In the past week, weather conditions across the globe have been on the intense side. Right from tornadoes in the United States, bushfires in Australia, snowfall in Britain to floods in Afghanistan, the weather has been haywire across the globe.
Let us look at the extreme weather conditions across the globe in the last week:
Tornadoes in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, United States
In the thick of winters, which is in January or so when snow is heavy, tornadoes usually do not occur. They are only seen when these conditions ease. Tornadoes occur due to instability phenomenon, which basically means some warm and humid layers topped by cooler air which causes instability.
Tornadoes are violent thunderstorms, a funnel shaped rotating column of air. These are one of the weather phenomena which touch the ground akin to lightning which also strikes the ground.
They are seen right from the ground and are also known as twisters. They move very fast, and the pressure is very less due to which they suck everything that comes in their path taking them upwards and twisting them due to the wind speed it has. In fact, the wind speed of tornadoes can be equivalent to a Category 5 Hurricane.
On Sunday afternoon, a tornado sliced through the deep south, killing at least 23 people in Lee County of Alabama. Several survivors have been left without power and most people were left without homes.
The tornado was given an EF 4 rating, which is the second strongest Category for the tornado, the strongest of this damage potential to hit the United States since 2013.
Next weekend may also see some tornadoes, Louisiana and Missouri, however, they won’t be of as strong an intensity
Storm Freya in UK
Storm Freya has wreaked havoc over many parts of the United Kingdom on Sunday and Monday. Heavy rains, high wind speed, snowfall has resulted in travel disruptions across the region. The regions of Wales, the Midlands, Southwest and North England along with South Scotland have been the worst sufferers with winds gusting up to 80mph.
At least 2.4 inch of snow was reported close to the border between Cumbria and Northumberland. Mumbles on the other hand, has been seeing some flooding conditions with at least 1200 homes without power.
In fact, more unsettled weather conditions are in store for the region with hail and snowfall likely in the hills.
Now, a warm front is approaching, due to which heavy rain is likely in the UK on Wednesday and Thursday with a risk of sleet and snow over the hills of Northern England and Scotland.
Victoria Bushfires, Australia
Days after Australia’s summer this year were reported to be the hottest ever, bushfires have made an appearance over Victoria, which were practically out of control, and had occurred on a large scale. Not only this, at least 11 properties have been destroyed in the eastern parts of Victoria.
Temperatures during the weekend had soared to a whipping 40 degrees during the weekend. Moreover, 6,000 hectares have been burnt after a lightning strike was seen over Victoria's Bunyip State Park. A local winemaker Andrew Clarke’s vineyard along with his restaurant, house and Airbnb cottage, all were destroyed in the fire.
Western Disturbance in Central Asia, Afghanistan Floods
In the past week, there were a few increased Western Disturbance episodes over Central Asian region which includes India and Pakistan along with Afghanistan and other regions of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and so on. This was an episode of extended bad weather conditions for the region.
In fact, massive floods in Afghanistan and Pakistan have killed at least 45 people so far. Meanwhile, nine people were killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 13 in Balochistan. 20 people have lost their lives in Afghanistan all due to floods.
Not only this, damage or destruction was caused to at least 350 houses with 1,200 people affected. Heavy snowfall was also seen across the higher reaches of Afghanistan which raised fears of fresh flooding.
Image Credit: cnbc
