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
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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.
I seriously love y'all!! Learned two things tonight!
http://sciblogs.co.nz/hot-topic/2012/05/03/the-tr uth-about-wind-energy/
Shocking new revelations about the impact of excessive use of wind power on our planet - it could blow us out of our orbit around the sun! Oh, and coal is really, really, tasty...
; )
Where do you get your images?
Are you referring to post #606?
Wild summer a comin!
Sure it has to be in video form because those folks don't like to read.
(Sorry if I missed your point!)
good night, everyone.
looking forward to whatever this season holds!
Here is the latest discussion regarding this rain event.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JUAN PR
1001 PM AST WED MAY 2 2012
.UPDATE...SCATTERED TO LOCALLY NUMEROUS SHOWERS CONTINUE TO MOVE
ONSHORE AND AFFECT THE EASTERN PORTIONS OF PUERTO RICO. A FEW OF
THESE SHOWERS AREA AFFECTING THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS. UNSTABLE
CONDITIONS WILL REMAIN THROUGH THE INCOMING WEEKEND. GENERATING
NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS LARGE PORTIONS
OF OUR LOCAL FORECAST AREA. ON THURSDAY WILL VERY SIMILAR TO WHAT
OCCURRED TODAY...WITH MORNING SHOWERS ACROSS THE EASTERN PORTIONS
OF PUERTO RICO AND SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AFFECTING THE
INTERIOR AND WESTERN PORTIONS OF THE ISLAND. ON FRIDAY...WINDS ARE
FORECAST TO DECREASE SIGNIFICANTLY...THIS WILL HELP LARGER AMOUNTS
OF RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OVER AREAS WITH SATURATED SOILS...
THEREFORE INCREASING THE CHANCES OF FLASH FLOODING
I wonder why I never see the following? because it doesn't support the "agenda".
The high temperature yesterday may 1st was 32 degrees at the
Fairbanks International Airport. This was the lowest high
temperature ever observed on may 1st at Fairbanks.
611 Chicklit: (Sorry if I missed your point!)
It was an Onion parody of certain political shows pandering
to the "science is evil: deny everything scientists say" crowd
Because of chaos.
Is it just me or everyone in that video sounds incredibly stupid? Or maybe that was the point?
Thanks for clearing that up ;)
Onion has a wonderful parody for everything. This one is by far my favourite. :P And this one...to be honest all of their videos are epic XD
Because Europe didn't have an unusually cold winter. A section of CentralEurope was colder than normal for a week or few, and parts of SouthernEurope were colder than normal for a day or few.
But on the whole, Europe had a much warmer than average winter.
Edit: some weather related vids from The Onion.
Hurricane Bound for Texas Slowed by ...
Meteorologists Predict Worst Autumn Ever
There also are a lot of heavy gauge conspiracy nuts on the same YouTube pages as The Onion. Not sure how Google/YouTube lumped them together.
However, this one is intentional satire from The Onion.
Well bloke that's a weee bit scary!
Lynas divides chapter three into five interesting, interrelated, sections titled "Biodiversity," "The Pleistocene Overkill," "The Sad Story of the Sea," "Biodiversity and the Earth System," and "The Price of Pandas."
I found this chapter to be fascinating and have learned a lot of interesting things I never knew before. Give it a read and drastically increase your knowledge on the most recent findings regarding biodiversity!
This blog will be updated on the first of each month over the next twelve months, with a new subject for each environmental issue. The order of these topics will be the following...
March 1st: Preface
April 1st: Introduction: The Ascent of Man
May 1st: Boundary 1: Biodiversity
June 1st: Boundary 2: Climate Change
July 1st: Boundary 3: Nitrogen
August 1st: Boundary 4: Land Use
September 1st: Boundary 5: Fresh Water
October 1st: Boundary 6: Toxics
November 1st: Boundary 7: Aerosols
December 1st: Boundary 8: Ocean Acidification
January 1st: Boundary 9: Ozone Layer
February 1st: Epilogue: Managing the Planet
--------------------------------
Here's the link:Link
1951, 1957, 1968, 1976, and 2002, with the best of these being 2002.
It's not a weee bit scary, it's horrifying. While everyone will be able to adapt to a changing climate, crops can't. Quick fluctuations completely ruin crop yields. Imagine significantly reduce crop yields across the planet, now imagine what happens to 6 billion people and not enough food to feed them all. While, in the current state, we would never go to war with countries like Mexico or China and we would not even consider using nuclear weapons, I can promise you that our current train of thinking and our current moral guide (as questionable as it already is) goes completely out the gutter when you're faced with simple survival. We will invade, kill, pillage, nuke, whoever we have to to keep our people and our country alive.
Quite simply we have a serious population issue that is already at the tipping point in-terms of sustainability. There is no question that a quick climate shift will cause our population to tip and there is no question that this will cause a war. WW3 will be about resources and billions of people will die, let's just hope it isn't in our lifetimes.
Why is this a one way conversation? Your assuming I'm someone who ignores Climate Change and other global issues, buuuut I was just having a bit of fun by speaking sarcastically. Settle down man, lol.
1951
2002
Darn it. I was hoping for a morning's laugh but the "News Report" hung up on the 22nd second and I couldn't get it to restart.
I was very interested to see how these windmills were going to negate the gravity of the sun. And just a wee bit skeptical.
The SPC has slight risks for today, tomorrow, and Saturday and a day 4 outlook has been issued for Sunday
1951, 1968, 2002, and 2004. As Kori has already pointed out, 2002 is the best out of all of those.
The high temperature yesterday May 1st was 32 degrees at Fairbanks International Airport. This was the lowest high temperature ever observed on may 1st at Fairbanks.
Cuz photos of the typical Fairbanks resident
suggest that it isn't even cold enough to wear pants.
BTW
Your use of scare quotes (ie "agenda"} signals that you're skeptical about the idea that those who propound that GlobalWarming is real actually have an agenda.
That way lies Perdition. Next you'll be denying that there is a conspiracy amongst them.
Yes, those people who actually spend years studying what they are talking and writing about, elitists!
17 days left, but I have an English I, Biology I, Algebra II, Earth Science, and Civics/Economics Final next week.
I dont have finals until the end of the month, but I do have the SAT on Saturday, AP exams next week, and Virginia SOLs the week after... Then I have finals. However, we do actually get out 2 days earlier due to lack of snow days this year...
FLOOD WATCH
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JUAN PR
429 AM AST THU MAY 3 2012
PRZ001>013-VIZ001-002-040000-
/O.NEW.TJSJ.FF.A.0002.120503T0829Z-120505T0000Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000 Z.OO/
SAN JUAN AND VICINITY-NORTHEAST-SOUTHEAST-EASTERN INTERIOR-
NORTH CENTRAL-CENTRAL INTERIOR-PONCE AND VICINITY-NORTHWEST-
WESTERN INTERIOR-MAYAGUEZ AND VICINITY-SOUTHWEST-CULEBRA-VIEQUES-
ST. THOMAS/ST. JOHN/ADJACENT ISLANDS-ST CROIX-
INCLUDING THE MUNICIPALITIES AND/OR ISLANDS OF...SAN JUAN...
CAROLINA...FAJARDO...HUMACAO...GUAYAMA...ARROYO.. .YABUCOA...
SALINAS...COCO...CAGUAS...ARECIBO...VEGA BAJA...DORADO...COAMO...
COROZAL...AIBONITO...VILLALBA...JAYUYA...PONCE... AGUADILLA...
ISABELA...HATILLO...QUEBRADILLAS...UTUADO...SABAN A GRANDE...LARES...
ADJUNTAS...HORMIGUEROS...MOCA...AGUADA...LUYANDO. ..CABO ROJO...
LAJAS...CULEBRA...ESPERANZA...ANNA`S RETREAT...CHARLOTTE AMALIE...
CHARLOTTE AMALIE EAST...CHARLOTTE AMALIE WEST...CRUZ BAY...
CHRISTIANSTED...FREDERIKSTED...FREDERIKSTED SOUTHEAST...GROVE PLACE
429 AM AST THU MAY 3 2012
...FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT THROUGH FRIDAY EVENING...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SAN JUAN HAS ISSUED A
* FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR ALL OF PUERTO RICO...INCLUDING CULEBRA AND
VIEQUES...AND FOR ALL OF THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS.
* THROUGH FRIDAY EVENING
* A MID TO UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL REMAIN LOCATED JUST WEST
THROUGH NORTH OF THE LOCAL AREA THROUGH FRIDAY. IN ADDITION...AN
ASSOCIATED SURFACE TROUGH WILL CONTINUE TO EXTEND NORTH ACROSS
THE LOCAL AREA FROM THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN...BRINGING ADDITIONAL
MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR ACROSS THE REGION. THIS MOISTURE AND
INSTABILITY WILL COMBINE WITH THE MID TO UPPER TROUGH AND LOCAL
EFFECTS...TO PRODUCE SEVERAL ROUNDS OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
ACROSS THE LOCAL ISLANDS. THESE SHOWERS AND STORMS WILL BE SLOW
MOVING AND CAPABLE OF PRODUCING PERIODS OF INTENSE RAINFALL WITH
RATES OF AN INCH OR MORE PER HOUR.
* RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF TWO TO FOUR INCHES ARE POSSIBLE...
ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE EASTERN THIRD OF PUERTO RICO...AS WELL AS
PARTS OF THE SOUTH COASTAL SECTIONS...AND THE U.S. VIRGIN
ISLANDS DURING THE NEXT 24 TO 36 HOURS. LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS
OF UP TO SIX INCHES ARE POSSIBLE IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF
PUERTO RICO. THESE OVERALL AMOUNTS MAY BE SUFFICIENT TO CAUSE
FLASH FLOODING OF SMALL STREAMS...RIVERS AND DRY GUTS.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR HEAVY
RAIN ACROSS THE WATCH AREA...WHICH MAY LEAD TO FLOODING. IF YOU
ARE IN THE WATCH AREA...CHECK YOUR PREPAREDNESS REQUIREMENTS...
ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE INTERESTS ALONG AREA RIVERS. KEEP
INFORMED...AND BE READY FOR QUICK ACTION IF FLOODING IS OBSERVED
OR IF A FLASH FLOOD WARNING IS ISSUED.
PEOPLE IN THE WATCH AREA SHOULD CONTINUE TO BE AWARE OF THE
POSSIBILITY FOR HEAVY RAINFALL. AVOID LOW LYING AREAS...AND BE
CAREFUL WHEN APPROACHING HIGHWAY DIPS AND UNDERPASSES. THE
HEAVY RAIN COULD ALSO CAUSE MUDSLIDES IN AREAS OF STEEP TERRAIN.
STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL TV...RADIO OR YOUR
CABLE TELEVISION PROVIDER FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.
THIS PRODUCT...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL AND
CLIMATE INFORMATION...IS AVAILABLE ON THE WEB AT
HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/SJU OR AT HTTP://WEATHER.GOV.
&&
$$
BCS/ER
Yeaup me too, 2 weeks I'm taking a alg 1 honors final Spanish final world geography final religion final (way easy) English honors final and I too have an earth science final
Not a very happy camper
I have a weird 8th grade graduation thing therefore I get out a week early
No, that's headed or mobile
Seriously
This mass of convection is moving NNE or NE. However lots of dry air in the upper levels could prevent this from making to FL but what it could do is add enough lift to spark a few storms toward the FL west coast.
Link
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