Quantcast
Channel: SKYE on AOL
Viewing all 4069 articles
Browse latest View live

Heat Wave Begins for the East, Midwest

May 30, 2013, 1:44 am
$
0
0
Thursday, May 30, 2013

(AP Photo/Robert Ray)

Midsummer heat is arriving just a few days after the unofficial start of the season.

After shivering cold over the Memorial Day weekend, record-challenging heat will build in some areas of the Ohio Valley, Great Lakes and the East as May draws to a close and June begins.

While some people may welcome the heat, for a number of people it may be a little tough to adjust to after days of cool conditions.

Some locations will experience a 50- to 55-degree temperature rise compared to morning lows this past weekend to afternoon highs Thursday to Saturday.

High temperatures at or above 90 degrees are forecast on one or more days.

A few locations could have clouds and rain one day, followed by 90-degree temperatures and blazing sunshine the next.

In some cases, temperatures will challenge or break record highs during the period from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic coast.

Even areas that received accumulating snow in upstate New York and New England this past weekend will feel the heat.

RELATED:
Photos: Memorial Day Weekend Snow in New England
Plains Severe Weather Outbreak Includes Tornado Risk
Temperature Maps

During the upcoming weekend, the heat will be chopped down over the Midwest by an advancing zone of thunderstorms associated with a cold front. The storms could be locally severe.

The cold front and storms would reach the Appalachians Saturday night and Sunday then the I-95 corridor by Monday.

As a reminder, because of the slow spring in the region, water temperatures are still quite chilly at the beaches, lakes and unheated pools. The cold water can quickly bring on muscle cramps and increase the risk of drowning. Parents and guardians are urged to keep a close eye on their kids. Always swim with a companion.

RELATED ON SKYE: 20 Tips for Surviving a Heat Wave

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

↧
Search
↧

Cool Temps Help Firefighters Gain Ground on Calif. Blazes

May 30, 2013, 2:28 am
$
0
0

This Monday May 27, 2013 photo released by the Santa Barbara County Search and Rescue shows smoke from a wildfire burning long the mountains north of Santa Barbara, Calif. (AP Photo/Valerie Walston, Santa Barbara County Search and Rescue)

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) - California firefighters took advantage of cooler weatherWednesday morning as they worked to surround a wildfire that blackened nearly 3 square miles of forest in the mountains above Santa Barbara.

The fire was 90 percent contained and new measuring reduced its estimated size slightly to 1,984 acres, Andrew Madsen, a spokesman with the U.S Forest Service, said.

Some 600 firefighters, aided by air tankers, hoped to use cool morning weather to gain ground on the blaze in the Santa Ynez Mountains before afternoon temperatures soared to around 90, Madsen said.

"We're getting some fresh crews on the line, and they're going to work as fast and hard as we can before we get into those hot hours," Madsen said.

The blaze that erupted Monday afternoon was wind-driven, but winds Wednesday were expected to remain light to moderate.

"The weather's cooperating right now in this firefight," he said.

Crews planned to concentrate on the active northeastern flank of the fire.

At its peak, the blaze raced through a section of Los Padres National Forest, threatened some 50 homes and cabins and prompted campground evacuations.

The campgrounds remain closed, but the home evacuations were called off Tuesday evening.

A second wildfire broke out Tuesday afternoon in the nearby wine country hills of Santa Ynez and burned through 170 acres of land before it was knocked down.

Despite its bucolic setting, the area 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles has seen terrible wildfires, including a 1990 blaze that destroyed 641 structures, most of them homes. The summer of 2007 was marred by a gigantic fire that erupted on July 4 and burned for months.

Elsewhere, a 149-acre wildfire that erupted near the Magic Mountain theme park north of Los Angeles was contained without causing any building damage.

In San Diego County, a fire that burned more than 1,000 acres of remote land southeast of Julian was 85 percent contained.

Investigators determined Tuesday that recreational shooting sparked the blaze on Sunday.

RELATED ON SKYE: Incredible Natural-Disaster Photos from Space

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

↧

Today's 10 Must-See Photos: 5-30-2013

May 30, 2013, 3:45 am
$
0
0
  • AP Photo/Wong Maye-E
    1 of 10

    Inuka, the first polar bear born in the tropics, swims in his new enclosure at the Singapore Zoo on Wednesday, May 29, in Singapore. Modeled closely after the arctic habitat, the enclosure helps replicate the chilly climate of the arctic by including an ice cave and a large pool filled with giant ice blocks. 

  • midnightjaz/Twitter
    2 of 10

    On May 30, Donna Sebastian tweeted this photo of "Manahttanhenge" (an urban astronomical phenomenon) which occurred on May 29, and wrote, "The next time this phenomenon will happen will be July 12...it will all line up again!! #beautiful #manhattanhenge pic.twitter.com/4GGZ0GRjEH"

  • AP Photo/National Weather Service, Ed Plumb
    3 of 10

    The ice jam on the Yukon River at Bishop Rock is shown in Galena, Alaska, on May 27. Several hundred people are estimated to have fled the community, where a river ice jam has caused major flooding, sending water washing over roads and submerging buildings.

  • Cmdr_Hadfield/Twitter
    4 of 10

    On May 29, Astronaut Chris Hadfield tweeted this photo of the Labrador Coast in Canada taken while aboard the International Space Station and wrote, "The starkly beautiful Labrador coast, stage-lit in the setting sun. pic.twitter.com/jfRqtGJ4Fp"

  • AP Photo/Nati Harnik
    5 of 10

    Following heavy rain, rows of young corn plants stand in a field in Auburn, Neb., Wednesday, May 29. Rivers in the nation's heartland are rising again, and with more heavy rain in the forecast, parts of the Midwest are bracing for yet another round of flooding. The National Weather Service said Wednesday that 2-4 inches of rain will be common as strong storms fire up through Friday. Pockets of the region could see up to 6 inches of rain.

  • Interior/Twitter
    6 of 10

    The US Department of Interior tweeted this photo of sunset at Rocky Mountain National Park on May 29, and wrote, "There are no shortage of stunning #sunsets on America's public lands. This beauty comes from Rocky Mountain NP. pic.twitter.com/tQxfODQ5hR"

  • AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez
    7 of 10

    The sculpture "Aurora" by artist Ruth Asawa frames a waterfront scene along The Embarcadero in San Francisco, Wednesday, May 29.

  • AP Photo/Luca Bruno
    8 of 10

    Tom Atto, a street artist from Slovakia, performs with a crystal ball in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, May 29.

  • AP Photo/Eric Gay
    9 of 10

    Nakato (left), a three-week old Reticulated giraffe, is sene with his mother, Carol, and twin sister Wasswa at the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch, Wednesday, May 29, in New Braunfels, Texas. Nakato and Wasswa were born May 10.

  • Cmdr_Hadfield/Twitter
    10 of 10
    Next: Today's 10 Must-See Photos: 5-29-2013

    On May 29, Astronaut Chris Hadfield tweeted this photo of Matamoros, Mexico, and Brownsville, Texas, taken while aboard the International Space Station and wrote, "Matamoros and Brownsville, where the Rio Grande finally meets the Gulf, at the US/Mexico border. pic.twitter.com/Yb2DmYCasg"

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

↧

Man Recounts Lightning Strike: 'Okay, Going to Die Now'

May 30, 2013, 6:19 am
$
0
0
Lightning
(iStockphoto)

Jason Marlin was in his studio office in Asheville, N.C., May 22 while a thunderstorm raged outside. He looked out the window to admire the scene when a bolt of lightning struck him squarely in the chest. He described what happened next on Ars Technica, where he is technical director:

I'm not sure whether the arc originated from the sky or the ground, but it knocked me out of my chair. I hit the concrete floor and bounced back up to my feet, which were shuffling at top speed into a bookshelf. I remember thinking, "OK, going to die now. Do not fall down. Do not pass out."


He didn't die. He paced the floor. His wife called 911 and paramedics were dispatched to the scene. Amazingly, Marlin wasn't in any pain when they arrived. He even decided not to get checked out at a hospital.

But Marlin was still feeling the effects of the jolt a day later. "Today, my whole body is sore -- even my organs ache in a hard-to-describe way," he writes. "But I feel lucky to have walked away unscathed."

So, what did being struck by lightning feel like? "I've read that being struck by lightning is akin to a being hit by a huge defibrillator," says Marlin. "I'm not sure about that -- but it did feel magnitudes worse than the time I touched an electric fence as a kid."

Martin is fortunate. About 40 Americans die from lightning strikes each year. Roughly 400 Americans, like Martin, live to tell the tale.

(Via Kottke)

RELATED ON SKYE: 11 Surprising Effects of Being Struck by Lightning
Struck by Lightning, Scar

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

↧

15 Amazing Photos of the Galapagos Islands

May 30, 2013, 6:27 am
$
0
0

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

↧
↧

Watch: Amazing Video of Rain Engulfing Hong Kong Airport

May 30, 2013, 7:12 am
$
0
0
Thursday, May 30, 2013


Watch as a massive rainstorm sweeps over Hong Kong International Airport, sending workers running for cover. The video appears to have been taken about a week ago, when Hong Kong was under a rare black rainstorm warning. The powerful storm caused flooding and led to school closures and the cancellation of the morning session of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Thousands of lightning strikes were reported in the area, and a Hong Kong Express Airways flight carrying 100 passengers was reportedly struck by lightning.

PHOTOS ON SKYE: 50 Must-See Weather Photos

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

↧

Tornadoes Touch Down in Oklahoma and Arkansas

May 30, 2013, 9:10 am
$
0
0
Updated Thursday, May 30, 2013, at 11:31 p.m. ET

This image provided by KFOR-TV shows storm clouds moving over Guthrie, Okla., on Thursday, May 30, 2013. The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., warns there's a moderate risk of severe weather over much of eastern and central Oklahoma on Thursday, the same area where a tornado last week killed 24 people. (AP Photo/KFOR-TV)

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - At least three tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma, including one in Tulsa, and two more hit Arkansas on Thursday as a powerful storm system moved through the middle of the country. At least nine people were injured.

The National Weather Service confirmed at least one tornado touched down Thursday night in the Tulsa suburb of Broken Arrow. However, the tornado did not appear to be a strong twister like the deadly one in suburban Oklahoma City last week.

RELATED ON SKYE: Photos of the Moore, Okla., Tornado Devastation
Tornado, Moore, OklahomaMeteorologist Pete Snyder with the weather service's Tulsa office said it appeared the roofs of some buildings were damaged, and police told the Tulsa World that they didn't have any reports of buildings being destroyed.

Earlier in the day, tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma and Arkansas, injuring at least nine people.

The National Weather Service reported two tornadoes on the ground near Perkins and Ripley in north central Oklahoma and another west of Oden, Ark.

Thursday's tornadoes all appeared to be much less dangerous than the top-of-the-scale EF5 storm that struck Moore, Okla., on May 20 and killed 24 along its 17-mile path. The U.S. averages more than 1,200 tornadoes a year, but top-of-the-scale storms like the one in Moore - with winds over 200 mph - happen only about once per year. The tornado last week was the nation's first EF5 since 2011.

All nine of the injured Thursday were in Arkansas; two of the injuries were attributed to a lightning strike in Rogers. Lightning was also believed to have started a fire that destroyed two floors of a condominium building in northwestern Indiana.

Some trees, homes and power lines were damaged in Arkansas, and the National Weather Service confirmed that tornadoes touched down in Montgomery County and in Clark County. Emergency Management spokesman Tommy Jackson said first responders had trouble reaching a destroyed home where one person was hurt because a number of trees were blocking the road.

In Oklahoma, Perkins Emergency Management Director Travis Majors said there were no injuries or damage there. Ripley, about 10 miles east of Perkins, did not seem to have significant damage. The Payne County emergency management director did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

Storms also caused problems in the western Iowa town of Onawa, damaging buildings, breaking windows, tearing awnings and blowing down trees and a stoplight. National Weather Service meteorologist Dave Fobert told the Sioux City Journal that the damage apparently was caused by a thunderstorm, not a tornado.

Some strong winds blew through Moore, in suburban Oklahoma City, on Thursday, but the weather didn't cause significant problems for crews cleaning up from last week's tornado.

Organizers pushed back Thursday's start of the Wakarusa Music Festival north of Ozark, Ark., as threatening weather approached. After a series of storms moved through the area, Franklin County Emergency Manager Fred Mullen said no flooding was reported at the site, located along Arkansas' Pig Trail scenic highway.

In addition to tornadoes, the storms were bringing rain and hail. Flooding was also a concern in parts of Missouri, Iowa and Illinois through Sunday.

This spring's tornado season got a late start, with unusually cool weather keeping funnel clouds at bay until mid-May. The season usually starts in March and then ramps up for the next couple of months.

Of the 60 EF5 tornadoes since 1950, Oklahoma and Alabama have been struck the most, seven times each. More than half of these top-of-the-scale twisters have occurred in just five states: Alabama, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

PHOTOS ON SKYE: Massive Tornado Devastation in Moore, Oklahoma
Moore, Oklahoma, Tornadoes

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

↧

Deadly Storms Continue to Strike Midwest

May 31, 2013, 1:11 am
$
0
0
Updated Friday, May 31, 2:45 p.m. ET

A wall cloud forms near Interstate 35 and Purcell, Okla. on Thursday, May 30, 2013. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams)

Y CITY, Ark. (AP) - Flash flooding and tornadoes killed three people in Arkansas overnight in the nation's latest severe weather outbreak. Among the dead was a county sheriff who drowned while checking on residents whose house was eventually swamped by rising water.

More bad weather was poised to strike the nation's midsection Friday, with tornadoes and baseball-sized hail forecast from Oklahoma to Missouri.

But Thursday night and early Friday the danger was from torrential rain - 6 inches or more in the rugged terrain of western Arkansas. The Fourche La Fave River rose 24 feet in 24 hours and for a time closed U.S. 71 north of Y City.

RELATED ON SKYE: Photos of the Moore, Okla., Tornado Devastation
Tornado, Moore, Oklahoma"The water just comes off that hill like someone is pouring a bucket in there," said Danny Straessle, a spokesman for the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department. "This was an incredible amount of water."

Sheriff Cody Carpenter and wildlife officer Joel Campora traveled by boat up Mill Creek to reach two people who had called for assistance. While they were in the home, the river swamped it.

"Other deputies heard a loud crash," Hollenbeck said. "They thought that the bridge had actually collapsed. Looking into it further, the house had imploded as a directly result of rising waters from Mill Creek," said Bill Hollenbeck, the sheriff of neighboring Sebastian County.

Campora and the two women inside the home remained missing Friday afternoon, Hollenbeck said. Carpenter's body was recovered about 1 mile downstream from the home.

Separately, authorities discovered a woman dead in a car in Scott County. That death is also being attributed to the flooding. And a man died after strong winds toppled a tree onto his car in Voll, just west of Little Rock.

The agency's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said large hail and tornadoes are likely Friday in Oklahoma and parts of the Ozarks in Arkansas and Missouri. The areas at greatest risk include Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Joplin, Mo., where the second-deadliest American tornado on record killed at least 158 people in 2011.

Flooding is also a concern in parts of Missouri, Iowa and Illinois through Sunday.

PHOTOS ON SKYE: Stunning Photos from the 2013 Tornado Season
Kansas Torndao

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

↧
Search

Oklahoma Schools Destroyed by Tornado to Rebuild

May 31, 2013, 1:19 am
$
0
0

This May 21, 2013 file photo shows wreckage of the Briarwood Elementary School in Moore, Okla., as seen from a National Guard helicopter during a tour of tornado damaged areas. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, Pool, File)

MOORE, Okla. (AP) - Administrators believe rebuilding a pair of Oklahoma elementary schools destroyed by a May 20 tornado will help their neighborhoods' long-term recovery, though some parents and children aren't sure it's a good idea to put up new schools on land where seven third-graders perished after being crushed by debris.

"They can rebuild, but not in the same exact spot. People died there," said Antonio Garcia, who rode out the top-of-the-scale EF5 twister inside the Plaza Towers Elementary School on his last day of sixth grade. When school restarts in the fall, he will have moved on to junior high, but he says the site should be made a memorial to his dead schoolmates.

"Don't build it in the same spot. And make it safer for everybody," he said.

Moore School District Superintendent Susan Pierce said this week the district would rebuild the Briarwood and Plaza Towers schools on their same sites after shuffling their 1,150 students into other schools for the 2013-14 school year. The district must also rebuild a gymnasium at East Junior High, which was also destroyed.

RELATED ON SKYE: Photos of the Moore, Okla., Tornado Devastation
Tornado, Moore, Oklahoma
"We think it's essential for the kids and the community to come back strong at the same location," Pierce said. "It'll be good for them to see the construction there."

Some parents agree with the decision.

"I agree about getting everything back to normal for the children," said Antonio's mother, Crystal O'Reagan.

Crews began demolishing the Plaza Towers school Thursday. About 500 students attend that school, while Briarwood has about 650 students.

Pierce said she is hopeful the schools will be built with a safe room that can protect pupils from violent weather, and a group of Oklahoma lawmakers on Thursday launched a nonprofit group to help retrofit existing schools.

Officials estimate it will cost about $20 million to replace the schools. Robert Romines, who takes over as superintendent July 1, said administrators are working with insurance companies, architects and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The group Shelter Oklahoma Schools would be funded by private donations. Oklahoma has 1,600 public schools; safe rooms cost between $600,000 and $1 million per school. Houston-based energy company Apache Corp. has already said it will donate $1 million.

Moore Public Schools, the state's fastest-growing district with more than 23,000 students, has experience in rebuilding schools destroyed by tornadoes. A tornado that struck the city on May 3, 1999, destroyed Kelley Elementary School, but classes had already been dismissed for the day and no one was injured. The school was rebuilt on the same foundation and its hallways were made into safe rooms where overhead doors can be shut to enclose the halls as tornados pass overhead.

"We've done this before," Pierce said. "We're working on some kind of similar plan."

Romines, like some parents, said the schools are anchors in their neighborhood and it wouldn't be right to build elsewhere.

"Those buildings are the center of the community. They'll be bigger and better," Romines said.

David Wheeler's son, third-grader Gabriel Wheeler, attended Briarwood Elementary and he wants the school rebuilt in the same place. The family's home is next to the school and was damaged by the tornado.

"That's our community. That's where we live," David Wheeler said. "We're all on board. Most of the children are on board as well."

But Amy Sharp, who pulled her daughter, fourth-grader Jenna Dunn, from Plaza Towers just moments before the twister struck, suggested the school could be moved to an open field adjacent to the former site.

"I don't know if I'm comfortable with my child going to the school on the same site where seven children died. That's kind of morbid," Sharp said.

Gail Stillman, director of student services for Moore Public Schools, said the district will make counselors available for students who have anxieties about future storms or who have difficulty transitioning to a school in a different neighborhood or returning to one of the rebuilt ones.

"There is some concern about that, of course," Stillman said. "There's always a concern that that's going to case an emotional reaction. It's normal that people experience that."

The new schools won't resemble the previous ones, which should lessen the trauma, Stillman said.

Romines, the incoming superintendent, said administrators are also discussing ways to honor the seven third-graders who died at Plaza Towers.

"We have plans to remember," Romines said. "We can't ever forget."

PHOTOS ON SKYE: 10 Amazing Things Found in the Tornado Rubble

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

↧
↧

Floodwaters Drop After Alaska River Ice Jam Breaks

May 31, 2013, 1:25 am
$
0
0

In this May 28, 2013 photo, the town of Galena, Alaska is flooded by the Yukon River during the breakup of winter ice. (AP Photo/Alaska National Guard, Sgt. Edward Eagerton)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - An ice-clogged river in Alaska's interior that submerged much of a remote town was flowing again Thursday, sparing another nervous community in its path.

Floodwaters were dropping in Galena after the 30-mile ice jam downriver on the Yukon River broke and began moving Wednesday evening, emergency responders said.

Residents in the tiny village of Koyukuk, 13 miles downriver of the jam, had been bracing to be hit by a wall of flooding next. But lifelong resident Roy Nelson said that ice chunks in the Yukon River are flowing quickly past the community of 95.

"We just lucked out," Nelson said. "So far, it looks like we might be all right."

National Weather Service hydrologist Ed Plumb said the river has risen in Koyukuk, 360 miles northwest of Anchorage, but may not flood. So far, the water has not overflowed its banks, said Marie Dayton, a member of the Koyukuk city council.

But villagers spent days preparing for the worst in the flood-prone area, where homes are built on stilts. They parked boats and rafts outside their homes. They moved machinery and vehicles to the airport, which is on higher ground. They hoped to escape the fate of Galena, where floodwaters lifted homes off foundations, buried cars and led to most of the community of 500 being evacuated.

"Nobody was resting," Dayton said Thursday afternoon. "We slept all day today."

In Galena, the breaking of the ice jam was like opening a drain in a bathtub. But now comes the hard work of recovering and rebuilding. The falling floodwaters have left pools in lower areas and deposited big chunks of ice everywhere, including dumping them on already damaged roads. That makes travel difficult, Plumb said.

The sewage lagoon was completely submerged, prompting state emergency managers to call for experts to gauge contamination. The flood, which began Sunday, threatened to breach a dike protecting the airport, virtually the only dry spot that was left in the community. Tanks of heating fuel outside homes floated up and spilled. Power is out and so are phone lines and working bathrooms. Some houses were flooded to the roofs.

"It's going to be a long time for the community to get back to where it was," Plumb said.

No one was injured, but many are traumatized. At least 15 homes have been destroyed, estimates March Runner, among the few hundred residents who were evacuated to other communities, some bringing their dogs with them. Runner wanted to stay in Galena, but was urged to leave because of health issues, including diabetes. Before leaving for Fairbanks 270 miles to the east, Runner saw a house sitting on top of a pickup truck, she said.

Like many other Galena residents, Runner plans to return and help rebuild after the flooding many say ranks among the worst in the area. To those who ask why anyone would want to go back to a place that floods, she said this was not the average spring flood.

And residents want to go back for the same reason people who live in places hit by tornadoes or hurricanes rebuild there.

"This is their home," Runner said. "Why are they going to leave it?"

State emergency management spokesman Jeremy Zidek said the damage in Galena is being assessed. Gov. Sean Parnell plans to issue a state disaster declaration for Galena and any other communities affected by the Yukon River flooding, Parnell's spokeswoman Sharon Leighow said. A declaration would activate state disaster recovery funds.

PHOTOS ON SKYE: Breathtaking Images of Rivers, Islands and Seas from Space

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

↧

Eastern Heat, Humidity to Last into Weekend

May 31, 2013, 1:39 am
$
0
0

AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia

Midsummer heat is arriving just a few days after the unofficial start of the season.

After shivering cold over the Memorial Day weekend, record-challenging heat will continue in some areas of the Great Lakes and the East as May draws to a close and June begins.

While some people may welcome the heat, for a number of people it may be a little tough to adjust to after days of cool conditions.

Avoid manual labor during the afternoon hours, when temperatures are the highest and the sun is the strongest. If you must work in this weather, be sure to drink plenty of fluids. Since there will be some air quality issues over time, folks with respiratory problems should use caution when spending a great deal of time outside of an air conditioned environment.

Some locations will experience a 50- to 55-degree temperature rise compared to morning lows this past weekend to afternoon highs Thursday to Saturday.

High temperatures near or above 90 degrees are forecast on one or more days.

In some cases, temperatures will challenge or break record highs during the period from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic coast.

Even areas that received accumulating snow in upstate New York and New England this past weekend will feel the heat.

RELATED:
Photos: Memorial Day Weekend Snow in New England
Plains Severe Weather Outbreak Includes Tornado Risk
Temperature Maps

During the upcoming weekend, the heat will be chopped down over the Midwest by an advancing zone of thunderstorms associated with a cold front. The storms could be locally severe.

The cold front and storms would reach the Appalachians Saturday night and Sunday then the I-95 corridor by Monday.

As a reminder, because of the slow spring in the region, water temperatures are still quite chilly at the beaches, lakes and unheated pools. The cold water can quickly bring on muscle cramps and increase the risk of drowning. Parents and guardians are urged to keep a close eye on their kids. Always swim with a companion.

RELATED ON SKYE: 20 Tips for Surviving a Heat Wave

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

↧

Today's 10 Must-See Photos: 5-31-2013

May 31, 2013, 3:55 am
$
0
0
  • AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara
    1 of 10
    An Indonesian activist with a painted face holds posters during a protest demanding equality for LGBTIQ (Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning) people in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Friday, May 31.
  • NASA Earth Observatory
    2 of 10

    This satellite image shows San Pablo Bay and the north end of San Francisco Bay in natural color. It was acquired by Landsat 8 on April 16 and released on May 31.

  • FtLauderdaleSun/Twitter
    3 of 10

    The Fort Lauderdale Sun tweeted this photo of the Atlantic Ocean at sunrise on May 31, and wrote, "Ocean in morning colors. pic.twitter.com/xqvwBFfAyt"

  • AP Photo/KFOR-TV
    4 of 10

    This image provided by KFOR-TV shows storm clouds moving over Guthrie, Okla., on Thursday, May 30. The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., warns there's a moderate risk of severe weather over much of eastern and central Oklahoma on Thursday, the same area where a tornado last week killed 24 people.

  • AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco
    5 of 10

    A man holds a traditional devil mask during Corpus Christi celebrations in La Villa, Panama, Thursday, May 30. Residents don colorful masks and bright costumes as they dance through the streets of this small Panamanian town for its annual commemoration of Corpus Christi, a Roman Catholic holiday celebrating the transformation of the body and blood of Christ into bread and wine.

  • Cmdr_Hadfield/Twitter
    6 of 10

    On May 30, Astronaut Chris Hadfield tweeted this photo of farmland in China that he took while aboard the International Space Station, and wrote, "Delicate fan of farms sharing the water as it flows from the hills, China. pic.twitter.com/uq8ZAUUTbp"

  • AP Photo/Dar Yasin
    7 of 10
    Zareena, a Kashmiri Bakarwal bride, sits inside a temporary camp during her marriage ceremony on the outskirts of Srinagar, India, Friday, May 31. Bakarwals are nomadic herders in Jammu Kashmir state who wander in search of good pastures for their cattle. 
  • Interior/Twitter
    8 of 10

    The US Department of Interior tweeted this photo of Sequoia Kings National Park on May 30, and wrote, "Sometimes you have to look up to appreciate the beauty of America's great outdoors. @SequoiaKingsNPS pic.twitter.com/ALMWILwtoA"

  • Cmdr_Hadfield/Twitter
    9 of 10

    On May 30, Astronaut Chris Hadfield tweeted this photo of Lisbon, Portugal, taken while aboard the International Space Station, and wrote, "Lisbon, Portugal, clear and bright on a Spring day. pic.twitter.com/kSNST4ganQ"

  • AP Photo
    10 of 10
    Next: Today's 10 Must-See Photos: 5-30-2013
    Riot police use tear gas and pressurized water to quash a peaceful demonstration. Hundreds of people staged a sit-in protest to try and prevent the demolition of trees at an Istanbul park, Turkey, Friday, May 31. The protesters are demanding that the square's park, Gezi, is protected. Police moved in at dawn Friday to disperse the crowd. A number of protesters were injured.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

↧

Stunning Photos from the 2013 Tornado Season

May 31, 2013, 5:17 am
$
0
0
  • Travis Heying/Wichita Eagle/MCT via Getty Images
    1 of 15

    The 2013 tornado season got off to a slow start: NOAA research meteorologist Harold Brooks called the 12-month period from May 2012 to April 2013 "remarkable" for its absence of tornado activity. Unfortunately, the calm weather pattern didn't persist -- and tornado season is now in full swing. At least 12 tornadoes ripped through Texas on May 15, leaving 16 dead, and a devastating twister killed 24 people in Moore, Okla., on May 20. In the days and weeks since, twisters have continued to touch down across the Midwest.

    Click through for photos from the 2013 tornado season.

    A tornado touches down southwest of Wichita, Kansas, near the town of Viola on Sunday, May 19, 2013. The tornado was part of a line of storms that past through the central plains.

  • kd_hutcheson/twitter
    2 of 15

    Kimberly Hutcheson tweeted this photo of a tornado near the Broken Arrow suburb of Tulsa, Okla. on May 30, and wrote, "Broken Arrow tornado at 81st and Creek turnpike. #brokenarrow #tornado pic.twitter.com/sjztL3ch8k"

  • JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images
    3 of 15
    Lightning strikes during a thunder storm as tornado survivors search for salvageable items at their devastated home on May 23, in Moore, Okla.
  • Gavin Woolnough/Getty
    4 of 15
    A tornado is seen near Graham, Texas, in May 2013.
  • KFOR-TV/AP Photo
    5 of 15
    This image provided by KFOR-TV shows storm clouds moving over Guthrie, Okla., on Thursday, May 30, 2013. 
  • stormchaser4850/twitter
    6 of 15
    Johnny Kelly tweeted this photo of the Broken Arrow tornado in Oklahoma on May 30, and wrote, "Picture: Scene in Broken Arrow, OK with tornado in the area via @Kerstyann  pic.twitter.com/Y3HJOOoLj4"
  • AP Photo/AL.com, Bob Gathany
    7 of 15
    Lightning strikes downtown Huntsville, Ala., as strong storms move into Madison County, Thursday afternoon, April 11,. A strong spring storm that socked the Midwest with ice and heavy, wet snow made its way east, raking the South with tornadoes.
  • Gavin Woolnough/Getty
    8 of 15
    Dark clouds are seen in Coleman County, Texas, May 2013
  • Getty
    9 of 15
    A tornado is seen in Millsap, Texas, on May 18.
  • Travis Heying/Wichita Eagle/MCT via Getty Images
    10 of 15
    A rainbow is seen as lightning strikes above the banks of the Little Arkansas River near downtown Wichita, Kansas, on May 19.
  • buzzfeednews/twitter
    11 of 15
    BuzzFeed uploaded this photo to Twitter and wrote, "Horrifying Photos Of The Massive Tornado Tearing Through Oklahoma City http://bzfd.it/18d9dYR pic.twitter.com/g4l4EdZth0"
  • Joshua LOTT/AFP/Getty Images
    12 of 15
    Clouds cover Moore, Okla., on May 21, 2013.
  • VINCENT DELIGNY/AFP/Getty Images
    13 of 15
    A tornado approaches Moore, Okla., on May 20.
  • BreaKBeatJunkee/twitter
    14 of 15
    Jeremie Poplin tweeted this photo of the Broken Arrow tornado in Oklahoma on May 30, and wrote, "Pic from @KristenRenae918 parents house in BA.   http://twitpic.com/cudt3p"
  • Alonzo Adams/AP Photo
    15 of 15
    Next: Massive Tornado Devastation in Moore, Oklahoma
    A tornado moves past homes in Moore, Okla. on May 20.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

↧
↧

Strong Storms Moving Through Southern Plains, Ozarks

May 31, 2013, 10:47 am
$
0
0

This NOAA satellite image taken Friday, May 31, 2013, at 01:45 AM EDT shows fair weather across much of the Eastern US. Frontal boundary over the Midwest and Mississippi Valley with light to moderate rain and scattered thunderstorms, some being severe. (AP PHOTO/Weather Underground)

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Severe weather hammered the nation's heartland again Friday, with tornado warnings posted in the Southern Plains and Arkansas recovering from a flash flood that killed a county sheriff who was checking on a home surrounded by rising water.

Well before Oklahoma's first thunderstorms fired up at late afternoon, the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., was already predicting a violent evening. From the Texas border to near Joplin, Mo., residents were told to keep an eye to the sky and an ear out for sirens.

The warned area included Moore, an Oklahoma City suburb where 24 people died in a twister last week. Forecasters labeled the tornado watch as a "particularly dangerous situation," with ominous language about strong tornadoes and hail the size of grapefruits - 4 inches in diameter.

Bad weather was also expected in parts of southeastern Kansas and southwestern Missouri. Tornado warnings were posted for remote areas of far southeastern Kansas and in the prairie well west of Oklahoma City, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. Flooding will be a concern in the mid-Mississippi River Valley through the weekend.

Flash flooding and tornadoes killed three people in Arkansas late Thursday and Friday. Three others were missing in floods that followed 6 inches of rain in the rugged Ouachita Mountains near Y City, 125 miles west of Little Rock.

The Fourche La Fave River rose 24 feet in just 24 hours.

"The water just comes off that hill like someone is pouring a bucket in there," said Danny Straessle, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Highway and Transportation. The Fourche La Fave temporarily swamped U.S. 71.

Scott County Sheriff Cody Carpenter died while trying to check on local residents during the storm and wildlife officer Joel Campora and two others are missing. They had traveled up Mill Creek by boat.

"Other deputies heard a loud crash," said Bill Hollenbeck, the sheriff of neighboring Sebastian County. "They thought that the bridge had actually collapsed. Looking into it further, the house had imploded as a directly result of rising waters from Mill Creek."

A man died after strong winds toppled a tree onto his car in Tull, just west of Little Rock, late Thursday. A tornado warning had been posted for the area at the time. Authorities also are attributing the death of a woman in Scott County to flooding; they've released no information other than her body was found in her car.

Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe declared six counties as disaster areas because of the storms: Cross, Montgomery, Poinsett, Polk, Scott and Van Buren

Most tornadoes in the United States are relatively small, but the one that hit Moore on May 20 was a top-of-the scale EF5 with winds at 210 mph. Of the 60 EF5 tornadoes to hit since 1950, Oklahoma and Alabama have been hit the most - seven times each. Moore has been hit twice - last week and in 1999.

This spring's tornado season got a late start, with unusually cool weather keeping funnel clouds at bay until mid-May. The season usually starts in March and then ramps up for the next couple of months.

PHOTOS ON SKYE: Stunning Photos from the 2013 Tornado Season
Kansas Torndao

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

↧

Look: New York City in Other Planets' Atmospheres

May 31, 2013, 10:49 am
$
0
0
  • 1 of 8

    By Space.com

    New York City seems alien enough to many of its visitors, but imagine how strange it would look if whisked away to another planet.

    A new art project does just that, transplanting the Big Apple to Mercury, Venus, Mars and our solar system's other non-dwarf planets (Pluto was not included).

    Pittsburgh-based artist Nickolay Lamm composed the amazing illustrations with help from former NASA astrobiologist M. Browning Vogel. More background on the project can be found here.

    Click through to see the images.

    New York City Through Earth's Atmosphere

    New York City as we're all familiar with it, framed by Earth's characteristic blue sky.

    Credit: Nickolay Lamm of www.storagefront.com

  • 2 of 8

    If New York City Were on Mercury

    This is how New York City might appear on sun-scorched Mercury, where the wispy atmosphere is almost completely transparent.

    Credit: Nickolay Lamm of www.storagefront.com

  • 3 of 8

    New York City as Seen Through Venus' Air

    Venus' thick atmosphere is dominated by CO2 with clouds of sulfuric acid, creating a yellowish envelope of hot, sulfurous air that would obscure New York's skyline, as well as the Sun.

    Credit: Nickolay Lamm of www.storagefront.com

  • 4 of 8

    New York City Seen Through Mars' Atmosphere

    If New York City were on Mars, its famous skyline would be coated with red dust, which also tinges the planet's thin, CO2-dominated atmosphere.

    Credit: Nickolay Lamm of www.storagefront.com

  • 5 of 8

    New York City Floating in Jupiter's Air

    Hydrogen and helium gas condense into liquid and even metallic form near the base of Jupiter's huge, thick atmosphere. New York City is depicted floating at around 62 miles above this liquid layer, in a region of clear gaseous hydrogen with clouds of water vapor, ammonia and sulfurous gases. The area has a reducing chemistry that would eat away at the Statue of Liberty and other metal objects.

    Credit: Nickolay Lamm of www.storagefront.com

  • 6 of 8

    New York City as Seen Through Saturn's Air

    Saturn's atmosphere is similar to that of Jupiter. Again, the Big Apple is shown at about 62 miles above a layer of liquid hydrogen and helium, amid clouds of ammonia ice, and with occasional thunderstorms. As with Jupiter, atmospheric gases are highly reducing and would slowly dissolve any metal oxide surface, like the green patina that covers the Statue of Liberty. 

    Credit: Nickolay Lamm of www.storagefront.com

  • 7 of 8

    New York City as Seen Through Uranus' Frigid Air

    Frigid Uranus rotates perpendicular to the plane of its orbit. At some latitudes it has winds stronger than the most powerful hurricanes on Earth that would wipe out structures like the Statue of Liberty. The planet's hydrogen-helium atmosphere has a considerable fraction of methane, giving the air an aquamarine tint.

    Credit: Nickolay Lamm of www.storagefront.com

  • 8 of 8
    Next: Mind-Blowing New Space Photos

    New York City Destroyed by Neptune's Winds

    Distant Neptune is the solar system's outermost non-dwarf planet and the darkest, with a hydrogen-helium atmosphere whose traces of ammonia and water give it a blue tint. Neptune experiences extreme winds that would destroy buildings and other structures. 

    Credit: Nickolay Lamm of www.storagefront.com

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

↧
Search

Watch Live: KFOR Oklahoma Tornado Coverage

May 31, 2013, 12:37 pm
$
0
0
Updated Friday May 31, 8:15 p.m. ET


EL RENO, Okla. (AP) - The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says motorists have been hurt in a storm that hit the Oklahoma City area and that others are missing. The National Weather Service issued a tornado emergency for the city's downtown, airport and several suburbs as the storm rolled through central Oklahoma.

Trooper Betsy Randolph said numerous vehicles were damaged in the storm and that many motorists are stranded. The Highway Patrol is urging motorists to get off Interstate 40 and drive to the south. A tornado touched down near El Reno and the storm moved to the east, toward Oklahoma City.

Television cameras carrying the storm on statewide television showed debris in the air.

A storm last week killed 24 at Moore, on Oklahoma City's south side. Friday's storm is north of Moore.

PHOTOS ON SKYE: Stunning Photos from the 2013 Tornado Season
Kansas Torndao

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

↧

Live: Severe Storms Erupting From Kansas to Ohio, Wisconsin

May 31, 2013, 12:57 pm
$
0
0
Severe Weather Midwest

Yet another round of violent thunderstorms have begun to erupt over the Central states Friday, threatening lives and property.

Many of the storms are packing strong wind gusts, hail and blinding downpours. However, a significant number of the storms have the potential to be more disruptive with power outages, property damage and flooded roadways.

The most intense storms into the evening will bring the risk of tornadoes.

While the storm system responsible for the wild weather is beginning to pick up forward speed, for some communities this is day five of the severe weather threat.

RELATED:
Severe Storms Friday from Oklahoma and Arkansas to Wisconsin and Michigan
Flooding Threat Plains to Ohio Valley into Saturday
Current Severe Weather Watches and Warnings

UPDATES:

7:04 p.m. CDT Friday: A tornado is 1 mile west of the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds and moving east, northeast. Seek shelter now. Latest watches and warnings.

6:56 p.m. CDT Friday: 6:46 p.m. CDT Friday: New circulation was reported near El Reno, Okla. and is moving toward Union City. A tornado was spotted 5 miles west of Yukon and is heading east at 10 mph.

6:43 p.m. CDT Friday: A tornado was reported west of Saint Louis, Mo., seek shelter near the area.

6:32 p.m. CDT Friday: Five miles east of New Haven, Iowa, a funnel cloud was reported.

6:30 p.m. CDT Friday: A tornado is located 5 miles northeast of Montgomery City, Mo.

6:17 p.m. CDT Friday: A tornado was reported near Mineola, Mo. and heading toward New Florence. Seek shelter now.

6:15 p.m. CDT Friday: Union City and Mustang, Okla., are potentially in the path of the tornado. Seek shelter now.

6:02 p.m. CDT Friday: The tornado located southwest of Reno, Okla., is moving east and just south of I-40. Travel west on I-40 out of Oklahoma City is not advised.

5:57 p.m. CDT Friday: NWS Norman reported a rain wrapped tornado 2-3 miles south of I-40, southwest of El Reno, Okla.

5:42 p.m. CDT Friday: A tornado was reported 7 miles west of Kingfisher, Okla.

4:40 p.m. CDT Friday: Spotters reported a funnel cloud 1 mile southwest of Cherryvale, Kan.

4:18 p.m. CDT Friday: A tornado was spotted 3 miles west of Independence, Kan. It made a brief touchdown.

3:45 p.m. CDT Friday: Winds gusted to 55 mph in Marysville, Ohio and brought down trees two-foot in diameter. Local radar.

3:37 p.m. CDT Friday: Thunderstorm winds gusted to 75 mph and blew a car off the road near Dennis, Kan.

3:44 p.m. CDT Friday: Storms with possible rotation were spotted on radar and are moving toward northern Henry and southeastern Bates, Mo.

2:48 p.m. CDT Friday: Thunderstorm wind gusted to 59 mph in Montgomery, Ohio.

2:20 p.m. CDT Friday: The first severe thunderstorms of the afternoon were firing over portions of southeastern Kansas and southwestern Missouri, from Sedalia, Mo. to Caney, Kan.

12:00 noon CDT Friday: Storms have weakened over much of Missouri. However, new storms will re-fire from Wisconsin and Michigan to Oklahoma and Arkansas. As they do, live coverage will resume.

10:30 a.m. CDT Friday: Storms were beginning to weaken just west of St. Louis, but can still bring locally gusty wind, small hail and brief downpours as they move through over the next hour or so.

9:30 a.m. CDT Friday: As the storms rolled through Columbia, Mo. in the morning, they dropped 2.50 inches of rain in three hours.

9:00 a.m. CDT Friday: Numerous roads were closed across Kansas City, Mo., due to storms that hit earlier in the morning. Multiple vehicles are stranded in the northeastern part of the city.

8:58 a.m. CDT Friday: A thunderstorm hit Jefferson City, Mo., with wind gusts to nearly 60 mph and 1.00-inch diameter hail. Large trees are reported down in the area with damage to some roofs.

8:10 a.m. CDT Friday: Thunderstorm winds downed trees, which were blocking roads in Morgan County, Mo.

6:10 a.m. CDT Friday: Thunderstorm winds destroyed two homes in West Covington, Tenn. Other homes sustained roof and structural damage.

PHOTOS ON SKYE: Stunning Photos from the 2013 Tornado Season
Kansas Torndao

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

↧
↧

Photos: Tornado Outbreak Slams Plains

May 31, 2013, 2:26 pm
$
0
0
  • AP Photo/The Oklahoman, Jim Beckel
    1 of 23
    Overturned trucks block a frontage road off I-40 just east of 81 in El Reno, Okla., after a tornado moved through the area on Friday, May 31, 2013.
  • AP Photo/Nick Oxford
    2 of 23
    A vehicle lies upside-down at the Canadian Valley Technology Center in El Reno Okla. on Saturday June 1, 2013 after tornadoes swept through central Oklahoma on Friday.
  • AP Photo/Nick Oxford
    3 of 23
    Athan Arnold helps to clear a yard of a neighbor in El Reno Okla. on Saturday, June 1, 2013 after the house was destroyed by one of the tornados that swept through Central Okla. on Friday. "I was just driving by and wanted to help out" he said.
  • AP Photo/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Gary Hairlson
    4 of 23
    A man rides his bicycle along Caulks Hill Road Saturday, June 1, 2013 after Friday night's storm that hit the Harvester, Mo., area in St. Charles County. Emergency officials set out Saturday morning to see how much damage a violent burst of thunderstorms and tornadoes caused as it swept across the Midwest overnight.
  • AP Photo/The Oklahoman, Bryan Terry
    5 of 23
    Lisa Ludlam holds her children, Jake, 6, Paige, 9, and Tony, 11, under the Cox Convention Center after fans at the Barons game were evacuated to the parking garage under the Cox Convention Center due to severe storms in Oklahoma City on Friday, May 31, 2013. 
  • AP Photo/Nick Oxford
    6 of 23
    Bobbie Steenbergen surveys what is left of her home that was destroyed by the tornado's that swept through Central Oklahoma Friday afternoon on Saturday June 1, 2013 in El Reno Okla.
  • AP Photo/The Oklahoman, Nate Billings
    7 of 23
    Vehicles trapped by flash flooding sit underneath I-235 at NW 23rd in Oklahoma City, Friday, May 31, 2013. Severe thunderstorms brought tornadoes, high winds, heavy rain and hail to central Oklahoma on Friday. 
  • AP Photo/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Huy Mach
    8 of 23
    Ashley Slinkard, left, embraces Becky Brady as they look over the destroyed home of Brady's daughter on Saturday, June 1, 2013 after a overnight storm in St. Charles, Mo.
  • AP Photo/Tulsa World, Tom Gilbert
    9 of 23
    This aerial photo shows damage in the Rolling Meadow Estates neighborhood on Friday, May 31, 2013 in Broken Arrow, Okla. after a tornado passed the area overnight. The storms rolled across the region overnight, and more bad weather was poised to strike Friday, with tornadoes and baseball-sized hail forecast from Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. Flooding also is a concern in parts of Missouri, Iowa and Illinois through Sunday.
  • Ginger_Zee/Twitter
    10 of 23
    Ginger Zee, a meteorologist with Good Morning America, tweeted this photo, writing, "Wind turbine blade went into a daycare! No children were inside. #elreno #tornado pic.twitter.com/g4XGaSCCjv"
  • Ginger_Lee/Twitter
    11 of 23
    Ginger Lee, a meteorologist on location with Good Morning America, tweeted this photo of tornado damage, writing, "Cool, damp and devastated. #elreno #oklahoma pic.twitter.com/1EfE8a3HMI"
  • SeanSchoferTVN/Twitter
    12 of 23

    Sean Schofer‏ uploaded this photo to Twitter and wrote, "The @weatherchannel vehicle just got thrown by tornado. We stopped to help & they are OK. @jimcantore pic.twitter.com/AayAhvuBwA"

  • AP Photo/The Omaha World-Herald, Chris Machian
    13 of 23
  • AP Photo/Nick Oxford
    14 of 23
    Parts of Oklahoma City experience extreme flooding after multiple tornadoes passed through Central Oklahoma on Friday, May 31, in Oklahoma City. 
  • AP Photo/The Omaha World-Herald, Chris Machian
    15 of 23
    An overturned semitrailer rests on its side on the eastbound lanes of Interstate 40, just east of El Reno, Okla., after a tornado touched down, Friday, May 31.
  • thestormreport/Twitter
    16 of 23
    The Storm Report‏ uploaded this photo to Twitter and wrote, "OKC #hail. Photo courtesy of Christi Owen on KFOR web site. http://kfor.com/2013/05/31/photos-tornado-crosses-through-okc-metro/ ... pic.twitter.com/IYCD65sYwl"
  • stormchaser4850/Twitter
    17 of 23
    Johnny Kelly‏ uploaded this photo to Twitter and wrote, "Picture: Damage to the historic Gillespie, IL high school gym tonight after possible tornado via @bondcosportsguy pic.twitter.com/nbAAI5QTy6"
  • BuzzFeedNews/Twitter
    18 of 23
    BuzzFeed News uploaded this photo to Twitter and wrote, "Mother and baby killed after SUV is tossed by tornado near Oklahoma City pic.twitter.com/aKHobz9zIe (@lancewest)"
  • FriskyFatFeline/Twitter
    19 of 23
    FriskyFatFeline‏ uploaded this photo to Twitter and wrote, "This hailstone fell this evening from the #Oklahoma City Area. pic.twitter.com/8zQR27iYJP"
  • NewsGunner/Twitter
    20 of 23
    NewsGunner‏ tweeted this photo, writing, "AMAZING: New Photo- Here's another scene from Oklahoma, via @kfor. #tornado via @TVAmy @kailanikm pic.twitter.com/X7nFpE8QhE"
  • ThePigskinArch/Twitter
    21 of 23
    The Pigskin Arch‏ tweeted this photo and wrote, "Yikes. RT @The_Street_FA: Friend in St. Louis posted these pics to his facebook.. hit by tornado http://twitpic.com/culzxj"
  • JanetShamlian/Twitter
    22 of 23
    Janet Shamlian‏ uploaded this photo to Twitter and wrote, "Underground @fly_okc with at least 1,200 people waiting for severe weather to pass. #Oklahoma pic.twitter.com/NGY56R8NmI"
  • kailanikm/Twitter
    23 of 23
    Next: Stunning Photos from the 2013 Tornado Season
    Kailani K-M‏ uploaded this photo and wrote, "Here's the Oklahoma sky where the tornado was forming, from @kfor. pic.twitter.com/8dEkezmTBT"

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

↧

Weather Channel Meteorologist Injured in Tornado

June 1, 2013, 1:08 am
$
0
0
Updated Saturday, June 1, 12:07 p.m. ET
Weather Channel Truck, Tornado
Sean Schofer‏ uploaded this photo to Twitter on May 31, 2013, and wrote, "The @weatherchannel vehicle just got thrown by tornado. We stopped to help & they are OK. @jimcantore pic.twitter.com/AayAhvuBwA"

NEW YORK (AP) - The next time meteorologist Mike Bettes talks about the power of tornadoes on The Weather Channel, he can speak from personal experience.

Bettes was nursing minor injuries Saturday, including stitches in his hand, a day after the SUV that he and two photographers were riding in was thrown 200 yards (180 meters) by a twister in Oklahoma. The Weather Channel said all the occupants were wearing safety belts and walked away from the banged-up vehicle.

It's the first time one of the cable television network's personalities has been injured while covering violent weather, spokeswoman Shirley Powell said.

"That was the scariest moment of my life," Bettes said. "I had never been through anything like it before, and my life passed before my eyes."

Courtesy the Weather ChannelHe and the photographers were trying to outrun a tornado they spotted in El Reno, Oklahoma, and failed.

Bettes said it felt like the vehicle tumbled over several times and was floating in the air before crashing to the ground.

The Weather Channel quickly posted video of the experience since the team kept cameras rolling throughout. The tape largely showed a black screen with audio of crashes until it came to rest with the picture sideways.

It was perhaps a warning sign of the dangers inherent in the trend of tornado chasers. Storm hunters driving specially equipped cars and racing to get video of tornadoes touching down have become an expected byproduct of severe weather outbreaks, and some have even gotten their own TV shows.

Earlier this week, a storm chaser video got wide exposure because an armor-plated vehicle didn't bother trying to outrun the storm. It came back with pictures from inside the tornado itself.

It's the fourth year that The Weather Channel has sent crews out actively hunting tornadoes, Powell said. Last year, one of the network's crews was among the first on the scene after a devastating twister hit Joplin, Missouri, bringing back gripping video.

For the first two years, The Weather Channel was embedded with a government research team. But in the past two years, the network has sent its own crews out. Bettes' white vehicle is emblazoned with the phrase "tornado hunt" and the network's logo.

Powell said it is too early to tell how the close call will affect the network's tornado coverage, but it will be under review.

"Tornadoes are violent and unpredictable, but covering them keeps the public at large informed and, as a result, safer," she said.

PHOTOS ON SKYE: Tornado Outbreak Slams Plains

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

↧

Surveying the Damage From Deadly Oklahoma Twister

June 1, 2013, 1:44 am
$
0
0
Updated Saturday, June 1, 2013, 7:35 p.m. EDT
Floods Hit Oklahoma After Tornados Kill Five
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Emergency officials assessed damage Saturday from a series of violent storms and tornadoes that killed nine people as it swept through Oklahoma City and its suburbs with tornadoes, large hail and heavy rain. More than 100 people were injured.

The storms battered a state still reeling after a monstrous storm known as an EF5 - ranking at the top of the scale measuring tornado strength - ripped through suburban Moore on May 20, killing 24 people and decimating neighborhoods.

Water surged up to the hoods of cars on many streets, snarling traffic at the worst possible time: Friday's evening commute. Even though several businesses closed early so employees could beat the storm home, highways were still clogged with motorists worried about a repeat of the chaos in Moore.

Interstates and roadways already packed with rush-hour traffic quickly became parking lots as people tried to escape the oncoming storm. Motorists were trapped in their vehicles - a place emergency officials say is one of the worst to be in a tornado.

PHOTOS ON SKYE: Tornado Outbreak Slams Plains
Oklahoma Tornado"It was chaos. People were going southbound in the northbound lanes. Everybody was running for their lives," said Terri Black, 51, a teacher's assistant in Moore.

After seeing last month's tornado also turn homes into piles of splintered rubble, Black said she decided to try and outrun the tornado when she learned her southwest Oklahoma City home was in harm's way. She quickly regretted it.

When she realized she was a sitting duck in bumper-to-bumper traffic, Black turned around and found herself directly in the path of the most violent part of the storm.

"My car was actually lifted off the road and then set back down," Black said. "The trees were leaning literally to the ground. The rain was coming down horizontally in front of my car. Big blue trash cans were being tossed around like a piece of paper in the wind.

"I'll never do it again."

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Betsy Randolph said the roadways were quickly congested with the convergence of rush-hour traffic and fleeing residents.

"They had no place to go, and that's always a bad thing. They were essentially targets just waiting for a tornado to touch down," Randolph said. "I'm not sure why people do that sort of stuff, but it is very dangerous. It not only puts them in harm's way, but it adds to the congestion. It really is a bad idea for folks to do."

At least nine people were killed in Friday's storms, including a mother and her baby sucked out of their car as a deadly twister tore its way along a packed Interstate 40 near the town of El Reno, about 30 miles from Oklahoma City.

A 4-year-old boy died after being swept into the Oklahoma River on the south side of Oklahoma City, said Oklahoma City police Lt. Jay Barnett. The boy and other family members had sought shelter in a drainage ditch.

More than 100 people were injured, most of those from punctures and lacerations from swirling debris, emergency officials reported.

Oklahoma wasn't the only state to see violent weather on Friday night. In Missouri, areas west of St. Louis received significant damage from an EF3 tornado that packed estimated winds of 150 mph. In St. Charles County, at least 71 homes were heavily damaged and 100 had slight to moderate damage, county spokeswoman Colene McEntee said.

Tens of thousands were without power, and only eight minor injuries were reported. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency.

Northeast of St. Louis and across the Mississippi, the city of Roxana was hit by an EF3 tornado as well, but National Weather Service meteorologist Jayson Gosselin said it wasn't clear whether the damage in both states came from the same EF3 twister or separate ones.

Back in Oklahoma, muddy floodwaters stood several feet deep Saturday in the countryside surrounding the Oklahoma City metro area. Torrential downpours followed for hours after the twisters moved east - up to 7 inches of rain in some parts - and the city's airport had water damage. Some flights resumed Saturday.

The Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office said the body of a man who went missing from his vehicle early Saturday near Harrah, east of Oklahoma City, was found later in a creek by deputies. Roadways around the area were crumbling because of water, especially near an intersection in northeastern Oklahoma City and in Canadian County south of I-40, between Mustang and Yukon.

When the storm passed between El Reno and Yukon, it barreled down I-40 for more than two miles (three kilometers), ripping billboards down to twisted metal frames. Debris was tangled in the median's crossover barriers, including huge pieces of sheet metal, tree limbs and a giant oil drum. The warped remains of a horse trailer lay atop a barbed-wire fence less than 50 yards from the highway.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission reported more than 91,800 homes and businesses across the state remained without power Saturday.

Among the injured was Weather Channel meteorologist Mike Bettes, who suffered minor injuries when his "tornado hunt" SUV that he and two photographers were riding in was thrown 200 yards. The Weather Channel said all of the people in the vehicle were able to walk away, and that it was the first time a personality at the cable television network was injured in a storm.

PHOTOS ON SKYE: Tornado Outbreak Slams Plains

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

↧
Viewing all 4069 articles
Browse latest View live
More Pages to Explore .....
Search

Latest Images

‘Pay day every day’ may become Shangri-La Group, BPOs’ secret to happy employees

‘Pay day every day’ may become Shangri-La Group, BPOs’ secret to happy employees

April 25, 2024, 5:51 am
Nonprofit donates custom home in this East Bay city for Marine injured in...

Nonprofit donates custom home in this East Bay city for Marine injured in...

April 23, 2024, 7:00 am
New private rooms on Tokaido Shinkansen change the way we travel from Tokyo...

New private rooms on Tokaido Shinkansen change the way we travel from Tokyo...

April 22, 2024, 6:00 am
Ukraine bans military from online gambling amid addiction concerns

Ukraine bans military from online gambling amid addiction concerns

April 22, 2024, 5:17 am
ಮಂಡ್ಯದಿಂದ ಸುಮಲತಾ ದೂರ; ಹೆಚ್‌ಡಿಕೆ ಪರ ಪ್ರಚಾರಕ್ಕಿಳಿಯದ ಸಂಸದೆ –ಬರ್ತಾರೆ ನೋಡೋಣ ಎಂದ...

ಮಂಡ್ಯದಿಂದ ಸುಮಲತಾ ದೂರ; ಹೆಚ್‌ಡಿಕೆ ಪರ ಪ್ರಚಾರಕ್ಕಿಳಿಯದ ಸಂಸದೆ –ಬರ್ತಾರೆ ನೋಡೋಣ ಎಂದ...

April 20, 2024, 8:08 pm
OCBC Bank Singapore Offers Up to 2.8% p.a. Fixed Deposit Promotion from 21...

OCBC Bank Singapore Offers Up to 2.8% p.a. Fixed Deposit Promotion from 21...

April 20, 2024, 12:38 pm
National Poetry Month 2024: Maxine Starr

National Poetry Month 2024: Maxine Starr

April 19, 2024, 9:56 am
Vegan Chicken Pot Pie

Vegan Chicken Pot Pie

April 19, 2024, 9:18 am
Firefox UX: On Purpose: Collectively Defining Our Team’s Mission Statement

Firefox UX: On Purpose: Collectively Defining Our Team’s Mission Statement

April 19, 2024, 7:03 am
New $4.5 million East Bay trail path will connect bicyclists, pedestrians to...

New $4.5 million East Bay trail path will connect bicyclists, pedestrians to...

April 18, 2024, 11:05 am