Category: Posts EN

Ferocious Fires Consume Millions of Acres in the West & Claim Three Dozen Lives

Written by Team Morecast

 

Months of near-zero precipitation and boiling temperatures have helped spark hundreds of wildfires in the West. More than three million acres as well as thousands of homes and businesses have burned to ashes in California alone. That’s 27 times the acreage burned in all of 2019, and possibly the most in more than a century. Choking smoke has spread across much of the Western and Central US, leading to the worst air quality conditions in decades. Nearly three dozen lives have been lost to the flames.

 

 

Firefighters have worked superhuman shifts to try to control the blazes, some going 48 to 72 hours without a break. Still, the high winds, hot temperatures, and severe drought conditions have turned forests up and down the West coast to kindling. Hundreds of wildfires have stretched fire management resources well beyond the breaking point. Evacuations have been required for hundreds of communities in Washington, Oregon, and California. Despite the evacuations, the death count is up to at least 35, including two dozen in California. Many more are missing as of Sunday night.

 

 

A historic heat wave has been one ingredient in the cataclysmic fires of late. Los Angeles County reported their highest temperature of all time on 6-Sept, 121 deg F ( deg C). Officials have cautioned that such high temperatures will lead to rolling blackouts unless stringent energy conservation measures are taken. To ease the strain on the power systems, California Governor Newsome has temporarily eased emissions regulations on suppliers. Unfortunately that will only decrease air quality as wildfire smoke combines with industrial emissions. Only months after enjoying some of the cleanest air in decades due to the COVID shutdown, ozone levels reached 185 ppb in Los Angeles last Sunday. That’s the highest level since 1994, in the “Very Unhealthy” category. Other major West Coast cities like Portland and San Francisco, and even into southern British Columbia, have reported similarly hazardous air quality readings in recent weeks. Satellite imagery shows smoke from the fires is being carried as far east as the Midwest and Great Lakes.

 

Roiling Tropical Atlantic Threatening Bermuda and Gulf Coast in the Coming Days

Written by Team Morecast

 

The climatological peak of hurricane season in the Atlantic Basin just occurred on 10-September. Appropriately, the tropics are very active. Currently there are four storms rolling across the Basin, including Hurricane Paulette and Tropical Storm Sally, both strengthening. Paulette will pass directly over the island of Bermuda in the next few days. Meanwhile Sally is expected to strengthen rapidly and approach the central Gulf Coast as a hurricane later this week.

 

 

 

Paulette is a minimal hurricane as of Saturday evening, however conditions are favorable for steady strengthening in the next few days. Paulette will continue to move northwestward, bringing the center of the storm directly over Bermuda by Monday morning. Hurricane landfalls are not uncommon for the tiny island nation, occurring every few years, and local residents have well-practiced procedures to deal with the impacts. However, strong winds, heavy rains, and surge flooding can still major disruptions, including power outages. After passing Bermuda, Paulette will turn northeast and accelerate towards the northern Atlantic.

 

 

Tropical Storm Sally has already caused very heavy rainfall and gusty winds over south Florida on Saturday. Now the storm has entered the eastern Gulf of Mexico with warm waters and low shear ahead. Intensification is likely and Sally could be a hurricane by Monday. Steering winds are not very strong and will diminish further in the coming days. Consequently, Sally will slow down as it moves close to the central Gulf Coast. Landfall is projected to occur somewhere between southeast Louisiana and the Florida panhandle on Tuesday. Slow storm motion will lead to heavier rainfall totals, exceeding 12 inches (300 mm) in some areas (see map above), leading to serious freshwater flooding. A life-threatening storm surge and destructive winds will also occur near and just east of the landfall point. Additional updates will likely come out as Sally approaches landfall. Lead photo courtesy flickr user Jerry Angelica.

Typhoon Haishen Rips Through Japan and South Korea

Written by Team Morecast

 

The busy port of Busan, South Korea suffered a direct hit from Typhoon Haishen on Monday morning, just hours after it raked the Japanese island of Kyushu. Fortunately, Haishen had weakened significantly since peaking at Category Five status late last week. Still, the region saw damaging winds and serious flooding as the storm moved through.

 

 

Haishen continues to move rapidly north today, weakening as it does. The storm will be not much more than a remnant low tonight into Tuesday as it moves through North Korea and into eastern China. However, Haishen was a much stronger storm overnight Sunday into early Monday as it passed close to Kyushu Island and slammed into southeast South Korea. Winds gusting in excess of 130 mph (210 kph) were reported in the southern Japanese Islands, along with widespread rainfall around eight inches (200 mm). Rain-prone mountainous areas saw much higher rainfall as much as 23 inches (580 mm)! The typhoon threat provoked nearly a million Japanese residents to evacuate from their homes. Hundreds of thousands were without power due to the storm as of Monday morning.

 

 

Haishen is the third typhoon in the past few weeks to strike the Korean peninsula after Bavi and Maysak. It’s the first time in nearly 75 years that three typhoons have struck the Koreas in the same season. Haishen is also the fifth named storm to strike the peninsula this season, a new record. Lead photo courtesy wikipedia contributor Stephen Wheeler.

Busy Western Pacific Pattern with Multiple Typhoons Battering Korean Peninsula

Written by Team Morecast

 

An especially active period of typhoon activity continues over the Western Pacific. South and North Korea will continue to be the main focal point for the worst impacts. These storms are coming on the heels of devastating monsoonal flooding earlier in August that claimed dozens of lives. Typhoon Bavi struck North Korea last week, followed by Maysak just today in South Korea. The third and strongest typhoon, Haishen, looks to strike nearly the same region by this weekend.

 

 

Bavi reach Category Three status as it moved through the Yellow Sea last week. Fortunately it weakened just before landfall over north Pyongan Province on Thursday, 27-Aug. Minor damage was reported in China, South Korea and some of the southern Japanese islands. More serious impacts, including flash flooding as well as downed trees and powerlines, occurred near landfall in North Korea. Maysak peaked at Category Four intensity on Tuesday over the East China Sea. It was around this time that a livestock-carrying ship, the Gulf Livestock 1, was struck and feared lost with 43 crew and nearly 6,000 head of cattle. Like Bavi, Maysak weakened considerably before landfall but still caused wind damage and power outages for 200,000 households in south and east South Korea.

 

 

Typhoon Haishen is currently a Category One with maximum sustained winds to 85 knots (155 kph). However, rapid intensification is expected the next few days as the typhoon moves slowly west-northwest over very warm waters. Haishen will then accelerate and turn north-northwest towards the southern Japanese Islands (see forecast map above). Another South Korean landfall is expected this weekend, very close to the major port city of Busan. Like the other recent storms, some weakening is expected before landfall. However, the cumulative effect of monsoonal flooding and the recent typhoons has left the region vulnerable. Downed trees and powerlines will occur more readily over a densely populated area, leading to major disruptions.