Tag Archives: storms

Winter weather to make holiday travel treacherous in northern U.S.

A person walks along Chambers Street during morning snow in Manhattan, New York City,

By Brendan O’Brien

MILWAUKEE (Reuters) – Heavy snow, freezing rain and wind gusts will make holiday travel treacherous in swaths of the northern United States.

A storm is expected to bring rain and then snow to the Pacific Northwest as temperatures hover around freezing on Friday night.

The same system will also dump heavy snow in the Rockies and High Plains late into Saturday, the National Weather Service said in its forecast.

Snow and freezing rain are also in the forecast for much of the Midwest and Northeast late on Friday and through Saturday as temperatures are to dip around freezing, the weather service said.

The deteriorating weather may derail travel plans for some of the 94 million Americans who the American Automobile Association say will hit the roads during the holidays.

“Christmas, for travelers, is going to be a little dicey in some portions of the country,” meteorologist Justin Povick said during his forecast on Accuweather.com.

Accuweather warns that blizzard conditions in the northern Plains over the weekend could cause treacherous white-outs along major interstate highways, power outages and airline delays.

“People from the central Plains and middle Mississippi Valley to the central Plains will need to keep an eye out for rapidly changing weather conditions,” Meteorologist Brett Rossio said on AccuWeather.com.

Signs of how bad weather may cause disruptions for holiday travelers were seen as early as Thursday morning as nearly 250 flights were delayed or canceled in and out Los Angeles International Airport due to high winds and high volume.

A blizzard watch is in effect for the area around Bismarck, North Dakota, where as much as a foot (30 cm) of snow fall and heavy winds will lead to “dangerous Christmas travel conditions”, the National Weather Service said.

To the east, in northern Wisconsin and Michigan, motorists are told to “exercise caution” as snow and freezing drizzle are expected to limit visibility and make roads slick, the National Weather Service said.

Tornadoes, thunderstorms and hail are also in the forecast in the southern U.S. Plains, Accuweather said.

As their neighbors to the north deal with winter weather, people in southern Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee will enjoy unseasonably warm weather on Christmas Day as temperatures are likely to soar into the 60s, according to the National Weather Service.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Alison Williams)

Super typhoon hits Taiwan, cutting power and transport

Damage from Typhoon Nepartak

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Super typhoon Nepartak hit Taiwan on Friday, driving thousands of people from their homes, disrupting power supplies and grounding more than 600 flights, authorities said.

Television showed toppled motorcycles and signboards being ripped from buildings and swept across roads in southeast Taiwan, where the year’s first typhoon made landfall.

By afternoon, the typhoon had moved into the Taiwan Strait, weakening as it headed towards China’s southeastern province of Fujian, but flooding and strong winds continued to lash the island’s central and southern areas.

More than 17,300 people were evacuated from their homes, and over 517,000 households suffered power outages, emergency officials said.

“The wind is very strong,” said a resident of Taitung, the eastern Taiwan city where the typhoon landed.

“Many hut roofs and signs have been blown off.”

Three deaths and 172 injuries were reported, bullet train services were suspended and over 340 international and 300 domestic flights canceled, an emergency services website showed.

The typhoon halted work in most of Taiwan. There were no reports of damage at semiconductor plants in the south.

Tropical Storm Risk had rated the typhoon as category 5, at the top of its ranking, but it was weakening and should be a tropical storm by the time it hits Fujian on Saturday morning.

More than 4,000 people working on coastal fish farms in Fujian were evacuated and fishing boats recalled to port, the official China News Service said.

The storm is expected to worsen already severe flooding in parts of central and eastern China, particularly in the major city of Wuhan.

Typhoons are common at this time of year in the South China Sea, picking up strength over warm waters and dissipating over land.

In 2009, Typhoon Morakot cut a swathe of destruction through southern Taiwan, killing about 700 people and causing damage of up to $3 billion.

(Reporting by Faith Hung and J.R. Wu; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing; Editing by Andrew Roche)

Savage storm pummels eastern China, killing 98

Collapsed kindergarten school after tornado

FUNING, China (Reuters) – A violent storm in eastern China that packed gale-force winds and hail killed 98 people and injured hundreds as it flattened power lines, overturned cars and ripped roofs off houses in Jiangsu province.

The storm, which included a tornado, struck mid-afternoon on Thursday near Yancheng city, a few hours’ drive north of China’s commercial capital Shanghai, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said.

Winds reached 125 kph (78 mph) and battered several townships in Funing county, the official Xinhua news agency said.

“I heard the gales and ran upstairs to shut the windows,” Funing resident Xie Litian, 62, told Xinhua.

“I had hardly reached the top of the stairs when I heard a boom and saw the entire wall with the windows on it torn away.”

When the storm subsided and Xie escaped, all the neighboring houses were gone. “It was like the end of the world,” Xie said.

The death toll stood at 98, with 800 people injured, state-run China National Radio said on its website on Friday.

Pictures online showed injured people lying amid destroyed houses, overturned cars and split tree trunks. One showed a man who had apparently tried to shield a woman from falling debris; both were dead in a pile of rubble.

The worst of the storm seemed to have hit only a limited area, however.

“It looks like the tornado only hit very specific places,” said a Reuters reporter at the site. “Even nearby villages were fine.”

A man broke down in sobs as his 35-year-old son was pulled dead from a pond in Shizhuang town on Friday.

In the nearby village of Dalou, tree trunks were snapped, with plates and household items scattered amid rubble, as survivors picked through the debris.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, visiting Uzbekistan, ordered China’s cabinet to send a team to oversee relief efforts, Xinhua reported. Premier Li Keqiang urged authorities to speed search and rescue work.

GCL System Integration Technology Co Ltd <002506.SZ>, a $5-billion solar cell module maker, said a 40,000-sq-m. (430,000-sq-foot) factory it part-owned had collapsed, and it was assessing the damage.

Environmental campaign group Greenpeace said the storm caused the collapse of a GCL facility used to store hazardous chemicals, located near a drinking water plant and a river.

“The release of these chemicals could pose significant risk to public health and the local ecosystem,” Greenpeace said in a statement.

China’s summer often brings severe weather. Floods in the south this week killed at least 22 people and left 20 missing.

Last June, a storm caused a Yangtze River cruise ship to capsize, killing 442 people and leaving just 12 survivors, in one of China’s worst such disasters in seven decades.

(Reporting by Reuters television in YANCHENG and John Ruwitch and Adam Jourdan in SHANGHAI; Editing by Michael Perry and Clarence Fernandez)

Tornados, storms hit U.S. Great Plains, injure two in Kansas

A man fights the wind and rain during the morning commute in New York

By Suzannah Gonzales

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Two people were critically injured and buildings were damaged on Tuesday in southwest Kansas as several tornados and storms hit the U.S. Great Plains, a local official and a meteorologist said on Wednesday.

The two injured people in Ford County, Kansas were brought to a local hospital for treatment and had been released as of Wednesday morning, according to J.D. Gilbert, interim county administrator and spokesman for the county.

As many as six unconfirmed tornados hit an area west of Dodge City, Gilbert said, destroying some homes and a county building with offices and landfill equipment. Farms and ranches were also damaged, he said.

A tornado was also reported in Oklahoma, just west of Tulsa, along with severe storms in the area on Tuesday evening, said Ariel Cohen, meteorologist at the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma.

There were also preliminary reports of tornados across northeast Colorado associated with storms late on Tuesday afternoon and early evening, Cohen said.

In addition, severe storms with large hail and damaging winds hit central and eastern Wyoming and as far north as Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Cohen said.

There is risk of intense storms across the Great Plains on Wednesday and increased potential for severe weather heading into Thursday, Cohen said. Isolated storms, large hail and damaging winds are possible primary hazards, he said.

(Reporting by Suzannah Gonzales; Editing by Fiona Ortiz and Meredith Mazzilli)

Large Tornado hits south of Oklahoma City, two dead

OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) – A large and violent tornado hit an area south of Oklahoma City on Monday, causing at least two deaths and reducing at least three homes to splinters, authorities said.

The hardest-hit areas were about 70 to 80 miles southeast of Oklahoma City, where a tornado reported to be more than a mile wide ripped through the area.

One person was killed in Garvin County, about 60 miles south of Oklahoma City, when a home was destroyed by a twister, an emergency official said. Another person was killed near the town of Connerville, about 110 miles south of Oklahoma City, the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office said.

The National Weather Service described that twister as large and destructive, warning people: “You are in a life-threatening situation.”

At least one other tornado was reported to have hit Oklahoma, the service said. Local news showed photographs of two of the destroyed homes by the twisters.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for large parts of southern Oklahoma into western Arkansas. It also said two tornados have been reported in Nebraska.

(Reporting by Heide Brandes in Oklahoma City, Jon Herskovitz in Austin, Texas, and Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Storms and Tornadoes brewing into Wednesday

Forecast of where thunderstorms will be most likely on Tuesday.

Storms will be boiling and brewing, especially for the plains, midwest and the south starting on Tuesday. The National Weather Service is forecasting a cold front that will bring unsettled weather to the western U.S. into Tuesday with a numerous severe thunderstorms possible near portions of the Plains and Great Lakes on Monday.

Significant and severe thunderstorms will be quite possible across parts of the southern and central great plains Tuesday afternoon into the nighttime hours. According to The Weather Channel’s severe storm expert, Dr. Greg Forbes, there is a substantial possibility of strong, long track tornadoes for central and east Kansas and in portions of central and eastern Oklahoma.

Some of the cities for Tuesday’s storms that will be affected are Dallas-Fort Worth, Hastings, Nebraska, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Oklahoma and Wichita, Kansas.

Wednesday the storm system will begin moving east, triggering numerous storms from the Missouri Valley to the mid Mississippi Valley, Lower Ohio Valley, the Ozarks and northeast Texas. These areas will have the potential for severe storms, tornadoes, large hail and damaging winds.

The Weather Channel and the National Weather Service are asking that you review your severe weather preparedness and stay tuned to local forecasts to track potentially dangerous weather systems.

Extreme Storms, Tornadoes Expected in the Heartland by Wednesday

An impressive storm over Alaska’s Aleutian Islands has sent a powerful southward dip in the jet stream which will hit the continental U.S. Tuesday and Wednesday, bringing severe weather, including possible tornado threats.

The Weather Channel reports that the cold air mixed with warmer, humid air in the lower levels of the atmosphere could produce severe thunderstorms. They also state that since this weather prediction is a few days early, that it is uncertain to measure the level of the tornadic threat.

The main threat from severe thunderstorms are gusting winds, hail, flash flooding, and the possibility of tornadoes. The tornadic threat level can range depending on how unstable the air mass becomes, which is something that cannot be easily predicted. Winds are expected to pick up in the midsection late Tuesday, with sustained winds of up to 40mph by Wednesday with gusts at 50 to 60 mph or more.

Regions on the northwestern part of the storm will see high winds and snow. Colorado and Kansas were placed under blizzard watches and high wind watches were issued for Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Kansas, according to ABC News.

November has seen its fair share of severe weather in the past. Nearly two years ago, 72 tornadoes made their way through 7 states.

Hurricane Fred Sets Records

Hurricane Fred became the second named hurricane of the 2015 Atlantic storm season but is going to be remembered for some unusual records.

The storm is the easternmost hurricane ever to form in the tropical Atlantic Ocean.  It brought the very first hurricane warning for the Cape Verde Islands and is the first hurricane that can be captured in the region by weather satellites.

“According to the official Atlantic tropical cyclone record, which begins in 1851, Fred is the first hurricane to pass through the Cape Verde Islands since 1892. We caution, however, that the database is less reliable prior to the satellite era (mid 1960s onward),” the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

While 10 hurricanes have been in the area of Cape Verde, Fred is the first that will hit Cape Verde while still a hurricane.  The peak winds for the storm were 85 m.p.h. on Monday morning.

The storm is expected to strengthen for a few days but will dissipate in the open ocean before reaching any other land mass.

Forecasters say that overall activity for this storm season is below average because of the strong El Nino.

Flash Flooding & Severe Storms Cut Off Missouri Town

Severe storms caused unexpected levels of flash flooding that essentially cut off the south central Missouri town of Cassville.

“There’s a lot of flooding. We have numerous roads in the county are closed,” said a spokesman for the Barry County Sheriff’s Department. “We have had evacuations and rescues in Cassville.’’

The department’s website was even more blunt, stating “Cassville is CLOSED! Do NOT come to Cassville!’’

Witnesses say the flash flood really started to strike around 9 a.m.  Henry Thomas was in a local barbershop when the flood hit.

“I was sitting there, and this waste-paper basket comes floating out from the back room,” Thomas said. “‘We got a little current in here,’ is what I told J.T. That’s when he started cranking up his barber chair. He got it as high as it would go.”

“The water from Horner Branch came across the road and Flat Creek came up back behind us. We got it from both sides. It was like a river across this area. It was 2 foot deep at my front door,” barber J.T Blankenship told the Joplin Globe.

A Budget Inn had the entire first floor flooded.

Steve Runnels of the National Weather Service said that a flash flood emergency sent for the area around the Roaring River was vital, enabling the staff of the Roaring River State Park to evacuate campers.

“We knew it was going to be extreme,” Runnels said. “They got them moved out before they were trapped. Lives may have been saved because of those efforts.”

The city of Branson was also hit with flooding and many roads had to be closed because of impassably high water.

What God Says About Storms

What we are seeing happen right before our eyes is an increase in the frequency and intensity of storms – and other Revelation events mentioned in Matthew 24, Luke 21 and so many other prophetic scriptures.  All of these things point to the soon coming of Jesus!  Many people are asking, “What do these terrible storms mean?  Are they the judgment of God, or a fluke of nature?”

Photo courtesy of the Baltimore Sun.

When something of a catastrophe like Sandy happens, you hear so many Christians resisting the idea that God had anything at all to do with it.  They say, “oh, God wouldn’t do that!”  Yet the Bible says that God commands the wind and the waves.

In Isaiah 51:15, He says, “I am the Lord your God, who stirs the sea and makes the waves roar.  My name is the Lord All-Powerful.”

Sometimes it’s better to just let the scriptures speak.  As you read these scriptures, pray for spiritual eyes and ears to understand that God indeed commands the wind and the waves, and that all of nature has to obey Him. Remember that these things are prophetic signs that Jesus is coming soon!  The Bible says not to fear these times, but be ready!

 

Love,

 

Jim

   

Storms

Luke 21:25-28

25 “There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars. On earth, nations will be afraid and confused because of the roar and fury of the sea. 26 People will be so afraid they will faint, wondering what is happening to the world, because the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then people will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 When these things begin to happen, look up and hold your heads high, because the time when God will free you is near!” NCV

Luke 21:25-28 – Same verse in KJV

25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;

26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. KJV

 

God controls the storms!

Ps 107:24-29

24 They saw what the Lord could do,

the miracles he did in the deep oceans.

25 He spoke, and a storm came up,

which blew up high waves.

26 The ships were tossed as high as the sky and fell low to the depths.

The storm was so bad that they lost their courage.

27 They stumbled and fell like people who were drunk.

They did not know what to do.

28 In their misery they cried out to the Lord,

and he saved them from their troubles.

29 He stilled the storm

and calmed the waves. NCV

Isa 51:15-16

15 I am the Lord your God,

who stirs the sea and makes the waves roar.

My name is the Lord All-Powerful.

16 I will give you the words I want you to say.

I will cover you with my hands and protect you.

I made the heavens and the earth,

and I say to Jerusalem, ‘You are my people.” NCV

Jer 31:33

35 The Lord makes the sun shine in the day

and the moon and stars to shine at night.

He stirs up the sea so that its waves crash on the shore.

The Lord All-Powerful is his name.NCV

Matt 8:23-27

23 Jesus got into a boat, and his followers went with him. 24 A great storm arose on the lake so that waves covered the boat, but Jesus was sleeping. 25 His followers went to him and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We will drown!”

26 Jesus answered, “Why are you afraid? You don’t have enough faith.” Then Jesus got up and gave a command to the wind and the waves, and it became completely calm.

27 The men were amazed and said, “What kind of man is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” NCV

 

Mark 4:35-41

35 That evening, Jesus said to his followers, “Let’s go across the lake.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him in the boat just as he was. There were also other boats with them. 37 A very strong wind came up on the lake. The waves came over the sides and into the boat so that it was already full of water. 38 Jesus was at the back of the boat, sleeping with his head on a cushion. His followers woke him and said, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are drowning!”

39 Jesus stood up and commanded the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind stopped, and it became completely calm.

40 Jesus said to his followers, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

41 The followers were very afraid and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” NCV

Luke 21:25-28

25 “There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars. On earth, nations will be afraid and confused because of the roar and fury of the sea. 26 People will be so afraid they will faint, wondering what is happening to the world, because the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then people will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 When these things begin to happen, look up and hold your heads high, because the time when God will free you is near!” NCV_

 Don’t Fear

Matthew 24:25-35

25 “There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars. On earth, nations will be afraid and confused because of the roar and fury of the sea. 26 People will be so afraid they will faint, wondering what is happening to the world, because the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then people will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 When these things begin to happen, look up and hold your heads high, because the time when God will free you is near!”

Jesus’ Words Will Live Forever

29 Then Jesus told this story: “Look at the fig tree and all the other trees. 30 When their leaves appear, you know that summer is near. 31 In the same way, when you see these things happening, you will know that God’s kingdom is near.

32 “I tell you the truth, all these things will happen while the people of this time are still living. 33 Earth and sky will be destroyed, but the words I have spoken will never be destroyed.

Be Ready All the Time

34 “Be careful not to spend your time feasting, drinking, or worrying about worldly things. If you do, that day might come on you suddenly, 35 like a trap on all people on earth. 36 So be ready all the time. Pray that you will be strong enough to escape all these things that will happen and that you will be able to stand before the Son of Man.” NCV