“The oceans near North America have been angry this year – “When all the hurricanes and tropical storms that have formed in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific Oceans this year are added together, the 2018 hurricane season is the most active season ever recorded, Colorado State University meteorologist Phil Klotzbach announced Tuesday…
“To determine the strength of a given season, scientists use the “Accumulated Cyclone Energy” (ACE) index, which adds together the intensity and duration of all the tropical storms and hurricanes that formed.
“So far in 2018, the ACE for the Atlantic and eastern Pacific seasons together is 432 units of energy, shattering the record of 371, which was set in 1992, Klotzbach said.”
“Hurricane Willa has swept onto Mexico’s Pacific mainland with 120mph (195km/h) winds, hitting beach towns, fishing villages and farms after roaring over an offshore penal colony… Forecasters said the hurricane could bring six to 12 inches (15 to 30cm) of rain – with up to 18in (45cm) in some places – to parts of Jalisco, Nayarit and Sinaloa states, with flash flooding and landslides possible in mountainous areas.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/24/hurricane-willa-makes-landfall-mexico
“Important nesting grounds for threatened green sea turtles are now fully submerged after a direct hit by a powerful hurricane on one of Hawaii’s largest atolls earlier this month. About 96 per cent of Hawaiian green sea turtles use the atoll, and about half of them nest on East Island. East Island, the second-largest island of the French Frigate Shoals, approximately 800 kilometres north-west of Honolulu, is also a crucial pupping ground for endangered monk seals.”
“Super Typhoon Yutu is nearing a strike on parts of the Northern Mariana Islands in the western Pacific Ocean, potentially the strongest super typhoon of record to pass near the islands of Saipan, Tinian and Rota. The center of Yutu is now less than 100 miles southeast of the islands of Saipan and Tinian… Maximum sustained winds are now solidly Category 5 intensity, 165 mph, as of the latest advisory from the U.S. Joint Typhoon Warning Center.”
“Ocean heat content (OHC) set a new record in the first half of 2018, with more warmth in the oceans than at any time since OHC records began in 1940… Moderate El Niño conditions are expected to develop during November, which will contribute to a slightly warmer finish to 2018. However, as El Niño’s warming impact on surface temperatures tends to lag by a few months this event will mostly affect 2019.”
https://www.carbonbrief.org/state-of-the-climate-new-record-ocean-heat-content-and-growing-a-el-nino
“Farmers are culling animals and failing to cover the cost of production as grain prices skyrocket due to drought. South Australian dairy farmer Rick Gladigau said the price of grain to feed his cows had doubled over the past year.
“”I’ve seen plenty of dry periods and tough times, but none to where they are this year with hay and grain prices. I’ve never seen them at this point. It is scary,” Mr Gladigau said.”
“The last place on Earth that’s home to wild tigers, rhinos, orangutans and elephants may lose these and countless other species to make way for a $3 billion hydropower project. That’s the warning from a new study looking at the potential impact of the plant on the Leuser Ecosystem in Indonesia’s Sumatra Island, an ecological hotspot and one of the world’s largest remaining expanses of pristine tropical rainforest.”
https://news.mongabay.com/2018/10/study-warns-of-dire-ecological-social-fallout-from-sumatran-dam/
“The Cape Town weather forecast has been utterly brutal for the start of this week, and it is far from finished with the locals. Projections from Accuweather and Ventusky predict that the heat is set to go up a notch, for both the Mother City and Western Cape…
“Temperature records for October have already been smashed in Cape Town due to the extreme warmth.”
https://www.thesouthafrican.com/cape-town-weather-forecast-update-heatwave-records-23-24-october/
“It’s a desperate situation in Beaufort West, as the Western Cape town faces a day zero scenario that the Mother City was able to avoid.
“The Gamka dam is officially bone dry, running out of water last week. Residents have been surviving off borehole water, but 12 out of 39 sources have also run dry. Fearing that all of these water points will soon be exhausted, the locals have had no choice but to resort to a desperate alternative.”
https://www.thesouthafrican.com/beaufort-west-drought-water-dams/
“Since the middle of last week, intense rains have been hitting the extreme northwest of Argentina (NOA).
“These are days in which instability affects a large part of the country, leaving covered skies and rainfall in many provinces, but no doubt that the most compromised situation is being experienced in the northern provinces.”
“Frustration, flooded roads and buildings, city-wide gridlock, hours in stand-still traffic, and stranded at bus stops were some of the horror many persons experienced in the Corporate Area yesterday… “It was a nightmare. I’ve never seen anything like this. The entire city seems to be practically locked down,” one woman in downtown Kingston [Jamaica] declared, who had been stuck in traffic for more than three hours trying to get home.”
“Onlookers were amazed to see large hail across portions of Arizona on Tuesday.
“”The slow-moving nature of the thunderstorms also produced heavy rainfall in some areas. With Phoenix at nearly 10 times their normal rainfall for October, flash flooding is a concern,” Thompson said.”
https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/photos-hailstorm-pounds-parts-of-arizona/70006435
“It was the warmest year in 124 years of records in Colorado and the second driest, too. A new report from the Colorado Climate Center examined temperature and precipitation records for the 2017-2018 water year, which ended Sept. 30. “We live in a climate where we’re going to be limited for water. That will happen from time to time. But what set this year apart is the combination of heat and dryness,” says Russ Schumacher, the Colorado state climatologist.”
http://mountaintownnews.net/2018/10/23/colorados-warmest-and-second-driest-year-ever/
“Parts of the US have reported record numbers of West Nile virus infections, with experts warning that warming temperatures and flooding driven by climate change is heightening the risk of Americans contracting the debilitating disease.
“Cases of West Nile virus have been reported in every US state except Hawaii so far this year…”
“The fall foliage season has been a dud so far in parts of the East… The cause? Blame it on the weather, particularly the worst-case combination of unusually warm and wet conditions… most of the eastern U.S. saw an extremely warm September and early October. As for rain, the late summer and early fall has been one of the wettest on record, he said. Ideally, cooler, drier weather is best for lovely foliage.”
https://eu.ydr.com/story/news/local/2018/10/23/fall-foliage-disappointing-east-delaware/1737614002/
“The docks are eerily quiet at Cologne’s main port on the mighty River Rhine, with hundreds of containers piled up and awaiting their journey north on one of Europe’s busiest commercial arteries.
“Months of scarce rainfall and hot sunny weather drove water levels on the Rhine to a record low, forcing ship operators to suspend services to keep vessels from running aground.”
“Video footage from southern Italy shows a bridge, transformed by recent heavy rain, take on the characteristics of a waterfall… It comes during a wave of extreme weather across the country where flooding has brought some areas to a total standstill… Videos posted on social media showed water pouring down the stairs of metro stations in Rome. Six stations were closed in the nation’s capital, with water reaching one-metre deep in some places.”
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