Crazy Storm Weather and Lightning - Global

Here on the Canadian West Coast. Vancouver and Vancouver Island, and surrounding areas, have had torrential rainfall, and high winds. The winds are no longer a problem, but the unrelnting rain for the past 4 days or more have resulted in unprecedented amounts of rain with flooding, land slides, and blocking access into to the Southern Interior affecting supply chains, a trip to the grocery store today, saw many empty shelves. Monday is usually a delivery of supplies to grocery stores, to stock shelves, for the coming week, driven by the weekly flyers.


Another thing that is concerning is that the Fraser Valley is flooded, this is largely an agricultural area, this does not bode well, for the rest of the year and into 2022, for food supplies.

That same storm just blew over the Okanagan this afternoon. Here in Kelowna we got high winds and rain resulting in many power outages through out the area. And, much lightning and thunder -- something I've never experienced at this time of year in the 20 or so years that I've lived here.
 

'Pineapple Express' pummels Pacific Northwest and British Columbia​



By Jesse Ferrell, AccuWeather meteorologist and senior weather editor

Published Nov. 15, 2021 7:17 PM CET | Updated Nov. 16, 2021 1:41 PM CET


Major flooding and mudslides triggered by an atmospheric river stranded hundreds of people throughout British Columbia, forcing rescues and evacuations.

An atmospheric river has inundated parts of Washington, Oregon and British Columbia, Canada, in recent days with nearly 10 inches of rain. This atmospheric river is referred to as “the Pineapple Express” by meteorologists since moisture extends back to Hawaii in the tropical Pacific.

Mudslides and major flooding pushed multiple vehicles off highways on Sunday in southern British Columbia, as residents sheltered in recreation centers. A photo by BC Transportation Sunday evening showed Highway 1 between Popkum and Hope covered in mud. A number of evacuation orders were in place around the southern part of the province early Monday, including the city of Merritt, British Columbia. Rescues continued on Monday evening, including 275 people rescued after being trapped between two landslides near Agassiz, British Columbia. The entire area was then evacuated before rescue operations halted Monday night. A huge barge also hit the Vancouver Sea Wall on Monday evening.

Farther south, the nearby county of Whatcom, Washington, declared a state of emergency due to threats from the heavy rain, and by Monday evening about 500 people were displaced across the county while many more were encouraged to evacuate. Around 9 a.m. local time, the Sumas Police issued a shelter-in-place order as floodwaters crested over a bridge, inundating part of the town. Early Monday afternoon, some houses in the city of Forks, Washington were evacuated. Several were rescued from a bus on Monday evening near Edison, Washington.

Rainfall amounts from the last three days stood at nearly 10 inches Monday morning, with unofficial NWS stations reporting 9.60 inches in Quinault, Washington, around 9.40 inches in Mount Baker and a BC Hydro rain gauge in Orchid Lake, British Columbia, measuring 9.21 inches. Toms Creek reported just a hundredth of an inch of rain below 10 inches.


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A Washington DOT webcam in Sumas, Washington, showed buildings and streets underwater at 10 a.m. PST.

High winds and saturated soil contributed to downed trees and power lines Monday evening, with over 140,000 customers without power in Washington state as of 6 p.m. PST, and at least 106,000 with power cuts in British Columbia. By Monday evening, power was being restored in many areas, but about 75,000 customers were still without power in Washington state, some for about 10 hours.

A normally small waterfall in the city of Abbotsford, British Columbia, looked like a miniature version of Niagra Falls as the raging waters cascaded over the side.

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At least 12 rivers were under flood warnings issued by the National Weather Service. An NWS river gauge showed that the Bogachiel River near La Push, Washington, had broken its all-time record high level Monday at 44.93 feet. The previous record for the station was 42.64 feet, set on Nov. 6, 2006. The Nooksack River at North Cedarville, Washington, also broke its record Monday at 150.35 feet, versus the record of 149.61 feet on Nov. 6, 2006. The river was seen still raging on Monday evening. The Skagit River near Mount Vernon was forecast to break its record on Tuesday and was already at 35 feet on Monday evening, forcing officials to close bridges.

Although the river flooding risk will continue on Tuesday in some areas, precipitation will rapidly taper off in the area, except for some snow that may linger in the Washington Cascades.
 

Check the video at the link above. Interesting explanations for the severe weather concentrations in recent years.

‘Wild' weekend tornado outbreak rattles the Northeast​


For the first time in recorded history, Connecticut residents dealt with tornado cleanup after Halloween. Tornadoes were confirmed in at least three states, including some tense video of one shot in Long Island, New York.

By Mark Puleo, AccuWeather staff writer

Published Nov. 15, 2021 6:26 PM CET | Updated Nov. 16, 2021 11:11 AM CET
November wraps up what is considered the secondary severe weather season because historic outbreaks have occurred in the month.



A rare outbreak of November severe weather across parts of the Northeast resulted in at least nine tornadoes touching down in multiple states and caused tense moments along with some significant damage but no reported fatalities.


For the first time in more than 70 years, Connecticut residents dealt with tornado cleanup in November. Since record-keeping began in 1950, the state had never recorded a post-Halloween twister. On Saturday, the state dealt with not just its first November tornado but three others as well.


The day's strongest twister impacted the town of Stonington, located in the southeastern corner of the state near the Rhode Island border. According to the Storm Prediction Center (SPC), the confirmed tornado reached EF1 strength, with peak winds topping out at 90 mph.

Throughout the small town of 934 people, several trees were uprooted, a metal shed was crushed by a falling tree and a trampoline was sent airborne, tangling itself in powerlines 20 feet in the air.



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Storm chasers caught intense video showing debris thrown by a nearby tornado flying across a highway in Long Island, New York, on Nov. 13, 2021. (Twitter / Mark Doucet)

According to WFSB, multiple street signs were also snapped off in the town, while falling trees near Robinson road led to fires. No injuries were reported.

“It sounded like a freight train coming through," resident Justin Whalen told WFSB. "Down the street was on fire, where the tree had fallen onto the transformers and it was burning that up.”

NBC Connecticut reported that the basis for the EF1 rating was the crushed shed along with the instances of gutters and shutters being ripped off homes. The news outlet also reported that the state had never recorded a December tornado, making this weekend's twisters the latest in state history.

The other three tornadoes occurred in Cheshire, Branford and Plainfield, each of which was confirmed to be EF0 tornadoes.

The twister in Cheshire was the day's first tornado, and thus the record-breaker, as wind speeds from the tornado reached 75 mph and caused significant tree damage around 3:30 p.m., local time. According to the SPC report, several cars were crushed.



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A strip mall in Shirley, New York, about 65 miles outside of New York City on Long Island's south shore sustained significant damage after severe weather broke out on Nov. 13, 2021.

AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist John Feerick said the outbreak of tornadoes was rare due to the meteorological conditions in the region.

"Saturday's tornado outbreak was a wild event for any month, but especially noteworthy considering it occurred in November," he said. "Usually you think of tornadoes occurring with very warm and humid air in place, but this was not the case Saturday, with highs only in the 60s."

A tornado was spotted in Long Island, New York, on Nov. 13 as it crossed the road.


Feerick added that the unique conditions that the tornadoes formed in are a testament to the amount of energy associated with the storm that worked its way through the Northeast over the weekend.

Elsewhere in the Northeast, the same system spewed more tornadoes in New York and Rhode Island on Saturday, including four that were confirmed in Long Island, east of New York City, where fierce winds sent trees smashing onto cars and left more than 12,000 customers without power, according to WPIX.

A video posted on social media captured the intense moments from inside one vehicle amid the dangerous conditions in Suffolk County. The footage showed debris flying across Sunrise Highway as trees off to the side of the roadway bent at the whim of the twister.

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In the neighborhood of Shirley, located on the south shore of Long Island, the strongest of the area's tornadoes wreaked havoc on a local shopping center. According to Patch, building materials were strewn hundreds of yards across intersections and neighboring shopping centers due to straight-line winds that reached up to 75 mph.

Along with uprooting trees in the parking lot, the entire roof of a two-story home was "tossed as far as 150 yards," officials said. According to Patch, a section of the roof "actually impaled itself into the side of the neighboring house to the north and made such a strong impact that it skewed the vertical structure of that house."
Parts of the Shirley, New York, were severely damaged on Nov. 13, as a severe thunderstorm battered the Long Island community.

Throughout the country, tornado outbreaks are rarer in November than in other months, even in areas particularly prone to severe weather. AccuWeather National Reporter Tony Laubach, an experienced storm chaser, said November had been “pretty quiet” in terms of severe weather and tornadoes prior to this weekend. That was especially noteable since it followed an extremely active month of October.

“Tornadoes are relatively rare because they only form when specific ingredients combine,” AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter said, adding that a tornado touching down in the Northeast during fall is even rarer, if not “unheard of.” He attributed that to the fact there is not typically enough atmospheric moisture — a factor critical for severe thunderstorm and tornado development — in the region that late in the year.

Summer and fall were unusually wet in the Northeast, a trend that AccuWeather meteorologists have linked with an unusual marine heat wave off the East Coast, which was marked by above-normal water temperatures in the western Atlantic, just off the Northeast coast.

“These factors conspired with a potent disturbance leading to wild weather and quickly changing conditions on Saturday, including the historic number of tornadoes on Long Island, Connecticut and Rhode Island,” Porter explained.

Laubach did add, however, that outbreaks still have occurred in the month and, although rare, they can pack quite a punch.

“Although not that common, outbreaks can and have occurred in many areas east of the Rockies,” he said. “All the way to the East Coast.”

Connecticut residents can certainly attest to that. In Branford, located about 50 miles west of Stonington, the EF0 tornado touched down shortly before 4 p.m. and spewed 85-mph winds before the system strengthened ahead of its impacts in Stonington.

There, Stonington resident Cameron Goudailler told WFSB that he had never seen damage like that before.

"I hear a big loud crack, [then] the power cuts out," he said. "It was a total shock because even though hurricane [come] here, we never got anything that bad."
 
Here on the Canadian West Coast. Vancouver and Vancouver Island, and surrounding areas, have had torrential rainfall, and high winds. The winds are no longer a problem, but the unrelnting rain for the past 4 days or more have resulted in unprecedented amounts of rain with flooding, land slides, and blocking access into to the Southern Interior affecting supply chains, a trip to the grocery store today, saw many empty shelves. Monday is usually a delivery of supplies to grocery stores, to stock shelves, for the coming week, driven by the weekly flyers.


Another thing that is concerning is that the Fraser Valley is flooded, this is largely an agricultural area, this does not bode well, for the rest of the year and into 2022, for food supplies.

People are panic buying out here in the Okanagan. At my favourite organic grocer, vegetable shelves are pretty empty, no full sized chickens - limited supplies for sure. It's a test run for preparedness - mental and emotional included. It feels good to be stocked up.

Aside from food, there are various other items I've heard just in my own daily life, like parts for vehicles and other machines, paper, etc., aren't going to able to arrive until the way is cleared. I can't imagine the backlog in the warehouses in Vancouver.

Our ability to function has always been at the mercy of Mother Nature. What a wild ride we're in for...
 
Another large dose of rain - 60 to 120 mm - headed for British Columbia.

Alerts for: Metro Vancouver​

Statements​

4:38 AM PST Friday 26 November 2021
Special weather statement in effect for:
  • Metro Vancouver - central including the City of Vancouver Burnaby and New Westminster
  • Metro Vancouver - North Shore including West Vancouver and North Vancouver
  • Metro Vancouver - northeast including Coquitlam and Maple Ridge
  • Metro Vancouver - southeast including Surrey and Langley
  • Metro Vancouver - southwest including Richmond and Delta
Heavy rain Saturday night and Sunday.

Total Rainfall: 60 mm over southern sections to 120 mm near the mountains.

Locations: Metro Vancouver, Fraser Valley, Howe Sound and Sunshine Coast - Gibsons to Earls Cove.

Timespan: Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon.

Remarks: Another front will approach the south coast on Saturday. Rain will begin for most areas Saturday morning but the heaviest rain will be Saturday night as the front nears. Rainfall amounts from Saturday to Sunday evening. will vary from about 50 mm from Richmond to 80 mm in Abbotsford to 100 mm closer to the mountains. Squamish may see up to 120 mm. Gibsons will also receive 50 to 80 mm of rain.

Strong warming will accompany this system causing snow levels to rise well above the mountain tops Saturday afternoon. Snowmelt will contribute to run off, increasing the risk of flooding and possibly impacting vulnerable landscapes and infrastructure.

Just in time for Trudeau's visit to the affected areas, most likely to advocate for a flood recovery plan based on vaccinating children or some such thing.

This incoming system has a predicted volume of 2 - 4.5 inches of rain. This is far less than the 9 to 11 inches dropped by the last storm, but with the ground already saturated, things could get pretty messed up again.
 
The Weather situation over Turkey

The satellite chart from yesterday, 29 Nov 2021 does show a very strong (jet?) stream raving from East Libya across Crete further up along the West coast of Turkey, including Istanbul, responsibly for those hurricane like winds.

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