I know its really silly…but I am always fascinated with extreme weather…shows the power of mother nature. I found some cool pics of extreme weather on National Geographic :
“Lightning cracks during an eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano in 2010.
The eruption’s ash clouds delayed European air travel for nearly a week.
Storms over volcanoes contain the same ingredients as storms over your hometown—water droplets, ice, and occasionally hail. The interaction of all of these elements creates an electrical charge that sparks lightning. Active craters add ash to the mix.”
“A Lake Michigan lighthouse takes the brunt of a frigid winter in Saint Joseph, Michigan.
The southeastern shores of all of the Great Lakes often experience lake-effect snow. When strong winds blow across an unfrozen and relatively warm lake, the moist air coming off the water encounters cooler temperatures over land and lake water becomes precipitation, or ice.”
“A man walks a handrail in Chongqing, China, to avoid a torrent of muddy floodwater during the soggy summer of 2007.
Flooding and subsequent landslides in the southwestern part of the country were deadly, taking at least 60 lives, according to local news reports.”
Now that is crazy…the size of that wave
“Surfers ride a huge wave at Waimea Bay, Hawaii, during the 2009 Eddie Aikau memorial surf contest.
To honor its fearless namesake, the competition is held only in extreme conditions. Contestants had been waiting five years for the surf to pound Oahu’s North Shore this aggressively.”
“A waterspout parallels a lightning strike over Lake Okeechobee in Florida. A sister of the tornado, waterspouts are generally less powerful.”
“A huge wave crashes over a sea wall during a storm in Cape Town, South Africa. Waves are the result of wind traveling across water. As it moves, wind energy is transferred to lakes and oceans and manifests in ripples and swells.”
“A thunderstorm appears to be on a collision course with a crescent moon in this photo of the Kansas sky .The ancient Greek god Zeus was said to control lightning, but today we know lightning comes from a difference in electrical charge between clouds and the ground or among clouds.”
Hopefully no one got hit by any of those!
"Adding insult to injury, this dangerously large hail rode in on the coattails of a tornado that hit Joplin, Missouri, in 2011.
Hail emerges from storm clouds only after repeatedly tumbling up and down within the cloud. The stronger the updraft in the cumulonimbus, the more layers of ice will form around a single frozen raindrop, until it becomes too heavy and falls to the ground."
“A tornado heads toward two cars on a country road near Campo, Colorado.
Technically considered a part of thunderstorms, tornadoes can cover tens of miles of ground. Their winds have been recorded at nearly 300 miles per hour.”
“Water tops a dam in Cuilapa, Guatemala, after heavy rains in October 2011. The San Juan River consumed cars, homes, and several lives as it swelled with rainwater.
One of the consequences of accelerated climate change is an increasing number of intense storms.”
They are the massive hail stones. :eek:
Tornadoes are too scary,once it happened at my end few years ago,it got all dark during the day in the afternoon. I was so scared ,stayed in my bedroom. lol
It happened few years ago,I was a college student in my early teens. Some guests were invited at our end from London. The lunch was ready,mum was still in the kitchen. All I saw,the dark clouds everywhere ,felt like it was night time when it was 2pm in the afternoon. Me and my sister screamed and we were looking at clouds outside through the window. The weather was getting so windy. Guests arrived 3 hours later after the Tornado, they told us it was so scary. When they got into the car, they couldn't get out of the car, It was hard to open and close car's door due to the air pressure. Next day, some mates told us their stories.Few of them said, we were walking on the road,it was so windy,felt like wind might blow them away, they were told of to lay down on the road wherever they were. Some areas really got hit , roofs were blown away and some people got injured too.
Never experienced extreme weather Alhamdulillah (maybe snow storms but nothing TOO major). Reading about it is scary because one can't run/get away from any of it. :(
only extremem weather that I experienced was strong winds in Calgary…Calagary is crazy for how the wind just picks up out of the blue…sometimes I have to hide behind ppl’s garages while walking coz I feel like I would fly any moment…sometimes they are like 80-100 Km/per hour
