Crazy Storm Weather and Lightning - Global

It sounds like they say "Grossheide" - a location mentioned in the article posted
Yes, you´ve heard it right :-) - Großheide, Germany; north Germany near Netherland´s border.

Here is compilation of videos; two of them you already posted but also one other plus aftermath (with some bad language at the beginning):

A tornado left a trail of devastation in East Frisia (Ostfriesland). In Großheide in the Aurich district, around 50 houses were damaged by the storm on Monday evening, according to the fire department. Five houses are uninhabitable. There were no injuries, said the police and fire brigade.

Video and pictures of the damage:
 
Flooding in Sweden
17-18 Aug 2021

Since the town of Gävle got 161.6 mm rain within 24 hours (and more is added today, plus it is possible that before those 24 hours, additional rain came down - but I do not have the total totals). There are now flooding warnings in effect for Middle Sweden and Southern Norrland, as well floods already happening in the town of Gävle (200 km NW of Stockholm). Especially viaducts are flooded deeply, making passages impossible. The school start has been delayed, and the authorities ask the public not to go into town for a day or so.

The City of Gävle has a monthly average of 60-80 mm rainfall normally.

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SMHI ©

🇺🇸 Basements have flooded and several cars are stuck in water-filled viaducts.

According to Therese Fougman at SMHI, it has rained up to 160 millimetres in one day in Gävle. - Normally it is about 70-80 millimeters during the whole month of August, this is twice as much in less than a day, she says to DN.

Shortly before 03:00, the emergency services in the Gävle area issued a VMA, important message to the public.
"The emergency services urge people to stay at home and not to go outside due to large amounts of water. Several viaducts and buildings are flooded. The emergency services will prioritise buildings of public importance for water pumping," the emergency services wrote in the message, which was sent out to residents in Gävleborg.

The VMA was lifted around 7am on Wednesday morning. Police have contacted the Swedish Transport Agency to warn motorists not to drive in the rainy weather.

- The police have contacted us that virtually all viaducts in Gävle municipality have flooded, if you do not need to drive, you should stay at home, says Per Östman, road traffic manager at Trafikverket, to Gefle Dagblad. X-trafik writes on its website that all local traffic in Gävle is suspended since 04.50 on Wednesday morning and may be resumed at the earliest at 11 o'clock.

On the E16 and E4 there may be problems to get through in some places. At Gävle Central, only certain train tracks can be used as the platforms cannot be accessed due to flooding in the tunnel, Trafikverket writes on its website.

Johan Kallin Stropp, internal officer at the Gästrike rescue service, says just before half past six on Wednesday morning that the rain has basically stopped for the moment. - This makes the situation a little more favorable. We have been working at full speed all night with almost the entire union forces, he says to DN.

Responses have included flooded basements, water damage and cars stuck in water-filled viaducts. The police station was evacuated during the night due to the risk of a locker room roof collapsing due to a water accumulation. - We have had to choose private individuals with water-filled basements, we are not able to help them at the moment, says Johan Kallin Stropp.

The biggest problem at the moment is that water in viaducts is obstructing traffic. Johan Kallin Stropp estimates that water levels have reached 3 metres in some places. - Several people have been trapped in cars stuck in viaducts, but everyone has been able to get out, he says.

Material damage is estimated to be extensive, mainly to buildings.

- However, no injuries have been reported, says Johan Kallin Stropp.

Gefle Dagblad reports on Wednesday morning that the start of school has been postponed due to the heavy rainfall, the earlier call to stay at home and cancelled bus and train services. Pre-schools are open, as are special schools for those pupils who need supervision. In addition to Gävle, nearby Hofors is also severely affected by flooding, according to the rescue service's internal commander. According to Therese Fougman, meteorologist at SMHI, it has rained 150-160 millimetres in Gävle since Tuesday and 109 millimetres in Ockelbo. - Normally it is about 70-80 millimeters during the whole month of August, so this is double in less than a day, she says to DN.

And even though there is currently a break in Gävle, more rain is expected. - The heaviest rain has slowed down, but there will be showers later in the day. Not of the same magnitude, but on the other hand, the roads are already flooded, says Therese Fougman.

In both Gävleborg and Dalarna counties, there is a class 2 warning for very heavy rainfall and a class 1 warning for high flows. In southern Dalarna, the weather station Stora Spånsberget in Borlänge municipality has measured 58 millimetres of rain since Tuesday morning. - The warnings may be downgraded during the day, but it is still raining heavily in several places, says Therese Fougman.

Other parts - Västernorrland, Jämtland, eastern Västerbotten, Uppsala and Västmanland - are under class 1 warnings. A class 1 warning has also been added for Jämtland County, where rain has started to fall during the night and is expected to be heaviest in the early hours of the morning. The downpours are expected to continue until Wednesday afternoon.

- The weather looks set to remain unsettled for the rest of the week, but it doesn't look like there will be much more modest rainfall, says Therese Fougman.

🇸🇪 Källare har svämmat över och flera personbilar har fastnat i vattenfyllda viadukter.

Enligt Therese Fougman på SMHI har det regnat upp till 160 millimeter under ett dygn i Gävle.

– Normalt brukar det handla om 70-80 millimeter under hela månaden augusti, det här är alltså det dubbla på mindre än ett dygn, säger hon till DN.

Strax före klockan 03 gick räddningstjänsten i Gävleområdet ut med ett VMA, viktigt meddelande till allmänheten.

”Räddningstjänsten uppmanar folk att hålla sig hemma och inte bege sig ut på grund av större vattenmängder. Flera viadukter och byggnader är översvämmade. Räddningstjänsten kommer att prioritera samhällsviktiga byggnader för vattenpumpning,” skrev räddningstjänsten i meddelandet som skickades ut till boende i Gävleborg.

VMA togs bort vid 7-tiden på onsdagsmorgonen.

Polisen har kontaktat Trafikverket för att varna bilister att köra i regnovädret.

– Polisen har kontaktat oss om att i stort sett alla viadukter i Gävle kommun har svämmat över, behöver du inte åka bil så ska du stanna hemma, säger Per Östman, vägtrafikledare på Trafikverket, till Gefle Dagblad.

X-trafik skriver på sin hemsida att all lokaltrafik i Gävle är inställd sedan klockan 04.50 på onsdagsmorgonen och kan komma att tas i bruk igen tidigast klockan 11.

På E16 och E4 kan det vara problem att ta sig fram på vissa ställen. På Gävle Central kan man endast trafikera vissa tågspår då man inte kommer ut på plattformarna på grund av översvämning i tunneln, skriver Trafikverket på sin hemsida.

Johan Kallin Stropp, inre befäl på Gästrike räddningstjänst, uppger strax före halv 7 på onsdagsmorgonen att regnet i princip har upphört för tillfället.

– Det gör läget lite mer gynnsamt. Vi har jobbat för fullt hela natten med nästan hela förbundets styrkor, säger han till DN.

Insatserna har gällt översvämmade källare, vattenskador och personbilar som fastnat i vattenfyllda viadukter. Polishuset utrymdes under natten på grund av risk för att ett tak till ett omklädningsrum skulle rasa in, på grund av en vattenansamling.

– Vi har fått välja bort privatpersoner med vattenfyllda källare, vi har inte möjlighet att hjälpa dem i nuläget, säger Johan Kallin Stropp.

Det största problemet just nu är att vattenmassor i viadukter hindrar trafiken. Johan Kallin Stropp uppskattar att vattenmängderna på vissa håll har uppmätt 3 meter.

– Det har varit flera personer som blivit instängda i bilar som fastnat i viadukter men alla har kunnat ta sig ut, säger han.

De materiella skadorna bedöms som stora, främst på byggnader.

– Däremot har inga personskador rapporterats, säger Johan Kallin Stropp.

Gefle Dagblad rapporterar på onsdagsmorgonen att skolstarten har skjutits upp på grund av de stora regnmängderna, den tidigare uppmaningen att hålla sig hemma samt inställd buss- och tågtrafik. Förskolor håller öppet, liksom särskolor för de elever som behöver tillsyn.

Förutom Gävle är även närliggande Hofors svårt drabbat av översvämning, enligt räddningstjänstens inre befäl.

Enligt Therese Fougman, meteorolog på SMHI, har det regnat 150-160 millimeter i Gävle sedan tisdagen och 109 millimeter i Ockelbo.

– Normalt brukar det handla om 70-80 millimeter under hela månaden augusti, det här är alltså det dubbla på mindre än ett dygn, säger hon till DN.

Och även om det just nu är uppehåll i Gävle väntas mer regn.

– Det kraftigaste regnet har mattats av men det kommer regnskurar senare under dagen. Inte av samma dignitet, men å andra sidan har ju vägarna redan svämmat över, säger Therese Fougman.

I såväl Gävleborg som Dalarnas län råder klass 2-varning för mycket stora regnmängder och klass 1-varning för höga flöden. I södra Dalarna har väderstationen Stora Spånsberget i Borlänge kommun uppmätt 58 millimeter regn sedan tisdagsmorgonen.

– Varningarna kan komma att klassas ner under dagen men det regnar fortfarande intensivt på flera ställen, säger Therese Fougman.

För andra delar – Västernorrland, Jämtland, östra Västerbotten, Uppsala och Västmanland – gäller klass 1-varningar. En klass 1-varning har även tillkommit för Jämtlands län, där regnet har börjat falla under natten och väntas bli som kraftigast under de tidiga morgontimmarna.

Skyfallen väntas hålla i sig fram till onsdagseftermiddagen.

– Vädret ser ut att bli fortsatt ostadigt även resten av veckan men det ser inte ut att bli betydligt beskedligare regnväder, säger Therese Fougman.

Även i Skåne och Västra Götaland har skyfallen varit kraftiga. Bara mellan klockan 21 och 22 på tisdagskvällen föll det exempelvis 19 millimeter regn i Malmö, men nu har de mest intensiva skyfallen avtagit i södra Sverige, enligt SMHI.

Source: 🇸🇪Mainstream; DN.se
 
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Spaceweather.com writes about the RS Ophiuchi novae
18 Aug 2021

NAKED-EYE NOVA UPDATE: It's not a naked-eye nova anymore. White dwarf star RS Oph, which exploded on Aug. 8th, has dimmed 16-fold to magnitude +7.5. For five days after the blast, the exploding star could be seen with the naked eye after sunset in the constellation Ophiuchus. Now a telescope is required.

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More images & info from Gävle / Gävleborg County Flooding
(Flooding in Middle Sweden, 17-18 Aug 2021)

I noticed that during midnight from 17 to 18 Aug 2021, there was during a singlehour a sudden, very large hourly amount of rain fell (51mm). Apparently similarly even between 01 and 02 after midnight. (see text below). I mean seen from the Scandinavian perspective that is a lot, but you can't compare the amounts to event like in China, India, or USA, or sometimes in Central and South Europe.

SMHI, our Swedish Meteorological Institute wrote an article about the weather event:

Record daily rainfall

In Gävle (start date for the station: 1858) in Gästrikland, copious amounts of rain have fallen in the last 24 hours. A total of 161.6 mm [6.36 inch] has fallen at the automat station, causing flooding in the city. The worst was just after midnight on Wednesday. Between 00:00 and 02:00, a total of 101.0 mm fell there.

The previous record for the largest amount of precipitation measured, regardless of calendar month, during a day in Gästrikland was the 125.8 mm that fell in Norrsundet on 4 August 2017. The Swedish record for the highest daily rainfall is 198.0 mm from Fagerheden in Norrbotten on 28 July 1997. The August record for Sweden is 188.6 mm from Råda in Värmland on 4 August 2004.

However, the official measuring station for precipitation in Gävle is nearby Gävle-Åbyggeby. There, "only" 117.2 mm fell in the last 24 hours. On 26 August 1979, 120.1 mm fell there, so officially there is actually an even greater daily amount for Gävle.

In conclusion: the automatic station in Gävle sets a record for Gästrikland but not for Gävle! This is because it is the manual station that is official for the measurement series in Gävle.

Double "all-time high" for Hudiksvall
Another station was able to show a record daily amount. Hudiksvall (started in 1934) in Hälsingland reported 101.8 mm on Wednesday morning. This is the highest daily rainfall ever recorded there at any time of the year. Hudiksvall's previous daily record was set on 11 September 1983, when 77.6 mm fell there. The persistent rainfall this August has already brought the total there to 248.8 mm. The highest monthly rainfall in Hudiksvall in any calendar month is 217.5 mm in August 1986.

Record also in Delsbo/Bjuråker...
At Dellensjöarna in Hälsingland, the automatic station in Delsbo measured 73.3 mm. For the linked measurement series Delsbo/Bjuråker (started in 1878), this is the highest daily amount measured there in any calendar month. The previous record was set on 30 June 1981, when 66.8 mm fell there.

...as well as in Ockelbo and Åmot
In Ockelbo (started in 1944) in Gästrikland, a new record was also set for the highest daily precipitation in any calendar month. There, 103.6 mm were recorded during the past day. The previous record there was set on 15 October 1992, when 85.0 mm fell.

The same applies to the neighbouring station of Åmot (started in 1951), which received 77.6 mm. Here, the previous daily record for any calendar month was from 26 August 1979. On that day, 68.7 mm was recorded in Åmot.

Falun's rainiest day in over 100 years...
In Falun (year of origin 1860) in Dalarna, 79.5 mm was recorded during the last 24 hours. There you have to go very far back in time to find a larger daily amount. If we dare to rely on such old data, it should have fallen 82.4 mm in Falun on 1 August 1872.

It is not only in the counties of Dalarna and Gävleborg that large amounts of rain have fallen. Elsewhere in southern Sweden, too, there has been a lot of root rain. In Mariestad (year of origin 1958) in Västergötland, 55.0 mm fell on Tuesday. This is the second highest daily rainfall recorded there after July 7, 1963, when 55.8 mm fell. A similar amount as on Tuesday, 55.0 mm, fell in Mariestad on August 4, 2004.

Precipitation in millimetres in Sweden for 17 August 2021.

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Large amounts at other stations

From the max/min values on the website, you can see that a few more stations in Dalarna and Gävleborg counties have reported large amounts of rain in the last 24 hours:

Torsåker (Gästrikland, starting year 2016) with 127.7 mm
Stora Skedvi (Dalarna, starting year 2014) with 105.6 mm
Kilafors (Hälsingland, starting year 2004) with 95.2 mm
Hillersboda (Dalarna, starting year 2001) with 85.6 mm
Kuggören (Hälsingland, starting year 1995) with 84,5 mm
Avesta (Dalarna, starting 1977) with 73,1 mm

For all these stations, their measurement periods are too short (less than 50 years of measurements) to be considered as records. Finally, the values presented here are those received from stations reporting daily. For those stations that only report monthly, we will have to wait until September before we know if any more records have been broken.

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Part Analysis - Swedish Flooding
17-18 Aug 2021

It is in this satellite chart, you can see the very storm shower cell which caused the peak of the rain over the town of Gävle, in which alone during only 2 hours 101 mm rain fell. It was around 22.00 when a little blip outside the coast (east of Gävle) started to grow, and drive directly towards land. Curiously, none of those bubbly cells created any lightning - yet did have an explosive development within a short time - taking up plenty of moisture from the warm sea, dumping it right inland (over Gävle, Falun and other towns further inland, as shown with the black & white arrows)

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NWS New York NY 8:39 AM · Aug 22, 2021
The Central Park ASOS broke the daily maximum rainfall record for 8/21 with 4.45 inches of rain! Most of this rain fell over a 2 hour period, with 1.84 inches falling from 11pm to midnight. Check out rainfall totals from around the area here https://nwschat.weather.gov/p.php?pid=2021

Aug 22, 2021

 

After the burst of #vent at 120 km / h at Metz-Nancy-Lorraine airport (57) the #orage continued on its way north of the department to the German border with a gust of 126km / h Seingbouse (57)! Possible damage under this cell https://meteociel.fr/temps-reel/obs

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Under the #orages very violent over Lorraine this evening, a powerful gust of 126 km / h was measured at Seingbouse in Moselle, accompanied by a drop in temperature of 9 ° C in the space of 18 minutes from 21 ° C to 12.5 ° C !
@KeraunosObs@meteofrance@SergeZaka
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Here is the map of trees lying on the ground that I have identified so far. It looks like a macro burst, but it is not excluded also vortex phenomena. Source of posts:https://facebook.com/Info-Trafic-Moselle-ARM-560102177390114/?ref=page_internal @KeraunosObs


 
Rain situation in Central Europa & Germany
22-23 Aug 2021

I add for visualization three charts for you - so you can see how much rain came down over Central Europe and Germany. The first image is a radar derivated chart calculating rain amounts for the 24 hours over Germany - where you clearly can see the high amounts that went down over Saxony and neighboring regions, with up to 100 mm.

The second image shows the rain amounts from the "synoptical weather station grid" across Europe during the past 24 hours up until this morning of 23 Aug 2021)

The third image, shows the Infrared Satellite chart over Europe from last evening 22 Aug 2021, at around 22:45 UTC (00.45 Central European summer time). The cyclonic core of "Manfred I" was rotating almost stationary (counterclockwise) over Saxony which caused the higher amounts of rain there. I am sure that Southern Poland later during the day, got plenty of rain, but that isn't shown (yet) in the rain charts (because those ended at 07:00 this morning)

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22 Aug 2021 08.00 - 23 Aug 2021 07:00 (Center European Summertime)


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23 Aug 2021 • 00:45 Center European Summertime
 




Nearly 8,500 lightning bolts on #PACA this Tuesday, including 2,600 in the #Var and 2300 in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. Locally heavy rains with in particular 80 mm on the solid mass of Sainte-Victoire and 40 mm in the west of the Moors.

New Delhi, July 17, 2021
The number and frequency of lightning strikes is increasing globally. The proverbial bolts from the blue are killing more people every subsequent year. Between April 2020 and March 2021, 18.5 million lightning strikes were recorded in India. This was a 34 per cent increase from the 13.8 million strikes between April 2019 and March 2020.

These statistics were shared at a webinar on lightning strikes here today, organised by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and Down To Earth magazine. The webinar attempted to understand why lightning strikes were increasing in numbers, and their connection to climate change and growing urbanisation.

Some of the states that have been at the receiving end of these strikes are Punjab, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Puducherry, Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal. In Punjab, the increase in number of lightning strikes has been a staggering 331 per cent annually, while in Bihar — where 401 people lost their lives to lightning strikes during the year — there was a 168 per cent rise. Overall, 1,697 people were struck down dead by lightning in India between March 2020 and April 2021.

“There is growing scientific evidence that climate change may be sparking more lightning across the world. Rapid urbanisation and population growth have guaranteed an intensification of human exposure to lightning hazard,” says Down To Earth managing editor Richard Mahapatra.

The evidence

Enough global studies are now emerging about this phenomenon. A 2015 California University study has projected that an increase in average global temperatures by 1ºC would increase the frequency of lightning by 12 per cent.

Another paper, soon to be published in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, warns that the frequency and intensity of lightning strikes in India are expected to increase by 10-25 per cent and 15-50 per cent respectively by the end of the century.

A foreboding dimension of the surge in lightning strike numbers is their link to forest fires. “Scientists from the Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University in Srinagar, and the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, have studied the concentration of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) in different weather conditions in the central Himalayan region. They have found a five-time higher concentration of CCN in the atmosphere during forest fires as against during rains. In May 2021, researchers in Australia linked excess CCN to the increased number of lightning strikes during the 2019-20 Australia forest fires,” says Kiran Pandey, programme director of CSE’s environmental resources unit.

What can be done to prevent deaths?

Some progress has been made to counter the adverse effects of lightning strikes. The rise in fatalities has prompted the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to start lightning forecasts from April 1, 2019. Lightning India Resilient Campaign (LRIC), a joint initiative of several bodies such as Climate Resilient Observing-Systems Promotion Council (CROPC), National Disaster Management Authority, IMD, Union Ministry of Earth Sciences and others aims to reduce the number of deaths due to lightning strikes to less than 1,200 a year by 2022.

“The LRIC says its campaign has been successful in bringing down deaths by more than 60 per cent within two years. Dedicated efforts by governments of states like Andhra Pradesh and Odisha have led to a 70 per cent reduction in fatalities,” says Akshit Sangomla, senior reporter with Down To Earth.

“The lightning incidents recorded reveal that seasonality of lightning is different for different states. Therefore, it is important that the lightning risk management programme for each state is customised according to the seasonality, intensity and frequency of lightning. States should undertake lightning micro-zonation for the regions inside their boundaries, depending on their geography, to handle the disaster and death risks better. These are LRIC’s recommendations and they make a lot of sense,” says Pandey.

Says Mahapatra: “We may not be able to prevent every single lightning fatality, but we can definitely decrease their number substantially. The first step is to create general awareness about some universal safe practices, for example, to stay indoors for up to 30 minutes after the last flash if the time between a lightning flash and thunder is less than 30 seconds. The next steps would involve making use of the evolving science and technology on the subject and decentralising predictions and risk management.”

Read our coverage of lightning strikes in India and globally:


A look back at this weekend's thunderstorms up to 126km Article written on Monday 23 August 2021 by gregory
Snip:

As announced by our services for several days, a fairly marked storm damage caused locally violent thunderstorms in the east of the country.
This Saturday at midday, violent thunderstorms affected eastern Burgundy with hailstones, 1 to 3cm in diameter, and strong electrical activity. It is especially on the department of Moselle that the storms were most virulent where strong thunderstorms swept the east of the metropolitan area of Metz with powerful gusts of wind. We measured a gust of 126km / h at Seingbouse, 120km / h at Metz-Nancy-Lorraine airport. This is an absolute monthly record for this position (the old one was 88km / h on August 24, 2015) and 92km / h in Nonsard (55).
The town of Saint Avold (Moselle), located east of Metz, has experiencedsignificant damage on the evening of Friday August 21 due to a supercell type storm accompanied by hail. Several roofs and trees were torn off. Some families had to be relocated. These thunderstorms evacuated to Germany overnight from Saturday to Sunday.

Lightning strikes on Saturday August 21, 2021
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Is this normal?


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I recall this btw:
 
Is this normal?


View attachment 48657

I recall this btw:

Aren't these considered to be false signals ?

There is a threshold in filtering radar images, and sometime you get those false readings, patterns and stuff. I often see that at the Swedish SMHI radar images, especially at night when there are no clouds, I often see freckles, patterns and such.

But like with everything else, it is always good to keep an eye on the unusual - but at the same time, not letting the brain go into overdrive, either...
 
Aren't these considered to be false signals ?

There is a threshold in filtering radar images, and sometime you get those false readings, patterns and stuff. I often see that at the Swedish SMHI radar images, especially at night when there are no clouds, I often see freckles, patterns and such.

But like with everything else, it is always good to keep an eye on the unusual - but at the same time, not letting the brain go into overdrive, either...
I suspect you probable know this site but just in-case,

 
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