Weather Whirligig 1

This is the first in what will be an informal series of posts with the aim of providing quasi-periodic updates of the unusual weather which (seemingly) occurs with ever-increasing frequency. The posts will be somewhat 'bare-boned', a simple record of unusual, high-impact and/or disastrous weather events provided for future reference. My commentary will be minimal in these posts. I will aim for a weekly/fortnightly time scale.

I am not trying to make any claim that any particular event included is a response to climate change. Rather, I think the record will speak for itself. A log of events such as this will help to ascertain the validity of such claims. Agencies such as the Red Cross and Munich Re are already making such claim. I have made them myself.

• Seasonal Floods begin early in Southern Africa – EO Natural Hazards

By February or March during the typical rainy season [in southern Africa], the intense rain puddles on the saturated ground and pushes brimming rivers, reservoirs, and lakes over their banks. In 2008, the floods began in January. These floods killed 6 people in Mozambique and are the worst since 2000-1. Image above is a before/after set from these floods.

• Heavy rains flood drought-hit Australian farmers – Reuters

Heavy rains and flooding in northeast Australia have been both a blessing and a curse for drought-hit farmers, but more rain is needed to break a seven-year drought. The floods are continuing in central Queensland (two weeks after this story initially ran), as remnants of a tropical cyclone moved southward over the continent. The flooding and heavy rain in eastern Australia are historically associated with mature La Nina conditions similar to those being currently observed.

• Mideast cold snap causes deaths, crop damage – ABC News (Australia)

There have been a number of deaths and considerable damage to crops in the Middle East as temperatures in the region fall to exceptional lows...In Syria, temperatures have dropped to minus 16 degrees Celsius [and t]here has been widespread damage to crops in Syria, Jordan and Israel.

• Heavy snow in China causes deaths and damage – Reuters

Cold weather and heavy snow have struck unusually large swathes of central and eastern China, causing fatal accidents, bringing down power lines and destroying crops.

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Image: EO Natural Hazards