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Severe thunderstorms in the first half of 2023 caused a record amount in insured losses, underscoring the impact of climate change on extreme weather events, according to new research for the Swiss Re Group. A recent report from the group found severe thunderstorms in the first six months of the year caused $34 billion in damages, the highest insured losses ever recorded in a six-month period. Ten events prompted losses of $1 billion and more each, compared to an annual average of six events during the past 10 years. The most affected state was Texas, the report found.

Severe thunderstorms struck southern Michigan on Wednesday, uprooting trees, downing branches and power lines and cutting electricity to more than 140,000 customers, utilities and others reported. DTE Energy reported nearly 108,000 customers without power as of 5:40 p.m., and Consumers Energy reported more than 32,000 without service. The National Weather Service reported trees and tree limbs had fallen in the Detroit area, Ann Arbor and other locations across southern Michigan.

We have always been told that automobiles are the safest places to be in a Thunderstorm. What about electric cars?

Meteorologists are monitoring as a system with the potential for damaging winds and severe thunderstorms is moving into the region Wednesday. The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued multiple advisories for the region, adding Wednesday's forecast hasn't been seen before in mid-December and is unprecedented. A Tornado Watch was issued for part of the KSTP viewing area shortly before 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. Storms and high winds are expected to move in around 5 p.m. Tornado Watch now through 8 PM across southern/south-central MN & Iowa. A few tornadoes are still possible across SE MN and the metro as well as...

VIDEO As I wait for thunderstorms to (hopefully) arrive in Broward County, I recount why I am so fascinated by this weather phenomena which has to do with an incredibly bizarre childhood incident I observed which seemed almost supernatural at the time (and still does). Please check out the website I show in this video, lightningmaps.org, because it is an incredible tool to use while you watch my live stream thunderstorm videos. It allows you to see how far away from me the lightning strikes hit plus shows the sound waves as they expand out from those strikes. p.s. Yeah,...

A storm system that buried parts of Wyoming and South Dakota in heavy, wet snow on Friday also brought powerful thunderstorms and possible tornadoes to the Great Plains. The storm dumped at least 33 inches of snow in a part of South Dakota’s scenic Black Hills, National Weather Service meteorologist Eric Helgeson said Friday afternoon. Later in the day, thunderstorms rolled across the Plains, and witnesses reported seeing tornadoes in Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota. …

From the DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, a new paper in GRL saying something that doesn’t make much sense to me. As shown in the diagram above, thunderstorms transport heat from the lower troposphere upwards. The heat source at the base of the atmosphere (at the surface) is the absorption of sunlight by the surface of the Earth. That transfers heat to the lower atmosphere by conduction (a small amount), and mostly be re-radiated Long Wave IR. Heat is then transported upwards by convection, which is done by clouds (cumulus for example) and especially thunderstorms. So, given the amount of...

More than 126,000 total customers were without power after a line of severe thunderstorms swept through the state Thursday evening, wreaking havoc on multiple towns and cities still recuperating from Wednesday night's storm. A third day of unseasonable heat blistered the state throughout the morning and early afternoon hours but eventually turned to torrential rain, heavy winds and hail throughout most of the state. Golf-ball-sized hail fell in Norfolk, Colebrook, Killingly,Torrington, Canaan and Winsted, according to reports from the National Weather Service. Those in New Haven and Hartford counties were also hammered by the storm with residents reporting flooding, downed...

Southern California was bracing for another powerful storm front Tuesday evening as a sixth straight day of rain brought dramatic rescues, flooded freeways and concerns about mudslides. According to the National Weather Service, scattered showers Tuesday will give way to heavy rain at night. Officials said the rain will continue into Wednesday with a chance of hail, high winds and thunderstorms. The weather service said the wind will be so strong in some mountain communities Wednesday morning that it could uproot trees. Gusts in some areas could top 65 mph. The snow level is expected to drop to 4,500 feet....

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 147 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 125 PM CDT MON MAY 10 2010 THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS CENTRAL AND WESTERN OKLAHOMA EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 125 PM UNTIL 1000 PM CDT. ...THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION... DESTRUCTIVE TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL TO 4 INCHES IN DIAMETER... THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 95 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM...

You hate McCain. You hate reason. Pick on Meghan all you want. All you peepole on here hate anybody who disagrees with you. Go ahead, make fun of me. You half no lives , dont YOU!. Keep up with your nasty and hateful comments. Hateful and ignorant peepole you are. I am ashamed to be an American. Youre greed is so evident and, well, screw you hateful peepole!

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA WESTERN AND CENTRAL MARYLAND SOUTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA NORTHERN AND CENTRAL VIRGINIA EASTERN WEST VIRGINIA INCLUDING THE PANHANDLE COASTAL WATERS EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 1250 PM UNTIL 800 PM EDT. TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 95 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 55 MILES NORTHWEST OF STAUNTON VIRGINIA TO 30 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF PATUXENT RIVER MARYLAND. FOR...

Global warming will make severe thunderstorms and tornadoes a more common feature of U.S. weather, NASA scientists said today. Climate models have previously shown that Earth will see more heavy rainstorms as the atmosphere warms, but a new climate model developed by NASA researchers is the first to show the difference in strength between storms that occur over land and those over the ocean and how storms strengths will change in general. The models don't directly simulate thunderstorms and lightning, but look for conditions that are ripe for severe storms to form. The model was tested against current climate conditions...

Tornado Snatches Greensburg Treasure 1,000 pound Brenham pallasite meteorite comes up missing after tornado strikes Greensburg. by The Associated Press The tornado that razed the Kansas town of Greensburg also snatched one of its most valuable treasures. The thousand-pound Brenham pallasite meteorite is gone. Greensburg has drawn world-class meteorite hunters for decades to this remote Kansas hamlet. Trooper Ronald Knoefel says even the town's own extensive meteorite collection is gone. And the town's other claim to fame -- the world's largest hand dug well -- is buried under a mountain of debris. The nearby gift shop for the attraction had...

Storms, floods, mudslides tie up D.C. areaBy MARTY NILAND, Associated Press WriterWASHINGTON - Flooding from a weekend of heavy rain shut down the Justice Department building, Internal Revenue Service headquarters and the National Archives on Monday, and created a nightmare for commuters with washed-out roads, mud blocking the Capital Beltway and delays on the area's rail lines. District of Columbia officials urged people to avoid the flooded downtown areas. "They need to give us time to make sure everything's OK," said Michelle Pourciau, the acting director of the D.C. Department of Transportation. "We know that more rain is coming ......

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A spectacular series of thunderstorms rolled through Southern California, bringing walnut-sized hail and bursts of heavy rain that triggered mudslides and shut down the main highway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Parts of the region remained under a severe weather watch early Tuesday. Interstate 5 was closed for about five hours Monday in both directions about 65 miles north of Los Angeles, because of mudslides and up to four feet of standing water on the road, said California Highway Patrol spokesman Johnny Fisher. "There's a few feet of mud all over the roadway," Fisher said....

Hello to one and all. My wife and I are accountants in San Diego, CA and she's been offered a position with a company in Memphis, TN. We've done some initial research on probable places to live and we really like the Germantown area - the homes in our desired price range (250k-310k) seem lovely, the published statistics for the town seem right-on, and the public schools are highly-rated. Our question is: What's the political climate of the town? Thanks in advance.

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 391 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 205 PM CDT SAT JUN 4 2005 THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN IOWA CENTRAL AND EASTERN KANSAS NORTHERN AND WESTERN MISSOURI SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 205 PM UNTIL 1100 PM CDT. ...THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION... DESTRUCTIVE TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL TO 4 INCHES IN DIAMETER... THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 95 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND...

ATWOOD, Kan. - A hundred and forty years after the Homestead Act helped populate the American West, small towns in Kansas are turning to it again, to draw new residents and new economic development. Three hours east of Denver, Atwood, Kansas is losing ground. Census figures from 2000 showed 1,279 people living there, about a hundred fewer than in 1994. So, back in November, city leaders decided to offer home-sized lots for free to anyone willing to build. "I'm getting interest from every state of the union and Mexico," said Arlene Bliss, director of economic development for Rawlins County, KS....

FRESNO CA-MADERA CA- 227 PM PST MON FEB 21 2005 ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 245 PM PST FOR SOUTHWESTERN MADERA AND WEST CENTRAL FRESNO COUNTIES.. AT 219 PM PST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TO INDICATE A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING NICKEL SIZE HAIL. THIS STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR TRANQUILITY...OR ABOUT 22 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MADERA...MOVING NORTH AT 30 MPH. THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR.. MENDOTA BY 230 PM PST THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH...PREPARE IMMEDIATELY FOR HAIL...AND DEADLY CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER...PREFERABLY...