This storm isn’t quite as frightening as Hurricane Lane but Japan has already taken a battering: The 20th typhoon of the season is expected to make landfall in western Japan on Thursday night, bringing downpours to a region already reeling from last month’s deadly flooding and landslides…
“Typhoon Cimaron appeared ready to slice through the Japanese archipelago en route to the Sea of Japan by early Friday.
“The storm is already suspected to have led to the disappearance of three Shizuoka University students…Cimaron is the second typhoon to hit Japan this week… rainfall in western Japan is expected to total a meter in some areas, the Meteorological Agency said.
“Cimaron is packing winds of up to 216 kph (134 mph) at its center with an atmospheric pressure of 955 hectopascals.
““I want the government to take coordinated measures to prevent damage as much as possible such as through early evacuations,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a meeting of the government’s disaster response headquarters.
“In the town of Saka in Hiroshima Prefecture, residents expressed concern about the looming typhoon as they continued to remove mud from homes and roads damaged by the torrential rain and landslides in July…
“Transportation has been disrupted, with airline companies deciding to cancel over 300 flights to and from airports in the Shikoku and Kinki regions, and railway companies also suspending some of their services…
“Heavy rain from the two typhoons has raised concern about landslides and swollen rivers. Since Monday, over 400 mm of rain had been recorded in Kochi and Kagoshima prefectures, while the agency also warned of landslides in northern Kyushu.
“The regional weather system around Japan is churning out typhoons at a quick pace this year, with five forming on five consecutive days for the first time, between Aug. 12 and 16.”
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/08/23/national/20th-typhoon-season-course-western-japan/#.W36T2uhKjIV
“Typhoon Soulik is expected to cause “very” strong winds and heavy rainfall in all of South Korea on Friday.”
“Phang Nga [Thailand]… hit with hillside runoff and landslides on Thursday morning following heavy rain overnight, the authorities said… The area saw 127mm of rain in the past 12 hours, he added.”
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/around_thailand/30352790
““We’ve had more than three times the normal rainfall for the month of June… and we’re only three weeks into the month.” Those are the words of Gillian Boyle, who is tasked with coordinating logistics for Concern’s operation to support Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.”
https://reliefweb.int/report/bangladesh/rohingya-families-cling-amid-deluge
“Kodagu district [Bengaluru, India] received the highest-ever rainfall for August this year.”
“People in India’s flood-ravaged state of Kerala are facing a “great struggle to rebuild their lives”, local officials have warned, as high waters that have killed hundreds of people and displaced more than a million others start to recede.”
““The extensive construction of public infrastructure in Delhi along with the cutting of mature trees and the vanishing of open water bodies, has made the city a heat island. Delhi has historically had an extreme climate, but it’s become far worse in recent years.””
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/the-climate-change-exodus/articleshow/65507559.cms
“While much of the focus on the impacts of drought is on inland areas, farmers on the north coast of NSW are starting to see the impact of the extended dry. Cracked earth, farms turned to dust bowls, and emaciated livestock have become commonplace images associated with the drought.”
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-23/drought-coastal-northern-nsw/10152512
“Already this year, California wildfires have burned more than 1.1 million acres. The state is deploying thousands of firefighters daily to try and control the flames. Given the hot and dry conditions, it appears that California will easily surpass last year’s record 1.3 million acres burned.”
“By May, some stretches of the upper Rio Grande that normally don’t run dry until August were already desiccated. Southern New Mexico, the part of the state fed by Rio Grande water, would have to depend entirely on water stored in reservoirs to make it through the summer… what if the drought lasts a second year—or five more? “If something like this happens again next winter, then we’ll be in big trouble.””
“As days when the temperature soars above 100 pile up this summer, it’s looking like 2018 might turn out to be Austin’s hottest on record.”
https://austin.curbed.com/2018/8/22/17770372/austin-hottest-summer-record-heat-2018
“Wednesday marked the 30th day in 2018 for which temperatures have hit at least 90 degrees in Portland — a new all-time record for days in a year where the mercury has risen that high, weather officials say.”
https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2018/08/portland_weather_hits_90_degre.html
“A visit to Seattle’s iconic Space Needle normally provides breathtaking panoramic views. But the skyline now shows a city choked with smoke and ash… The city is experiencing collateral damage from a horrific start to the fire season, with wildfires burning from California to Canada. A NASA satellite image shows smoke covering nearly 2 million acres burning in the U.S.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/seattle-choked-with-smoke-and-ash-as-western-wildfires-rage/
“Through Aug. 21, Pittsburgh has seen 35.84 inches of rain for the year. That’s more than 10 inches ahead (10.2) of the “normal” pace for the city.”
https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2018/08/22/pittsburgh-on-pace-one-of-wettest-years-record/
“As temperatures in the Arctic rise in response to climate change, vegetation has invaded areas once too frigid to support plant life.”
http://news.berkeley.edu/story_jump/climate-change-has-the-arctic-seeing-green/
“Arctic seabirds exhibit an unexpectedly strong reaction to climate change, which is disrupting the food chain.”
https://www.zmescience.com/ecology/arctic-seabirds-climate-change-19082018/
“Sweden’s indigenous Sami reindeer herders are demanding state aid to help them cope with the impact of this summer’s unprecedented drought and wildfires, saying their future is at risk as global warming changes the environment in the far north… The Swedish government this week announced five major investigations aimed at preparing the country for the kind of extreme heatwave it experienced in July, when temperatures exceeded 30C (86F) and.”
“As heatwavemageddon continues to roll across Europe, Germany is experiencing its earliest grape harvest on record.”
http://imbibe.com/news-articles/wines/german-wine-experiences-earliest-grape-harvest-on-record/
“A scorching summer has ended five years of plenty in many wheat producing countries and drawn down the reserves of major exporters to their lowest level since 2007/08, when low grain stocks contributed to food riots across Africa and Asia. As Pascale Davies reports, in Germany farmers have had their hottest summer since 1881.”
https://uk.reuters.com/video/2018/08/22/germany-pledges-aid-for-farmers-struck-b?videoId=457122850
“Over a million people in Hawaii are already seeing the first signs of Hurricane Lane, a Category 4 cyclone that could become the first major hurricane to make landfall there in 26 years. The storm is moving closer to the Hawaiian islands with sustained winds of 145 mph and forecasters say it’s “on course to pass very close” to the islands or make landfall from Thursday through Friday. It could be so devastating that authorities are urging residents to set aside two weeks worth of food and water.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/08/23/us/hurricane-lane-hawaii-wxc/index.html
Summary:
https://america.cgtn.com/2018/08/22/extreme-weather-strikes-around-the-world
Read yesterday’s ‘Climate’ thread here.
