Hurricane Dorian continues to pound Southeastern U.S. coast

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Blustery wind and sideways rain lashed the low-lying coast of South and North Carolina on Thursday as Hurricane Dorian churned offshore, downing power lines and stately live oak trees, spawning tornadoes and threatening hundreds of thousands of coastal residents with intense flooding.

Bill Olesner ventures out into flooded streets in 

Charleston, S.C., to clean debris from storm drains.

After pummeling the Bahamas as a Category 5 hurricane, killing more than 20 people, the erratic and wobbly storm weakened early in the week, only to pick up strength briefly overnight Wednesday and then weaken again. By Thursday evening, Dorian was a Category 2 as it moved about 30 miles south of Cape Fear, N.C., with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph.

While South Carolina fared better than expected — Gov. Henry McMaster lifted evacuation orders early Thursday afternoon for three of eight coastal counties — North Carolina was still at risk of tornadoes, storm surge and flash flooding. Major river flooding was expected at the Northeast Cape Fear River near Burgaw.

Read the story from The Los Angeles Times by Jenny Jarvie - “Hurricane Dorian continues to pound Southeastern U.S. coast."

Nature’s furies batter Asia and the United States

Hong Kong: Death tolls are expected to rise as the two storms that have lashed the Philippines and China and North Carolina continue to wreak havoc.

A police officer carries a girl in rain during a No 10
 Hurricane Signal raised for Typhoon Mangkhut in
Hong Kong on Sunday.

Typhoon Mangkhut battered Hong Kong and threatened the southern coast of China on Sunday, after cutting a destructive path through the Philippines and killing dozens of people there.

Read the story from The Age - “Nature’s furies batter Asia and the United States.”

'Insufficient': Queensland government savages reef deal

The Queensland government has lashed an “unprecedented” decision by the Commonwealth to award $444 million in Great Barrier Reef funding to a private organisation, saying it was blindsided by the announcement and the money will not save the reef unless climate change is also curbed.

Fish swim among bleached coral in the Great Barrier Reef.

Fairfax Media has also confirmed the Great Barrier Reef Foundation will pocket a slice of the record funding, triggering claims the Turnbull government is wasting money that should be spent saving the ailing natural wonder.

But the foundation says its share of the millions will be capped to maximise the amount spent on the reef.

Read the story by Nicole Hasham from The Age -  “'Insufficient': Queensland government savages reef deal.”

Melbourne weather: The Pac-Man shaped storm that ate Melbourne

A unique rain formation weather-watchers dubbed 'Pac-Man' surrounded and swallowed up Melbourne as rain and strong winds lashed the state overnight.

The circular 'Pac-Man' stormfront.

The radar image mimicked the iconic video game graphics and showed Melbourne in the eye of a circular storm from about 8pm Thursday.

Keen radar-watchers also called the rain pattern a "force field" and described it as “tie-dyed".

Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Chris Godfred said "the image that launched a thousand memes" was actually a fairly common phenomenon. He said when a rain-producing weather system met a downward flow of air, it meant the rain was less likely to fall and instead created a "rain shadow”.

Read the story by Anna Prytz from The Age - “Melbourne weather: The Pac-Man shaped storm that ate Melbourne.”

Melbourne weather: When the rain is likely to hit your area hardest

Melbourne is set to be lashed with more than 100 millimetres of rain – almost double its December average rainfall – over Friday and Saturday alone, with thunderstorms and hail likely to accompany the downpour.

Melbourne's skyline under rain clouds on Friday morning.

A severe weather warning has been issued for all of Victoria as the bureau prepares for what could be the state's most significant rain event in more than 20 years.

It is difficult for weather forecasters to give a precise hour-by-hour timeline of when rainfall is likely to hit any one suburb.

"Showers and thunderstorms can bubble up very quickly during a rain event like this", says Keris Arndt, senior forecaster at the Bureau of Meteorology 

Read the story by Liam Mannix in the Melbourne Age - “Melbourne weather: When the rain is likely to hit your area hardest.”