Winds of Change Archive

  • In early May 2012, a dust storm blew over the Middle East, particularly east of Damascus. The storm covered most of Syria, and extended into Iraq, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. The dust was thickest in the west, especially over Jordan and northern Saudi Arabia, and thinning toward the east. Source points for this storm aren’t obvious in this image, but the vast sand seas of the Arabian Peninsula provide plentiful material for dust plumes. In addition, impermanent...

    Dust storm in the Middle East

    Posted on May 14, 2012 | 1 Comment
    In early May 2012, a dust storm blew over the Middle East, particularly east of Damascus. The storm covered most of Syria, and extended into Iraq, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. The dust was thickest in the west, especially over Jordan and northern Saudi Arabia, and thinning toward the east. Source points for this storm aren’t obvious in this image, but the vast sand seas of the Arabian Peninsula provide plentiful material for dust plumes. In addition, impermanent...

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  • Torrential rain and hail the size of golf ball struck north-western China this weekend. Roads were blocked, houses collapsed, farmland destroyed and power supplies and telecommunications services disrupted by the extreme weather, said Xu Guangyao, director of the county’s civil affairs bureau. From China’s Hunan province came reports that a bridge has collapsed. It is unknown how many people were on the bridge when it buckled and fell into the river at around 8:30am (local time)....

    Torrential rain and hail the size of golf balls brought death and destruction to northwest China

    Posted on May 13, 2012 | No Comments
    Torrential rain and hail the size of golf ball struck north-western China this weekend. Roads were blocked, houses collapsed, farmland destroyed and power supplies and telecommunications services disrupted by the extreme weather, said Xu Guangyao, director of the county’s civil affairs bureau. From China’s Hunan province came reports that a bridge has collapsed. It is unknown how many people were on the bridge when it buckled and fell into the river at around 8:30am (local time)....

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  • An unusual funnel cloud was spotted on the plains of northern Italy recently. Videos posted online early this week clearly showed a funnel cloud dipping from heavy dark clouds. Close-up detail showed well the anti-clockwise twisting of the narrow funnel, which seemed not to reach the ground. However, a commenter, writing in Italian, said it was a “landspout”, which was “on the ground for about 15 minutes.” There was no indication of any injury or significant damage...

    Tornado in northern Italy

    Posted on May 10, 2012 | No Comments
    An unusual funnel cloud was spotted on the plains of northern Italy recently. Videos posted online early this week clearly showed a funnel cloud dipping from heavy dark clouds. Close-up detail showed well the anti-clockwise twisting of the narrow funnel, which seemed not to reach the ground. However, a commenter, writing in Italian, said it was a “landspout”, which was “on the ground for about 15 minutes.” There was no indication of any injury or significant damage...

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  • A dust storm in western Africa, which began in late April, 2012, continued through early May, sending billowing clouds of tan dust over the Atlantic Ocean and the Cape Verde Islands. This very large plume of thick dust began blowing off the coast of Africa on April, 29 and extended from Mali to Cape Verde. Unusually dry conditions in Mali have been cited as worsening the potential for dust storms by drying marsh sediments, and...

    Dust storm off West Africa

    Posted on May 9, 2012 | 1 Comment
    A dust storm in western Africa, which began in late April, 2012, continued through early May, sending billowing clouds of tan dust over the Atlantic Ocean and the Cape Verde Islands. This very large plume of thick dust began blowing off the coast of Africa on April, 29 and extended from Mali to Cape Verde. Unusually dry conditions in Mali have been cited as worsening the potential for dust storms by drying marsh sediments, and...

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  • A rare heat burst occurred on Thursday in Bussey, about 50 miles southeast of Des Moines, Iowa, when suddenly  temperatures spiked more than 10 degrees. Data from the Mesonet/KCCI Schoolnet 8 weather station shows the sudden temperature change  shot up from about 74 degrees to about 85 degrees and at the same time the dew point dropped from about 73 to about 54. It started about 8 a.m. and was over by about 10 a.m. The weather station also recorded a sudden change in...

    Rare heat burst event in Iowa, US

    Posted on May 6, 2012 | No Comments
    A rare heat burst occurred on Thursday in Bussey, about 50 miles southeast of Des Moines, Iowa, when suddenly  temperatures spiked more than 10 degrees. Data from the Mesonet/KCCI Schoolnet 8 weather station shows the sudden temperature change  shot up from about 74 degrees to about 85 degrees and at the same time the dew point dropped from about 73 to about 54. It started about 8 a.m. and was over by about 10 a.m. The weather station also recorded a sudden change in...

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  • A teenage boy died, around 40 people were injured and up to 250 houses were damaged on Sunday, May 6, 2012 after an apparent tornado hit Ibaraki and Tochigi prefectures, north of Tokyo, local police and firefighters said. An aerial shot from a Kyodo helicopter shows the path of an apparent tornado that struck Tsukuba, Ibaraki Pref. Sunday afternoon. Thunderstorms also caused lightning damage and temporarily disrupted bullet train services on the Tohoku, Yamagata and...

    Tornado tore through Ibaraki and Tochigi prefectures north of Tokyo, Japan

    Posted on May 6, 2012 | No Comments
    A teenage boy died, around 40 people were injured and up to 250 houses were damaged on Sunday, May 6, 2012 after an apparent tornado hit Ibaraki and Tochigi prefectures, north of Tokyo, local police and firefighters said. An aerial shot from a Kyodo helicopter shows the path of an apparent tornado that struck Tsukuba, Ibaraki Pref. Sunday afternoon. Thunderstorms also caused lightning damage and temporarily disrupted bullet train services on the Tohoku, Yamagata and...

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  • Dust continued blowing over western Africa on April 30, 2012.. An especially thick plume of dust blew over southwestern Mali and Guinea. At least some of the dust appeared to originate in Mali, the country in the northeast of this image. Senegal lies in the northwest corner of the image, and Guinea is to the south. The large, landlocked nation of Mali receives little rainfall, but because northeastern Mali lies within the Sahara, and southwestern...

    Dust over West Africa

    Posted on May 2, 2012 | No Comments
    Dust continued blowing over western Africa on April 30, 2012.. An especially thick plume of dust blew over southwestern Mali and Guinea. At least some of the dust appeared to originate in Mali, the country in the northeast of this image. Senegal lies in the northwest corner of the image, and Guinea is to the south. The large, landlocked nation of Mali receives little rainfall, but because northeastern Mali lies within the Sahara, and southwestern...

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  • Twenty six people were killed and 16 others injured Sunday after being struck by lightning in Howrah in West Bengal and various districts of Andhra Pradesh state. Sixteen people were killed Sunday in multiple lightning incidents in the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh, the IOL News website said on Monday. Victims were said to be farmers or the homeless, caught outdoors in the storms. The storms also uprooted trees and damaged thatched buildings. Another incident happened Sunday...

    Lightning kills 26 people in India

    Posted on May 1, 2012 | 1 Comment
    Twenty six people were killed and 16 others injured Sunday after being struck by lightning in Howrah in West Bengal and various districts of Andhra Pradesh state. Sixteen people were killed Sunday in multiple lightning incidents in the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh, the IOL News website said on Monday. Victims were said to be farmers or the homeless, caught outdoors in the storms. The storms also uprooted trees and damaged thatched buildings. Another incident happened Sunday...

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  • Last week we were reporting about tornado seen in Netherlands. Now a tornado touched down in the countryside of southern France on Sunday. Only minor damage was reported. According to a French website, Meteorologic, the tornado was rated as an F-1, implying highest winds about 115 to 180 km/h (73-112 mph). The tornado was first sighted 15 to 20 kilometers (9 to 13 miles) south of Toulouse around 7:10 p.m. local time. The tornado then moved towards...

    Violent tornado near Toulouse, France

    Posted on May 1, 2012 | 2 Comments
    Last week we were reporting about tornado seen in Netherlands. Now a tornado touched down in the countryside of southern France on Sunday. Only minor damage was reported. According to a French website, Meteorologic, the tornado was rated as an F-1, implying highest winds about 115 to 180 km/h (73-112 mph). The tornado was first sighted 15 to 20 kilometers (9 to 13 miles) south of Toulouse around 7:10 p.m. local time. The tornado then moved towards...

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  • Dust from the White Sands dune field in New Mexico rises thousands of feet from the valley floor and drifts over the snowy peaks of the Sacramento Mountains driven by southwesterly winter winds. White Sands National Monument lies in the 50 kilometer (31 mile) wide Tularosa valley, between the dark rocks and forested slopes of the Sacramento Mountains and the San Andres Mountains. The lower and warmer ridge line of the San Andres was without snow on the...

    White Sands dust storm

    Posted on May 1, 2012 | No Comments
    Dust from the White Sands dune field in New Mexico rises thousands of feet from the valley floor and drifts over the snowy peaks of the Sacramento Mountains driven by southwesterly winter winds. White Sands National Monument lies in the 50 kilometer (31 mile) wide Tularosa valley, between the dark rocks and forested slopes of the Sacramento Mountains and the San Andres Mountains. The lower and warmer ridge line of the San Andres was without snow on the...

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