Wild Weather Videos To Close Out Your Summer

It's a toasty last day of summer here in Vermont with highs expected to reach the low 80s today, which is a good 15 degrees above normal.

After you enjoy what might be the last 80 degree weather until next spring, we have some weather videos for you on this relatively quiet weather day.

Tornadoes hit Sioux Falls, South Dakota earlier this month. Here is surveillance video from inside a pretty large pizza restaurant that was hit:




The United States gets epic hail storms pretty often, but we haven't cornered the market. Here's one this past week in Guarpuava, Brazil that looks impressive:





Ready for winter? "Snowliage" in Ivanovo, Russia this week:




Finally, a rather unpleasant storm in Baton Rouge, Lousiana this past week. Video by Landon Dinecola via Storyful

Russian Avalanche Proves We Shouldn't Have Complained About Those Snowy Nor'easters So Much

A heavy, wet snow avalanche begins to bury and push cars in
Russia this week. 

I don't know about you, but I really got sick and tired of repeatedly digging my truck out of back-breaking, heavy wet snow this month during those nor'easters that kept slamming New England.

I have proof, though, that it could have been worse. (No matter what situation you're in, it could almost always be worse.)

In Russia, an avalanche of heavy, wet snow invaded a parking lot.

According to RT, the snow slid down ski slopes at Mount Elbrus in the North Caucasus of Russia this past week. Mount Elbrus, a dormant volcano, is 18,510 feet high, and is the tallest mountain in Europe. 

Unlike many avalanches, which very often quickly and fatally overwhelm people and everything in their paths, this avalanche was relatively slow, at least when it got to the parking lot of the ski area. That meant everybody was able to get out of the way, even if they couldn't save their cars.

It also meant people were able to take photos and videos of the event. Like I said, I complained about having to dig my truck out from heavy, wet snow. In this case, heavy wet snow just shoved the cars across the parking lot and down the hill.

And oh, by the way, the avalanche smashed the cars against each other, and I'm sure many, if not most of them were totaled. Fortunately, the avalanche, aside from not hurting anyone, also did not destroy any major buildings or roads, though you do see in the video a small building getting smushed.

As a side note, you'll notice a lot of the snow in the video you'll see has an orange or tan tint to it.  That's dust and pollen blown into the region by winds from the deserts of North Africa. 

Here's the video.



Another video shows the avalanche blocking in some cars, but not actually moving or crushing them. Still, would you like to dig out that snow so you could actually drive away. I thought not. Here's that video:

Russians Have Problems Driving In The Winter, Too

Chaos in Vladivostok, Russia streets during the first
major snowstorm of the season. Image from RT.

Russia has a pretty wintry weather reputation, but that doesn't mean everybody can handle the cold season.  

The most recent example comes from Vladivostok, which had just had a slippery snowstorm (which is not at all unusual for mid-November in that city. )

It was the first major storm of the winter, which always seems to catch people off guard.

Like in cities in the United States and elsewhere, things did not go well on the roads and highways around Vladivostok.

The Russian news and propaganda agency RT says there were at least 256 accidents around the city due to the storm.

Let's not get too smug here in the U.S. There's already been plenty of winter-related car mishaps and there will be many, many more before winter ends.

The video below shows you the traffic jams and the wrecks that ensued during the snow in Vladivostok and is an instructional video of what not to do when it snows. Although the cat at the very end gets it right by staying indoors and just observing.

Watch:

Worst Thunderstorm in 100 Years Kills 16 In And Around Moscow, Russia

The roof of the Kremlin was among those damaged in
what was probably the worst thunderstorm in recent
Moscow history on Monday. 

Here in the United States, it's the peak of the severe thunderstorm and tornado season, but the worst outbreak of severe weather lately seems to have been in unlikely location of Moscow, Russia.  

An extreme thunderstorm packing winds of at leaset 70 mph swept Moscow and surrouding areas Monday, killing at least 16 people and injuring at least 150, the BBC said. 

Many locals said it was the worst storm to strike Moscow in as many as 100 years.

Five pedestrians were killed by falling trees. Two people died when their summer house near Moscow when a tree fell on it.

 Moscow is not used to such storms and buildings could not withstand the onslaught. Debris flew through the streets of Moscow as roofs blew off, windows shattered and walls collapsed. Hundreds of trees fell throughout the city.  One report said 3,500 Moscow trees toppled.

Even the roof of the Kremlin Senate was damaged. The BBC said a Canadian tourist, Frank Davis, told them debris was flying around in all directions.

 Below are some videos of the Moscow storm. The first one includes footage of a tennis center being torn apart:




Russia is famous for its dash cam videos, since everybody's got a dash cam. Here's a dramatic one in the storm:



Yet another compilation video:



Finally, here's what the Moscow storm did to some revolving doors:

WIld Video Of Avalanche JUST Missing Russian Ski Resort

The video in this post is cool. 


Looks scary, but spoiler alert! This avalanche ended up
missing these buildings at a Russia ski resort.

It was just posted this past weekend and shows a massive avalanche barely missing the Cheget Ski and Snowboard resort in Terskol, Russia.

There were no reports of injuries, but we're glad the avalanche appears to have been deflected away from the resort by terrain.

I know a lot of you don't want to see snow related posts now that we're way into spring, but this one is pretty cool.

Video credit goes to Oleg Koshkarev.

Watch:

Scary: Roof Blows Off Russian Apartment Building In Strong Winds

The roof of a five story apartment building crashes
to the ground after strong winds ripped it
off this week. Add caption 

Terrible winds gusting to hurricane force swept parts of Russia amid a strong storm in recent days.

In Dudinka, Siberia, Russia, the gales tore the roof from a five story apartment building, and people in a neighboring building caught that on video.

Needless to say, you can hear they are pretty scared. After all, is their building next.

They then laugh with nervous relief when they saw the debris would not hit their building.

There were no reports of serious injuries or deaths with this incident, which is good news.

Here's the video:

Russia's Far East Even More Buried In Snow Than Washington DC Will Be

People struggle through deep snow in Primorsky, Russia,
near Vladivostok, whch has had record snowfall
this week. Photo by Alexander Khitrov/Prime Media

As the Mid-Atlantic states and central Appalachians prepare for what is forecast to beome maybe one of the biggest snowstorms in memory, Russia's Far East is digging out from its own epic snowstorm.

Siberian Times reports some areas had as much snow in two days as what usually falls over the course of three months.  

Vladivostok, the major population center in the region, had two months worth of snow in two days, the Siberian Times says.

The region around Vladivostok, on the northwestern shore of Pacific Ocean, is used to tough winters. Prevailing winter winds from Siberia ensure lots of cold weather, and the proximity to the elatively warm ocean help make winter storms routine there.

Kinda like New England, except worse.

Go back to the link to the Siberian Times for lots of pictures of the Vladivostok region buried in snow.

Here is a video of somebody enjoying the deep Vladivostok snow, sort of, I guess.

Incredible Russian Dash Cam: Guy Tries To Get Back In Garage As Tornado Arrives

Things start to get way too stormy just after
a guy in Russia pulls out of his garage.  

There was a big tornado in Russia about a week and a half ago.

We now have a dash cam view that is probably one of the most remarkable videos I've seen of a tornado.

We see the view through the front windshield as the Russian driver backs out of a garage on a stormy day.

(Note: the time stamp on the video is incorrect. This was in late August)

Just as he pulls out onto the road, chaos erupts. It's a tornado!  Better get back into the garage!!!

Watch below what happens when he tried to do just that.

Spoiler:  Judging from the damage to the car and everything else around toward the end of the video, you wonder how he survived.

This is INCREDIBLE, though. Watch:

Way, Way Too Close To A German, Russian Tornadoes

Believe it or not, this image from a video of
a recent Russian tornado was taken from a safer distance
than in the video in this post, below.  

Two videos emerged this week of tornadoes in Europe in which I think whoever was filming them got far, far too close to the action. It's a wonder they weren't hurt or killed.

In the German tornado, I don't know why this person was out on his patio with the tornado right at the edge of his yard, but there he was as a twister swept through part of Germany.

Luckily the tornado was on the relatively weak side, and only the very outer edges of it actually engulfed the guy who was filming but YIKES!!

Watch:



An even scarier video emerged from Russia in the past couple of days.

Last week, and EF-3 tornado struck, claiming at least two lives.  In this video, I'm afraid right at the beginning it sort of looks the tornado had already gone through and left wreckage. But watch as the tornado comes.

Again wayyyyyyy too close!  Don't try this at home kiddies!!

Here's the Russian storm: