Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the Atlantic:

Tropical storm Lorenzo has formed and is located about 650 miles (1020 km) east-southeast of Bermuda.

In the Western Pacific:

Typhoon Francisco is located approximately 152 nm west of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.

Category 2 Typhoon Francisco has steadily weakened on Sunday and Monday, after spending just over a day as Earth's third Category 5 storm of 2013 on Saturday. Satellite loops show a large, cloud-filled eye and a decaying eyewall. Since wind shear remains low, the weakening is likely in response to cooler ocean temperatures, since Francisco is now traversing a large cool patch of ocean up to 2°C colder than the surrounding waters, left behind by the churning action of Typhoon Wipha last week.

By the time Francisco makes its closest approach to Japan on Thursday and Friday, it will be undergoing transition to an extratropical storm. Francisco's interaction with a cold front over Japan during this process will bring very heavy rains to Japan, and these rains (4 - 8 inches) will pose a serious flooding threat, as the soils have not had a chance to dry out much from the record rains that Typhoon Wipha brought last week.

Typhoon Lekima is located approximately 827 nm east of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.

In the Eastern Pacific:

Hurricane Raymond is located about 160 mi (255 km) WSW of Acapulco, Mexico.

Hurricane Raymond roared into life on Sunday just offshore from Acapulco, Mexico, rapidly intensifying from a minimal-strength tropical storm with 40 mph winds to a major Category 3 hurricane in just 24 hours. Raymond is the first major hurricane in the Eastern Pacific in 2013, making it the first year since 1968 that both the Eastern Pacific and Atlantic had made it into October without a major hurricane.

Raymond has brought more than 3" of rain so far to Acapulco, where a Hurricane Watch is posted. Raymond is expected to bring heavy rains of up to 8" to the coast, and this is an area where heavy rains are definitely most unwelcome. Hurricane Manuel hit this region of Mexico with extreme torrential rains when it made landfall on September 15, triggering deadly mudslides and flooding that left 169 people dead or missing

NewsBytes

Tornado in France today has claimed the life of one person and injured two others, local media reported. The tornado caused heavy damage in Steent'je, near the French northern city of Bailleul.

A severe storm in Wales left parts of the capital city under several inches of water over the weekend. Police in Cardiff were forced to close roads on Saturday afternoon while shops were forced shut by unexpected flash-floods. Pentrebane, Llandaff, Roath and Cathays were hit by the heavy rainfall while witnesses described how Whitchurch village was "turned into a well" in just half an hour.