Western Hemisphere Weather
|
From an unprecedented locust swarm in southern Mexico to
fearsome hailstorms in Australia to one of the deadliest
winters in United States and European histories, world
weather continues in a state of
extreme
violence.
The most recent outbreak of tornadoes in the southeastern
United States generated an unusual "major severe weather
outbreak" from the US Storm Prediction Center. The storms
moved across ground at the extraordinary speed of fifty
miles an hour, leaving widespread destruction and at least
twenty people dead. This is the third major tornadic
outbreak in the US this winter. The previous two outbreaks
were on December 25 and February 2, both in Florida. The
February 2 event also killed at least 20 people.
Normally, tornadoes become more intense as spring
progresses, and changing climactic condition do suggest that
extreme storms will be possible anywhere in the United
States from Colorado to Maine this year.
In Australia, which has been experiencing a prolonged and
extremely dangerous drought, summer thunderstorms of
extraordinary intensity struck in Feburary, leaving as much
as three feet of hail on the ground in Canberra. The
Australian Bureau of Meteorology could not offer records of
a more intense hailstorm in the area. And while Feburary
thunderstorms are common in the area, more have been
recorded this year than during any previous February on
record.
In Mexico, a locust swarm of unprecedented size has
devastated at least 5,000 acres of crops in Yucatan. Locust
swarms are a cyclical phenomenon in many parts of the world,
but this year's swarm, containing locusts as much as 5
inches long, has farmers trying and failing to remember when
it was ever this bad.
The reason that the locust swarm is so intense is that ideal
breeding and hatching conditions for the insects have been
present in the area for about 5 years, during which time the
weather has grown more humid and warmer in Yucatan.
During the latter part of January and early February, fierce
storms swept Europe as cold air finally invaded the region
after one of the warmest early winters on record. The storms
killed over a hundred people and left extensive property
damage from the United Kingdom to Poland.
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