FEBRUARY 2022

UNITED STATES

The Northeast residents were urged to stay off the roads with temperatures beginning to drop on the evening of the 4th as a major winter storm turned already slippery roads and sidewalks into ice-covered hazards. The storm spread misery from the deep south, where tree limbs snapped and a tornado claimed a life, to the nation's north-eastern tip. Massachusetts state police responded to more than 200 crashes with property damage or injuries, including one fatal crash, on the 3rd-4^th(1^st-4^th). The New York governor, Kathy Hochul, warned residents to stay home if possible to avoid ice-coated roadways and the threat of falling tree limbs in the Hudson Valley and Capital regions. More than a foot of snow fell in parts of Pennsylvania, New York and New England. Utility crews were making progress in an area stretching from Texas to Ohio after about 350,000 homes and businesses were in the dark at one point. One of the hardest-hit places was Memphis, where more than 100,000 customers remained without power late on the 4th in Shelby County alone. The outages came as freezing rain and snow weighed down tree limbs and encrusted power lines, part of a storm that caused a deadly tornado in Alabama, dumped more than a foot of snow in parts of the Midwest and brought rare measurable snowfall. Along the warmer side of the storm, in western Alabama, a tornado that hit a rural area on the 3rd killed one person and critically injured three others. More than 20 inches of snow was reported in the southern Rockies, while more than a foot of snow fell in areas of Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. Airlines scrubbed about 3,400 flights by midday on Friday, with the highest numbers of cancellations at Dallas-Fort Worth and airports in the New York City area and Boston. In Texas, the return of sub-freezing weather brought heightened anxiety nearly a year after February 2021's catastrophic freeze that buckled the state's power grid for days, leading to hundreds of deaths in one of the worst blackouts in US history. The storm began on the 1st and moved across the central US on Groundhog Day (the 2nd), the same day the famed groundhog Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter.

The West is experiencing its worst drought since 800AD - around the time Charlemagne ruled - according to a newly released study (16^th). The ongoing drought has seen lakes, reservoirs and rivers in California fall to record lows, exacerbating wildfires, according to scientists. The current drought is the worst 22-year dry period in the last 1,200 years - dating back to Vikings and Mayans. The last multi-decade drought occurred in the 1500s, but was not so severe. The new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change relied on data from the rings in trees and wood beams preserved at Native American archaeological sites.

MADAGASCAR

At least 10 people have been killed and nearly 50000 displaced after Cyclone Batsirai brought strong winds and rain to Madagascar in the evening (5^th). Batsirai - the second major storm in two weeks - made landfall on the east coast, with gusts of 235 km/h and high waves hitting coastal areas. Whole villages are reported to be almost completely destroyed. Cyclone Batsirai made landfall near the south-eastern city of Mananjary, 530 km from the capital Antananarivo, at around 1700 GMT. Electricity was cut off in places and the water supply was disrupted, according to local media. One resident told Reuters that even schools and churches due to be used as evacuation centres had had their roofs torn off. In other places, the destruction was nearly total.

ASIA

Heavy snow fell over Japan over the weekend, with some areas receiving record-breaking amounts (5^TH-6^TH). The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said the snow was brought by a wintry pressure pattern combined with cold air mass. All-time 24-hour snowfall records were broken in Maibara City, Chiga Prefecture where 62 cm were recorded, and Sapporo City, Hokkaido with 60 cm. Both figures are the highest since comparable data became available in 2001 for Maibara and in 1999 for Sapporo. Total snow depth in Sapporo reached 133 cm on the 6th. The city's all-time record is 169 cm on 13 February 1939. Sekigahara recorded 98 cm in 48 hours, also a record-breaking amount.

EUROPE

At least 9 people have died in Austria after more than 100 avalanches struck the country in just three days (5^th-7^th). Authorities described the situation as unprecedented and warned more avalanches can be expected in the days ahead. Most of the avalanches hit the country's western region of Tyrol where 5 people died on the 5th.

At least 16 people have been killed as Storm Eunice carved a deadly trail across Europe. Deaths were reported in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, the Irish Republic and the UK, as fierce winds felled trees and sent debris flying (18^th-19^th). Millions of homes and businesses lost power across Europe and transport networks were left in disarray. The Dutch coastguard said it was trying to locate 26 empty shipping containers lost in the North Sea. Gusts of up to 122 mph were recorded on Friday. Several of those who died were hit by falling trees: four in the Netherlands, two in Poland after trees fell on to their cars, and a man in his 60s in County Wexford, the Republic of Ireland. Two more died in Germany and three people were killed on roads in England. Two people have died in Belgium, including a man hit on the head by a solar panel blown off a building in Ghent. Elsewhere in the Netherlands parts of the roof of the stadium of football team ADO Den Haag was ripped off in the Hague and high speed trains to Belgium, France and the UK were cancelled. In Germany rail operator Deutsche Bahn said "more than 1,000 km" of track had suffered damage. Poland still had one million customers with electricity cut off on Saturday afternoon, after the country's north-west took a battering. Ferries across the Channel, the world's busiest shipping lane, were suspended, before the English port of Dover reopened on Friday afternoon. Hundreds of flights were cancelled at airports including Heathrow and Schiphol.

ICELAND

A violent bomb cyclone affected Iceland, producing hurricane-force winds and record-breaking waves at the southern coast of the country (7^th-8^th). One of the waves reached 40 m and blew off the scale, making it by far the highest measured wave off the coast of Iceland and among the highest ever measured in the world. Garoskagi wave measuring buoys repeatedly reported 30 m waves during the storm, breaking the previous record wave height in Iceland set on 9 January 1990, at 25 m. However, one of the waves was so powerful that the meter struck out at 40 m and therefore it's currently uncertain how high the wave actually was.

CENTRAL AMERICA

A damaging tornado hit the city of Morales, Guatemala (13^th). According to the Guatemalan National Institute for Seismology, Vulcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology, the tornado touched ground at around 1420 LT, causing damage to trees, homes, and businesses.

SOUTH AMERICA

Extremely heavy rain hit the city of Petropolis, Brazil, causing severe floods and landslides in which at least 100 people lost their lives (15^th). Search and rescue operations are still in progress and the number of fatalities is still expected to rise. Petropolis is located in a mountainous region just north of the capital Rio de Janeiro. Hourly rainfall rates went up to an extraordinary 125.8 mm/h at 1715 LT in the Alto da Serra rain gauge. In Sao Sebastiao, as much as 259.8 mm of rain fell in 6 hours to 2110 LT - close to the amount that fell during the previous 30 days.

AUSTRAILIA

A 60-year-old woman was found dead in a submerged car and 10 others are feared missing after heavy rains and flash floods caused havoc across Australia's eastern coast (23^rd). Some areas in the country have received up to 400 mm of rainfall within 24 hours, local reports said. Several emergency warnings were issued in multiple states along the Pacific coast. The Bureau of Meteorology in Queensland said that over 300 mm of rain fell within six hours near Gympie. Flood warnings have been issued on the Mary River, according to reports. Over a 24 hour period, 424 mm of rain fell in Mount Wolvi, 356 mm in Pomona and 354 mm in Cedar Pocket Dam.

A slow-moving pressure system is producing very heavy rains in parts of Queensland, Australia, with some areas receiving more than 700 mm over the past 3 of days(25^th). Widespread floods have reached major levels in parts of the state and have so far claimed at least 3 lives. This weather event is one of the most severe systems to impact Queensland in recent years and the rain will continue falling through the day and into the weekend, producing more life-threatening flash flooding.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has issued numerous major flood warnings across southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales (NSW) with a severe weather warning remaining current for several parts of the region. Multiple major flood warnings remain current for north-eastern NSW including the Tweed, Richmond, Wilsons, Clarence, Brunswick rivers and Marshall Creek 28^th). Authorities are describing the situation as unprecedented and warning the worst is yet to come! At least 8 people have been killed and three remain missing in Queensland after a year's worth of rain fell on parts of the southeast. Record river flooding has been reported, in parts of the region 2 m above existing record levels. 58,000 homes have been flooded in Brisbane alone and tens of thousands of customers are without pow

TROPICAL

Remnants of Tropical Cyclone Dovi hit New Zealand's North Island on the 13th, bringing destructive winds, heavy rains, and large waves. Authorities issued severe weather warnings from Northland to Christchurch ahead of the storm, urging people not to travel unless absolutely necessary. Dovi formed on February 9 as the seventh named storm of the 2021/22 Australian region cyclone season. It passed over New Caledonia and Vanuatu on 9-10 February, bringing heavy rains and winds up to 80 km/h, with gusts to 154 km/h. In Vanuatu, Dovi turned roads into violent rivers in low lying areas including one major road leading out of Port Vila.

Cyclone Emnati made landfall on Madagascar around 2300 GMT just north of the southeastern district of Manakara (22^nd-23^rd). It is the fourth major cyclone to hit the island in a month, The storm, which passed just north of Indian Ocean islands of Mauritius and Reunion, had weakened slightly by the time it reached the eastern coast of Madagascar, but was still packing winds of around 100 km/h, according to Meteo-France. The cyclone is forecast to exit Madagascar Wednesday night, but authorities are warning of torrential rains. National Weather forecaster, Meteo-Madagascar warned of strong gusts, heavy rain and widespread flooding around the southern and southeastern districts.