Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the Atlantic:

Tropical storm Karen stalls about 130 mi (205 km) SSW of Morgan City, Louisiana. Expected to move near or over portions of southeastern Louisiana last night and today.

In the Western Pacific:

Typhoon Danas is located approximately 678 nm east-southeast of Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan.

Danas, a tropical cyclone approaching the Philippines from the east, intensified into a typhoon early Sunday. At 4 a.m. the typhoon was estimated at 1,460 km east of extreme northern Luzon. Danas packed maximum sustained winds of 120 kph near the centre, with gustiness of up to 150 kph. It is forecast to move west-northwest at 30 kph.

Danas will enter the Philippine area of responsibility on Sunday evening. When it does, it will be locally codenamed Ramil. Meanwhile, the Japan Meteorological Agency's, Sunday update projected Danas approaching the area northeast of extreme northern Luzon.

Typhoon Fitow is located about 169 nm east of Taipei, Taiwan.

Winter Cyclone - USA

Winter Storm Atlas pounds the Midwest USA with a variety of extreme weather Saturday. Blizzard conditions enveloped much of Wyoming and South Dakota on Friday, with an astonishing 48" (4 feet!) of snow falling in Deadwood, South Dakota.

The 43.5" of snow that fell in Lead, South Dakota was that city's fourth heaviest snowfall on record. In Rapid City, South Dakota, the airport recorded thundersnow and sustained winds of 44 mph, gusting to 55 mph at 4 pm Friday, before communications were lost. The snow tally so far in the city is 18.3", making it the sixth largest snowfall in recorded history. Casper, Wyoming received 16.2" of snow, their tenth greatest snow storm in recorded history.

The storm brought a significant outbreak of severe thunderstorms with very large hail and eighteen preliminary reports of tornadoes, with the most damaging tornado hitting Wayne, Nebraska on Friday afternoon near 5:30 pm CDT, causing millions in damage, and injuring fifteen people. The severe weather threat is much less for Saturday and Sunday, with only a "slight" risk of severe weather being predicted by NOAA's Storm Prediction Centre.

The record-breaking blizzard left more than 38,000 homes without power in South Dakota and dealt the Black Hills a frosty blow on Friday night, crippling the region's power and transportation infrastructure.