In case you missed it: Worst tornado in over 20 years strikes Washington state; Tropical cyclone pummels Australia
New video shows strong winds from the storm Ali making take off a bit difficult for this Ryanair jet, on September 19, at Birmingham Airport in in the United Kingdom.
A powerful storm plowed into Washington state early this week, unleashing the strongest tornado to hit the state in more than two decades.
An EF2 tornado touched down in Port Orchard, Washington, causing a significant amount of damage to several houses.
The storm also unleashed strong winds, flooding and heavy snow to the area, just west of Seattle.
A worker trims branches Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2018, from a tree that toppled over at a home in Port Orchard, Wash. in a neighborhood that suffered heavy damage Tuesday when a tornado touched down in the area. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Aerial shots of the damage showed homes that had entire roofs ripped off and other houses where trees had fallen on top of them. Local officials described the damage as "catastrophic."
While homes were destroyed in some cases, no injuries were reported.
Melinda St. John, center, helps her nieces, Hannah Mueller, 20, left, and Jasmin Mueller, 16, right, recover family photos from the living room of a house owned by St. John's sister Beth Mueller, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2018, in Port Orchard, Wash., the day after a tornado took the roof off the house and caused other damage Tuesday. St. John said that no one was at the house during the storm, and that all of the family pets survived. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Severe storms swept across Florida on Thursday, damaging at least 70 homes.
Zephyrhills, Florida, northeast of Tampa, was slammed by straight-line winds that caused the extensive damage.
<center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Possible <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/tornado?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#tornado</a> damage near Warner University in southern Polk County, Florida. <a href="https://twitter.com/breakingweather?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@breakingweather</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/accuweather?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@accuweather</a> <a href="https://t.co/hJ2xxIEpeh">pic.twitter.com/hJ2xxIEpeh</a></p>— Jonathan Petramala (@jpetramala) <a href="https://twitter.com/jpetramala/status/1075816801840349184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 20, 2018</a></blockquote> https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js </center>
Three tornadoes touched down across the state, but the worst damage was confined to Pasco and Polk counties.
The storm unleashed drenching rain to some areas as well. Orlando recorded more than 3 inches of rain, more than the city typically receives in all of December.
A tropical cyclone lashed parts of Australia for more than a week straight, causing flooding and other travel disruptions.
Tropical Cyclone Owen evolved over time, strengthening to a Category 3 severe tropical cyclone at its peak, which is equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane.
After first hitting northern Queensland last week, it made a second landfall in Cape York Peninsula over the weekend. The storm saved its most extreme weather for last as it unloaded historic rainfall on parts of Queensland.
Halifax, in northern Queensland, now claims the record for the wettest December day on record for the entire country of Australia following the weekend deluge, according to the Australia Bureau of Meteorology.
In a 24-hour period, 26.81 inches (681 mm) of rain fell over the area.
Storm Deirdre caused havoc in parts of the United Kingdom this week.
Strong winds blasted parts of Wales while unusual freezing rain hit Leeds and other areas in northern England.
<center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">What a horrible night! Rather grim under foot and on the roads in the NE of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Fife?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Fife</a> - more like two inches of slush than snow. Already treacherous - Hopefully won’t freeze as already lethal! Take it easy if on the move. <a href="https://twitter.com/fifeweather?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@fifeweather</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/metoffice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@metoffice</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/BBCScotWeather?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BBCScotWeather</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StormDeirdre?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#StormDeirdre</a> <a href="https://t.co/do5tKociV0">pic.twitter.com/do5tKociV0</a></p>— Michael Alexander (@C_MAlexander) <a href="https://twitter.com/C_MAlexander/status/1074057954696069120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 15, 2018</a></blockquote> https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js</center>
"Freezing rain is rare in the United Kingdom as storms moving in from the Atlantic Ocean typically are accompanied by a push of milder air, and cold air gets scoured out fairly quickly," AccuWeather Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski said.
Snow fell across parts of England, Wales and Scotland. Winds up to 70 mph (110 km/h) led to power outages in some areas.
Report a Typo
