[Reader-list] top ten weather stories of 2014

Wed Dec 24 05:43:09 CST 2014

from Jeff Masters' blog:
Nagraj

Top Ten Weather Stories of 2014

By: Dr. Jeff Masters
<http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/show.html>, 5:36 PM GMT on
December 23, 2014
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*#1: Earth Likely Had Its Warmest Year on Record *
The year 2014 has made it very apparent that global warming has not
stopped, as the year-to-date-period January - November 2014 was Earth's
warmest such period since record keeping began in 1880, according to
NOAA's National
Climatic Data Center (NCDC) <http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/2014/11>.
If December is at least 0.42°C (0.76°F) higher than its 20th century
average, 2014 will surpass 2005 and 2010 as the warmest year on record; the
departure of temperature from average during the first three weeks of
December has exceeded that mark, making it likely that 2014 will end up as
the warmest year on record in NOAA's reckoning. The average global sea
surface temperature was the highest for January - November in the 135-year
period of record, due in large part to seven consecutive months (May -
November) of record warmth. Remarkably, the record-warm global temperatures
of 2014 occurred in the absence of El Niño, a large-scale warming of the
eastern and central equatorial Pacific Ocean that historically has been
present whenever an extended period of record-warm global temperatures have
occurred.

*Figure 1.* Departure of temperature from average for January - November
2014, the warmest such period for the globe since record keeping began in
1880. Portions of every continent with good data were record warm,
particularly for Europe. Image credit: National Climatic Data Center (NCDC)
<http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/2014/11> .

*#2: Monsoon Floods in the India-Pakistan Border Region Kill 648*
Torrential monsoon rains of over 12" (305 mm) lashed the India-Pakistan
border region of Kashmir and Jammu Provinces on September 3 - 7, triggering
devastating floods that swept through the mountainous region, killing at
least 648 people and doing $18+ billion in damage, according to insurance
broker Aon Benfield.
<http://catastropheinsight.aonbenfield.com/Pages/Home.aspx> Hardest-hit
were India's Jammu and Kashmir region, where damages were estimated at $16+
billion. According to EM-DAT
<http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/www.emdat.be/country-profile>,
the International Disaster Database, this is the most expensive natural
disaster in India's history, surpassing the $11.6 billion price tag (2014
dollars) of the July 1993 monsoon floods.
<http://reliefweb.int/report/india/india-floods-16-jul-1993-un-dha-information-reports-1-5>
In
Pakistan, at least 207 people died in this summer's deluge, and damage was
estimated at $2 billion. Crippling and catastrophic floods have become the
new normal in Pakistan, where the six most expensive floods in their
history have come in the past eight years--2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2007,
and 2013.

*Figure 2.* Kashmiri residents struggling to withstand sudden and strong
water currents while wading through floodwaters in their efforts to move to
safer places in Srinagar, India, Thursday, Sept. 4, 2014. (AP Photo/Dar
Yasin)

*#3: India's Cyclone Hudhud Does $11 Billion in Damage*
Tropical Cyclone Hudhud <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Hudhud> powered
ashore near Visakhapatnam in the Andhra Pradesh state of India on October
12 as a Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 135 mph. With damage
estimated at $11 billion, Hudhud was by far the most expensive tropical
cyclone in India's history, and their third most expensive weather-related
natural disaster, according to EM-DAT
<http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/www.emdat.be/country-profile>,
the International Disaster Database. However, Hudhud also represents a
success story--due to aggressive efforts to evacuate vulnerable areas, the
death toll from Hudhud was held to 68, far below the 9,843 people killed
during the similar-strength October 28, 1999 Orissa Cyclone
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Odisha_cyclone> which hit India's coast
very close to where Hudhud hit.

*Figure 3.* MODIS satellite image of Tropical Cyclone Hudhud taken at
approximately 1 am EDT October 12, 2014, as the storm was making landfall
near Visakhapatnam, India. At the time, Hudhud was a Category 4 storm with
135 mph winds. Image credit: NASA.
<https://earthdata.nasa.gov/labs/worldview/>

*#4: Southeastern Brazil's Worst Drought in 50 Years*
Southeastern Brazil's worst drought in 50 years has brought São Paulo,
South America's largest city with a population near 20 million, to the brink
of running out of water.
<http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21636782-government-responded-late-drought-brazils-industrial-heartland-reservoir-hogs>
The
drought has cost at least $4.3 billion, making it the third most expensive
natural disaster in Brazil's history. This is the second consecutive year
of disastrous drought in Brazil--drought in Northeast Brazil during the
first five months of 2013 caused an estimated $8 billion in damage, making
it Brazil's second most expensive natural disaster in history. According to
the international disaster database EM-DAT,
<http://cred01.epid.ucl.ac.be:5317/?after=1900&before=2013&iso[]=BRA&dis_group[]=Natural&agg1=year&agg2=>
Brazil's
costliest natural disaster was the drought of 1978 ($2.3 billion in 1978
dollars, or $8.3 billion 2014 dollars.)

*Figure 4.* Cattle in a drought-parched filed in Quixada, Ceara state,
Brazil on January 2, 2014. Small farmers in Ceara state have not able to
harvest corn to feed cattle, and have been selling them at a loss. Image
credit: Aurelien Francisco Barros/AFP/Getty Images.

*#5: The California Drought*
Severe, extreme or exceptional drought covered 95% of California by
September 2014, thanks to a drought that one research team
<http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2014GL062433/abstract> said was
the state's worst 1-year and 3-year drought for at least 1,200 years. The
California Farm Water Coalition estimated agricultural losses at $3.6
billion.

*Figure 5.* One of the key water supply reservoirs for Central California, Lake
Oroville,
<http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/resapp/resDetailOrig.action?resid=ORO> on
January 20, 2014. Image credit: California Department of Water Resources
<https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151945367687449.1073741878.95205192448&type=1>
.

*#6: Deadly Landslide in Afghanistan Kills up to 2,700*
The deadliest weather disaster of 2014 may have been the tragic landslide
in the Argo District of Badakhshan Province, NE Afghanistan
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Badakhshan_mudslides> on May 2. Death
toll estimates vary widely, from 350 - 2,700. According to Dave's Landslide
Blog <http://blogs.agu.org/landslideblog/2014/05/03/badakhshan-landslide-1/>,
the landslide came after prolonged heavy rainfall in the region and
occurred in the middle of the day on a Friday, when many people are likely
to be at home. The slide occurred in two phases, with an initial slide that
buried many people. In the aftermath, many people from local villages went
to help, only to be buried by the second landslide.

*Figure 6.* Aftermath of the deadly landslide in the Argo District of
Badakhshan Province, NE Afghanistan, on May 2, 2014. Image credit: BBC
correspondent Bilal Sarwary.

*#7: Super Typhoon Rammasun Kills 206 in China*
With a name meaning "thunder of God," Rammasun was the strongest typhoon to
hit China's Hainan Province in 41 years. Rammasun peaked as a Category 4
super typhoon with 155 mph, and hit China with top sustained winds of 140
mph. Rammasun killed 206 and did $6.5 billion in damage, according to
insurance broker Aon Benfield.
<http://catastropheinsight.aonbenfield.com/Pages/Home.aspx>

*Figure 7.* Super Typhoon Rammasun as seen by the Moderate Resolution
Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite at 1:35 p.m.
local time (0535 UTC) on July 18, 2014. The storm had a well-defined eye
situated just off the coast of northern Hainan Island, and a pressure of
899.2 mb was measured at a small island in the eye. Image credit: NASA
Natural Hazards.
<http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=84050>

*#8: "Polar Vortex" Cold Hits Eastern U.S.*
The same unusually sharp kink in the jet stream that brought record drought
to California in January also brought extreme cold and snow to the eastern
two-thirds of the United States, with a deep trough of low pressure
ushering in the notorious "Polar Vortex" cold air outbreak. Ice cover on
the Great Lakes reached its second highest extent on record during the
winter, and two crippling snow and ice storms hit the deep South, shutting
down Atlanta for multiple days. Total damages during the January 5 - 8
portion of this winter's cold blast were $3 billion and 21 people died,
according to insurance broker Aon Benfield.
<http://catastropheinsight.aonbenfield.com/Pages/Home.aspx>

*Figure 8.* Abandoned cars litter Cobb Parkway (US 41) in Atlanta, Georgia
between Cumberland Pkwy and W. Paces Ferry Road. Image credit: Michael King
@mhking <https://twitter.com/mhking>

*#9: A Hyperactive 2014 Eastern Pacific Hurricane Season*
In 2014 the Eastern Pacific (east of 140°W) saw 20 named storms, 13
hurricanes, and 8 intense hurricanes, making it the busiest season since
1992, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Pacific_hurricane_season> which
set records for total number of named storms (25), hurricanes (14), and
intense hurricanes (8). An average Eastern Pacific hurricane season sees 15
named storms, 8 hurricanes, and 3 intense hurricanes. The top four busiest
years in the Eastern Pacific now stands like this:

1. 1992 - 24 named storms
2. 1985 - 22 named storms
3. 1983 - 21 named storms
4. *2014* - 20 named storms
4. 1990 - 20 named storms

Unusually warm ocean temperatures allowed an unprecedented three hurricanes
to pass within 200 miles of Hawaii in 2014, including Hurricane Iselle,
<http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2753> which
made landfall on the Big Island on August 8, 2014 as a tropical storm with
60 mph winds--only the second recorded landfall of a tropical storm on the
Big Island.

*Figure 9.* Radar image from the South Hawaii radar
<http://www.wunderground.com/radar/radblast.asp?ID=HWA> at 7:49 am EDT
August 8, 2014 of Tropical Storm Iselle
<http://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/east-pacific/2014/hurricane-Iselle> near
landfall on the Big Island. The radar beam was being intercepted by the
high mountains of Hawaii, and could not "see" to the northwest.

*#10: A Quiet Atlantic Hurricane Season*
The 2014 Atlantic hurricane season ended up with well below average
activity--8 named storms, 6 hurricanes, 2 intense hurricanes, and an
Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) that was 63% of the 1981 - 2010 median.
The 1981 - 2010 average was 12 named storms, 6 hurricanes, and 3 major
hurricanes. The death and damage statistics for the 2014 Atlantic hurricane
season were gratifyingly low: there were only five deaths (four from
Hurricane Gonzalo in the Lesser Antilles and one from Tropical Storm Dolly
in Mexico), and total damages from all storms were less than $500 million.
The quiet season was due to an atmospheric circulation that favored dry,
sinking air over the tropical Atlantic, and high wind shear over the
Caribbean. Sea Surface Temperatures were also near-average, and
considerably cooler than what we've gotten used to since the active
hurricane period that began in 1995.

*Figure 10.* Hurricane Gonzalo as seen from the International Space Station
on October 16, 2014. At the time, Gonzalo was at peak strength, with 145
mph winds, and was the first Atlantic hurricane to reach sustained winds of
at least 145 mph since Hurricane Igor of 2010. Gonzalo hit Bermuda just a
week after Hurricane Fay hit the island, and Gonzalo's remnants went on to
batter the United Kingdom on October 21 with wind gusts exceeding 100 mph,
killing three people there. Image credit: Alexander Gerst.
<https://twitter.com/astro_alex>

Happy Holidays, everyone, and I'll be back Friday with a new post.

Jeff Masters