“The north Queensland coast is in the midst of an extreme rainfall event that has forced the Ross River Dam near Townsville to open its gates, adding to the flooding already under way.
“Here’s how it has happened – and why.
“It’s not over yet but, as of 9am local time on Monday, Townsville Airport had recorded more than one metre of rain in the past week.
“All up, that tally reached 1052 millimetres [41.1 inches], according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
“The total beat the previously weekly high from January 1998 of 886 millimetres although that event included the “night of Noah’ when a record daily tally of 548.8 millimetres fell.
“It’s a wet part of Australia, we know, but the past week has delivered almost Townsville’s entire annual average of 1157.9 millimetres [45.6 inches] at a site where the data goes back to 1940. In other words, a year’s rain in a week for the town.
“”This event is just an unprecedented monsoonal burst,” says Grace Legge, a senior meteorologist in the bureau’s extreme weather desk, adding that many stations are likely to set multiple-day records.
“To Townville’s west, the aptly named Upper Bluewater site clocked up 2068 millimetres [81.5 inches] in the week to Monday morning, according to Weatherzone.”
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/how-queensland-is-being-soaked-by-an-unprecedented-monsoonal-burst-20190204-p50vib.html
“Snakes and crocodiles have been spotted on residential roads in Australia after devastating floods hit the northern state of Queensland, following eight days of monsoon-level rain.
“Environment minister Leeanne Enoch issued a statement warning residents that the reptiles could turn up in unexpected places due to extreme weather conditions.”
“The drought situation in Namibia is fast becoming a disaster of epic proportions and in this regard the National Agriculture Union along with the Namibia Emerging Commercial Farmers Union asked for an urgent meeting with the Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry to discuss critical interventions to assist farmers.
“The two unions also jointly drafted a drought action plan with various possible solutions to assist that the feel must be implemented in order to assist struggling farmers which they plan to present to the agriculture minister.”
https://informante.web.na/2019/02/03/drought-is-a-national-crisis-urgent-intervention-critical/
“Scientists fear the future of the UAE’s reefs is in doubt after research found rising temperatures killed almost three quarters of Abu Dhabi’s coral. Record temperatures in the summer of 2017 left more than 90 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s coral cover bleached and struggling to survive, New York University Abu Dhabi found.
“Dr John Burt, associate professor of biology, said there was a remarkable amount of damage.”
“Spring-like temperatures arrived early in Croatia on Saturday and will hang around for part of Sunday as well. In the Croatian towns of Daruvar and Sisak, temperatures reached a high of 19 °C on Saturday afternoon, whilst in Maksimir in the capital Zagreb, it reached 17.1 °C.
“At Zagreb’s weather station Grič it measured 16.6 °C, making it one of the warmest starts to February in history for most of the country. Yesterday’s temperature in Zagreb was the warmest ever recorded on the 2nd of February since measurements began in 1881.”
https://www.croatiaweek.com/weather-records-broken-across-croatia-on-saturday/
“Four people drowned when a tourist boat capsized in strong winds on the Montenegrin side of Lake Skadar on Sunday, while heavy rain and melting snow caused flooding across neighboring Bosnia, damaging houses and blocking roads.
“A couple and their young daughter from the town of Zeta in Montenegro, drowned in the boat accident, along with a man who tried to help them…”
“St Mark’s square and alleyways in Venice’s historic centre were affected by flooding on Saturday, after heavy rains caused an unusually high tide. Tourists and residents were seen using wooden platforms to cross the square, while some braved the high flood levels, walking through the water in rubber boots.
“Elsewhere in Italy, firefighters used ropes and planks of wood to rescue three teenagers from a muddy river after their car swerved off the road in heavy rain.”
https://www.euronews.com/2019/02/03/high-tide-floods-parts-of-venice-s-historic-centre
“The number of people killed in the powerful tornado that ripped through part of Havana last week has risen to six, authorities said on Sunday.
“Public Health Minister Jose Angel Portal Miranda said in state media that “sadly, two people have died among the 13 who were in critical condition.” The earlier death toll was four.”
https://tribune.com.pk/story/1903343/3-death-toll-cuba-tornado-rises-six/
“Following record-breaking chill across the Midwest and Northeast this past week, a surge of relatively balmy air is moving into the region.
“A steady flow of air pushing into the area from the south will usher milder conditions into the region through Monday, allowing temperatures to increase by as much as 40-60 degrees when compared to the recent cold outbreak.”
“Indianapolis is making a serious run at setting a new record high temperature for the date. The capital city has already tied the record set in 1992, 1937, and 1883, reaching 62° at 2:11 p.m. We aren’t done with the warmth just yet.”
“With only 6.2 inches of snow in January, Denver just completed its 25th-straight month with below average snowfall, the longest such streak in recorded history. Denver’s official records date back to 1882, and an analysis of climatological records shows that there’s been no such previous stretch in recorded history.”
https://www.denverpost.com/2019/02/03/denver-weather-record-low-snowfall/
“The federal government has moved closer to imposing water delivery cuts along the drought-depleted Colorado River…
“…after California and Arizona failed to meet a deadline for inking a broad agreement on how the seven states that depend on the river would cope with shortages.”
“The strongest Pacific storm of this winter season slammed California with heavy rain, significant snowfall, high winds and travel disruptions this past weekend…
“The heavy rain caused excessive runoff, with debris flows reported downstream of the Holy and Woolsey fire burn scars.”
“Siberia has seen a deep freeze since early February, with severe sub-zero temperatures plunging lower than minus 50 degrees.
“Forced holidays started in many schools where a regime of free attendance had been introduced before. Storm and emergency warnings were declared in some Siberian regions, and there were problems with aircraft and bus transportation.”
http://tass.com/society/1043135
“The ocean will not look the same color in the future. It won’t turn pink or anything radically different; the change will be more apparent through optic sensors than though the human eye.
“But it serves as an early warning sign that global warming is significantly altering the planet’s ecosystems, according to a new study. Essentially, climate change will make the blues of the ocean bluer and the greens greener.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/04/world/climate-change-ocean-color-study/index.html
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