Weekly Wrap-Up: Flooding Strands Motorists in Southeast; Wildfire Smoke Enhances Sunsets in East

By Kevin Byrne, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer

June 13,2015; 9:40PM,EDT

 

 

Strong storms impacted a large portion of the Central and Eastern United States this week, while several new tropical systems developed elsewhere around the globe.
Daily thunderstorms erupted across the Southeast this week, bringing wind damage and flooding. A storm uprooted a tree that collapsed on a house in Irondale, Alabama, which had six people inside. A babysitter inside the home was pinned and needed equipment to free her, but she is expected to recover.
In the Midwest, heavy rain and winds gusting up to 70 mph pounded Chicago on Monday.
The Northeast was also impacted by strong thunderstorms this week. The National Weather Service office in Buffalo, New York, confirmed an EF-0 tornado touched down Wednesday night near Padelford, New York.
Lightning struck in Elysburg, Pa., on Thursday, June 11. (Photo/Twitter user@Tonystorm35)
Severe flooding was a widespread problem across much of the country this week. Reports of drivers stranded in flood waters came in from Tampa, Florida, and Nashville, Tennessee, while significant flooding led to street closures in Charleston, South Carolina. In Louisiana, the Red River reached a record height of 37 feet this week, keeping nearby residents on edge.
Melbourne and Vero Beach, Florida, both set daily rainfall records on Wednesday. Vero Beach's 3.12 inches of rain surpassed the previous total of 1.75 set in 1997, while Melbourne's total of 1.50 inches broke the previous record of 1.35 inches set in 1975.
Meanwhile, temperatures soared into the triple digits across parts of the West this week. In Sacramento, California, temperatures reached 105 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday, June 8, which is the hottest day of 2015 to date for the city.
Thanks to a dry and unusually warm winter and spring, the wildfire season in Canada has begun earlier than normal, with several large fires burning in northern Alberta and Northern Saskatchewan.
A shift in the jet stream has carried the smoke down into parts of the Midwest and eastern part of the U.S., which has helped to create dazzling sunsets. Residents of the Carolinas shared pictures on social media of the sky appearing pink, orange and dark red on Tuesday evening.
One resident in Mooresville, North Carolina, noticed an "orange feel" to the sunset on Tuesday, June 9. (Photo/Twitter user @Grambo00)
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The eastern Pacific remained active this week. Several days after Blanca made the earliest recorded landfall on the Baja California peninsula, the Eastern Pacific remained busy as Tropical Storm Carlos formed south of Mexico.
Overseas, Tropical Cyclone Ashobaa strengthened in the Arabian Sea during the middle of the week, and despite weakening as the week went on, it brought impacts to Oman. Some areas received five years' worth of rain in 24 hours, turning typically arid areas into raging rivers, AccuWeather Meteorologist Eric Leister said.
Storm clouds from Ashobaa moving onshore in Sur, Oman. (Twitter Photo/@AAlmaashari)
In Europe, a heavy hailstorm was responsible for several minor traffic accidents in Madrid, Spain.
Several AccuWeather meteorologists and staff writers contributed content to this article.