Weird Weather Watch 2007

Originally posted by phoenix103
More on the situation in the UK.

Helicopter rescues in Sheffield

RAF helicopters are trying to rescue dozens of people from buildings surrounded by rising flood waters in Sheffield - some of which are collapsing.
This is most certainly not common for Sheffield. Its about as far inland as you can get. This has been caused by heavy rain which has affected much of the UK for quite a prolonged period.

Sorry for the off topic remark, but damn, two weeks after I leave sheffield due to the end of my first year at university, it gets interesting.

Of course, I daresay it isn't great, but It is unusual, where I am now has had twice the usual amount of rain.

Switzerland is currently experiencing a pretty weird summer... local thunderstorms and regional rainfronts go hand in hand and on June 21 we (Zürich) had the worst thunderstorm in almost a decade with hail, flashfloods and astonishing windspeeds.
I had late shift that week and was awakened by the storm at 09:33 CET. It was the craziest storm I ever saw and a tree in our garden got damaged. Visibility was around 10 meters, I could barely make out my neighbours house.
I'll post pics and links when I'm home, but it looked like pictures I saw of hurricanes.

Your not the only one having strong thuderstorms. Earlier this last month, here in Calgary, Canada, we got close to our monthly total rainfall for june in 40 minutes. caused flash flooding and everything.

BTW has anyone notice the hurricane season in the atlatic is still quite slow???

Here the promised pics, sorry for being late.

Stormcloud arriving (June 21, around 0900 CET):


Zürich, in the morning of June 21, around 0930 CET:



Aftermath:


This kind of hail is rather unusual for Switzerland, Meteo-people are saying that this was the worst storm in decades.

Some Newscoverage (Text in German, but check out the pics).

Since last Sunday, there weren't 5 consecutive hours of dry weather... to think that other parts of Europe actually experience heatwaves makes me wonder.

Here's Kongsberg, Norway

Raging river keeps rising


Photo: Coastguard

Floods foul the fjords




[edit on 2007/7/6 by Hellmutt]

This is just to add a bit of info from my little corner of the planet.Here in my part of Ontario the weather should be in the mid to high 80's. However we are running at 10- 15 degrees below that.It has been quite drizzly, and feels more like September weather.We should be lounging on the beach, instead of bundled up in sweaters.Anybody in Arizona wanna switch?

The monsoon rains in India have killed at least 660 people and more than a million are stranded in West Bengal.


BakuTODAY.net: Indian floods death toll up, million-plus stranded

There are reports of rivers rising again in Norway right now.



from Kongsberg, Norway a few days ago

And it's snowing in Buenos Aires (Argentina)...

Record-breaking heat continues throughout B.C.

Air conditioners and fans across British Columbia continued to work overtime as the majority of the province sought relief from a record-breaking heat wave.

Environment Canada said Lillooet was the hotspot Wednesday at 39.9 degrees. Seven all-time highs were set in B.C. that day -- and the trend continued Thursday.

...

Temperatures in the region over the last few days hovered in the upper 30s, including:

• Abbotsford, 37.9 C;
  
• Chilliwack, 38.8 C;
  
• White Rock, 36.2 C;
  
• Squamish, 37.6 C;
  
• Victoria, 36.3 C.
  

When you first look at it, you think its normal for parts of BC and the Pacific north west to be above 30C. However when you look more closely, most of these places are right on the coast, which is VERY unusual thanks to oceanic temperature moderation of the climate. There appears to be no end in sight for this weather either.

While this may not sound weird for those of you not used to living in a desert environment, we here in Arizona have not received our typical monsoon season yet this summer.

I just moved here so I'm no expert on the matter, but we're supposed to have massive rainfall around the months of May-August.

It has only rained maybe one or two days for a few minutes each.

Its supposed to be raining every day for at least fifteen minutes.

We're in a serious drought here, lots of plants are dieing.

I work a block from a hospital and its getting really bad.

People are going there everyday from heat exhaustion I would assume and severe sunburngs.

Its really quite ridiculous.

I can count on hearing at least 2 ambulance or police sirens during my work day, even at night.

We're in some serious trouble here on Earth, we could use some rain if anybody's listening .

Rain dance anyone?

Well I'll bite my tongue...

We had our 'monsoon' tonight. It rained for quite a long time, a few hours or so.

Pouring rain...

Quite a beautiful thunderstorm as well.

I tried taking photos, but they didn't come out too well. Only dark pictures with some blurry parts to them .

I tried, but alas no dice.

Weird weather indeed. I can't wait to see what else is thrown my way this summer!

Its been over 95 for weeks now and all of a sudden tonight it dropped down to 50 or 60. I'm loving it .

Also in Japan - unusually strong Typhoon for July hits.

www.bbc.co.uk...

Also heavy snow in Australia makes for good skiing season

www.metoffice.gov.uk...

Most of the south of England under heavy rain severe warning

www.metoffice.gov.uk...

and of course the state emergency in california due to drought.

A thunderstorm has killed more than 70 in northwest Pakistan, and dozens are missing.

Storm Kills More Than 70 in Pakistan

Severe flooding in England after over 5 inches of rain fell yesterday .....

I recorded 138.8mm altogether with the nearest official weather station to me reporting 135.2mm in the 24 hour period to 22.00

As a comparison, the average total July rainfall in this area is about 44mm

This is the scene in town, with river levels likely to continue rising through the day!

Essan, I thought about you when I heard that Evesham was mentioned in the flood warnings yesterday. I hope you are on some nice high ground. I'm in the marina at Burnham-on-Crouch and nobody here can remember a July like this one. We have had consistently high winds for the entire month. I have heard them talking on Radio 4 about this being due to a disruption to the jet-stream caused by a La Nina (ninYa - I can't find the right accent) event, described as the opposite of El Nino. Is this right? Of course, it could always be HAARP, eh?

Seriously, hope you and yours are safe and dry.

I went to school in Burnham on Crouch

I'm quite safe and have spend much of the day taking photos - more here:

www.ukweatherworld.co.uk...

I don't know what the cause of all this is, but I wouldn't rule out good ol' mother nature...

[edit on 21-7-2007 by Essan]

Um, it's been raining a bit more than normal in some parts of the UK and it is starting to have some relatively serious ramifications. Brits are tough - "good tough", they'll do fine.

Some links from various sources of news of the day 070723:

CBC - Brits brace for more rain in flood-ravaged England, Wales - video in article sidebar.

Forbes.com article - Insurance Cost Related

The Reading Chronicle icBerkshire article - PM orders review

BBC - PM warns over 'weather extremes'

The new PM seems to be taking this issue of "weird weather" pretty seriously and I find this encouraging. I hope the rain stops and the rivers recede to more normal levels.

Best of luck to all affected,

Vic

Europe is having strange weather

www.abovetopsecret.com...

apparently, 500 people are dead in Hungary due a heatwave, 30 in Romania and two in Bulgaria.