Tornado hits France; unprecedented April heat in Europe
A rare EF-1 tornado with 73 - 112 mph winds (117 - 180 kph) hit Toulouse, France on Sunday, causing minor damage that included collapsed walls, uprooted trees, and cars moved out of place. The tornado touched down 15 - 20 km south of Toulouse in Southwest France at 7:10 pm local time, and baseball-sized hail (4 cm) also hit the region. According to the European Severe Weather Database (ESWD), this was the first tornado in France in 2012. French tornadoes are rare; there were just three tornadoes in the country in 2011. The European Severe Weather Database (ESWD) (as summarized by Wikipedia) lists 15 tornadoes for all of Europe so far in 2012. Most of the twisters (nine) were in Turkey. For comparison, an average of 495 tornadoes touched down in the U.S. during the period January - April over the years 2009 - 2011. A key reason for the lack of tornadoes in Europe is that the atmosphere is usually not unstable enough. Tornadoes require warm, moist, low-density air near the surface, and cold, dry, high-density air aloft to provide a lot of instability. The Baltic Sea and North Sea to the north of Europe moderate cold air flowing south from the pole, reducing the amount of instability over Europe.
Video 1. A rare French tornado kicks up dust near Toulouse, France on April 29, 2012.
Unprecedented April heat hits Central and Eastern Europe
A European heat wave of unparalleled intensity for so early in the year smashed all-time April heat records over much of Central and Eastern Europe on Saturday and Sunday. According to wunderground's weather historian Christopher C. Burt, and weather records researcher Maximiliano Herrera, new national April heat records were set in Belarus, Germany, Austria, Lithuania, Moldova, and Poland, and hundreds of stations in Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Russia recorded their hottest April temperatures on record. Moscow hit 28.6°C (84°F) on Sunday, the hottest April reading in the city since record keeping began 130 years ago. The culprit for the heat wave and French tornado is a large low pressure system off the coast of France whose counter-clockwise flow has been pumping hot air from the Sahara Desert northwards into Europe. The low is expected to continue to bring unusually hot weather to most of Central and Eastern Europe for the remainder of the week.
New all-time April national heat records set over the past few days:
Poland: 31.7°C (89.18°F) at Tomaszow on 4/29
Germany: 32.2°C (90.0°F) at Munich on 4/28
Austria: 31.8°C (89.2°F) at Ranshoten on 4/28
Belarus: 30.4°C ( 86.7°F) at Zitovici on 4/29
Moldova 32.5°C
Lithuania
Jeff Masters
Reader Comments
Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 — Blog Index
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
732 PM CDT WED MAY 2 2012
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN THE TWIN CITIES HAS ISSUED A
* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
SOUTH CENTRAL RICE COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA...
NORTHWESTERN STEELE COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA...
EXTREME NORTHEASTERN WASECA COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA...
* UNTIL 800 PM CDT
* AT 728 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A STORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A
TORNADO. THE MOST DANGEROUS PART OF THE STORM WAS NEAR WARSAW...OR
OVER WARSAW...AND MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH.
* LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE...
FARIBAULT...
WARSAW...
MORRISTOWN...
DEERFIELD...
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
WHEN A TORNADO WARNING IS ISSUED BASED ON RADAR...IT MEANS THAT
STRONG ROTATION HAS BEEN DETECTED IN THE STORM. A TORNADO MAY ALREADY
BE ON THE GROUND...OR IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP SHORTLY.
&&
LAT...LON 4436 9322 4418 9320 4415 9346 4427 9346
TIME...MOT...LOC 0033Z 252DEG 11KT 4424 9336
$$
Yeah 75vil, 66 reflectivity, 3 inch max hail, and a vortex signature.
Hook is obvious.
Well...its a "half tornado warning" I suppose...
Thanks for explaining it!
By the way, Sorry I'm on my phone and it somehow registered my + as a - or a flag and i can't undo it :(
PAC047-083-105-117-123-030130-
/O.NEW.KCTP.SV.W.0005.120503T0038Z-120503T0130Z/
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
838 PM EDT WED MAY 2 2012
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE PA HAS ISSUED A
* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
NORTH CENTRAL ELK COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA...
MCKEAN COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA...
NORTHERN POTTER COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA...
NORTHWESTERN TIOGA COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA...
SOUTHEASTERN WARREN COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA...
* UNTIL 930 PM EDT
* AT 835 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. THESE SEVERE STORMS EXTENDED FROM
SHINGLEHOUSE TO WESTLINE TO TIDIOUTE...MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH. THESE
STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING ONE INCH DIAMETER HAIL...AND
DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH.
* LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE...
SMETHPORT AND KINZUA BRIDGE STATE PARK...
KANE...
PORT ALLEGANY...
GENESEE AND CROSBY...
JAMES CITY...
ROULETTE...
THIS WILL IMPACT THE FOLLOWING MAJOR ROADS...ROUTE 6...ROUTE 219...
STATE ROAD 46...STATE ROAD 59...STATE ROAD 66...STATE ROAD 446...
STATE ROAD 449.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CREATE WINDS OF MORE THAN 57 MPH...OR HAIL ONE
INCH OR LARGER.
THIS LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING LARGE
HAIL IN BRADFORD. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS! IF TIME ALLOWS...PUT
AUTOMOBILES INTO A CARPORT OR GARAGE.
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGE. MOVE INSIDE A PERMANENT BUILDING
NOW TO BE SAFE FROM STRONG WIND GUSTS AND LARGE HAIL.
PLEASE REPORT HAIL...STRONG WINDS OR WIND DAMAGE TO THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE BY CALLING TOLL FREE...1 8 7 7 6 3 3 6 7 7 2.
&&
LAT...LON 4172 7789 4160 7854 4162 7931 4172 7884
4201 7830 4200 7736
TIME...MOT...LOC 0037Z 270DEG 29KT 4198 7822 4172 7871
4162 7923
$$
FORECASTER: MARTIN
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BINGHAMTON NY
841 PM EDT WED MAY 2 2012
NYZ009-015>018-022>025-036-037-044-030300-
CHEMUNG-CORTLAND-MADISON-NORTHERN ONEIDA-ONONDAGA-SCHUYLER-SENECA-
SOUTHERN CAYUGA-SOUTHERN ONEIDA-STEUBEN-TOMPKINS-YATES-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...AUBURN...BOONVILLE...CORNING...CORTLAND...
ELMIRA...ITHACA...ONEIDA...PENN YAN...SENECA FALLS...SYRACUSE...
UTICA...WATKINS GLEN
841 PM EDT WED MAY 2 2012
.NOW...
A BAND OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE ACROSS THE FINGER
LAKES REGION, WESTERN MOHAWK VALLEY, AND CENTRAL SOUTHERN TIER
BETWEEN 9 AND 11 PM. THE THUNDERSTORMS COULD PRODUCT A QUICK HALF
INCH OF RAINFALL, SMALL HAIL, AND WIND GUSTS TO 35 MPH. MOST OF THE
REGION WILL SEE AROUND A TENTH OF AN INCH OF RAINFALL.
$$
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 227
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
745 PM CDT WED MAY 2 2012
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA
WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN
EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING FROM 745 PM
UNTIL 100 AM CDT.
HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70
MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 40
STATUTE MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 15 MILES NORTH
NORTHWEST OF ROCHESTER MINNESOTA TO 15 MILES NORTHEAST OF CAMP
DOUGLAS WISCONSIN. FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE
ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU7).
REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE
FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH
AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR
THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS
AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY
DO PRODUCE TORNADOES.
OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 225...WW 226...
DISCUSSION...CLUSTER OF SUPERCELLS WITH LARGE HAIL/DAMAGING WIND
POTENTIAL WILL CONTINUE TO SPREAD EWD INTO WRN WI. THE EWD
DEVELOPMENT OF THE STORMS WILL BE SUPPORTED BY CONTINUED LOW-LEVEL
MOISTENING AND WARM ADVECTION.
AVIATION...A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT
TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60
KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM
MOTION VECTOR 27025.
...THOMPSON
Like any other photo.
lemme try
see it didnt work
Oh, I see.
You have to right click on the image, copy image url, and then paste it into the image button box here.
yea thats what i did, properties, url, copy, paste
No crow for me.
Try my method.
say wha?
which is? right click and copy url? where is the url?
Right click --> Copy image url.
Then put it in the box that pops up when you click image by right clicking and pasting.
THERE IS NO IMAGE URL UNLESS ITS UNDER PROPERTIES BROSKY!!!!:)
Easy there! I struggle with those images too... What I do is save the image, take it to this website
Link
Upload it, and it gives you the image URL for blogs like this.
Lot of work but I don't know any other way
This is what pops up after you right click on the image.
All you have to do after clicking "Copy image URL" is click on the "Image" button here and paste.
Change MODE to animated loop, stop loop on image you want then right click.
Ahhhh ur on google chrome my dad won't get it lol
I'm on Internet explorer
See comment 579 because I'm also on Internet explorer
Imgur is quicker than tinypic.
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
827 PM CDT WED MAY 2 2012
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HASTINGS HAS ISSUED A
* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
SOUTHWESTERN PHILLIPS COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS...
* UNTIL 900 PM CDT
* AT 823 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO. THIS DANGEROUS
STORM WAS LOCATED 6 MILES SOUTH OF LOGAN...OR 19 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
PHILLIPSBURG...AND MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.
* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
LOGAN AND SPEED.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
TAKE COVER NOW. MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF A
STURDY BUILDING. AVOID WINDOWS. IF IN A MOBILE HOME...A VEHICLE OR
OUTDOORS...MOVE TO THE CLOSEST SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER AND PROTECT
YOURSELF FROM FLYING DEBRIS.
&&
LAT...LON 3980 9963 3972 9928 3957 9945 3957 9963
TIME...MOT...LOC 0128Z 214DEG 16KT 3959 9957
HAIL 2.50IN
$$
ADO
Wow, that is fast... Thanks!
Thanks nrt
So yall were both wrong... kids these days:)
Notice the kansas storm started over that one spot in kansas
Also,imageshack.us is fast.
Link
look at nrts
comment its a genious
I think Firefox works the best with the weather stuff I do, but I actually post from my phone more than anything... I'm on my iPhone 3GS right now and I can upload images...
Tomorrows severe outlook:
Can't help you use the worst browser known to man...
Could u tell my dad that
No.
I have a 4 s and I'm on it now what do I do?
Lol
North America 00 UTC cras45naP03
Oceans' Circulation Could Collapse
BY LAURENCE LIPPSETT
Thermohaline circulation links the Earth's oceans. Cold, dense, salty water from the North Atlantic sinks into the deep and drives the circulation like a giant plunger.
On the eve of the international meeting on global warming that opened Dec. 1 in Kyoto, Japan, one of the world's leading climate experts warned of an underestimated threat posed by the buildup of greenhouse gases an abrupt collapse of the oceans' prevailing circulation system that could send temperatures across Europe plummeting in a span of 10 years.
If that system shut down today, winter temperatures in the North Atlantic region would fall by 20 or more degrees Fahrenheit within 10 years. Dublin would acquire the climate of Spitsbergen, 600 miles north of the Arctic Circle.
"The consequences could be devastating," said Wallace S. Broecker, Newberry Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, and author of the new research, which appeared in the Nov. 28 issue of the magazine Science.
A complex of globally interconnected ocean currents, collectively known as the Conveyor, governs our climate by transporting heat and moisture around the planet. But the Conveyor is delicately balanced and vulnerable, and it has shut down or changed direction many times in Earth's history, Broecker reports. Each time the Conveyor has shifted gears, it has caused significant global temperature changes within decades, as well as large-scale wind shifts, dramatic fluctuations in atmospheric dust levels, glacial advances or retreats and other changes over many regions of the Earth, he said.
The Conveyor "is the Achilles heel of the climate system," Broecker wrote in Science. "The record ... indicates that this current has not run steadily, but jumped from one mode of operation to another. The changes in climate associated with these jumps have now been shown to be large, abrupt and global."
The ongoing accumulation of heat-trapping industrial gases blanketing the Earth threatens to raise global temperatures, he said, but such a rise would occur gradually. Far more worrisome is the buildup's potential to stress the climate system past a crucial threshold that would disrupt the Conveyor and set off a rapid reconfiguration of Earth's climate, predicted by existing computer models.
Broecker also offered a new theory: Scientists generally agree that periodic changes in Earth's orbit and the amount of solar radiation it receives have paced fundamental climate changes on the planet over millions of years. But the global climatic flip-flops may have been set in motion by sudden switches in the operation of the Conveyor.
Today, the driving force of the Conveyor is the cold, salty water of the North Atlantic Ocean. Such water is more dense than warm, fresh water and hence sinks to the ocean bottom, pushing water through the world's oceans like a great plunger. The volume of this deep undersea current is 16 times greater than the flow of all the world's rivers combined, Broecker said, and it runs southward all the way to the southern tip of Africa, where it joins a watery raceway that circles Antarctica. Here the Conveyor is recharged by cold, salty water created by the formation of sea ice, which leaves salt behind when it freezes. This renewed sinking shoves water back northward, where it gradually warms again and rises to the surface in the Pacific and Indian oceans.
In the Indian Ocean, surface waters are too warm to sink. Northern Pacific waters are cold, but not salty enough to sink into the deep. This is primarily because prevailing winds that whip around the planet hit the great mountains of the western United States and Canada and drop their moisture. The resulting snow and rain runs into the Pacific, adding a dose of fresh water that dilutes the Pacific's saltiness, said Broecker
Today, the Conveyor comes full circle, eventually propelling warm surface waters, including the Gulf Stream, back into the North Atlantic. In winter, warm water transfers its heat to the frigid overlying air masses that come off ice-covered Canada, Greenland and Iceland. The eastward-moving air masses make northern Europe warmer in winter than comparable latitudes in North America. Without the Gulf Stream, nothing would temper the Arctic air, and Europe would enter a deep freeze.
So you haven't used Midori. Then that would be the worst.
Put your finger on the image, wait until the window pops up, then choose "copy image". After that, start a comment, then click on the image button above the comment space and paste it there. Then you can click post and it should appear on the blog if you did it right.
Viewing: 551 - 601
Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 — Blog Index