GLOBAL WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS

JUNE 2018

INDIA

With monsoon rains still several weeks away, intense heat will maintain a firm grip on northern India, as well as neighboring Pakistan into the middle of June (1-6^th). The heat began to build across central and northern India during mid- to late-May and intensified further last week as many locations, including New Delhi, reported their highest temperatures of the year. Thursday, Friday and Saturday were the hottest days so far this year in the National Capital Region. Temperatures soared to 46.8 C on Thursday at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. Friday and Saturday saw similar conditions with a high around 46 C both days. High temperatures of 42-44 C were reported from Sunday to Thursday.

Weekend showers provided a much-needed but partial respite to parts of India sweltering in a brutal heatwave (16^th). In Bihar, however, one of the poorest areas of the country, 49 people died on Saturday in just 24 hours. With temperatures in Bihar hovering consistently at around 45C (113F), hospitals were inundated with people suffering from heatstroke. The death toll has since risen to at least 60 and, with many heatstroke victims still in hospital, is expected to rise further. Schools in Bihar will remain closed until Wednesday.

Mumbai endured an onslaught of torrential rain as nearly 152 mm fell from Friday morning to the early nighttime hours, local time (28^th). This was the first heavy rain event since the monsoon began about two weeks behind schedule, which officials told the Times of India that the season's delayed start was the longest in 45 years. The monsoon typically is declared in Mumbai around June 10. Streets became flooded and motorists faced disruptions across parts of the city. Three people died due to separate electrocution incidents amid the heavy rain, according to the Times of India. Five people sustained injures in other rain-related issues, including when a retaining wall collapsed in the city's Dadar suburb on Friday afternoon.

UNITED STATES

The summit of Mount Washington in New Hampshire was coated in nearly an inch of snow and rime ice earlier this week as winter weather continued during what some are calling "June-uary." (4^th) Rime ice is not rare in June, but is not common either. On Tuesday morning, observers on Mount Washington reported that 0.9 of an inch of fresh snow had accumulated since Monday morning. In addition to the snow and ice, fierce winds were recorded. A 102-mph wind gust was reported Monday night. The mountain, with its peak reaching an altitude of 6,288 feet, is the tallest mountain in the northeastern United States and is notorious for experiencing wild weather.

AUSTRALIA

Snow turned the ground white in parts of southern Queensland (4^th). Snowfall is quite rare in the Australia state which is in a subtropical climate; however, it does occur in the higher terrain near the border with New South Wales. The last such occurrence was four years ago in 2015 and continues a very snowy start to the winter season across Australia. Snow in May allowed ski resorts in Victoria to open early with at least one resort offering free skiing for its opening weekend.

UNITED STATES

The Texas coast was inundated by drenching rain Wednesday night into Thursday with some places seeing a month's worth of precipitation in a 24-hour period (5^th). The heavy rains sparked flash flooding, which is being blamed for at least one death, and triggered chaos across the south-central U.S. where an outbreak of severe weather also erupted, leading to reports of at least four tornadoes touching down in Louisiana. Both Wharton and Palacios, Texas, reported 8 inches of rain in less than 12 hours on Wednesday.

Another round of tornadoes struck the central United States from North Dakota and Oklahoma to Indiana during the weekend (15^th). Saturday held 26 preliminary tornado reports from the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center. Severe storms produced three tornadoes, two of which were confirmed EF2 tornadoes in Des Moines County, Iowa, that downed trees, power lines, destroyed outbuildings and "severely damaged a house off its foundation," according to an NWS storm survey. The third tornado was a confirmed EF0 west of Mediapolis. The two EF2 tornadoes struck Oakville, Iowa, where one reached peak wind speeds of 120 mph. It destroyed a farm building, threw farm equipment 40 yards and moved a pickup truck about 20 yards, according to the NWS storm survey. The second EF2 tornado destroyed a big farm. The survey photos from both tornadoes show wooden beams torn asunder and scattered across a field, a windshield impaled by a wooden pole and farm equipment flipped on its side.

Severe thunderstorms roared from Georgia through New Jersey on Thursday afternoon, leaving behind widespread power outages and disruptive flooding across the region (21^st). Over 3,500 flights were delayed in the eastern U.S. on Thursday, according to Flightstats, with a majority of the delays being reported at airports around New York City. Airports, such as Newark and JFK airports were subject to ground delays as rain and storms moved through the city. The worst of the storms focused on the Carolinas with many storms whipping up winds past 50 mph, strong enough to bring down trees and power lines. Around 145,000 were without power in North Carolina and South Carolina on Thursday evening, accounting for more than two-thirds of the outages across the eastern U.S. Over 215,000 were without power in the East on Thursday evening.

Severe weather cut power to hundreds of people in Missouri and Kansas (23^rd). Southwestern Missouri was one of the hardest-hit locations where multiple water rescues had to be performed. A storm rolled into Jefferson County, Missouri, on Saturday evening, bringing rains that would inundate the ground and contribute to the flooding in the southern portion of the state later in the night into Sunday morning. Local law enforcement reported flash flooding in the warned area before 10 a.m. CDT Sunday. Up to 150 mm of rain had fallen and already triggered flash flooding. There were reports of multiple water rescues, roads washed out and buildings damaged or destroyed in these areas.

FRANCE

A rescue boat has overturned in the Atlantic off the west coast of France leaving three crew dead, amid winds of up to 80 mph (7^th). They were part of a crew of seven who had gone to the aid of another boat which had got into difficulty as Storm Miguel struck the area. Winds of up to 147km/h hit northern Spain earlier, swirling around the Bay of Biscay and moving on to France. The storm is unusual, coming at the start of the summer tourist season. Four of the seven crew aboard the rescue boat managed to swim to shore.

France will declare a state of natural disaster after rain and hail storms lashed a swathe of the south-east on Saturday (15^th), devastating crops. The flash storms, which brought hailstones as big as pingpong balls to some areas, killed two people in France and Switzerland, and injured at least 10 others. The worst-hit area, the Auvergne-Rhone-Alps region, is at the heart of France's food production and known as the "orchard of France". Didier Guillaume, the agriculture minister, said the government would organize a "general mobilization" and introduce emergency measures to deal with what he described as a catastrophe for farmers. The bad weather struck western Switzerland on Saturday afternoon, bringing hail and winds reaching up to 110 kilometers per hour, according to the national forecaster MeteoSwiss.

Montpellier (France), both on red alert for a heatwave and rated as a "severe" wildfire risk, is baking ho (28^th)t. It was confirmed that temperatures reached a record high for the country of 45.9C in Gallargues-le-Montueux, a nearby village. Seven hundred firefighters battled wildfires in the Gard in some areas the fires had closed sections of the motorway. Fifteen firefighters were hurt but no serious injuries were reported, although in the neighboring region of Vaucluse, a cyclist died after collapsing in the heat while riding in the mountains. His was the sixth heat-related death in the sweltering weather covering much of western Europe. Three people died as a result of the heat in Italy, where Milan was hit by power cuts caused by the demand for air conditioning. For a fourth consecutive day, in Spain, temperatures rose above 43C on Saturday, causing two people to die from heat-related complications. Forty of Spain's 50 regions were placed under weather alert, with seven of them considered to be at extreme risk, the national meteorological agency said. Swaths of the continent are experiencing extreme heat. Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic have also all recorded their highest-ever June temperatures.

GERMANY

A strong hailstorm hit parts of southeastern Germany's Bavaria region on Monday evening, injuring several people (10^th). Witnesses caught up in the storm posted videos to social media showing hailstones the size of golf balls pummelling water and thudding on decking around Lake Ammersee, or shredding foliage in some gardens.

CHINA

At least 24 people are dead with others missing after yet another round of heavy rain struck southern China (11^th). More downpours threaten to exacerbate the flooding situation across the region through the remainder of the month. An estimated 2.2 million people have been affected by the onslaught of heavy rain and flooding that commenced last Thursday, according to UPI. The flooding has damaged about 146,100 hectares (360,000 acres) of farmland and 6,000 buildings. The deadly flooding and onslaught of downpours is the result of the Mei-yu front being displaced from its normal position. The Mei-yu front is a semi-stationary boundary that is draped across southeastern Asia from late spring through the summer and is notorious for triggering torrential rainfall. A weather observation site in Fogang in Guangdong reported 117 mm in the 24 hours ending on Thursday morning. A total of 416.6 mm of rain fell at Guilin, located in northern Guangxi Province, from June 6 to 11.

ITALY

The Italian island of Sardinia is dealing with its worst swarm of locusts in 70 years as the insects destroy crops, infest houses and devastate animal grazing pastures covering 6,200 acres, according to Reuters (15^th). Weather patterns played a role in Sardinia, as droughts in 2017 and heavy rains in 2018 created "the ideal climate for locusts to emerge from fallow land and then move to cultivated fields to eat," Michele Arbau from the Italian agricultural association Coldiretti said. In 2013, a massive swarm of locusts roughly 30 million strong hit Egypt and the Middle East, and in 2004, an infestation in Africa and the Middle East cost $400 million as well as harvest losses of $2.5 billion, according to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization.

MEXICO

A freak hail storm has struck Guadalajara, one of Mexico's most populous cities, burying vehicles in a deluge of ice pellets up to two meters deep (30^th). Guadalajara, located north of Mexico City and with a population of around five million, has been experiencing summer temperature of around 31C in recent days. While seasonal hail storms do occur, there is no record of anything so heavy. At least six neighborhoods in the city outskirts woke up to ice pellets up to two meters deep. While children scampered around and hurled iceballs at each other, civil protection personnel and soldiers brought out heavy machinery to clear the roads. Nearly 200 homes and businesses reported hail damage, and at least 50 vehicles were swept away by the deluge of ice in hilly areas, some buried under piles of pellets. While no casualties were reported, two people showed "early signs of hypothermia," the state civil protection office said.

TROPICAL

The formation of the first tropical storm Alvin of the Eastern Pacific hurricane season came much later than average (27^th). Alvin was upgraded to a hurricane when it was determined that the storm contained sustained winds of 75 mph on Thursday evening. Alvin maintained hurricane status for about six hours Thursday night, before slipping back to tropical storm strength. Two years share the same date for the record latest start to the Eastern Pacific hurricane season during the satellite era, which began in 1966. In 2016, and decades earlier in 1969, the first named tropical systems formed on July 2.