Global Weather
Highlights
MARCH 2023
UNITED STATES
About two dozen
people in southern Californai were forced to flee from their oceanside apartment
buildings, as the hill beneath them started to crumble in torrential rains (17th).
With more rainstorms coming, authorities in San Clemente said on
Thursday there was no timetable for the residents to be allowed back into their
homes.
“The ground is continuing to move,†San Clemente’s mayor, Chris
Duncan, said during a news conference. “So these structures are still in peril.â€
Across
California, residents have been reeling from the effect of extreme weather, with
a large portion of the state now covered by a presidential emergency
declaration. California has been hit with 11 atmospheric rivers in a virtually
nonstop series that has sparked floods and landslides, toppled trees, stranded
mountain dwellers in historically deep snow and downed power lines, leaving
thousands without electricity.
Sounds of tall trees splintering
and crashing under the weight of the freshly fallen snow cut through the
stillness, as the latest round of winter weather bore down on the town, tucked
into the foothills in northern California. He had cleared a path through the
wooded debris for now but with more storms in the forecast it might not last.
Heauser had spent days trying to remove fallen trees from the
roads that snaked through the hillsides in his community in Grass Valley, even
as those roads disappeared under the heavy snow. He and others worked around the
clock to ensure vulnerable neighbors could either evacuate or were able to
safely remain in their buried homes, while grappling with the effects of
prolonged and widespread power outages that left some without heat or pumped
well water.
“This is the craziest storm I know of,†Heauser said. “It was
relentless – it just kept snowing and snowing and snowing.â€
Residents in remote areas of Nevada county have been left buried under snow and
without access to resources. Photograph:
Gabrielle Canon/The Guardian
Tucked amid a sea of conifers that slope into the Sierra Nevada
range, the beautiful and rugged terrain has always posed elements of danger for
those who live there. But conditions are intensifying, adding new fears over
what the future holds for California’s picturesque and historic mountain towns.
Even as locals grapple with the effects of this very wet winter,
the threats from wildfires linger just months away. The extremes have tested key
infrastructure across the seasons, adding hazards for even the most resilient
and prepared residents. They are also inextricably linked.
Drought-weakened trees, unable to withstand the heavy snow
loading their branches and the howling winds that tore through these slopes and
canyons, thrashed against homes and fences. Branches ripped through power lines
and littered thoroughfares before being buried in snow, hindering both emergency
access and escape.
Severe storms have caused calamity across the state, coating even
balmy parts of California – from the San Francisco Bay area to the Hollywood
hills – in a dusting of white. Higher elevations, meanwhile, were buried.
EUROPE
About 1,300 homes that lost power during Storm Otto had still not been
reconnected to the grid as of Saturday afternoon, according to energy firms.
The Met Office said the storm had “well and truly cleared†but more than 1,000
homes in Aberdeenshire remain without power.
The forecasting body said the storm, which left more than 60,000 homes without
power, has moved on to the continent and is now affecting Scandinavia.
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said it had restored power to
more than 42,000 homes since the storm struck and was “confident†most of the
homes still without power would have it restored by the end of Saturday.
It added that a small number of homes in isolated and rural areas were likely to
remain off-grid until Sunday evening “at the latestâ€.
SSEN said it had sent food vans to the main areas still cut off from supply,
which will serve food and drink until 9pm on Saturday.
Gusts of 75-80mph were recorded across parts of
northern Scottland on Friday while trains and flights were cancelled and roads
blocked by overturned lorries in northern England.
AUSTRAILIA
About 70 people
are holding out in the stranded Queensland town of Burketown, as the swollen
Albert River to the town’s east continues to rise, and authorities warn that
flood waters are likely infested with crocodiles (13th).
Ahead of the expected peak of flood waters, the ranger in charge
of the Carpentaria Land Council Aboriginal Corporation, Zachariah Sowden, said
there had already been reported sightings of crocodiles swimming in flood
waters.
“As the flood waters start to enter town from the surrounding
river systems the local population of saltwater crocodiles will also move with
these flood waters. A few crocodiles have already been sighted in different
areas of the community.
“Please … stay out of the water where possible to limit a chance
encounter with a crocodile.â€
Burke shire mayor Ernie Camp, who was evacuated on Saturday, said
crocodiles, and potentially even bull sharks, which usually inhabit estuaries,
would pose a risk to residents who chose to stay behind.
About 30km from the Gulf of Carpentaria, Burketown’s water and
sewage has been cut off, and most of the town of just over 150 people has been
evacuated by helicopter to nearby Doomadgee or to Mt Isa, 300km away.
At least 37 properties have been inundated by flood waters, with
water still rising in the town. Authorities say it will not be safe to return
for days, and the community still there could be isolated for up to two weeks.
An out-of-control bushfire in New South Wales’s central west has blazed through
properties and scorched bushland, with the NSW Rural Fire Service warning it
could be “burning for weeksâ€(9th).
Dozens of fires have been burning across NSW since Sunday as
gusty winds and vegetation growth from last year’s high rainfall make it easier
for flames to catch, according to Dean Narramore, a senior meteorologist at the
Bureau of Meteorology.
The RFS has been working with Fire and Rescue NSW, police, national parks,
council and local land services to combat a fire burning north of Hill End on
Thursday.
SOUTH AMERICA
Search and rescue teams raced to find dozens of people that
remained missing after heavy rains devastated coastal areas of Brazil’s
south-eastern São Paulo state, as the official death toll rose to 48.
“We are currently working with a tally of at least 38 missing
people,†the São Paulo governor, TarcÃsio de Freitas, told reporters on
Wednesday, as weather forecasters cautioned more rain was on its way.
Massive
downpours have caused landslides and flooding in coastal towns of Brazil’s
richest state, which has so far been hit by more than 600mm (23.6 inches) of
rain, the highest cumulative figure ever in the country.
The number of casualties rose from 46 a day earlier, the São
Paulo state government said in a statement. Rescue operations were continuing
and firefighters, police and volunteers still hoped to find people alive in the
rubble of houses slammed by the landslides. 1,730 people have been displaced and
1,810 left homeless, according to the São Paulo state government.
TROPICAL
Cyclone Freddy, which developed over the Indian Ocean more than a
month ago, has dissipated this week, after making landfall a second time in
southern Africa (17th). The death toll had exceeded 300 across
Madagascar, Mozambique, and Malawi by Thursday, with more than 700 people
injured, 40 missing and 80,000 displaced.
The devastation was caused by severe flooding and landslides,
which swept away roads and buried homes in mud. Power outages in Mozambique have
affected small villages since last weekend, hindering rescue efforts as people
await food and medical assistance.
Before Freddy, Malawi was experiencing its deadliest cholera
outbreak, and it is feared flood waters could exacerbate the situation and
reduce access to safe water and sanitation.
The death toll
from Cyclone Gabrielle in New Zealand climbed to 11 as many people not yet
contacted a week later.
The cyclone hit the North Island’s uppermost region on 12
February and tracked down the east coast, inflicting widespread devastation. The
prime minister, Chris Hipkins, has called Gabrielle New Zealand’s biggest
natural disaster this century.
Police said on Sunday that two more people had died in the
hard-hit Hawke’s Bay area in circumstances related to the cyclone, raising the
death toll to 11.
More than 5,600 people remained uncontactable across the country,
while 1,196 had registered they were safe, police said.
If you have any questions about, or any suggestions for this website, please feel free to either fill out our guestbook, or contact me at james.munley@netzero.net.