Sudden jump in a storm's lightning might warn a supercell is forming

A sudden jump in the number of lightning strikes inside a garden-variety thunderstorm might soon give forecasters a new tool for predicting severe weather and issuing timely warnings, according to research at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH).

The sudden increase in lightning is one sign a normal storm is rapidly evolving into a supercell, with a large rotating updraft -- or mesocyclone -- at its heart.

"Supercells are more prone to produce severe weather events, including damaging straight line winds and large hail," said Sarah Stough, a UAH graduate student in atmospheric science. "Supercells also produce the strongest and most deadly tornadoes."

Early results from Stough's research were presented Jan. 7 in Phoenix at the American Meteorological Society's annual meeting.

"Roughly 90 percent of mesocyclones are related to severe weather of some kind, while only 25 percent are associated with tornadoes," Stough said.

Because the sudden increase in lightning strikes is either concurrent with -- or within minutes of -- a supercell forming, UAH researchers are developing algorithms that might be used by forecasters to issue timely severe weather warnings.

"Basically, we keep a 10-minute running average of the number of lightning flashes in a cell," Stough said. "Then, if the flash rate suddenly jumps to at least twice the standard deviation of that running average, there is a high probability the updraft in that cell has strengthened, a supercell is forming and severe weather is more likely with that storm."

"We can use the lightning jump as a nowcasting tool for supercells if the jump is set in the context of that storm's environmental data," said Dr. Larry Carey, a UAH associate professor in atmospheric science. "If the meteorology of the day suggests supercells are likely, the jump can tell us when and where that is happening. Early warning of supercells -- especially the first of a severe weather day -- is an important forecasting challenge."

The lightning jump has been tested as a forecast tool by National Weather Service forecasters in Huntsville, Ala., and at NWS testing facilities in Norman, Okla.

"I know a lot of forecasters are excited about having this information," Stough said.

While the ongoing research uses ground-based lightning detection networks, the UAH team is also working on being able to use lightning counts reported by the Geostationary Lightning Mapper aboard the GOES-R geostationary weather satellite, which is scheduled to launch in 2016.

"The lightning jump is getting in front of forecasters now so we can get feedback, and fit the lightning jump concept into their forecasting methods," said Chris Schultz, an atmospheric science graduate student at UAH and an intern at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. "This way, when the real-time data from GLM is available and the lightning jump is implemented, it will immediately fit into the forecasters' warning operations."

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Birds sensed severe storms and fled before tornado outbreak

Golden-winged warblers apparently knew in advance that a storm that would spawn 84 confirmed tornadoes and kill at least 35 people last spring was coming, according to a report in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on December 18. The birds left the scene well before devastating supercell storms blew in.

The discovery was made quite by accident while researchers were testing whether the warblers, which weigh "less than two nickels," could carry geolocators on their backs. It turns out they can, and much more. With a big storm brewing, the birds took off from their breeding ground in the Cumberland Mountains of eastern Tennessee, where they had only just arrived, for an unplanned migratory event. All told, the warblers travelled 1,500 kilometers in 5 days to avoid the historic tornado-producing storms.

"The most curious finding is that the birds left long before the storm arrived," says Henry Streby of the University of California, Berkeley. "At the same time that meteorologists on The Weather Channel were telling us this storm was headed in our direction, the birds were apparently already packing their bags and evacuating the area."

The birds fled from their breeding territories more than 24 hours before the arrival of the storm, Streby and his colleagues report. The researchers suspect that the birds did it by listening to infrasound associated with the severe weather, at a level well below the range of human hearing.

"Meteorologists and physicists have known for decades that tornadic storms make very strong infrasound that can travel thousands of kilometers from the storm," Streby explains. While the birds might pick up on some other cue, he adds, the infrasound from severe storms travels at exactly the same frequency the birds are most sensitive to hearing.

The findings show that birds that follow annual migratory routes can also take off on unplanned trips at other times of the year when conditions require it. That's probably good news for birds, as climate change is expected to produce storms that are both stronger and more frequent. But there surely must be a downside as well, the researchers say.

"Our observation suggests [that] birds aren't just going to sit there and take it with regards to climate change, and maybe they will fare better than some have predicted," Streby says. "On the other hand, this behavior presumably costs the birds some serious energy and time they should be spending on reproducing." The birds' energy-draining journey is just one more pressure human activities are putting on migratory songbirds.

In the coming year, Streby's team will deploy hundreds of geolocators on the golden-winged warblers and related species across their entire breeding range to find out where they spend the winter and how they get there and back.

"I can't say I'm hoping for another severe tornado outbreak," Streby says, "but I am eager to see what unpredictable things happen this time."

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Plasma plumes help shield Earth from damaging solar storms

Earth's magnetic field, or magnetosphere, stretches from the planet's core out into space, where it meets the solar wind, a stream of charged particles emitted by the sun. For the most part, the magnetosphere acts as a shield to protect Earth from this high-energy solar activity.

But when this field comes into contact with the sun's magnetic field -- a process called "magnetic reconnection" -- powerful electrical currents from the sun can stream into Earth's atmosphere, whipping up geomagnetic storms and space weather phenomena that can affect high-altitude aircraft, as well as astronauts on the International Space Station.

Now scientists at MIT and NASA have identified a process in Earth's magnetosphere that reinforces its shielding effect, keeping incoming solar energy at bay.

By combining observations from the ground and in space, the team observed a plume of low-energy plasma particles that essentially hitches a ride along magnetic field lines -- streaming from Earth's lower atmosphere up to the point, tens of thousands of kilometers above the surface, where the planet's magnetic field connects with that of the sun. In this region, which the scientists call the "merging point," the presence of cold, dense plasma slows magnetic reconnection, blunting the sun's effects on Earth.

"The Earth's magnetic field protects life on the surface from the full impact of these solar outbursts," says John Foster, associate director of MIT's Haystack Observatory. "Reconnection strips away some of our magnetic shield and lets energy leak in, giving us large, violent storms. These plasmas get pulled into space and slow down the reconnection process, so the impact of the sun on the Earth is less violent."

Foster and his colleagues publish their results in this week's issue of Science. The team includes Philip Erickson, principal research scientist at Haystack Observatory, as well as Brian Walsh and David Sibeck at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

Mapping Earth's magnetic shield

For more than a decade, scientists at Haystack Observatory have studied plasma plume phenomena using a ground-based technique called GPS-TEC, in which scientists analyze radio signals transmitted from GPS satellites to more than 1,000 receivers on the ground. Large space-weather events, such as geomagnetic storms, can alter the incoming radio waves -- a distortion that scientists can use to determine the concentration of plasma particles in the upper atmosphere. Using this data, they can produce two-dimensional global maps of atmospheric phenomena, such as plasma plumes.

These ground-based observations have helped shed light on key characteristics of these plumes, such as how often they occur, and what makes some plumes stronger than others. But as Foster notes, this two-dimensional mapping technique gives an estimate only of what space weather might look like in the low-altitude regions of the magnetosphere. To get a more precise, three-dimensional picture of the entire magnetosphere would require observations directly from space.

Toward this end, Foster approached Walsh with data showing a plasma plume emanating from Earth's surface, and extending up into the lower layers of the magnetosphere, during a moderate solar storm in January 2013. Walsh checked the date against the orbital trajectories of three spacecraft that have been circling the Earth to study auroras in the atmosphere.

As it turns out, all three spacecraft crossed the point in the magnetosphere at which Foster had detected a plasma plume from the ground. The team analyzed data from each spacecraft, and found that the same cold, dense plasma plume stretched all the way up to where the solar storm made contact with Earth's magnetic field.

A river of plasma

Foster says the observations from space validate measurements from the ground. What's more, the combination of space- and ground-based data give a highly detailed picture of a natural defensive mechanism in Earth's magnetosphere.

"This higher-density, cold plasma changes about every plasma physics process it comes in contact with," Foster says. "It slows down reconnection, and it can contribute to the generation of waves that, in turn, accelerate particles in other parts of the magnetosphere. So it's a recirculation process, and really fascinating."

Foster likens this plume phenomenon to a "river of particles," and says it is not unlike the Gulf Stream, a powerful ocean current that influences the temperature and other properties of surrounding waters. On an atmospheric scale, he says, plasma particles can behave in a similar way, redistributing throughout the atmosphere to form plumes that "flow through a huge circulation system, with a lot of different consequences."

"What these types of studies are showing is just how dynamic this entire system is," Foster adds.

Journal Reference:

B. M. Walsh, J. C. Foster, P. J. Erickson, D. G. Sibeck. Simultaneous Ground- and Space-Based Observations of the Plasmaspheric Plume and Reconnection. Science, 2014 DOI: 10.1126/science.1247212

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Air pollution over Asia influences global weather and makes Pacific storms more intense

In the first study of its kind, scientists have compared air pollution rates from 1850 to 2000 and found that anthropogenic (human-made) particles from Asia impact the Pacific storm track that can influence weather over much of the world.

The team, which includes several researchers from Texas A&M University, has had its work published in the current issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Yuan Wang, Yun Lin, Jiaxi Hu, Bowen Pan, Misti Levy and Renyi Zhang of Texas A&M's Department of Atmospheric Sciences, along with colleagues from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the University of California at San Diego and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, contributed to the work.

The team used detailed pollution emission data compiled by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and looked at two scenarios: one for a rate in 1850 -- the pre-Industrial era -- and from 2000, termed present-day.

By comparing the results from an advanced global climate model, the team found that anthropogenic aerosols conclusively impact cloud formations and mid-latitude cyclones associated with the Pacific storm track.

"There appears to be little doubt that these particles from Asia affect storms sweeping across the Pacific and subsequently the weather patterns in North America and the rest of the world," Zhang says of the findings.

"The climate model is quite clear on this point. The aerosols formed by human activities from fast-growing Asian economies do impact storm formation and global air circulation downstream. They tend to make storms deeper and stronger and more intense, and these storms also have more precipitation in them. We believe this is the first time that a study has provided such a global perspective."

In recent years, researchers have learned that atmospheric aerosols affect the climate, either directly by scattering or absorbing solar radiation, and indirectly by altering cloud formations. Increasing levels of such particles have raised concerns because of their potential impacts on regional and global atmospheric circulation.

In addition, Zhang says large amounts of aerosols and their long-term transport from Asia across the Pacific can clearly be seen by satellite images.

The Pacific storm track represents a critical driver in the general global circulation by transporting heat and moisture, the team notes. The transfer of heat and moisture appears to be increased over the storm track downstream, meaning that the Pacific storm track is intensified because of the Asian air pollution outflow.

"Our results support previous findings that show that particles in the air over Asia tend to affect global weather patterns," Zhang adds.

"It shows they can affect the Earth's weather significantly."

Yuan Wang, who conducted the research with Zhang while at Texas A&M, currently works at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a Caltech Postdoctoral Scholar.

The study was funded by grants from NASA, the Department of Energy, Texas A&M's Supercomputing facilities and the Ministry of Science and Technology of China.

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Linking storms to climate change a 'distraction', say experts

Connecting extreme weather to climate change distracts from the need to protect society from high-impact weather events which will continue to happen irrespective of human-induced climate change, say experts.

Writing in the journal Weather, Climate and Society, the University of Manchester researchers argue that cutting greenhouse gas emissions, while crucial to reducing humanity's longer-term impact on the planet, will not eliminate violent storms, tornadoes or flooding and the damage they cause.

The authors suggest that developing greater resilience to extreme weather events must be given greater priority if the socioeconomic impact of storms, like those that have ravaged Britain this winter, is to be reduced.

Professor David Schultz, one of the authors of the guest editorial, said: "One of the long-term effects of climate change is often predicted to be an increase in the intensity and frequency of many high-impact weather events, so reducing greenhouse gas emissions is often seen to be the response to the problem.

"Reducing humanity's impact on our planet should be pursued as a matter of urgency, but more emphasis must also be placed on being resilient to individual weather events, as this year's storms in Britain have so devastatingly shown."

In the past, say the authors, society responded to weather disasters with calls for greater resilience, but public awareness of humanmade climate change has given climate timescales (decades and centuries) far greater importance than weather timescales (days and years)

Schultz, a professor of synoptic meteorology, and co-author Dr Vladimir Jankovic, a science historian specialising in weather and climate, say the short-term, large variability from year to year in high-impact weather makes it difficult, if not impossible, to draw conclusions about the correlation to longer-term climate change.

They argue that while large public investments in dams and flood defences, for example, must account for the possibilities of how weather might change in the future, this should not prevent short-term thinking to address more immediate vulnerability to inevitable high-impact weather events.

"Avoiding construction in floodplains, implementing strong building codes, and increasing preparedness can make society more resilient to extreme weather events," said Dr Jankovic. "But compounding the problem is that finding money for recovery is easier than spending on prevention, even if the costs of recovery are much higher."

This bias, say the authors, has a tendency to diminish the political dedication for preventative measures against extreme weather, regardless of whether they are caused or intensified by humanmade influences. Yet, steps taken to protect society from the weather can protect the planet as well, they argue.

Dr Jankovic said: "Improving forecasting, increasing preparedness or building better infrastructure can increase resilience and reduce carbon-dioxide emissions. For example, greening neighbourhoods or painting roofs lighter colours will both reduce the urban heat-island effect and reduce carbon-dioxide emissions through reduced air-conditioning costs, while making cities more resistant to storm damage would reduce emissions generated from rebuilding devastated areas."

Professor Schultz added: "Linking high-impact weather events with climate change can be distracting; perpetuating the idea that reducing greenhouse gases would be enough to reduce increasingly vulnerable world populations, in our view, only confuses the public and policy-makers as to the socio-economic susceptibility to extreme weather.

"With or without mitigation, there is no quick-fix, single-cause solution for the problem of human vulnerability to socio-environmental change, nor is there a reasonable prospect of attenuating high-impact weather. Addressing such issues would give the world an opportunity to develop a two-pronged policy in climate security, reducing longer-term climate risks in conjunction with preventing shorter-term weather disasters."

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Use of media can save lives in bad storms

The number and intensity of storms and other extreme weather events are on the increase all over the world. The latest study by the Medical University of Vienna in cooperation with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) uses the example of one of the largest American series of tornados of all times to show that the risk of injury can be reduced significantly with the use of certain media.

Several dozen tornados struck in April 2011 across Southeast USA and made for an image of devastation. Thomas Niederkrotenthaler from the Centre for Public Health of the Medical University of Vienna used this third-largest series of tornados in the history of the USA as an opportunity to conduct a study, which just appeared in the latest edition of the international top journal PLOS ONE.

Television and social media offer particularly good protection

Together with his research team, Niederkrotenthaler investigated the behavioral factors which reduce or increase the risk of injury. The researchers particularly concentrated on the media use by those affected, which had never been scientifically investigated in this context so far. The results of the study show that people who used media intensively for education during the series of tornados, had a significantly less risk of injury. Television and Internet were mainly protective and warnings via social media such as Twitter and Facebook particularly in this case.

"The media carried out excellent work. It accurately predicted the streets and the locations through which the tornados would pass, and continuously provided information about changes in the predictions. The corresponding media users could thus effectively protect themselves from the consequences of the storms," says Niederkrotenthaler. "The great protective effect of media has its cause in an important characteristic feature of tornados because unlike hurricanes, its exact course can only be predicted shortly before its arrival. The target forecast lead time of the US National Weather Service is just 15 minutes."

Adapting the US prevention guidelines on the basis of the Medical University of Vienna/CDC study

The media is however also important for another reason: Approximately 20 percent of the injuries are caused only after a tornado, mainly during the cleaning-up operations. Toppling trees and accidents with chain saws are especially dangerous and rather frequent. This was an outcome that led to an adaptation of the American prevention guidelines. Niederkrotenthaler also says: "The tornado prevention guidelines were adapted as an outcome of our study. The media now informs the citizens that they need to be particularly careful after tornados as well."

The internationally composed research team identified a visit to shelters and cellar rooms as another important protective factor. Niederkrotenthaler said, "As a whole, factors of primary prevention mainly save lives in such cases. In Alabama alone there were 212 deaths due to the tornado outbreak; however, most of the victims did not make it to a hospital, which emphasizes the relevance of primary prevention." Tornado sirens also correspondingly made a significant contribution to protecting the civil population. They did sound quite frequently because of false alarms, but those affected have surprisingly not become hardened because of that -- on the contrary: "People, who had already heard the sirens before when a tornado actually struck, protected themselves better than others even during the series of tornados which we investigated," says Niederkrotenthaler.

Journal Reference:

Thomas Niederkrotenthaler, Erin M. Parker, Fernando Ovalle, Rebecca E. Noe, Jeneita Bell, Likang Xu, Melissa A. Morrison, Caitlin E. Mertzlufft, David E. Sugerman. Injuries and Post-Traumatic Stress following Historic Tornados: Alabama, April 2011. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (12): e83038 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0083038

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Severe storms, possible tornado lash Illinois

OKAWVILLE, Ill. (AP) -- Cleanup efforts were under way Wednesday in southern Illinois after a storm pounded the region with large hail and as much of six inches of rain, and spawned an apparent tornado that overturned a tractor trailer and leveled farm outbuildings.

Okawville Police Chief Steve Millikin said a tornado that he videotaped Tuesday night on his dashboard camera clipped the northern edge of his 1,400-resident Washington County village, narrowly missing the community's downtown.

"We got lucky, to be flat honest with you," he told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "Had it come a half mile to the south, it would have come right through town, and we would have had a mess."

Millikin said the trucker in the semi rig that was blown over on Interstate 64 was slightly injured. He also said the storm leveled a house being built and damaged roofs and farm structures.

Eyewitness reports and video appear to confirm that a tornado caused that damage, although the intensity, path and length of that twister were expected to be determined Wednesday, said meteorologist Ben Miller of the National Weather Service in St. Louis.

"We're pretty sure it's a tornado," Miller said.

Portions of southern Illinois got pelted by hail at times as big as pingpong balls, with 4 to 6 inches of rain dumped by the storm since Tuesday night causing flash flooding.

Miller said the storms were expected to hound the region perhaps into the weekend.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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Severe storms, possible tornado lash Illinois

OKAWVILLE, Ill. (AP) -- Cleanup efforts were under way Wednesday in southern Illinois after a storm pounded the region with large hail and as much of six inches of rain, and spawned an apparent tornado that overturned a tractor trailer and leveled farm outbuildings.

Okawville Police Chief Steve Millikin said a tornado that he videotaped Tuesday night on his dashboard camera clipped the northern edge of his 1,400-resident Washington County village, narrowly missing the community's downtown.

"We got lucky, to be flat honest with you," he told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "Had it come a half mile to the south, it would have come right through town, and we would have had a mess."

Millikin said the trucker in the semi rig that was blown over on Interstate 64 was slightly injured. He also said the storm leveled a house being built and damaged roofs and farm structures.

Eyewitness reports and video appear to confirm that a tornado caused that damage, although the intensity, path and length of that twister were expected to be determined Wednesday, said meteorologist Ben Miller of the National Weather Service in St. Louis.

"We're pretty sure it's a tornado," Miller said.

Portions of southern Illinois got pelted by hail at times as big as pingpong balls, with 4 to 6 inches of rain dumped by the storm since Tuesday night causing flash flooding.

Miller said the storms were expected to hound the region perhaps into the weekend.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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East Coast cleaning up after weekend storms

Residents along the nation's Eastern Seaboard were left cleaning up Sunday, a day after storms ripped along the East Coast, spawning at least two tornadoes, flooding streets and toppling power lines.

By Ramin Talaie, Getty Images

Danny Fallon inspects the damage in his rental cabana where a tornado touched down in the New York City borough of Queens.

By Ramin Talaie, Getty Images

Danny Fallon inspects the damage in his rental cabana where a tornado touched down in the New York City borough of Queens.

The severe weather was part of a cold front that stretched from Washington, D.C., to Maine, as wind gusts reached up to 70 mph.

At the Breezy Point Surf Club in the New York City borough of Queens, a tornado Saturday tore the roofs off cabanas. "It picked up picnic benches. It picked up Dumpsters," said the club's general manager, Thomas Sullivan.

The club's pool remained closed because of debris and broken glass, but otherwise things were back to normal Sunday, said Caitlin Walsh, catering and events manager at the club. "It's going pretty good; we cleaned up most of it," Walsh said. "A few roofs are still off of the cabanas, but we are open today."

In the Washington, D.C., area, Dominion Virginia Power had 155,000 customers affected by the storm. By 1 p.m. Sunday all but 4,300 had their power back.

"We expect everyone to be restored by midnight," said Le-Ha Anderson, spokeswoman for Dominion. "We worked through the night."

Vermont's largest utility company said it restored power to nearly all 28,000 residences and businesses that lost electricity Saturday.

The storms reached every county in Vermont but did not leave any severe damage.

Utility crews were still working Sunday to restore power to thousands of customers across New York state. In Buffalo, the storm's straight-line winds blew roofing off buildings and sent bricks crashing into the street.

WIVB in Buffalo reported that crews will assess damaged buildings today and will carry out "selective demolition" to be sure that the structures are stable.

National Weather Service meteorologist John Cannon said the storms passed through Maine by late Saturday and the concern then became high swells of 4 to 8 feet on the beaches and rip currents that would make it dangerous to swim.

Contributing: The Associated Press bull /> b>Full weather, 12A /b>

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Rover offers Mars weather forecast: Pink skies, dust storms

PASADENA, Calif. – Manuel de la Torre is a Martian weatherman, and the forecast for Curiosity's landing site calls for clear skies now but dust storms in the not-so-distant future.

NASA/Getty Images

A color image from NASA's Curiosity Rover shows the pebble-covered surface of Mars.

NASA/Getty Images

A color image from NASA's Curiosity Rover shows the pebble-covered surface of Mars.

"We are expecting a clear day here on Mars with thin ice clouds on the horizon," he said, and "balmy, minus-20-degree temperatures. But overnight, it might get chilly — all the way down to minus-200 degrees Fahrenheit."

Winds are expected to be calm. Skies should be pink.

But the winter season on the Red Planet is nearing an end. Spring and summer are bound to bring dust devils — swirling columns of dust that look and act like tornadoes.

Some of those will spin up into monster storms that can smother the planet.

Curiosity carries a sophisticated weather station that will enable De la Torre and other scientists to examine the phenomenon.

"We want to see how the dust devils form, and why do some dust devils evolve into dust storms that swallow the whole planet, and others don't," De la Torre said.

Two finger-like booms sticking out of Curiosity's tall camera-and-chemical laser mast will measure wind speed, wind direction, air temperature and relative humidity and ground temperature.

The rover also sports a device that measures air pressure and an ultraviolet sensor that records six different wavelength bands in the ultraviolet portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.

The Martian weather data will play a key role in determining whether the planet is, or ever was, habitable — whether conditions ever were, or are, conducive to the formation of primitive life.

Made in Spain, the weather station will provide scientists with data that show the environment that astronauts would encounter just south of the equator on the eastern side of the planet.

The Curiosity rover landed early Monday, and the weather station was powered up almost immediately. Over the next two years, the weather station will be recording data at least five minutes every hour.

A married father of two, De la Torre is one of a team of about 40 engineers and scientists assembled to develop the weather station and analyze the data it returns to Earth.

In the grand scheme of things, the study of Martian weather and climatology is a relatively new field.

Said De la Torre: "The fun thing about this is we know that we don't know, and we expect to learn, and we're looking forward to it."

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Millions find ways to cope without power after storms

PURCELLVILLE, Va. – With no power at his home, Morgan Smith has been sleeping on the floor where he works at Market Street Coffee. On Monday morning, the barista was joined by people who crowded into the café— one of the few places in this rural corner of Loudoun County with power and free, working Wi-Fi — to charge cellphones and work on their laptops.

By Jeanna Duerscherl, AP

David Robertson and Steve Jones fill their shopping cart with juice at the Mick-or-Mack IGA grocery store on July 2 in New Castle, Va.

By Jeanna Duerscherl, AP

David Robertson and Steve Jones fill their shopping cart with juice at the Mick-or-Mack IGA grocery store on July 2 in New Castle, Va.

Among them was Anna Novaes of nearby Lovettsville, who had spent the night in her basement and showered at a gym. "We've had to be creative," she said.

As record heat cooked states from Indiana to Maryland and more than 2 million people were still without power after weekend storms, the tired, the sleepless and the sweaty yearning for some cool found refuge in odd spots.

Nearly 2.7 million people in 11 states still lack power after a ferocious fast-moving storm, called a "derecho" for its straight-line winds, struck Friday. Authorities say 17 people died, many because of falling trees, as the storms traveled west to east. Power companies say full restoration will take until the end of the week.

The power failures complicated the Monday morning commute as drivers navigated around downed trees and did the four-way stop dance at knocked-out traffic lights. Adding to the aggravation, temperatures topped 100 in the South and hovered in the upper 90s elsewhere.

At The Vine Church in Dunn Loring, Va., air conditioning was a sure-fire inducement for expanding the flock. A hand-painted 3-foot-by-6-foot sign on its lawn beckoned: "We have A/C. Join us."

Power had roared back at the United Methodist church around midday Saturday, pastor Todd Schlechty said. He and his family had taken refuge there after enduring the heat at their powerless house. "If we don't have power, I figured a lot of other people didn't have power," he said.

So with assistance from his son, 8, and daughter, 12, Schlechty painted the sign and invited the community to partake of the cool air. And as things go in a modern-day ministry, Schlechty rigged extension cords and power strips in the sanctuary so people could recharge their electronics along with their spirits. "We had a lot of people come in with cellphones and tablets and laptops," he said.

Yesterday, in addition to worship services, the church organized a cookout and a kickball game. Families stayed until late in the evening, Schlechty said.

"The church is interested in being a help in the time of need," he said.

In the Washington metro area, the now powerless found themselves at loose ends as their BlackBerrys lost juice and their iPad batteries withered.

Simone Rathle of SimoneInk, the Bayou Bakery's public relations firm said that the snaking line of people who descended on the Arlington, Va., site, seconds after the doors opened wanted to know one thing — is the Wi-Fi working?

Bayou Bakery's chef David Guas on Monday offered two drinks designed to beat the heat, cold hibiscus ginger tea and Thai basil mint latté, at half-price along with the free Internet.

"They were slammed for hours," Rathle said.

Other restaurants in the area let customers know their power status on Twitter using the hashtag #WhatsOpen, Rathle said.

In Ohio, entire towns blacked out, but for a handful of emergency generators.

The hospital in Newark, a city of 40,000, got power Monday, but little else did. In nearby Granville, Denison University closed and sent students home. Still, the village's four-day July Fourth fair will go on as planned Wednesday, organizers said, powered by generators supplied by the amusement ride company.

The lack of air conditioning sent Terry Ann Grove, 71, on a trip down memory lane, but only for a moment.

"It makes me remember what life was like when I was a kid," Grove said as she bought ice, bread and peanut butter at one of a handful of open stores in Newark. "It's worse now because we're used to air-conditioning and McDonald's any time you want it."

Grove spent a day with a daughter who had power in Columbus, 45 minutes away, but she returned to be home even though power wasn't expected until this weekend. "That's what porches are for, I guess," she said.

Lines for gasoline, which lasted as long as an hour on the weekend, were gone by Monday. A custom of treating broken traffic lights as a four-way stop sign had taken over. And while most businesses and nearly all homes were without power, pockets of all services could be found within a 5- or 10-mile drive.

"It's hard on the wallet," said Becky Latham, a fast-food worker who will lose several days' pay because her restaurant is closed. "Less money earned and more money spent. That's what the storm brought me."

Others say they feel trapped by the heat and lack of power.

Emma Patrick, 91, said she feels like she's living inside a giant booby trap. When the storm tore through her town of Beckley, W.Va., on Friday, it toppled a tree onto her roof, bringing with it a tangle of electrical wires.

"These electrical wires are all in my house, all in my roof, all over the doors," Patrick said. "I just don't know what to do. I am terrified to move around because the tree is through the roof and the wires are connected to it."

The power is out, but she doesn't know whether the wires dangling from the rafters are live. Meanwhile, her food is rotting and she says she hasn't eaten in two days.

"What do you do? I am a nervous wreck. I am terrified. What if I die here?" Patrick said.

To the power company, Patrick is one of thousands in precarious, powerless situations. Nearly 60% of Appalachian Power's customers are without electric service as a result of Friday night's storm.

"The electric company is saying, 'You just have to wait,' " she said.

To pass the time, Patrick, who has cancer, says she prays.

"I don't have anywhere to go. I can't see the news. I can only pray to God," she said. "I am praying and asking God, 'Please Lord, don't let this house burn up.' "

Contributing: Dennis Cauchon in Granville, Ohio, and Natalie DiBlasio in McLean, Va.

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Heat and storms bring tragedy and misery to the East

Blistering heat and massive power outages driven by violent storms held much of the eastern U.S. hostage Saturday, with no end to the misery in sight.

By Allison Shelley, Getty Images

Neighbors inspect a downed tree Saturday on a heavily damaged block the morning after a massive storm knocked out trees and power in Forest Glen, Md.

By Allison Shelley, Getty Images

Neighbors inspect a downed tree Saturday on a heavily damaged block the morning after a massive storm knocked out trees and power in Forest Glen, Md.

More than three million people lost power after the storms, and at least 13 people have died, authorities said. Hardest hit was the Washington, D.C., area, but outages were reported from Indiana to New Jersey. Maryland, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia and the District of Columbia declared emergencies.

The heat wave, with temperatures exceeding 100 degrees, added to the region's woes. Washington reached 104 degrees on Friday — topping a record of 101 set in 1934 — and temperatures were heading back there Saturday.

Power companies warned that restoration after Friday night's storms could take days, and the National Weather Service provided an equally bleak picture, warning that much of the region could see 100 degrees for the next few days.

And the possibility of more severe weather also loomed.

Shaun Dakin, 45, of D.C. suburb Falls Church, Va., has been without power since 10:30 Friday night. He said he was home with his son, Joseph, 8, when the storm hit. Within seconds, what had been a warm and calm evening turned into a wet and raging storm.

"The wind just boomed," he said. "It was lightning and rain and thunder all at once."

Jimmy Bosse, 40, of Potomac, Md., had been listening to news reports and was expecting a storm to roll through his neighborhood Friday night. He wasn't prepared for the intensity, however, and became one of the thousands who lost power.

"It was like a fireworks display," Bosse said. "You look out your window and you can't see anything and then there's a flash of lightning and it's like daytime for second."

After losing power, he avoided opening his refrigerator and assessed the damage around his neighborhood Saturday. His block was spared but half a mile away, debris was widespread.

"There's trees on cars and roads and power lines across the streets," Bosse said. "There are branches everywhere."

He was planning to go to his sister-in-law's house in Washington, D.C. Saturday when he got power back.

Bosse, a software developer, said he's thankful for his power but hopes Amazon's Cloud, which allows users to store information wirelessly, will be back up soon.

The storms took down Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud in North Virginia, affecting several popular websites and social media outlets Friday night, according to reports by Forbes and Mashable.

Netflix, Instagram and Pinterest, among others, were all out of service for a period following the Cloud outage. As of Saturday the Cloud remained affected but many of the sites were back up and running.

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said six deaths had been blamed on the storm in that state. Another was killed by a falling tree in Maryland. And in New Jersey, police in Pittsgrove said two cousins aged 7 and 2 died when a tree fell on their tent while camping with their families at Parvin State Park.

Dominion Power, with almost 2.5 million customers in Virginia and North Carolina, reported more than 660,000 customers without power Saturday afternoon. Pepco was reporting 406,000 power outages in the District of Columbia and the suburban Maryland's Montgomery and Prince George's counties.

"We have more than half our system down," said Pepco spokeswoman Myra Oppel. "This is definitely going to be a multi-day outage."

By Manuel Balce Ceneta, AP

An American beech tree fell on Capital Hill grounds across from the Supreme Court building after a powerful overnight storm in Washington D.C.

Winds in excess of 70 miles per hour uprooted trees and blew down limbs, bringing down power lines and poles all over the region and making power restoration an arduous task, said Pepco regional president Thomas Graham.

Graham warned that the weather forecast for the Washington area called for more thunderstorms today, which could cause additional outages.

"We'll work full force and around the clock until every customer is restored," he said.

Some utilities reported progress. Duke Energy said it had restored power to almost 100,000 of the 178,000 households that were left without electricity in the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky area.

Elsewhere:

•West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin declared a state of emergency after more than 500,000 customers in 27 counties were left without electricity.

By Patrick Semansky, AP

Workers use a golf cart to carry branches from a tree that fell onto the 14th fairway at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., on Saturday.

•More than 20 elderly residents at an apartment home in Indianapolis were displaced when the facility lost power due to a downed tree. Most were bused to a Red Cross facility to spend the night, and others who depend on oxygen assistance were given other accommodations, the fire department said.

•The city of Baltimore opened five cooling centers for residents and extended public pool hours amid high temperatures and power outages, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said.

The National Weather Service warned that high temperatures this afternoon will exceed 100 degrees across the mid/lower Mississippi River Valley eastward through the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast today. Some are are expected to break record high temperatures.

"The above normal readings combined with increased humidity will create dangerous heat index values ranging from 105 to 115 degrees," the weather service said.

Courtney Mann, a pediatric emergency physician at WakeMed Hospitals and Health in Raleigh, N.C., warned that the public should know how to recognize the signs of heat exhaustion, a precursor to potentially deadly heat stroke.

By Allison Shelley, Getty Images

A woman inspects a car left in the middle of the road after a massive storm knocked out power in Takoma Park, Md.

Early signs include mild dizziness, nausea, headache, muscle cramping, and fatigue. Such symptoms should be treated by drinking cooling fluids or sports drinks, and immersing in cool baths, air conditioning or mists.

Anybody exhibiting confusion with a temperature of 104 after external heat exposure should get emergency treatment in a hospital, Mann says. "They can die from heat stroke," she says.

Children and the elderly are physiologically most vulnerable, but according to statistics provided by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, the great majority of 75 patients reporting heat-related symptoms in the past two weeks were in the 25-to-64 age range.

Mann says people working or exercising outdoors should limit activity to early morning or late evening and take multiple breaks.

"The most effective way to get rid of heat is through evaporation," she says.

Contributing: Cindy Schroeder, The Cincinnati Enquirer; Associated Press

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Powerful storms damage homes in Colo., Wyo.

DENVER (AP) – A quarter-mile-wide tornado cut a swath across mainly open country in southeastern Wyoming, damaging homes, derailing empty train cars and leaving one person with minor injuries, officials said.

By Christian Murdock, AP

Traffic signal technician Dale Skattum replaces the light at the intersection of Santa Rosa Street and Chelton Road in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Thursday, after storms pummeled Colorado and Wyoming.

By Christian Murdock, AP

Traffic signal technician Dale Skattum replaces the light at the intersection of Santa Rosa Street and Chelton Road in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Thursday, after storms pummeled Colorado and Wyoming.

The twister was part of a powerful storm system that rolled through parts of Colorado and Wyoming Thursday afternoon and evening, packing heavy rains, high winds and hail. The storms followed a round of nasty late spring weather that pummeled the region Wednesday.

Thursday's tornado in a sparsely populated area near Wheatland, Wyo., left five structures heavily damaged, and 10 to 12 other structures had lesser damage, said Kelly Ruiz of the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security. One of the destroyed homes was vacant, said local radio station owner Kent Smith, speaking for the Platte County Sheriff's Office.

One person was treated at a hospital for a cut on the head, Smith said.

National Weather Service meteorologist Richard Emanuel said the tornado stayed on the ground for much of its 20-mile path from west of Wheatland to northeast of Chugwater. The area is about 60 miles north of Cheyenne.

"It stayed pretty much over open country," Emanuel said. "It didn't hit any towns or cities."

A twister of that size and duration on the ground was unusual for Wyoming, he said.

A Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad crew reported the tornado struck a stopped train near Wheatland, BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas said. Five empty train cars derailed onto their sides.

Some power lines also were downed, Ruiz said.

Hail the size of golf balls was reported in the Wheatland area, and 2-inch hail was reported in Laramie, National Weather Service meteorologist Tim Trudel said.

In Colorado, a tornado was spotted near Calhan in El Paso County on Thursday night. And meteorologists were trying to confirm a report of a tornado to the north in Elbert County near Simla.

Elbert County officials reported damage to eight houses, including two that were missing roofs and others with broken windows. They also received a report of one minor injury, county emergency management spokeswoman Kara Gerczynski said. Meanwhile 2.5-inch hail was reported in El Paso County near Peterson Air Force Base.

Bernie Meier, a National Weather Service meteorologist stationed in Boulder, said a storm that crossed into the state from Wyoming hit the Greeley area with golf ball sized hail. Though he had no immediate reports of damage, he said it was likely given the size of the hail.

The storms were winding down late Thursday and forecasters said drier weather was expected Friday.

Thursday's storms came as Colorado businesses including a grocery store were cleaning up the mess left after a storm system brought about five tornadoes, hail up to 8 inches deep and heavy rain Wednesday night. No serious damage was reported from the tornadoes Wednesday, but snowplows were called out in Douglas County to clear hail, and firefighters in Colorado Springs rescued about 40 people from flooded cars and homes.

Insurers reported receiving several hundred home and automobile claims in Colorado before the new wave of storms arrived Thursday evening.

The rain provided some help to firefighters who fully contained a 227-acre wildfire in northern Colorado, but the weather initially hurt efforts to control a 6,000-acre blaze in Wyoming's Medicine Bow National Forest.

Storms passed close to the Wyoming fire but mostly brought gusty winds that fanned the flames. Rain and hail fell later but didn't make a significant difference, said fire spokeswoman Beth Hermanson.

Kyle Fredin, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Denver, said the beginning of June is the peak time for such severe weather in Colorado. Most of the state has been experiencing moderate-to-extreme drought conditions.

"It's game-on for this type of thing," he said.

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Calm weather offers respite after deadly storms

LONDON, Kentucky (Reuters) - Calm weather gave dazed residents of storm-wracked U.S. towns a respite on Sunday as they dug out from a chain of tornadoes that cut a swath of destruction from the Midwest to the Gulf of Mexico, killing at least 39 people.

The fast-moving twisters spawned by massive thunderstorms splintered blocks of homes, damaged schools and a prison, and tossed around vehicles like toys, killing 21 people in Kentucky, 13 in neighboring Indiana, three in Ohio and one in Alabama, officials said. Georgia also reported a storm-related death.

Forecasters said more trouble was headed for the hardest hit areas of Indiana and Kentucky on Sunday night, when up to three inches of rain and snow were expected to add to the misery for hundreds of residents whose homes were destroyed.

"It's very light right now, but the coverage and intensity of the precipitation is expected to increase later on this afternoon and into the evening," said Kurt Van Speybroeck of the National Weather Service.

The fast-moving tornadoes that hit on Friday, numbering at least 30, came on top of severe weather earlier in the week in the Midwest and brought the overall death toll from the unseasonably early storms to at least 52 people.

On Sunday, a toddler who had become a symbol of hope amid destruction after she was found alive in an Indiana field died of her injuries, state police said. The tornado that killed Angel Babcock also claimed the lives of her parents and her two siblings.

Angel, who was reported to be 14 months old, had been in critical condition in a Kentucky hospital since Friday, when she was rescued after a tornado hit her family's mobile home in New Pekin, Indiana.

The girl's grandfather, Jack Brough, had earlier told the Louisville Courier-Journal that her condition was extremely critical, and asked for prayers. Angel's family of five were the only people killed in Washington County, one of the hardest hit areas of the state.

The violent storms raised fears that 2012 will be another bad year for tornadoes after 550 deaths in the United States were blamed on twisters last year, the deadliest year in nearly a century, according to the National Weather Service.

SECURITY CONCERNS

National Guard troops manned checkpoints on roads and outside towns, and were checking identity documents of those seeking to enter hard hit areas of Indiana and Kentucky following reports of looting. Long lines of cars waited at the entrances to some towns.

As recently as Sunday afternoon, police stopped a vehicle on a back road that was trying to leave a home with a load full of stolen copper, Albert Hale, the emergency manager for Kentucky's Laurel County said.

Indiana's hard-hit Clark County, where a powerful EF-4 tornado hit the town of Henryville, imposed a nighttime curfew, and Kentucky's Governor Steve Beshear on Sunday urged spectators and unsolicited volunteers to stay out of the way so emergency responders could do their jobs.

Beshear told reporters the storm had caused at least $5.8 million in property damage. He described the scene in the hard-hit town of West Liberty as one of "total devastation" and signed an executive order barring price gouging for food and other necessities.

"It looked like a bomb had been dropped in the middle of town," he said of West Liberty. "Buildings had the walls standing and the roof gone. It was a terrible sight. It's going to be a long, long time to get that town on its feet."

About 400 National Guard troops have been dispatched around the state to maintain order.

Indiana State Police Sergeant Jerry Gooden said the focus in southern Indiana had turned from search and rescue to securing the area and clearing the way for volunteers, who he said may be allowed in on Monday.

"We're guarding property so people don't come in and steal what little people do have left," Gooden said. "We've got a boatload of volunteers we can't let in yet because of the dangers from the electric lines and gas lines being there. It's a tedious process because each home's got a gas line, but they're getting it done."

President Barack Obama called the governors of Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky to offer condolences and assure them the federal government was ready to help if needed. Kentucky's Beshear said he would request a federal disaster declaration.

Meanwhile, clean-up crews worked to move downed power lines and clear debris, and residents began putting tarps over torn apart homes to prevent further damage. The more fortunate brought donations including diapers, blankets and food to area churches.

Residents in the affluent Kentucky town of London, in a county near the Tennessee border that reported five deaths, were eager to get back to some degree of normal life.

Willa Reynolds greeted dozens of attendees at the front entrance of Grace Fellowship Church, many wiping snow flakes from their clothes as they walked in.

"It's good to see you," Reynolds said to one person. "It's good to see every single person who walks through the door after the week we had."

(Additonal reporting by Karen Brooks, Mary Slosson and Barbara Goldberg; Writing by Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Peter Bohan)

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Storms kill at least two in Alabama (Reuters)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) – Search and rescue team combed through debris in Alabama after powerful thunderstorms pummeled the state early Monday, killing at least two people and leaving heavy damage just hours after tornadoes struck portions of Arkansas.

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley declared a state of emergency after the predawn storms struck the Birmingham area, with the towns of Center Point and Trussville just to the northeast of the city hit particularly hard.

Two people were confirmed dead, according to Pat Curry, Jefferson County's chief deputy coroner, one in Clay, a city of roughly 10,000 people, and another in the western part of the county.

Earlier, an emergency management official had reported three deaths.

"We have major, major damage," said Bob Ammons, a Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency official, referring to Center Point, Trussville and some unincorporated areas of the county.

About 100 people were treated for injuries, said Jefferson County EMA spokesman Mark Kelly.

Last April, massive tornadoes tore through Alabama killing more than 240 people including 64 fatalities in the Jefferson and Tuscaloosa areas.

On Monday, in St. Clair County, Alabama, spokeswoman Katie Reese said a local fire department estimated some 36 homes were damaged, and some of them were destroyed.

The possibility for sporadic thunderstorms in the region lingered, according to AccuWeather.com senior meteorologist Henry Margusity, but overall the severe weather was calming down.

Clean-up and recovery efforts were under way across Alabama Monday afternoon.

Food safety inspectors had been dispatched to assess damage and power outages at retail food establishments, state officials said, adding that any compromised products would be taken off shelves.

Search and rescue efforts were ongoing, according to Matt Angelo of the Center Point fire department. The injury count in that area northeast of Birmingham remained at about 12, he said.

At nearby Parkway Veterinary Clinic animals were being transported to a safe location after the structure sustained a direct hit during the storm, a spokeswoman said.

Earlier, rescue crews were dispatched to investigate reports of an overturned mobile home with people trapped inside, said Debbie Orange, city clerk for the city of Clanton, about midway between Birmingham and Montgomery. No injuries could be confirmed.

A preliminary report from the weather service's storm prediction center indicated a radio station in Clanton, Alabama was destroyed and a 302-foot transmission tower "toppled" due to the severe weather.

A tornado is suspected, but not yet confirmed, in the radio station destruction, according to the National Weather Service.

In Tennessee, the worst storm damage was in the middle of the state, with downed trees and power lines. In western Tennessee, structural damage resulted from winds whipping up to 65 miles per hour, meteorologists said.

These were the latest in a series of powerful January storms to have torn through the Southeast.

On Sunday, twisters downed trees and powerlines in Arkansas leaving thousands without power.

A tornado ripped into an area outside of Fordyce, some 70 miles south of state capital Little Rock, damaging houses and felling trees and power lines as it moved, according to Accuweather.com.

The National Weather Service in Little Rock rated the Fordyce area tornado as an EF2, on a scale that ranges from EF0 to EF5, the most severe. The town of just under 5,000 people was one of the hardest hit areas in a series of storms that struck Arkansas Sunday night.

Significant damage occurred to houses northwest of the small town, the city's country club and a set of transmission towers, it said in a statement.

The weather service has reported as many as eight possible tornadoes may have touched down Sunday night in Arkansas, which was pelted by soft-ball sized hailstones and buffeted by winds gusting up to 70 miles per hour.

By Monday, less than 8,000 customers across Arkansas were still without power, according to utility provider Entergy Arkansas, Inc.

(Additional reporting by Tim Ghianni in Nashville, Suzi Parker in Little Rock and Kelli Dugan in Mobile, Alabama; Writing by Dan Burns and Lauren Keiper; Editing by Paul Thomasch and Greg McCune)

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Mozambique: Storms, floods kill 22 (AP)

MAPUTO, Mozambique – Storms have forced tens of thousands of people from their homes and killed 22 in the southern African nation of Mozambique, disaster relief officials said Monday.

State TV on Monday reported that 12 people died Sunday in the central province of Zambezia. Ten deaths in southern areas had been reported earlier in the aftermath of a tropical depression that brought fierce rains and wind last week.

Storms have abated, but Dulce Chilundo, director of the national emergency office, told Radio Mozambique the government is feeding and housing more than 56,000 people whose homes and belongings were swept away.

The governor of Gaza, Raimundo Diomba, said several schools in his southern province were destroyed. Elsewhere, flooding has made stretches of highway impassable.

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Strong storms hit Alabama, kill two (Reuters)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) – Search and rescue team combed through debris in Alabama after powerful thunderstorms pummeled the state early on Monday, killing at least two people and leaving heavy damage just hours after tornadoes struck portions of Arkansas.

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley declared a state of emergency after the predawn storms hit the Birmingham area, with the towns of Center Point and Trussville just to the northeast of the city hit particularly hard.

Two people were confirmed dead, according to Pat Curry, Jefferson County's chief deputy coroner; one in Clay, a city of roughly 10,000 people, and another in the western part of the county.

Earlier, an emergency management official had reported three deaths.

"We have major, major damage," said Bob Ammons, a Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) official, referring to Center Point, Trussville and some unincorporated areas of the county.

About 100 people were treated for injuries, said Jefferson County EMA spokesman Mark Kelly.

Last April, massive tornadoes tore through Alabama killing more than 240 people, including 64 in the Jefferson and Tuscaloosa areas.

On Monday, in St. Clair County, Alabama, spokeswoman Katie Reese said a local fire department estimated some 36 homes had been damaged, and some of them destroyed.

The possibility for sporadic thunderstorms in the region lingered, according to AccuWeather.com senior meteorologist Henry Margusity, but overall the severe weather was calming down.

THOUSANDS WITHOUT POWER

Clean-up and recovery efforts were under way across Alabama on Monday afternoon.

Food safety inspectors had been dispatched to assess damage and power outages at retail food establishments, state officials said, adding that any compromised products would be taken off shelves.

Search and rescue efforts were ongoing, according to Matt Angelo of the Center Point fire department. The injury count in that area northeast of Birmingham remained at about 12, he said.

At nearby Parkway Veterinary Clinic animals were being transported to a safe location after the structure sustained a direct hit during the storm, a spokeswoman said.

Earlier, rescue crews were dispatched to investigate reports of an overturned mobile home with people trapped inside, said Debbie Orange, city clerk for the city of Clanton, about midway between Birmingham and Montgomery. No injuries could be confirmed.

A preliminary report from the weather service's storm prediction center indicated a radio station in Clanton, Alabama was destroyed and a 302-foot (92-meter) transmission tower "toppled" due to the severe weather.

A tornado is suspected, but not yet confirmed, in the radio station destruction, according to the National Weather Service.

In Tennessee, the worst storm damage was in the middle of the state, with downed trees and power lines. In western Tennessee, structural damage resulted from winds whipping up to 65 mph, meteorologists said.

These were the latest in a series of powerful January storms to have torn through the Southeast.

On Sunday, twisters downed trees and powerlines in Arkansas leaving thousands without power.

A tornado ripped into an area outside of Fordyce, some 70 miles south of state capital Little Rock, damaging houses and felling trees and power lines as it moved, according to Accuweather.com.

The National Weather Service in Little Rock rated the Fordyce area tornado as an EF2, on a scale that ranges from EF0 to EF5, the most severe. The town of just under 5,000 people was one of the hardest hit areas in a series of storms that struck Arkansas on Sunday night.

Significant damage occurred to houses northwest of the small town, the city's country club and a set of transmission towers, it said in a statement.

The weather service has reported as many as eight possible tornadoes may have touched down on Sunday night in Arkansas, which was pelted by soft-ball sized hailstones and buffeted by winds gusting up to 70 miles per hour.

By Monday, almost 8,000 customers across Arkansas were still without power, according to utility provider Entergy Arkansas, Inc.

(Additional reporting by Tim Ghianni in Nashville, Suzi Parker in Little Rock and Kelli Dugan in Mobile, Alabama; Writing by Dan Burns and Lauren Keiper; Editing by Greg McCune and Sandra Maler)

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Atlantic hurricane season closes with 19 named storms (The Christian Science Monitor)

The curtain has fallen on the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season – one that enters the record books in a four-way tie for the third-largest number of named storms on record.

The others: the 1887, 1995, and 2010 seasons.

Tropical Storm Arlene started things off in late June. By the time Nov. 30 arrived, the roster ended with 19 named storms, ending with Tropical Storm Sean in early November.

Indeed, the season might have topped 19 named storms, but forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami didn't catch a blink-and-you'll-miss-it storm in early September that quickly reached tropical-storm status, only to weaken hours later. It spent its brief life well off the US East Coast.

Forecasters noticed the storm as they performed their usual season's-end review of data on Atlantic-basin activity. The review also led to Tropical Storm Nate's promotion to Hurricane Nate.

Although the number of named storms was well above the long-term average of 11, the number of hurricanes and major hurricanes were only slightly above average, according to the center's post-season analysis.

RECOMMENDED: Five things you can do to keep safe in a hurricane

Still, for much of the US East Coast, it was a season to remember.

In late August, Hurricane Irene moved out of the eastern Caribbean and up along the US East Coast. It made landfall three times as it slid up along the East Coast: at Cape Lookout, N.C., at Little Egg Inlet, N.J., as a hurricane, and finally near Coney Island as a tropical storm.

The storm's winds and heavy rains assaulted a landscape along much of the coast and deep into New England whose trees were laden with leaves and whose roots were clinging to soils already saturated from previous rain storms. Storm-felled trees and limbs left 4 million customers without electricity.

From Maryland and Delaware through Maine, 10 states saw record flooding along rivers and streams from Irene's downpours, according to the US Geological Survey, which monitors stream flows.

"Irene broke the 'hurricane amnesia' that can develop when so much time lapses between land-falling storms," said National Weather Service director Jack Hayes in a statement.

All along its path from the Caribbean northward, Irene inflicted an estimated $10.1 billion in damage; the storm reportedly killed 56 people.

Tropical storm Arlene and tropical storm Lee added a combined 46 fatalities to a season that would reach $11.6 billion in damages throughout the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico, and 120 casualties.

The season also showcased the advances forecasters have made in providing local emergency managers with timely warnings. Still, efforts are underway to extend storm-track forecasts another two days beyond the current 5-day outlook while reducing the uncertainties in the forecast.

In addition, researchers have placed a heavy emphasis on understanding the drivers behind rapid changes in storm intensity. Last-minute shifts in strength, up or down, ahead of landfall can have a profound effect on the extent of coastline that needs evacuation.

The efforts are being driven in no small part by analyses showing that between 1900 and 2005, damage from landfalling tropical cyclones in the US doubles every 10 years. Costs are rising as more people move to vulnerable coastal areas, triggering the construction of homes, factories, office buildings, and other assets needed to sustain them.

The Monitor's Weekly News Quiz for Nov. 27-Dec. 2, 2011

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Storms cause damage, deaths, injuries in South (Reuters)

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina (Reuters) – Severe storms and suspected tornadoes across the South have resulted in structural damage, power outages, injuries and at least six deaths in three states, officials said on Thursday.

Officials confirmed deaths in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia from the extreme weather that swept the region on Wednesday.

A 50-year-old woman and 3-year-old girl died in Davidson County in central North Carolina when an apparent twister destroyed the home they were in, said Major Larry James of Davidson County Emergency Services.

"The house was completely gone," he told Reuters. "The only thing left is the block foundation."

James said 11 other people were injured, and 35 to 50 residences and businesses were damaged.

In a statement, North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue said there also were more than a dozen structures damaged in Randolph County from a reported tornado there.

Severe weather, including a possible tornado, was being blamed for three deaths in a rural area near the town of Rock Hill, South Carolina, said York County Sheriff's Office Lieutenant Mike Baker.

Five people were taken to hospitals with injuries that were not life-threatening after the Wednesday evening storm, and seven homes were severely damaged or destroyed, Baker said.

"Everyone's been accounted for, but we're continuing to search for personal items," Baker said. "This is very significant damage, and a November tornado, it's an unusual weather occurrence for us."

In suburban Atlanta, a man died Wednesday afternoon when a large pine tree fell on top of the sport utility vehicle he was driving in heavy wind and rain, said Captain Tim House, spokesman for the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office.

"The driver was trapped and mortally wounded," House said.

COLD FRONT ARRIVES

Conditions were favorable for severe thunderstorms and tornadoes on Wednesday, with a cold front hitting unusually warm air and significant moisture existing at lower levels of the atmosphere, weather experts said.

"Typically we see our severe weather season during the spring months, but we also have a secondary peak in November," said Neil Dixon, meteorologist with the National Weather Service at Greenville/Spartanburg in South Carolina.

"In November, we see strong cold fronts," he said. "These strong cold fronts move along from the western Carolinas, and the strong wind shear moves ahead of that."

A series of deadly tornadoes battered the Southeast in April, killing an estimated 364 people. With the latest deaths, the number of tornado fatalities for 2011 will likely top 550, said Greg Carbin, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Storm Prediction Center.

This year already ranks as the deadliest from tornadoes since the National Weather Service began its database in 1950, he said.

"The number of fatalities this year directly due to tornadoes is 100 times greater than the recent decades' annual average," Carbin said.

Preliminary reports indicate at least 25 twisters hit Southern states between Tuesday and Wednesday, Carbin said. Reports came from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas.

On Wednesday, at least 15 people were injured in southern Mississippi as storms passed through Jones County, just north of Laurel. Only one of those was transported to an area hospital for treatment, said Don McKinnon, the county's emergency management director.

The American Red Cross said an initial damage assessment in Alabama indicated about 230 homes were affected by severe weather throughout the state, including 16 homes that were destroyed.

(Additional reporting by Verna Gates in Birmingham, Ala, Kelli Dugan in Mobile, Ala, David Beasley in Atlanta and Harriet McLeod in Charleston, S.C.; Editing by Jerry Norton)

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Surviving Tornado Storms of the Southeast (ContributorNetwork)

LAGRANGE, Ga. -- A series of tornados blasted through the Southeast yesterday afternoon, killing several people, destroying hundreds of homes and buildings throughout Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina. As my fellow professors and college students huddled in the hallway, a similar event happened at the school my wife teaches at and daughter attends, and another where my son goes to pre-kindergarten.

The wisdom of such emergency procedures became clear, as a tornado slammed through the high school in the county immediately south of us, shutting down the place for at least the rest of the week.

As disruptive as yesterday's twisters were, they were nothing compared to the horrific storms of April 28, 2011, where hundreds died across the Southeast in places like Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Calculations I did for Southern Political Report found that if that storm system was classified as a "land hurricane," it would be the third deadliest storm in the U.S. since World War II.

A few weeks earlier than that, I was presenting a paper in Birmingham when the tornado sirens went off. I was flattered that folks moved away from the windows, but stayed to listen to me finish the talk. We later found out that dozens of people died in that Southeast storm system.

Now folks down here are taking things more seriously, like having a plan for where to go. Our kids know to run to the hallway, where we huddled throughout the night of April 28.

But are these plans enough? In the film "Twister," the problem is treated as one of needing an "earlier warning," as if 15 more minutes would make a different. But most Southerners knew the storm was going to hit, hours before it arrived.

Having an emergency plan is nice, but folks down here know where to go to in the house when a warning siren or Weather Channel issues an alert. Yet when a mile-wide tornado slams into Tuscaloosa homes, or the giant twisters reduces homes and hotels to a pile of rubble, there's nowhere to hide.

How is it that what was once called "Tornado Alley," (the Midwest) are seeing just as many tornados, but "Dixie Alley" is seeing twister deaths skyrocket? Grady Dixon of Mississippi State University found that tornados in the Southeast stay on the ground longer. USA Today ran Dixon's story two days before devastating tornado storm system.

There's another problem "Dixie Alley" residents face. Hardly any have storm shelters, while Tornado Alley is rife with them. If the U.S. government wants to help the region, and the economy, they need to get homebuilders to switch to building storm shelters. Otherwise, the region will see more deaths from these powerful twisters.

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