Rare Tornado Kills Three In Indonesia

By , Senior Meteorologist
Mar 1, 2012; 3:24 PM ET
Share |

At least three people died and another 49 were injured when a twister struck central Indonesia last week, the Straits Times website said on Sunday.

The tornado hit the area of Sidrap on the island of Sulawesi Friday, flattening homes and leaving more than 200 people homeless.

Strong tornadoes are unusual, but not unknown, in wet tropical climates like that of Indonesia. However, powerful thunderstorms, which are the parent storms for twisters, happen in Indonesia at some of the highest rates on earth.


Video credit: suniansyah/YouTube


Video credit: r3ndy19/YouTube

Comments

Comments left here should adhere to the AccuWeather.com Community Guidelines. Profanity, personal attacks, and spam will not be tolerated.

More Weather News

  • What's Next for Beryl?

    May 28, 2012; 12:25 PM ET

    Beryl, with its drenching downpours and locally severe thunderstorms is expected to turn to the northeast, paralleling the Carolina coast during the middle of the week.

  • Severe Flooding in Northwestern Ontario

    May 28, 2012; 10:49 AM ET

    A state of emergency has been declared in the Thunder Bay area after severe flooding struck parts of Ontario's Lake Superior region.

Daily U.S. Extremes

past 24 hours

  Extreme Location
High 100° Smyrna, TN
Low 15° Sunset Crater, AZ
Precip 3.99" Wadena, MN

WeatherWhys®

Hail is much more common during the months of May and June compared to July and August. The main reason is the fact that the freezing level is usually higher during July and August as pockets of cold air in the upper atmosphere are less common as the jet stream weakens and retreats farther north.

This Day In Weather History

Leesburg, Va. (1982)
In Leesburg, a suburb of Washington, D.C., 2.20 inches of rain fell in 15 minutes.

Leesburg, Fla. (1989)
A lightning bolt tore a 4-foot-wide hole in the ceiling of a residential dining room and struck a 9-year-old boy between the shoulder blades. Although injured, the boy survived.

Loading...

5/28/2012 5:09:24 PM /news-entry.asp 9 .75.103 (accuweather)-- [new]