GLOBAL WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS
SEPTEMBER 2021
EUROPE
Severe
flooding wreaked havoc in several parts of Spain, forcing the closure of roads
and leaving around 10000 customers without power(1st-2nd).
The worst-hit was the town of Alcanar in the northeast of Catalonia, where some
streets turned into raging rivers, sweeping away cars towards to coastline.
Catalonia's regional weather service Meteocat said 233.5 mm of rain fell in
Alcanar in 24 hours on the 1st, including 77.7 mm in 30 minutes. The nearby town
of Port dels Alfacs recorded 51.5 mm of rain in 30 minutes. Intense rain and
flooding was also reported in the central Castilla-La Mancha and Navarra
regions, halting the high-speed rail link between the Spanish capital Madrid and
Toledo.
Lot-et-Garonne Department in southwest France was hit by record-breaking
rainfall, inundating streets of the city of Agen with more than 2 m of water (8th)r.
According to MeteoFrance, La Garenne station in Agen recorded 128.8 mm of rain
between 1900 and 2200 LT, with as much as 80.5 mm in just one hour. The amount
broke the previous 24-hour rainfall record set on 12 February 1990, at 74 mm.
Severe
thunderstorms accompanied by powerful wind gusts hit the Gard department in
Southern France in the morning (14th). In just three hours, the
equivalent of more than 2 months of rain fell on Gard's southern and western
regions, in particular Nimes. A mass of hot and humid air rose over France at
the beginning of the week in an increasingly unstable atmosphere, with
thunderstorms affecting most of the country on Tuesday, Meteo France
meteorologists said. Supplied with moisture coming from the Mediterranean, they
were particularly intense in southern France, causing remarkable accumulations
of rain around the Gulf of Lions. In Nimes, the intensity of the rain was
historic. A weather station in Saint-Dionizy recorded 244 mm of rain in just 3
hours, 'an episode which statistically occurs less than once in a century.' This
is an absolute record for the Gard department and very close to the 3-hour
rainfall record for the entire country - 253 mm set in Montpellier in 2014.
Torrential downpours hit parts of southern Spain, causing severe flash flooding
in the province of Huelva (23rd). The floods inundated homes and
swept away vehicles in the cities of Huelva and Lepe, and caused more than 600
emergency interventions. According to the Andalusian Meteorological Agency,
parts of the province received as much as 100 mm of rain in a 12-hour period
today. According to AEMET, the town of Cartaya recorded 118 mm in 24 hours, with
112.4 mm in just 1 hour.
A
waterspout struck the German port city of Kiel, throwing people from boats and
damaging property (29th). Several rowers out in the water were
injured as winds of over 100 km/h lashed the northern coast, police said. Four
people were seriously hurt in Kiel's dockside area. The roofs of some buildings
were torn off and trees were uprooted when the system came ashore.
METERRAINIAN
At
least two people have been killed after a tornado swept through an Italian
island (10th). Nine others were injured as the whirlwind overturned
cars and ripped off roofs on the tourist hotspot of Pantelleria, according to
Italy's civil protection agency.
According to the Environmental Agency of the Republic of Slovenia, a
record-breaking 96 mm of rain was registered at the meteorological station of
Bezigrad, Ljubljana between 1900 and 2000 UTC, in a total fall of 122 mm, which
exceeds the 250-year return period (29th). In just 10 minutes, the
city received 25 mm. The previous 1-hour record in the capital was 62 mm on 11
August 1951. In 4 hours to 2200 UTC emergency services received more than 2700
calls from affected citizens, with some of from their stranded in their
vehicles. More than 500 buildings were flooded in the capital alone (the area
worst affected), as well as roads, parking lots, and underpasses.
UNITED
STATES
California experienced its hottest summer on record this year as the climate
crisis caused deadly heatwaves and intense wildfires in the state and across the
American west (1st). Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Utah totaling 18.4% of
the contiguous US also endured record hot summers, according to the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Sixteen other states recorded a top-five
warmest summer. Across the lower 48 states, the average temperature in June,
July and August was 76 F, 2.6 degC above average, which slightly exceeds that of
the Dust Bowl summer of 1936.
INDONESIA
Heavy
rains affecting parts of Indonesia caused rivers to overflow, floods and
landslides (13th-14th). According to the ASEAN
Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management, at least
11839 people have been affected and approximately 2570 houses have been damaged
or destroyed in West Java, Papua, East Kalimantan, Banten ad Riau Provinces. One
of the hardest-hit areas is Banten Province, where about 140 people have been
displaced across Pandeglang, Serang, and Lebak Regencies. In Papua Province,
rescue operations have been hampered by damaged roads and material covering the
access.
ASIA
More
than 1.2 million people have been affected after heavy rains over the past
couple of days caused rivers to overflow and embankments to fail in the Indian
state of West Bengal (21st). The situation worsened after dam
releases in the neighboring state of Jharkhand. At least 10 people have lost
their lives and 1300 were forced to evacuate, state authorities said on the
20th. The worst-hit areas are the districts of Purba Medinipur and Paschim
Medinipur.
TROPICAL
Remnants of Hurricane Ida inundated parts of the U.S. Northeast and spawned
large and extremely dangerous tornadoes on these two days (1st-2nd)
. Numerous roads and homes were flooded across the region forcing authorities to
launch rescue operations in New York, New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, western
New Jersey, and Maryland. The NWS recorded 80 mm of rain in Central Park in one
hour, surpassing the 49.2 mm that fell in one hour during Tropical Storm Henri
on 22 August, which was believed at the time to be the most ever recorded in the
park. There were multiple Flash Flood Warnings and rare Flash Flood Emergencies
for New York, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Newark, Jersey City, Bridgeport,
New Haven, and Stamford. Over 50 people were reported to have died as a result
of the conditions.
Tropical Storm Nicholas slowed to a crawl over the Houston area after making
landfall as a hurricane, knocking out power to a half-million homes and
businesses and dumping more than a foot of rain along an area swamped by
Hurricane Harvey in 2017 (14th). Nicholas made landfall on the
eastern part of the Matagorda Peninsula and was soon downgraded to a tropical
storm. It was about 10 miles south-east of Houston, with maximum winds of 45 mph
as of 10 a.m., according to the National Hurricane Center. Scientists say
damaging storms are becoming more frequent and more intense as part of
human-caused climate change. According to Colorado State University hurricane
researcher Phil Klotzbach, only four other years since 1966 have had 14 or more
named storms by 12 September: 2005, 2011, 2012 and 2020. Galveston, Texas, saw
nearly 14 inches of rain from Nicholas, while Houston reported more than 6
inches.
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