Heavy rains have killed at least 10 people and displaced more than 270,000 in Somalia, destroying infrastructure and livelihoods in the Horn of Africa nation, the United Nations said on Friday. East Africa has been experiencing heavy rains, experts say, with floods forcing families from their homes. A tropical storm next week is expected to worsen the floods. Rains are forecast to continue until the end of the year and humanitarian organizations are warning of waterborne diseases and mass displacement. “Higher than usual rains are expected to continue through November and December, leading to more floods and conditions for disease,” the International Rescue Committee said in a statement. “Recovery from these weather conditions may take years.”
Websites: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-somalia-climate/floods-in-somalia-displace-more-than-250000-people-u-n-idUSKBN1XB4LX https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-floods-and-storms-kill-21-people-in-somalia
Air pollution in New Delhi and surrounding towns reached the worst levels so far this year on Sunday, with authorities in the world’s most polluted capital city having already declared a public health emergency and ordered the closure of schools The air quality index, measuring levels of PM 2.5, tiny particulate matter in the air, deteriorated to above 900, way over the 500-level that qualifies as “severe-plus”. Aside from the harm it was doing to the lungs of some 40 million people living in the capital region, the smog was so bad more than 30 flights were diverted from Delhi airport due to poor visibility. Roads looked deserted as large numbers of people stayed home, rather than expose themselves to the noxious atmosphere outside.
Hours after 10 tornadoes tore through North Texas late Sunday, meteorologists gathered at the National Weather Service in Fort Worth early Monday to start working on a puzzle. Some of the pieces were photos of damage sent in by residents, storm spotters, and law enforcement officials. Others were videos showing a tornado when lightning struck and illuminated the night sky. The rest were radar images captured at the time of the storms. By gathering the clues — storm damage pictures, videos, and radar images — meteorologists decided where they needed to visit to survey the damage. Later that morning, they split up into teams and deployed across North Texas to take a closer look at the destruction. The surveys ultimately confirmed Sunday night’s storms produced 10 tornadoes: four EF-0 storms in Allen, Ferris, Kaufman County, and Wills Point; four EF-1 whirlwinds in Kaufman County, Midlothian, Rowlett and Rockwall; an EF-2 twister in Garland; and the EF-3 monster that tracked from northwest Dallas to Richardson. The strongest storm of the night, which tore through North Dallas and Richardson, was also one of the most difficult to assess. Surveyors determined the Dallas tornado was on the ground for more than 15 miles, tearing a path up to three-quarters of a mile wide. Survey teams were aided by the fact that the tornado struck a densely populated area. When survey teams assess storm damage, they rate it on a scale of 8 degrees, where visible damage such as lost roof shingles registers a 1, up to an 8 where the concrete slab under a home is swept clean.
Thundersnow - mimics the inner workings of a normal thunderstorm by forming through the upward movement of humid air. It’s the combination of lower humid air and higher cooler air that cause lightning and thunderstorms. This is exactly why thundersnow is so rare, seeing as how warm lower ground temperatures aren’t usually present while it’s snowing.
Multi-colored Snow - On a freezing cold morning in 2010, citizens of Stavropol, Russia woke up to multi-colored snow lining their streets. It wasn’t toxic, but the experts warned that it wouldn’t be wise to ingest any of the snow as it was most likely contaminated by dust all the way from Africa. The dust reached dizzying heights in the upper atmosphere where it mingled in with normal snow clouds. This interaction is what caused the beautifully colored snow to fall. That wasn’t the first time it happened — in 1912, black snow fell over Alaska and Canada. The black color was thanks to volcanic ash and rocks that also mingled with snow clouds.
Derecho - In 2012, a massive and violent storm system made up ofseveral thunderstorms and strong windsleft a trail of destruction across the Midwest and mid-Atlantic. This terrifying type of storm is called a derecho, and in this case the storm was upgraded to a“super derecho”due to its severity. The main cause of the super-storm was the intense heat experienced over the area combined with a ripple in the jet stream. The state of Virginia experienced a massive power outage — cables snapped like twigs, trucks tumbled right over like they were made of cardboard and 13 people were killed.Derechos are very rare across the mid-Atlantic, only occurring every four years or so. Another extremely destructive derecho occurred in the United States in 2009. The storm system traveled 1000 miles in one day, leaving several dead and even more injured. A terrifying 45 tornadoes hit the ground during this storm.
Wind damage from former Tropical Storm Olga in an area from southeastern Louisiana to the Ohio Valley.
The weather pattern across the nation won't have any of these kind of impacts beginning later Friday and continuing through the weekend.
A broad southward plunge of the jet stream will be in place from the Northern Plains to the Great Lakes. Rippling through that band of strong upper-level winds will be a couple of weather disturbances.
But those disturbances won't have much luck tapping into moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. That's because cool, dry air will cover much of the eastern two-thirds of the nation.
What that means is there will be little precipitation across the United States through the weekend.
This all kicks off Friday, when much of the nation will be dry except for a few patchy areas of light snow in the upper Midwest and some lingering rain in South Florida.
Saturday's forecast has just a few rain or snow showers in the Great Lakes, as well as scattered rain showers in parts of the Florida Peninsula. The rest of the country should remain dry.
Strong Santa Ana winds howled through parts of Southern California Thursday, creating yet another round of dangerous fire weather conditions and fueling a fast-moving fire in Ventura County on Thursday night.
Red flag warnings for the fire danger were posted by the National Weather Service in parts of Southern California. The NWS said a red flag warning in effect for wind-prone parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties would continue through Friday.
A new fire, the Maria Fire, started in Ventura County just southeast of Santa Paula about 6:30 p.m. local time Thursday night, CBS Los Angeles reported. As of 11 p.m., the fire had already burned more than six square miles and was spreading rapidly, according to Cal Fires.Mandatory evacuations covered a large area late Thursday night west of the fire, across the Santa Clara River from Santa Paula and north of Camarillo.
About 1800 structures and 7500 residents were within the mandatory evacuation zone that existed as of 11 p.m., according to the Ventura County Fire Department.Winds gusted to 48 mph at Oak Mountain in Los Angeles County on Thursday, and relative humidity plummeted toward the single digits. Gusts hit 52 mph on Happy Camp Road in the Ventura County mountains.
"These winds will result in a significant threat for large fast-moving fires and wind damage (like downed trees, power lines and broken signs or overhangs)," warned the Oxnard/Los Angeles NWS forecast office.
Hurricane-force wind gusts of 74 mph were also reported Wednesday at a weather station in the mountains outside of Malibu, according to the National Weather Service. Dozens of stations across southern parts of the state reported gusts of more than 50 mph, with relative humidity lower than 10% -- factors helping to fuel the blazes.
The blaze was likely caused by a tree branch that broke off from high winds and landed on nearby power lines, sparking and igniting nearby brush, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.
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