Spring storm causes widespread power outages in Southern Ontario, Canada

May 5, 2018 By administrator

Southern Ontario was battered by persistent, unrelenting and briefly hurricane- strength winds Friday afternoon, local source reported.

At the Region of Waterloo International Airport, a peak gust of 122 km/h was recorded. If sustained, that would have been considered a hurricane-strength wind.

The winds caused widespread power outages. At the peak of the damage, during the early evening hours, at least 200,000 properties across southern Ontario were without electricity.

The high winds were accompanied by a fast-moving line of afternoon thunderstorms. Environment Canada said it received some reports of hail accompanying the storms.

Ireland shuts down, Britain calls in army amid winter storm chaos

March 2, 2018 By administrator

Soldiers have been helping rescue services reach people trapped by heavy snowfall. Storm Emma slammed both countries after another winter storm that originated in Russia hit earlier in the week.

Britain called in the army on Friday after some of the most severe winter storms in recent memory battered the British Isles.

Storm Emma forced many roads and airports to close as it unleashed fresh snow and subzero temperatures onto southern Britain and Ireland.

Many areas were already reeling from fierce Siberian winds known as “The Beast from the East” that had hit both countries earlier in the week.

The British army transported first responders and also helped rescue drivers stranded in the snow. “The Armed Forces are assisting emergency services in ensuring essential NHS [Britain’s national health service] staff are able to get to work and carry out their work in local communities,” the Ministry of Defence said.

Snow birth

In the northeast of England, a woman gave birth on the side of a road after heavy snow forced her husband to pull over on the way to a local hospital.

“The weather was very bad and I struggled to find somewhere to pull over and barely had time to ring 999 when the baby started coming,” Andrew Waring said. “I opened the passenger door and knelt in the snow to deliver the baby.”

An ambulance crew found the family shortly after the birth and transported them to the hospital, where medical staff have been monitoring the baby.

“The baby had arrived shortly before we arrived so the hard work had been done,” ambulance crewman Philip O’Donnell said, adding: “It was a lovely job to be involved in and we’d like to congratulate them on the new arrival.”

Elsewhere, flights were canceled, schools shut and train services disrupted. Britain’s national weather service, the Met Office, issued multiple alerts warning of snow, winds and cold temperatures.

In Ireland, a power outage cut electricity to some 24,000 buildings and forced schools throughout the country to close. Dublin airport also canceled all outbound flights.

The country’s meteorological service, Met Éireann, kept a red weather alert in place for Friday, warning of continuing snowfall across the southern provinces of Munster and Leinster

Not another one! Storm Irma forms in Atlantic and is expected to become hurricane later this week

August 30, 2017 By administrator

By Steve Robson

Irma is the ninth ‘named’ storm of the 2017 hurricane season

Just as the United States is starting to pick up the pieces after Hurricane Harvey – more ominous weather is on its way.

Tropical storm Irma has become the ninth ‘named’ storm of the 2017 hurricane season.

At the moment it is far out in the Atlantic, near the Cape Verde islands.

It has maximum sustained winds of around 60 mph, but is expected to keep tracking west and build into a hurricane by Thursday or Friday.

Weather experts say it is too early to tell whether it will have any affect on the US.

Devastating storm slams southern California

February 18, 2017 By administrator

Violent storms have pounded California, killing at least two people and forcing hundreds to leave their homes. Officials have warned of further downpours in the central part of the state up to the Bay area.

At least two people have died after southern California was pounded by the fiercest storm to hit the state in recent memory.

One man was found dead in a submerged vehicle that had washed up a flooded street in the town of Victorville.

Another man was killed in the Sherman Oaks area of Los Angeles, after a falling tree downed a power line. The line hit the man’s car, electrocuting him.

There were also several reports of deaths on the slick and flooded roads across the state, although officials have been unable to determine which were direct results of the storm.

National Weather Service reported of “possible impacts due to potentially widespread heavy rain include flooding for urban areas and small streams, flash flooding with mud and debris flows.” Particularly at risk locations are those near recent burn areas, and mud- and rockslides near canyon walls, the weather agency said.

At one point, the National Weather Service said it recorded a wind gust approaching San Diego Country at a speed of 120.7 kph (75 mph).

The storm, which could be the worst to hit sourth California since 1995, is expected to last through Saturday, while further downpours are expected in the northern part of the state by the end of the week.

Household and travel disrupted

Los Angeles fire officials said some 150 electonic lines had been downed, leaving about 150,000 people in the city without power.

Meanwhile, over 200 residents in the city of Duarte, located around 32 km (20 miles) east Los Angeles on the foothills of the San Gabirel Mountains, were ordered to evacuate their homes late on Friday out of fear of mudslides. Officials also issued voluntary evacuations for a number of residents in Camarillo Springs, north of LA.

Torrential rain also impacted travel across California, ravaging roads and forcing several stretches of highway to close, including busy arteries such as Interstate 5 and Interstate 10. More than 300 arriving and departing flights at Los Angeles International Airport were also cancelled.