Planetary climate chaos: Strong wind storms wreak havoc across the globe

November 27, 2011 – STOCKHOLM – A storm ravaging southwestern Sweden has cut off the electricity supply to some 12,000 homes and has disrupted ferry services between Sweden and Germany. Ferry operator Scandlines said Sunday it has canceled its operations between Swedish town Trelleborg and Sassnitz in Germany due to the storm. Another operator, TT-Line said its ferries from Trelleborg to Rostock and Travemunde were severely delayed. Utilities Vattenfall, Fortum and Eon said the storm has cut off electricity supply to around 12,000 of their clients. The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute has issued a class 3 warning for the storm, its highest level, saying the extreme winds could pose danger to the public and disrupt services. –Las Vegas Sun 

 Rare system to hit California: TWS’ Southern California Weather Authority has issued a Special Weather Statement for an inside slider storm system that could potentially be interesting for the Southwestern United States on Thursday and Friday.  The SCWXA Special Weather Statement went into effect this morning at 7:45 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. The statement outlines a concern for strong winds and possibly a storm system combined in a rare flow into Southern California. WS Senior Meteorologist Kevin Martin calls the event a once in a decade event and is watching it closely. “The storm system is going to come in from the north, through the interior of the country,” said Martin. “This means that it will generate cold air with it across the Great Basin and shove that southward in the form of Santa Ana Winds. Furthermore, this storm system will bring moisture into it from the Pacific so we are looking at a rare combo of Santa Ana Winds and Thunderstorms across the Southland.”TWS’ Southern California Weather Authority will continue to monitor the latest on this storm system, which has been officially named “Faith” with a category to be determined on the SCWXA scale. –The Weather Space 

Sri Lanka caught by surprise: State agencies failed to give early warnings of the gale force winds that caused havoc in the south on Friday, it was revealed yesterday. Gale-force winds in the south left 19 dead and another 35 missing, whilst rising flood waters elsewhere in the country have taken a toll of seven lives, officials said. The worst affected was the coastal areas of Galle and Matara where 17 people were confirmed dead and 35 people, mainly fishermen, missing or feared dead, as a gale-force storm hit the coast without warning early on Friday.The storm, packing winds of up to 70 kilometres an hour hit the southern coast caught thousands of people unawares and trapped scores of fishermen who had gone out to sea. The Disaster Management Centre (DMC)’s Additional Director Pradeep Kodippilli said the disaster in the south had damaged about 1010 houses and affected some 5,505 people. –Sunday Times 

Scotland forecast of gale force winds: Severe gale force winds are set to batter northern areas of the country. Forecasters say the winds, which are travelling west across the north of Scotland, will be in excess of 80mph, and that 90mph gales are “not out of the question.” The worst hit areas are expected to be in Orkney, Caithness, Sutherland and the Western Isles. Elsewhere, gusts could reach up to 70mph, but will not be as strong in Tayside, the Borders and Lothian regions, where winds are expected to be between 55-60mph. The Met Office has issued amber alerts for the Highlands, Orkney and Shetland and parts of Grampian, where gales could become severe and possibly storm-force. -AFP 

Norway hammered by strong winds : Following Friday’s extreme weather warnings for places such as the coast of Møre og Romsdal up to Sør-Troms, the Meteorological Office now says it expects winds to reach gale force 10 (storm) on the Rogaland coast south of Stad, with strong gale (force 9) in other parts. Weathermen expect it to lessen this evening. Still in Rogaland, police say two men, aged 25 and 27, are missing off the coast of Egersund after being swept out to sea earlier this afternoon. Both were part of a film crew that were filming in Sokndal at the time. Weather conditions in the area made it impossible for divers to go into the water. Strong winds in Stavanger also caused police to close off parts of the city centre in fears the strong winds could cause loose objects to injure people and damage vehicles. –The Foreigner 

Finland hit by howling winds and snow: A storm that has hit Finland from the west is bringing hazardous road conditions to parts of Central Finland. The Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) said on Sunday evening that a belt of snow was extending from the south-west to North Karelia. This area could pick up between 10 and 20 centimetres of snow, while the south coast may receive sleet later. Meanwhile winds were blowing at severe gale force of around 21 metres per second off the south coast, particularly around the Hanko peninsula. Some 13,000 Fortum customers were without power in southern and south-western Finland. Police said roads were very hazardous due to heavy snowfall in North Satakunta, South Ostrobothnia, Pirkanmaa and Central Finland. Driving conditions are expected to become poor to very hazardous throughout central and southern Finland due to snow or sleet. –YLE.fi

U.S. states hammered by strong gusty winds: There were strong winds most of Saturday in the Omaha area, but the biggest gust came at 1:15 p.m., according to the National Weather Service office in Valley, Neb. A 51 mph gust was recorded at Eppley Airfield, said Van DeWald, a meteorologist with the weather service. For most of the day, northwest winds were clocked blowing between 20 and 30 mph with the occasional stronger gusts. A lighter breeze will continue Sunday with winds between 10 and 20 mph with gusts around 29 mph, according to the weather service. Similar stories of howling winds are being reported in Oklahoma and Texas. –Omaha.com 

Police urge residents in Calgary to stay indoors: High winds are wreaking havoc throughout the city, including broken windows downtown at TD Square and downed power lines in Calgary. Police are urging residents to stay indoors as flying debris is becoming a hazard on roads and walkways. “We’ve got complaints coming from all over the city,” said duty inspector Keith Cain. “It’s safer just to stay inside.” Destructive winds are felling trees and even ripped off three LRT crossing arms, causing delays. Police have closed to street to pedestrians and traffic along 7th Avenue and 3rd Street SW after reports of multiple broken windows at TD Square.The wind ripped the roof off and smashed windows out of the home in the 100 block of Slopes GV SW. Travel is not advised outside the city and police are advising motorists not to travel south due to extremely high winds. –Edmonton Journal

New Zealand hit by super winds: Winds in Wellington hit between 120khm and 146khm on November 22^nd. Heavy rains, and strong wind gust reached 137 khm from the the Rimutaka summit through to Castlepoint. -Stuff

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