GLOBAL WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS

JUNE 2022

EUROPE

Fierce thunderstorms and hailstorms around France left one woman dead and 14 people injured, ravaged vineyards and delayed flights (4^th). Lightning hit the Eiffel Tower, without causing damage, and set roofs on fire east of Paris, according to local authorities. Residents of south-west France posted photos online of hail the size of tennis balls, and drivers in the Paris region shared images of flooded highways and daytime skies blackened by thunder clouds. Thousands of households remained without electricity on Sunday after the storms struck across France on Saturday, according to utility Enedis. Flights out of Paris's Orly Airport were temporarily suspended on Saturday, and there were delays at Charles de Gaulle Airport. A woman swept away by flooding was found dead under a car in the historic Normandy city of Rouen, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin tweeted. The circumstances of her death were unclear. In the Loire Valley, thousands of young people who were taking part in a huge Scout gathering had to take refuge in the Chateau of Chambord as hail, thunder and lightning pounded the area. The chateau director told public broadcaster France-Info that some children were treated for signs of hypothermia but no serious injuries were reported.

Intense heat across much of Europe has seen June temperature records broken from the Arctic Circle to North Africa in N and E areas of the continent (27^th-30^th). Norway recorded a temperature of 32.5C at Banak on Wednesday, reportedly the highest temperature ever recorded within the Arctic Circle in Europe, and significantly higher than the June average of 13C. Poland saw temperatures reach the mid-thirties on Monday, and parts of eastern Germany saw several locations reach 37C. June temperature records were also broken in Slovenia and Croatia, while Bosnia and Herzegovina saw temperatures 0.2 degC below the June record at 41C. The extreme heat has also extended to North Africa, where temperatures in Tunisia equalled its monthly record of 48.7C on Monday. Elsewhere in Europe, an outbreak of thunderstorms caused a devastating mudslide in southern Austria, killing one person and flooding houses and roads in the Carinthia region.

A second extreme heat event of the year is searing Spain and southern France, with temperatures hitting highs not normally recorded until July or August and experts warning summer heatwaves are happening earlier and more often (13^th). The French state forecaster, Meteo France, said temperatures had already exceeded 35C close to the Mediterranean and would rise further from midweek as the hot air mass moved northwards, with parts of the south-west and Rhone valley reaching 39C.

Record flooding and rockslides following a burst of heavy rains prompted the rare closure on Monday of all five entrances to Yellowstone national park at the start of the summer tourist season, the park superintendent said (14^th). The entire park, spanning parts of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, will remain closed to visitors, including those with lodging and camping reservations, at least through Wednesday, as officials assess damage to roads, bridges and other facilities. All five park entrances were closed to inbound traffic for the first summer since a series of devastating wildfires in 1988. The National Park Service was working to reach visitors and staff remaining at various locations, especially in the hardest-hit northern flank of Yellowstone, officials said. The flooding and slides were triggered by days of torrential showers in the park and steady rains across much of the wider region after one of its wettest springs in many years. The park service characterized the levels of rainfall and flooding sweeping the park as unprecedented.

Outdoor public events have been banned in an area of France as a record breaking heatwave sweeps across Europe (17^th). Concerts and large public gatherings have been called off in the Gironde department around Bordeaux. On Thursday 16th, parts of France hit 40C earlier in the year than ever before, with temperatures expected to peak on Saturday. Spain, Italy and the UK are also experiencing high temperatures. State forecaster Meteo France said it was the earliest hot spell ever to hit the country, which has been caused by a mass of hot air moving from north Africa. The increased use of air-conditioners and fans was forcing France to import electricity from neighboring countries, grid operator RTE said. In Spain, which has just experienced its hottest May since the beginning of the century, temperatures are forecast to hit highs of 43C this weekend, the Aemet weather service said. There have been forest fires in Catalonia, including one which could grow to 20,000 hectares before it's contained, the regional government said. Water is so low in large stretches of Italy's largest river, the Po, that locals can walk through the middle of the expanse of sand and wartime shipwrecks are resurfacing.

ASIA

The latest round of heavy rain affecting China's Jiangxi Province since May 28, 2022, affected nearly 800,000 people (6^th). The rainfall wreaked havoc in the province's 80 counties, damaged 76,300 ha of crops, and caused direct economic losses of 1.16 billion yuan (about 174 million U.S. dollars), according to the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters. Many villagers from Ganzhou City have been evacuated after heavy rains triggered floods on June 6. Downpours battered the Ganxian District of the city from 0300 to 0900 GMT on the 6th, with the accumulated rainfall reaching 265 mm, inundating croplands and roads.

Nepal is preparing to move its Everest base camp because global warming and human activity are making it unsafe (17^th). The camp, used by up to 1,500 people in the spring climbing season, is situated on the rapidly thinning Khumbu glacier. A new site is to be found at a lower altitude, where there is no year-round ice, an official said. Researchers say melt-water destabilizes the glacier, and climbers say crevasses are increasingly appearing at base camp while they sleep.

At least 59 people are known to have died in lightning strikes and landslides triggered by severe monsoon storms in India and Bangladesh (20^th). Millions of people have been stranded while emergency workers have struggled to reach those affected. Forecasters are warning that the flooding is expected to get worse over the next few days. Some Bangladesh government officials have described the recent flooding as the country's worst since 2004. Unrelenting rains over the last week have inundated vast swathes of the country's north-east region, exacerbated by run-off from heavy downpours across mountains in neighboring India. Schools have been converted into makeshift shelters, while troops have been deployed to evacuate households cut off from neighboring communities as a result of rising waters.

According to China's National Meteorological Center, the average rainfall in Guangdong, Fujian and Guangxi provinces between early May and the middle of June reached 621 mm (24 inches) which is the highest since 1961 (21^st). The rains caused major floods in the low-lying Pearl River basin, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate and threatening manufacturing, shipping and logistics operations. In Guangdong, more than 200,000 people have been evacuated and the current damage is estimated at $254 million USD. The city of Shaoguan, Guangdong issued a Red Flood alert this morning, after multiple rural counties and the major city of Foshan upgraded their flood warnings in recent days. The city of Foshan was hit by a destructive tornado on the 19th, the second damaging tornado to hit the province within just 3 days.

Record-breaking June temperatures are engulfing Japan, prompting authorities to issue heatstroke advisories and warn of power outages (27^th). Unusually high temperatures for the time of the year are expected to last at least until early July. The capital Tokyo registered 35.7C today, making it its daily record high. The city has also had temperatures above 35C for three days in a row, making it the first time for June since records started in 1875.

Tokyo recorded temperatures above 35C today for a fifth consecutive day, marking the worst documented streak of hot weather in June since records started in 1875 (29^th). Meanwhile, the city of Isesaki, northwest of the capital, saw a record 40.2C - the highest temperature ever recorded in June for Japan.

Cherrapunji, the wettest place on earth, recorded 2,456 mm of rain over the last three days triggering one of the worst floods and landslides in Meghalaya in recent years (17^th). Nearly ten people have died in Meghalaya and Assam due to rainfall-related accidents this week. According to the rainfall data maintained by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the rainfall recorded in Cherrapunji since June 1 was 4067 mm. Over the last three days, large areas of Meghalaya, particularly around Sohra, have been battered by extremely heavy rainfall. For three consecutive days since the 15th, the 24-hour rainfall recorded in northeast India region. Between March and May this year, Meghalaya received 93 per cent surplus and had ended up as one of the wettest northeastern states.

Cherrapunji was 811 mm, 673.6 mm and 972 mm. These include the third wettest (June 17) and the eighth wettest (June 15) day in June in 122 years. Strong and consistent inflow of moist south-westerly winds reaching northeast India for the past one week has resulted in this deluge, meteorologists at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. Such winds and local orographic and weather factors too contributed to such high rainfall over northeast India.  Such extreme rainfall comes after last month's surplus rainfall over the northeast India region. Between March and May this year, Meghalaya received 93 per cent surplus and had ended up as one of the wettest northeastern states.

AUSTRAILIA

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology has warned residents living in southeast Queensland of frosty mornings and single-digit temperatures throughout the month as well below June average temperatures descend over much of southeast Australia (8^th). Some parts of the state are experiencing their lowest June temperatures in more than 100 years. “It‘s usually the last week of June that we get temperatures as cold as this, so it's unusual to have it this cold at the start of June,” Meteorologist Helen Reid said. The coldest parts of the state on June 7 were down on the flat country in Darling Downs, with some areas sitting at 1C or 2C, Reid said.

UNITED STATES

Officials reopened part of the Yellowstone National Park, but residents in one nearby city are worried that too much damage has been done to provide a successful summer tourism season (22^nd). This followed a historic flooding event at the park this past week temporarily caused the closure of all entrances. The Yellowstone area received four times the normal amount of rainfall since the beginning of June, with one month's worth of rain falling on the 12th. By the next day, the situation had become severe enough that some 10,000 people were forced to evacuate the park.

SOUTH PACIFIC

A rare tornado hit the coastal city of Zierikzee, Zeeland Province, southwestern Netherlands, leaving a trail of damage, one person dead and 10 others injured (27^th). The Netherlands experiences a few tornadoes per year, but this is the first to hit the country since 1992. Deadly tornadoes were also recorded in 1967, 1972 and 1981. The twister caused considerable damage in several streets as it ripped the roofs off homes and toppled trees onto cars.

TROPICAL

At least two people have died in Cuba's capital, Havana, after the remnants of Hurricane Agatha brought heavy rain and floods to the Caribbean island (3^rd-4^th). The Cuban weather service said the downpours would last until Saturday afternoon, bringing more than 200 mm of rain to some places. Western and central areas of the country, including Havana, are the worst affected. Nearly 2,000 people have evacuated their homes in Havana, and around 50,000 people in and around the city are without electricity. The storm is the remnant of Hurricane Agatha, which hit Mexico's west coast last week killing nine people.

The National Hurricane Center declared that the first tropical storm of the Atlantic season formed on the 5th, less than a day after its origins deluged South Florida, unloading up to 15 inches of rain and flooding parts of Miami. The storm named Alex was born at 2 a.m. Sunday as it moved across the Atlantic on a path toward Bermuda. Even though it wasn't a named storm while passing South Florida, the slow-moving conglomeration of thunderstorms unloaded up to 15 inches of rain over two days. In downtown Miami, the torrents turned some streets into rivers, submerging and stranding scores of vehicles. The National Weather Service received reports of nearly 15 inches of rain in Hollywood and Margate. Miami International Airport registered about 9 inches of rain or roughly an entire month's worth.