoon.  The Greek Reporter says that at least 12 cars were trapped inside a flooded supermarket parking lot after the heavy storms hit. Initial reports state that dozens of households were flooded, and that anywhere from 20-30 cars were swept into a pileup Friday. Shopkeepers say damages from the flood may exceed 100,00 euros or $126,651. 

Meteorologists say the rainfall can be tied to the remnants of Hurricane Gonzalo.

"This cutoff low, so-called because it has become detached from the steering influence of the jet stream, contains some of the energy from what was once Hurricane Gonzalo," said weather.com senior meteorologist Jonathan Erdman. "While not necessarily indicative of a continuing, large-scale heavy rain threat, this stubborn upper-level low is forecast to remain swirling over the Aegean Sea and eastern Mediterranean Sea into much of next week."

The tropical system previously known as Gonzalo has tracked across thousands of miles, hitting the Caribbean before making landfall on Bermuda last Friday. Then, it traveled across the Atlantic and hit the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands and Scandinavia with bouts of rain and high winds. Now, it has sunk southeast and is expected to linger over the Balkan peninsula for several days. The system also dumped feet of snow in the Swiss and Austrian Alps.

http://www.wunderground.com/news/greece-flooding-latest-news-20141024