Saturday, December 31, 2016

Wishing all Vagarians and Readers a very Happy and Successful 2017...

Let us not wriggle out of 2016 without mentioning some of the uncommon, nonseasonal and rare weather events in the world. Have tried to cover up the most, but must have missed out many..so, lets start with January....

January:1st
The heavy snowfall that hit northern and central Turkey in the last days of 2015 has continued into the New Year,
January:4th
Temperatures fell below 0C for the first time this season in New York City on Monday morning, the latest date on record for such an occurrence. The city's previous record for the latest date for temperatures to drop below freezing was 22 December 1998.
January:7th
Tropical Storm Pali formed 1,500 miles southwest of Hawaii, making it the earliest on record that a tropical storm has formed in the central Pacific basin. The storm system is the first tropical cyclone to form in the Central Pacific this year and is also the earliest storm on record, beating Tropical Storm Wiona, which formed on Jan. 13, 1989.
January:25th
Snow, sleet and icy winds across east Asia have caused deaths, flight cancellations and chaos as the region struggles with record-low temperatures due to an Arctic cold snap that brought snow to several tropical areas for the first time in many people's lifetimes. In Taiwan, the capital Taipei recorded a low of 4C, the coldest in 44 years. Local media said 90 people had died due to the cold weather, mainly from hypothermia and cardiac arrest. Five more died in Japan. Hundreds of flights were cancelled across the region, tens of thousands of holidaymakers were stranded in South Korea, and freezing conditions in sub-tropical Hong Kong caused mayhem on its tallest peak. In northern Vietnam, snow blanketed mountain areas as the wave of cold air arrived on Sunday to Lào Cai province. In the capital, Hanoi, it dropped to a milder 6C, although authorities said that was the coldest the city has been for two decades. The southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, which is by the tropic of Cancer, saw sleet for the first time in 60 years, the local meteorological station said.  In Hong Kong, on Monday after temperatures fell to 3C, a 60-year low. In Bangkok, labelled the planet's hottest city by the World Meteorological Organisation for its mean air temperature of 28C, the mercury dropped to 16C on Monday. Scarves and padded jackets, normally bought only as winter holiday items by residents of Bangkok, appeared in the city as locals dealt with the unusually cool weather. In China, 24 weather stations recorded all-time low temperatures. Further north, in Inner Mongolia, the temperature dropped to a record low of -46.8C (-52F) and in China's eastern city of Qingdao, fishing boats were stuck fast in the frozen waters.
25th

February:1st-2nd
Storm Henry has lashed Scotland with winds of over 100 mph, forcing the closure of roads, rail services and leaving 2,000 homes without power. Gusts reached 148mph on the summit of Cairngorm and a speed of 100mph was recorded at the Tay Road bridge, Dundee. Winds of 90mph were recorded in South Uist on Monday night, with gusts of 60mph in Glasgow and 63mph in Loftus, North Yorkshire.
February:1st-22nd
A storm brought severe weather to parts of the Middle East Sunday night into Monday as heavy rain and thunderstorms produced flooding, strong winds, and hail. Rainfall averaged 25-50 mm across Israel, Jordan and Lebanon with local amounts up to 100 mm.
February:29th
Seattle set its wettest winter precipitation record by receiving 24.65 inches of rain. This broke the previous record of 22.77 inches set in the winter of 1998-1999. Records in Seattle date back to 1894

March:3rd-4th
Heavy snow and icy, freezing conditions wreaked havoc across the north of the UK on Thursday night and Friday morning as the storm swept in from the Atlantic. Snowfalls of up to 10 cm on higher ground forced schools to shut in parts of Yorkshire and Lancashire on Friday,
March:9th
Melbourne sweltered through its hottest March night on record on Tuesday, hovering around 30C after reaching a peak of 38.6C in the city at 5pm. The temperature dropped to an overnight minimum of 27.7C at 8.45am Wednesday, just before the 6am cut-off for overnight temperatures. It broke a previous record for the warmest overnight minimum of 26.5C, which was set on 13 March 2013. However the daytime maximum of 38.9C fell short of the March record of 41.5C, set in 1940. Sydney has also been unseasonably warm, with a record-breaking 31 days in a row above 26C. Canberra has had a daily maximum temperature of more than 30C for every day of March so far. Alain Baillie, forecaster with the Bureau of Meteorology in Melbourne, said the uncomfortable night was the result of a low-intensity heatwave, which has hovered over south-eastern Australia for the past week. Mildura has not had a daily maximum temperature below 36.7C since March began.
March:9th
Heavy rain and thunderstorms also lashed Oman on Wednesday causing flooding and closing schools. The Royal Oman Police have reported at least 40 distress calls from flooding along with numerous flooded roadways. 
March: 11th-15th
Islamabad received around 135 mm of rain from Friday to Tuesday. Normal rainfall for the entire month of March is less than 75 mm. Murree, a mountainous area just north of Islamabad, has recorded about 200 mm. Banhial, in the Indian state of Kashmir and Jammu, reported around 300 mm of rain through to Tuesday.
12th

April:6th
Parts of Sydney (Australia) have experienced the hottest April day on record, with the weather bureau saying the temperature reached 34.2C at Observatory Hill about 1:30pm. The previous April record of 33.9C was set in 1986. It was a hot day in the west, with Richmond hitting 36.6C, but that was shy of the April record there of 38.2C in 1986. Meanwhile at Bourke in the state's central-west, the mercury hit 38.6C, recording the hottest April day anywhere in New South Wales for 30 years.
April:17th-18th
Tropical cyclone Fantala's estimated maximum sustained winds reached 150 knots making it the most powerful South Indian Ocean tropical Cyclone of 2016. This increase in intensity made Fantala a category five tropical cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane wind scale. Fantala became this powerful while moving over the open waters of the South Indian Ocean to a position north of Madagascar. On April 18, satellite radar found rain falling at over 186 mm per hour in an intense feeder band on the eastern side of the tropical cyclone.
April:27th
In recent weeks all-time national heat records have been observed in Cambodia, Laos, and (almost) in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam. Meanwhile extreme heat has resulted in all- time record high temperatures in the Maldives, India, China, and portions of Africa as well. Here are some details:
Cambodia: National all-time record high of 42.6C set at Preah Vihea on April 15th. This surpassed the record set just two days previously at Bantey Ampil (42.2C on April 13th). Prior to this year, the maximum measured temperature in Cambodia was 41.4C at Stoeng Treng in 1960.
Laos: National all-time record high of 42.3C set at Seno on April 13th. This surpassed the former record of 42.0C recorded at Savannakhet in March 1933. An all-time national record high minimum temperature was measured at Takhek on April 13th of 30.5C.
Malaysia: Near national record of 39.2C measured at Batu Embun on April 10th (the hottest temperature ever measured in central Malaysia). The all-time Malaysian record is 40.1C at Chuping on April 9, 1998. In March this year Chuping reached 39.5C.
Singapore: Near national record set in Singapore with a 36.6C at Pulau on April 13th. National record is 37.0C at Tengah on April 17, 1983.
April:27th
All-time national temperature records have also been set for the Maldives Islands, India, China and in Africa. China's southernmost province of Hainan (Island) saw several sites breaking all-time heat records with the warmest being Danxian with a 40.5C reading on April 16th. In India on April 24th the city of Titlagarh measured 48.5C. This is the highest reliably measured temperature in India for the month of April. In addition, Bangalore recorded its all-time highest temperature on record with a 39.2C reading beating out its previous record of 38.9C observed on May 22, 1931. In the Maldives a national record high of 34.9C was observed at Hanimadhoo on April 16th edging out the previous record of 34.8C set at Kadhdhoo on March 27, 1999. In Africa Burkina Faso set its all- time national record high with 47.5C on April 13th; the previous record was 47.2C at the same site on May 13, 1984.
April:28th
Thailand is currently experiencing its longest heatwave in at least 65 years and authorities have advised people to stay indoors. The average temperature has risen above 40C in many regions in April, with the mercury spiking one day to a near record breaking 44.3C. The hottest day ever recorded in Thailand was 44.4C on April 27, 1960, in the northern province of Uttaradit. According to the Thai Meteorological Department, the average temperature nationwide has surpassed alert levels and the heatwave is expected to continue,


May:12th-13th
64 people have reportedly been killed by lightning over the past two days during tropical storms across Bangladesh. The reports said most of the deaths have occurred in rural Bangladesh
May:17th
It has been unusually warm across much of eastern Australia so far this May. The high for Sydney was 28C on Tuesday when the average temperature for May is 19.5C. All the way from Brisbane down to even Hobart is warmer than average for this part of year, acording to the Bureau of Meteorology In Brisbane the average high temperature for May is 23.2C - and so far this month not a day has failed to reach 24C. Canberra has also been warmer than the average May, with an average high of 18.9C so far this month compared with the usual 15.6C. And the effect has been felt as far south as Melbourne, where this month it has been 20.3C while the average May day peaks at 16. 7C. 
May: 19th:Historical High for India ! Phalodi, Rajasthan, India, records India's highest ever temperature when it recorded 51.0c on 19th May 2016.

June:20th-26th
Very hot weather across the Southwest USA challenged all-time record highs and provided ideal conditions for burgeoning wildfires this week. Highs soared well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit in many cities during the first half of the week. Phoenix recorded its fifth highest all-time temperature on Sunday, hitting 118F; Las Vegas (115F) and Death Valley (126F) each set new daily record highs on Monday. Blythe, California, about 200 miles east of Los Angeles, set all-time record highs on consecutive days after hitting 124F on Monday and 126F on Tuesday. At least five hikers died while hiking in Arizona as temperatures approached record high levels.
June:29th
Thunderstorms brought heavy rain to Karachi and surroundings parts of Pakistan on Tuesday and Wednesday. Rainfall on Tuesday totalled 1.71 inches, the highest single-day total since September 2011. Additional rain falling on Wednesday brought an additional 0.79 of an inch to the city for a total of 2.50 inches in a 24-hour time period. This is more rain than was reported during the entire 2015 calendar year and almost as much as was reported in 2014-2015 combined. 
June:30th
277 mm of rain fell at the Limburg (Netherlands) weather station at Ysselstein, a new national record for the month of June. In the southeast of the country many places recorded over 200 mm of rain.

July:3rd
A record was set in the tropical northwestern Pacific Ocean as the basin entered its longest stretch of time without a named tropical cyclone. The new record of 199 days ended on Sunday with the development of Tropical Storm Nepartak. The lack of tropical systems occurred from 17 December 2015 to 2 July 2016. The previous record was 198 days which occurred from 15 December 1972, to 30 June 1973, and also from 22 December 1997, to 7 July 1998.
July:21st
Across parts of Iraq, western Iran, Kuwait and northern Saudi Arabia, extremely high temperatures have been recorded over recent days. On Thursday Basrah Airport, Iraq reached 53.4C, while Mitribah in northern Kuwait recorded 54.0C. Both of these temperatures, subject to confirmation, are new national records and the 54.0C recorded at Mitribah is among the highest temperatures ever recorded in Asia.
July:24th
Stifling heat has been baking the central United States, but will finally ease across northern areas this weekend. Some figures include:
109F in Pierre, South Dakota on the 20th was the highest since 29 August 2012.
Dallas first reached 100F on the 22nd, 21 days later than normal.
105F at Little Rock, Arkansas, on the 22nd tied the day's record high with 1943.


August: 9th
A rare 'landspout tornado' was photographed on the southwest side of Chicago. The tornado was the first to occur inside Chicago's city limits since 22 September 2006, according to the National Weather Service in Chicago. The National Severe Storms Laboratory defines landspouts as "narrow, rope-like condensation funnels that form while the thunderstorm cloud is still growing and there is no rotating updraft." The NWS said there was no rain shower or thunderstorm, just cumulous clouds along the lake breeze. Landspouts are typically observed under cumulonimbus clouds or towering cumulous clouds and are the land-based equivalent of waterspouts.
August:23rd-24th
France has been hit by a heatwave that will last until Friday at least, weather forecasters said as temperatures soared into the high 30s C and authorities warned the elderly to stay indoors during the middle of the day. The highest temperatures at 4.00pm on Tuesday were recorded in the west - Rennes (34C), Nantes, Cognac, Bordeaux (35C) and Mont-de-Marsan (36C).
24th

September:16th
Samoa has been hit by a hail storm so rare that it was believed to be a hoax by many of the island's inhabitants. The tropical nation of Samoa lies in the Pacific Ocean, where the average temperature at this time of year is 29C. But on Friday evening an unexpected hail storm struck the eastern side of the island of Savai'i, accompanied by heavy rain and strong wind gusts. It was only the second time since records began that hail has fallen on Samoa, the first was in 2011. The storm lasted 10 to 15 minutes and produced hail stones roughly 2cm wide. 'Because it was so unexpected a lot of people thought it had been invented. We had to release satellite images of the conditions that led to to the hail for people to believe it was real.'

October:17th
In the Atlantic, the post-tropical cyclone Nicole (formerly Hurricane Nicole), has been declared the longest-lived Atlantic tropical cyclone, since 1906, to have formed after the first day of October. Wind speeds of up to 75mph were still prominent in the north Atlantic on Monday morning, but lost strength the following day out to the west of Maine. Nicole regained hurricane status twice, since initially starting up on 4 October and lasting a total of 14 days. Coastal regions of Britain are now on flood alert following Atlantic sea-surge warnings.
October : 20th
One of the most powerful typhoons to ever hit the Philippines destroyed houses, tore roofs off schools and ripped giant trees out of the ground. Super typhoon Haima hit the northern province of Cagayan late on Wednesday night with winds almost on a par with catastrophic Haiyan, which was then the strongest storm to strike the disaster-prone south-east Asian archipelago and claimed more than 7,350 lives in 2013. Haima hit coastal towns facing the Pacific ocean with sustained winds of 225 km/h, and wind gusts of up to 315 km/h

November:24th
Snow fell in Tokyo and other parts of eastern Japan on Thursday, with the capital recording its first November snowfall since 1875 when the government started collecting records.

December:5th
Parts of the Big Island of Hawaii were hit by a major storm that left the area with several feet of snow. The worst of the winter storm struck Mauna Kea, which rises to a height of 13,803 feet. Despite the tropical latitude of Hawaii, snow is not unusual on Mauna Kea.
December: 
12th-14th: Direct hit by Severe Cyclone "Vardah" on Chennai...winds upto 130 kmph brought considerable destruction in the city.
December data yet receiving...so incomplete.
Data from Roger Brugge's Page

5 comments:

NilaY Wankawala said...

What a lovely treat it was to rewind the year 2016 at one go. Happy new yeAR Rajesh sir and all of us here @ vagaries.

Rohit Aroskar said...

Sir, very nice compiled summary ..
Happy new year to all vagarians

Shreyas Dhavale said...

One of the best compilations of weather events!
Happy New Year to everyone!

sset said...

Best summary of rear weather events over entire world for 2016 - Vagaries has captured all of them with precision!!!
I wish in this list MAHA - Shirgaon,Kitwadi can be added -> they received continuous 3 digit rains ranging from 300-500mm every day for a month in stretch!
South India drought - first time all southern states KER,KAR,TN,AP are in drought due to failure of SWM and NEM.

Salim Ramani , Jabalpur said...


Happy New Year to All

Rajesh Sir Very nice Re-cape of 2016 , Excellent compilation .

Thanks

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