GLOBAL WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS

APRIL 2022

EUROPE

Unseasonably cold weather hit parts of Europe over the weekend, following warmer-than-normal temperatures in previous weeks that caused rapid greening of flora (1^st-4^th). Damage to agriculture is widespread but it seems it's not as bad as it was last year when a similar cold episode happened. The worst affected countries were France, Germany, Spain and Austria. "It's still difficult to evaluate the damage caused by the frost, but orchards and vineyards have been impacted," Jean-Marc Touzard, director of research at the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE), said. The French national minimum temperatures dropped to -1.5C overnight Sunday and early Monday (3-4 April), marking the country's coldest April morning since 1947, according to data provided by Meteo France. While Mourmelon in the Marne department east of Paris saw record temperatures of -9.3C, French mountainous regions recorded -21.5C, setting a new April record. For France, April 1 -3 were the coldest first three days of April since at least 1930, according to French meteorologist Guillaume Séchet. Growers across the affected regions burned candles, sprayed water and used wind turbines in efforts to protect their crops from freezing temperatures, AFP reported.

At least 16 people have been killed and 16 others remain missing after record-breaking rains triggered severe flash floods and landslides in the Baixada Fluminense and Costa Verde regions of Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Heavy rains across the state began on 31 March and continued through Saturday, April 2. Firefighters confirmed the deaths of six people in Angra, and six more deaths in the nearby municipalities of Paraty and Mesquita. At least 16 people were still missing. The worst affected was the popular tourist town of Paraty, located on the Costa Verde (Green Coast), a lush green corridor that runs along the coastline of the state of Rio de Janeiro. A destructive landslide hit the town's Ponta Negra neighbourhood on Saturday, killing a mother and five of her children. In all, seven houses were swept away in landslides in the city, and another four people were injured. 71 families were forced from their homes. The municipality of Angra dos Reis received 809 mm of rain in 48 hours to 2 April, causing deadly floods and landslides. The volume of rain registered in the 48 hours was the highest on record in Angra dos Reis, according to the city's municipal government.

UNITED STATES

A rare hailstorm blasted parts of South Florida, coating the ground in white chunks of ice. Pings from the hailstones, which ranged from nuisance pea-sized hail to hail the size of golf balls, drew the attention of Floridians who live as far south as Miami (4^th). The large hail caused significant damage to property in parts of Highlands County, which is to the north of Florida's Lake Okeechobee. Photos on social media showed car windows with holes punctured by the hail, with the stones also causing roof damage to area homes.

Intense storms blitzed across northern Texas Monday night, pelting the area with large hail and heavy rain (4^th). Over 30,000 electric customers were without power early Tuesday morning in the wake of the storms, according to Power Outage.  The number of outages has gradually been falling as crews work to turn on the lights for residents and businesses across the region affected by At least one person in East Texas was killed Monday night amid the storms when strong winds toppled a tree over his home. Alvarado, Texas, located 30 miles south of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, was one of the hardest-hit areas Monday night when a storm system raced through the area. Smoke could be seen billowing into the sky early on Tuesday morning after lightning from the storm sparked multiple fires, including a fire at a pallet yard. In the neighboring city of Midlothian, Texas, strong winds knocked over a tractor-trailer as a storm tracked south of Dallas.

A spring storm has caused power outages across states in the north-eastern US, with over a foot of snow falling in some places (19^th). Some 300,000 customers lost electricity, 200,000 of them in New York State. Several other north-eastern states had winter storm warnings in place from the National Weather Service (NWS). It was feared that heavy, wet snow could bring down tree limbs, with the NWS warning of wind gusts up to 40 mph. New York officials said people should try to stay off the roads if they can. The New York state town of Binghamton set a two-day record for the month of April with 14.5 inches of snow as of Tuesday morning. The town of Virgil, New York, reported 18 inches of snow, reaching the highest level of predicted snowfall. Albany, New York, the state capital, experienced thundersnow.

30th

A tornado has been filmed tearing through part of the US state of Kansas, with pictures showing cars crumpled into buildings and homes without roofs (30^th). The National Weather Service has issued severe thunderstorm warnings for Midwest states including Kansas, Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska. In the city of Wichita, the mayor said 50 to 100 structures had been damaged, especially in the suburb of Andover. However there are so far no reports of serious injuries. At a press conference on Saturday morning, local officials said there had been no deaths, despite the extent of the damage to buildings and cars.

AUSTRAILIA

Sydney, Australia is experiencing the third major flooding event this year, forcing authorities to issue evacuation orders for thousands of residents (6^th-7^th). Flood warnings for minor to major flooding in the Hawkesbury-Nepean and Georges rivers have been issued by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, with major flooding possible for Menangle, Liverpool and Milperra this afternoon. Sydney received nearly a month's worth of April rain (126.5 mm) overnight into the 7th, causing rivers to rise, turning streets into rivers and forcing thousands to evacuate.

MEDITERRANEAN

Since December, there has been very little precipitation in Northern Italy (8^th). This lack of precipitation also reflected in poor snow accumulation combined with mild winter temperatures, led to low soil moisture and low water level in the reservoirs and lakes. A winter temperature anomaly of +2.1°C and an average precipitation deficit of 65% (compared to the 1991-2020 average) have been observed too. Researchers indicate that such a combination of mild and dry winter has not occurred in Lombardy, Piedmont and southern Switzerland in the past 30 years. Severely drier than normal weather conditions are also predicted in the coming months, causing concern for the evolution of the current drought that could become an extreme drought event.

ASIA

India's weather department has issued a severe heatwave warning as temperatures soar, throwing millions of lives and livelihoods out of gear (29^th). The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast a gradual rise in maximum temperatures by 2-4°C over most parts of north-western and central India this week, with "no large change thereafter". While heatwaves are common in India, especially in May and June, summer began early this year with high temperatures from March itself - average maximum temperatures in the month were the highest in 122 years. Heatwaves also began setting in during the month. This week, the temperature in the capital, Delhi, is expected to cross 44C.

TROPICAL

At least 167 people have been killed in landslides and floods after Tropical Storm Megi devastated the Philippines (10^th-13^th). Rescue crews were still looking for survivors in flooded villages on the 13th, digging through mud and wading through chest-high water. However the death toll from Sunday's natural disaster is only expected to climb, officials say. Villages around Baybay city in the central Leyte province are worse hit. There, hillside avalanches and overflowing rivers wiped out homes and buried many people alive. In one village, Pilar, about 80% of the houses had been washed out to sea, a government official told news agency AFP. Philippines national disaster agency has also reported deaths in the southern Davao region, Mindanao and in the central Negros Orientals province. More than 100,000 people in southern and eastern Philippines islands have been affected by the storm, authorities say.

Heavy rainfall continues falling over eastern South Africa, particularly over the Province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), since the 10th, causing floods and landslides (10^th-14^th). On the 13th, authorities reported at least 300 fatalities. An unknown number of people are missing and the death toll is expected to rise. The city of Durban and KZN's south-eastern parts have been put under orange alert level 8 by the South African Weather Service. The system responsible for the heavy rain continued to intensify and RSMC La Reunion named it Subtropical Depression "Issa" at 1200 GMT on the 12th. Residents are advised to stay clear of flooded roads and bridges and avoid travel if possible. People living in low-lying areas are urged to move to higher ground; those who fear their homes may collapse should seek shelter in community halls. At 1800 GMT on the 12th, the centre of Subtropical Depression "Issa" was located about 155 km SSE of Durban, South Africa. Issa had a maximum average 10-minute wind speed of 95 km/h and a central pressure of 994 mb.