WunderBlog Archive » Weather Extremes
Category 6 has moved! See the latest from Dr. Jeff Masters and Bob Henson here.August 2011 Global Weather Extremes Summary
August 2011 Global Weather Extremes Summary
August was yet another busy month for global weather extremes. Highlights included record-busting heat and drought (again) in the south-central portions of the U.S.A. The climatological summer of June-August was the 2nd warmest since accurate measurements began in 1895. An intense heat wave also affected southern Europe in mid-month. Severe tropical storms lashed the eastern seaboard of the USA (Irene) and the Philippines and Japan. Torrential rains caused devastating flooding and landslides in Nigeria and Uganda. But the 2nd most important extreme weather story (2nd to the USA heat wave and drought) was the record cold wave and blizzard that hit New Zealand on August 14-15.
Below are the month’s highlights.
NORTH AMERICA
August was the 2nd hottest such on record for the contiguous U.S.A. with the average of 75.7° falling just short of the 75.8° recorded in August 1983. For Texas and Oklahoma it was the warmest month (any month) on record. In fact, the average temperature for Texas for the month of August was 88.1°, the warmest recorded for any state during any month. Several cities broke their all-time maximum temperature on record. For all the details of the temperature records broken see my previous blog.
This map plots the number of 100°+ days recorded during the summer of 2011 across the nation.
The drought in Texas intensified (culminating in devastating wild fires in September). Midland, Texas, for instance, has reported only .63” of precipitation since October 1, 2010 (normal amount for this period is 12.79”). The .63” is about half of what Death Valley (normally the driest location in the United States) has recorded.
Meanwhile, in contrast, portions of the mid-Atlantic recorded their wettest single month on record thanks to the intense rainfall generated by Hurricane Irene. The following cities are some of those that reported their wettest month (any month) on record: New York City 18.95” (old record 16.85” in Sept. 1882), Philadelphia 19.31” (old record 15.82” in Aug. 1867), Trenton, NJ 16.10” (old record 15.22” in July 1880), Allentown, PA 13.47” (old record 13.16” in Oct. 2005), Newark, NJ 18.79” (old record 13.22” in Oct. 2005 although an unofficial 22.48” was reported from Aug 1843). Hurricane Irene also broke Newark, New Jersey’s all-time 24-hour precipitation with an 8.92” accumulation on August 27-28. Irene was the strongest tropical storm to strike New Jersey and New York since Floyd in September 1999.
The summer of 2011 has now officially been reported as the wettest in New York City history with a total of 25.23” (old record was 22.40” in 1975). Normal summer precipitation is 13.45”.
The coldest temperature measured in the northern hemisphere during August was a reading of -34.1°F (-36.7°C) at Summit station on Greenland on August 25th.
SOUTH AMERICA and CENTRAL AMERICA
The warmest temperature measured in the southern hemisphere during August was 107.6°F (42.0°C) at Villamontes, Bolivia on August 11th.
Rainfall in the Atacama Desert of Chile has accumulated to .13” so far this year, six times above the annual average for this driest region on earth.
EUROPE
One of the most intense heat waves to strike southern Europe since 2003 spread from Spain into France, Germany, and Italy during mid August. An all-time record of 42.1°C (107.8°F) at Florence, Italy was recorded on August 22nd. See my blog of August 24 for more details on this heat wave. NOAA reported a temperature of 117°F (47.0°C) at Cape Carbonara, Sardinia during this heat wave as the absolute maximum temperature recorded in Europe for August.
Meanwhile, it was cool and rainy in most of northern Europe. In fact, England and Wales recorded its coolest summer since 1993 (this following the extraordinary warmth of the spring months!). The United Kingdom extremes for August included a maximum temperature of 86.5°F (30.3°C) at Gravesend, Kent on Aug. 3, a minimum of 34.5°F (1.4°C) at Loch Glascarnoch, Highland on the 25th, and a 24-hour maximum precipitation amount of 3.09” (78.6mm) at Malham Tarn, North Yorkshire on Aug. 10-11th.
AFRICA
Severe flooding hit the Nigerian city of Ibadan August 25-28 killing at least 25 people and displacing many thousands. It was the worst flood to strike Nigeria in “recent history” according to Red Cross officials. Flooding also affected the countries northern state of Bauchi killing 10 on August 21st.
Heavy rainfall in the eastern district of Bulambuli in Uganda caused landslides that resulted in the deaths of at least 29 on August 29th.
ASIA
The heat wave that blasted the Persian Gulf region in late July continued into early August setting more national heat records in Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait. The hottest temperature in the world during August and the hottest reliably measured temperature on record for Kuwait occurred on August 3rd at Mitribah with a reading of 127.9°F (53.3°C). Only Death Valley, Lake Havasu City, Arizona, and Moen jo Daro, Pakistan have ever reliably have measured hotter temperatures elsewhere in the world. A national record of 127.4°F was recorded at Nassirya Ali Air Base in Iraq on the same day and a possibly reliable national record for Iran was set at Dehloran with a 127.4°F (53°C) reading as well.
Typhoons wreaked havoc in the Philippines, Taiwan, and Japan at various times during the month of August. These included Typhoon Muifa which struck Okinawa early in the month killing two and brought flooding rains to Korea killing an additional 10, Typhoon Nanmadol which stuck the Philippines killing 16 and Taiwan (where one death was reported) August 25-27th and then China near Shanghai on August 31 , and Typhoon Talas which struck Japan as a strong tropical storm on September 3rd. resulting in torrential rains that caused flooding resulting in the deaths of 32.
This chart outlines the tropical storm acitivity so far this year in the Western Pacific region. Graphic from Wikipedia.
AUSTRALIA and NEW ZEALAND
Tasmania recorded its warmest August on record with temperatures averaging some 2.4°C above normal thanks in large part to exceptionally mild nighttime temperatures (see map).
Map showing the departure from normal for minimum temperatures across Australia during August. Courtesy of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
Precipitation was mostly normal across most of the continent.
The warmest temperature for the month was 99.5°F (37.5°C) at Noonamah, Northern Territory on Aug. 30, and the coldest 12.2°F (-11.0°C) at Charlotte Pass, New South Wales on Aug. 10. The heaviest daily rainfall reported was 5.57” (141.4mm) at Mount Victoria, Tasmania on Aug. 9th.
NEW ZEALAND
A rare blizzard struck New Zealand on August 14-15th dropping up to two feet of snow and closing airports. Just prior to this unusual polar blast, the AAO index values were among the most negative since NOAA's Climate Prediction Center records began in 1979. The index bottomed out at -4.728 on July 29th, 2nd lowest only to -4.855 on November 23, 1997.
Rare snowfall blankets Ohakune on New Zealand’s North Island on August 15th. Up to 25.6” (65cm) was reported from a location on the South Island and 20” (50cm) on the North Island. Photo by Zoltan Papai.
The snow first struck the South Island on Aug. 14th closing airports at Christchurch and then spread to the North Island on August 15th dusting the southern suburbs of Auckland with its first measurable snowfall since the mid-1970s. Auckland Airport recorded its coldest daily maximum temperature on record (records began in 1966 here) on August 15th with a high of just 46.6° (8.1°C) and Wellington a maximum of 44.2°F (6.8°C), their 2nd coldest daily maximum since 43.7°F (6.5°C) in June 1976. -yes it doesn’t actually get very cold in the beautiful cities of New Zealand!.
For New Zealand as a whole the cold wave and snow event was the most extreme since 1939.
Snowfall accumulations in centimeters reported across New Zealand during the storm of August 14-15th. Map from New Zealand Met Service.
Note the synoptic forecast chart for August 14 here from the New Zealand Met Service:
We can see that the amplitude that brought the record cold and snow to New Zealand also resulted in the record warmth in Tasmania, Australia as mentioned above in my Australia review.
Given that it was the amplitude of the upper air isobars in the northern hemisphere that resulted in the extraordinary temperature anomalies in the United States this past summer (and the relatively cool summer in northern Europe), I find it interesting that such amplitudes were almost duplicated in the southern hemisphere as well, at least in the southern Pacific region.
ANTARCTICA
The coldest temperature in the southern hemisphere and the world during August was -105.2°F (-76.2°C) recorded at Vostok station on August 22nd.
KUDOS Thanks to Maximiliano Herrera for global temperature extremes data and Stephen Burt (no relation!) for the U.K. extremes.
August was yet another busy month for global weather extremes. Highlights included record-busting heat and drought (again) in the south-central portions of the U.S.A. The climatological summer of June-August was the 2nd warmest since accurate measurements began in 1895. An intense heat wave also affected southern Europe in mid-month. Severe tropical storms lashed the eastern seaboard of the USA (Irene) and the Philippines and Japan. Torrential rains caused devastating flooding and landslides in Nigeria and Uganda. But the 2nd most important extreme weather story (2nd to the USA heat wave and drought) was the record cold wave and blizzard that hit New Zealand on August 14-15.
Below are the month’s highlights.
NORTH AMERICA
August was the 2nd hottest such on record for the contiguous U.S.A. with the average of 75.7° falling just short of the 75.8° recorded in August 1983. For Texas and Oklahoma it was the warmest month (any month) on record. In fact, the average temperature for Texas for the month of August was 88.1°, the warmest recorded for any state during any month. Several cities broke their all-time maximum temperature on record. For all the details of the temperature records broken see my previous blog.
This map plots the number of 100°+ days recorded during the summer of 2011 across the nation.
The drought in Texas intensified (culminating in devastating wild fires in September). Midland, Texas, for instance, has reported only .63” of precipitation since October 1, 2010 (normal amount for this period is 12.79”). The .63” is about half of what Death Valley (normally the driest location in the United States) has recorded.
Meanwhile, in contrast, portions of the mid-Atlantic recorded their wettest single month on record thanks to the intense rainfall generated by Hurricane Irene. The following cities are some of those that reported their wettest month (any month) on record: New York City 18.95” (old record 16.85” in Sept. 1882), Philadelphia 19.31” (old record 15.82” in Aug. 1867), Trenton, NJ 16.10” (old record 15.22” in July 1880), Allentown, PA 13.47” (old record 13.16” in Oct. 2005), Newark, NJ 18.79” (old record 13.22” in Oct. 2005 although an unofficial 22.48” was reported from Aug 1843). Hurricane Irene also broke Newark, New Jersey’s all-time 24-hour precipitation with an 8.92” accumulation on August 27-28. Irene was the strongest tropical storm to strike New Jersey and New York since Floyd in September 1999.
The summer of 2011 has now officially been reported as the wettest in New York City history with a total of 25.23” (old record was 22.40” in 1975). Normal summer precipitation is 13.45”.
The coldest temperature measured in the northern hemisphere during August was a reading of -34.1°F (-36.7°C) at Summit station on Greenland on August 25th.
SOUTH AMERICA and CENTRAL AMERICA
The warmest temperature measured in the southern hemisphere during August was 107.6°F (42.0°C) at Villamontes, Bolivia on August 11th.
Rainfall in the Atacama Desert of Chile has accumulated to .13” so far this year, six times above the annual average for this driest region on earth.
EUROPE
One of the most intense heat waves to strike southern Europe since 2003 spread from Spain into France, Germany, and Italy during mid August. An all-time record of 42.1°C (107.8°F) at Florence, Italy was recorded on August 22nd. See my blog of August 24 for more details on this heat wave. NOAA reported a temperature of 117°F (47.0°C) at Cape Carbonara, Sardinia during this heat wave as the absolute maximum temperature recorded in Europe for August.
Meanwhile, it was cool and rainy in most of northern Europe. In fact, England and Wales recorded its coolest summer since 1993 (this following the extraordinary warmth of the spring months!). The United Kingdom extremes for August included a maximum temperature of 86.5°F (30.3°C) at Gravesend, Kent on Aug. 3, a minimum of 34.5°F (1.4°C) at Loch Glascarnoch, Highland on the 25th, and a 24-hour maximum precipitation amount of 3.09” (78.6mm) at Malham Tarn, North Yorkshire on Aug. 10-11th.
AFRICA
Severe flooding hit the Nigerian city of Ibadan August 25-28 killing at least 25 people and displacing many thousands. It was the worst flood to strike Nigeria in “recent history” according to Red Cross officials. Flooding also affected the countries northern state of Bauchi killing 10 on August 21st.
Heavy rainfall in the eastern district of Bulambuli in Uganda caused landslides that resulted in the deaths of at least 29 on August 29th.
ASIA
The heat wave that blasted the Persian Gulf region in late July continued into early August setting more national heat records in Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait. The hottest temperature in the world during August and the hottest reliably measured temperature on record for Kuwait occurred on August 3rd at Mitribah with a reading of 127.9°F (53.3°C). Only Death Valley, Lake Havasu City, Arizona, and Moen jo Daro, Pakistan have ever reliably have measured hotter temperatures elsewhere in the world. A national record of 127.4°F was recorded at Nassirya Ali Air Base in Iraq on the same day and a possibly reliable national record for Iran was set at Dehloran with a 127.4°F (53°C) reading as well.
Typhoons wreaked havoc in the Philippines, Taiwan, and Japan at various times during the month of August. These included Typhoon Muifa which struck Okinawa early in the month killing two and brought flooding rains to Korea killing an additional 10, Typhoon Nanmadol which stuck the Philippines killing 16 and Taiwan (where one death was reported) August 25-27th and then China near Shanghai on August 31 , and Typhoon Talas which struck Japan as a strong tropical storm on September 3rd. resulting in torrential rains that caused flooding resulting in the deaths of 32.
This chart outlines the tropical storm acitivity so far this year in the Western Pacific region. Graphic from Wikipedia.
AUSTRALIA and NEW ZEALAND
Tasmania recorded its warmest August on record with temperatures averaging some 2.4°C above normal thanks in large part to exceptionally mild nighttime temperatures (see map).
Map showing the departure from normal for minimum temperatures across Australia during August. Courtesy of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
Precipitation was mostly normal across most of the continent.
The warmest temperature for the month was 99.5°F (37.5°C) at Noonamah, Northern Territory on Aug. 30, and the coldest 12.2°F (-11.0°C) at Charlotte Pass, New South Wales on Aug. 10. The heaviest daily rainfall reported was 5.57” (141.4mm) at Mount Victoria, Tasmania on Aug. 9th.
NEW ZEALAND
A rare blizzard struck New Zealand on August 14-15th dropping up to two feet of snow and closing airports. Just prior to this unusual polar blast, the AAO index values were among the most negative since NOAA's Climate Prediction Center records began in 1979. The index bottomed out at -4.728 on July 29th, 2nd lowest only to -4.855 on November 23, 1997.
Rare snowfall blankets Ohakune on New Zealand’s North Island on August 15th. Up to 25.6” (65cm) was reported from a location on the South Island and 20” (50cm) on the North Island. Photo by Zoltan Papai.
The snow first struck the South Island on Aug. 14th closing airports at Christchurch and then spread to the North Island on August 15th dusting the southern suburbs of Auckland with its first measurable snowfall since the mid-1970s. Auckland Airport recorded its coldest daily maximum temperature on record (records began in 1966 here) on August 15th with a high of just 46.6° (8.1°C) and Wellington a maximum of 44.2°F (6.8°C), their 2nd coldest daily maximum since 43.7°F (6.5°C) in June 1976. -yes it doesn’t actually get very cold in the beautiful cities of New Zealand!.
For New Zealand as a whole the cold wave and snow event was the most extreme since 1939.
Snowfall accumulations in centimeters reported across New Zealand during the storm of August 14-15th. Map from New Zealand Met Service.
Note the synoptic forecast chart for August 14 here from the New Zealand Met Service:
We can see that the amplitude that brought the record cold and snow to New Zealand also resulted in the record warmth in Tasmania, Australia as mentioned above in my Australia review.
Given that it was the amplitude of the upper air isobars in the northern hemisphere that resulted in the extraordinary temperature anomalies in the United States this past summer (and the relatively cool summer in northern Europe), I find it interesting that such amplitudes were almost duplicated in the southern hemisphere as well, at least in the southern Pacific region.
ANTARCTICA
The coldest temperature in the southern hemisphere and the world during August was -105.2°F (-76.2°C) recorded at Vostok station on August 22nd.
KUDOS Thanks to Maximiliano Herrera for global temperature extremes data and Stephen Burt (no relation!) for the U.K. extremes.
The views of the author are his/her own and do not necessarily represent the position of The Weather Company or its parent, IBM.