Category: Posts EN

Delayed Monsoon Intensifies Indian Heat Wave & Water Crisis

Written by Team Morecast

 

After a brief reprieve, more hot, dry weather is building across parts of central and northwest India. This new heat wave will only exacerbate severe drought conditions and water shortages. Some cities are being forced to truck water in from other locales due to water reservoirs being nearly bone-dry, a tremendously expensive operation.

 

 

Cyclone Vayu clipped the western part of India last week. Fortunately, the coast was spared the worst winds and surge flooding. Parts of the country even received welcome rain and cooler temperatures. However, the cyclone also sapped the developing monsoon trough of moisture and energy. The result is an already-delayed monsoon stalling in the far southern and eastern portions of the country. As of 20-June, only about 10-15% of the country has seen the onset of the monsoon, compared to two-thirds normally by this time (see map above). While the monsoon is beginning to creep northwesterly again, it will be several weeks yet before it reaches the west and northwest regions. For a largely agrarian country that receives 70% of its rainfall from the monsoon, the delay is devastating.

 

 

 

The delay may be partially due to the ingoing El Nino, a pattern of warming waters in the Pacific that has global impacts on weather. However, scientists also fear a weaker and more unpredictable monsoon due to climate change. Some regions have seen successive weak monsoons, combined with human-driven factors, result in severely depleted water supplies. Chennai, the sixth-largest city in India, home to more than 4.5 million people, is one such city. Officials there have had to employ 400 tanker trucks to deliver thousands of cubic feet of water to local reservoirs which are otherwise spent. But a nation-wide monsoonal delay reduces the ability of neighboring regions to help, creating a crisis everywhere.

Tropical Cyclone and Sizzling Heat Pose Different but Deadly Threats to India!

Written by Team Morecast

 

Much of India has been boiling in record-breaking heat since the end of May thanks to a delayed monsoon. Now a cyclone has spun up over the Arabian Sea, threatening the western state of Gujarat.

 

 

Cyclone Vayu developed on 10-June over the southeast Arabian Sea and has been moving steadily north since. Paralleling the western coast of India, the cyclone is small but has gained strength. It’s now producing destructive winds in excess of 150 kph along with flooding rains and storm surge. These deadly threats prompted government officials to evacuate millions of residents along the coast of Gujarat, a state that rarely sees cyclones of this intensity. It also comes only two months after Cyclone Fani slammed into portions of eastern India and Bangladesh, killing nearly 100 people. Fortunately, the latest models suggest that Vayu will stay off the coast with the worst impacts over open waters.

 

A crippling heatwave is continuing to roast nearly two thirds of India this week, as heat records have been falling by the wayside. This heatwave, which began in the middle of May, has been responsible for 36 deaths so far, and has led to numerous conflicts over water shortages. These conflicts have been linked to people getting beaten, stabbed, and even killed as sources of water have become scarce.

On June 2, the city of Churu reached 50.8 ºC, which is just shy of the all time record high recorded in India of 51. Delhi hit a high of 48 on June 10th, becoming the highest temperature ever recorded in that city for the month of June.

 

 

 

The intensity of the heatwave is not the only aspect of it that is record breaking, but its length is also on track to break a record. As it currently stands, the heatwave’s length is at 32 days, but the record longest heatwave recorded is 33 days. This record is likely to be broken in the next few days as no signs of a cool down are in the forecast.

 

Major Western Cities Boiling in Early Summer Heat Wave!

Written by Team Morecast

 

High temperature records are falling on a daily basis across many areas of the west. A strong, persistent ridge of high pressure is responsible for the unseasonably early heat. The hot temps have lead to excessive demand on electrical power grids, leading to widespread power outages. Public transit systems have been delayed and air quality has degraded.

 

 

The high temperature on Monday soared to 100 deg F (38 deg C) at San Francisco International Airport, the only time in the station’s history that the century mark has been reached in the months of June, July, or August. Nearby Salinas reported a high temperature of 106 deg, surpassing the previous record for the day by 18 degrees! Numerous other cities have reported daily temperature maxes being broken, including Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington. The upper level ridge in place has kept cooler temperatures bottled up over western Canada and the Plains eastward. Clear high pressure has allowed land surfaces to rapidly warm, and persistent offshore winds have prevented the much cooler maritime air from penetrating inland. The ridge is expected to break down later this week, restoring a more normal early summer temperature pattern.

Fog Possibly a Factor in Deadly NYC Helicopter Crash

Written by Team Morecast

 

A helicopter crashed into the top of a 54-story skyscraper in mid-town Manhattan on Monday afternoon in foggy, rainy conditions. The pilot was the only person on board and did not survive.

 

 

The pilot took off from an East River helipad about 1:30 p.m. He told workers on the pad that he was attempting to take off during what he surmised was a break in the otherwise prohibitive weather. The weather station at Central Park at the time of the incident was reporting moderate to heavy rain with a visibility of 1.25 miles. However, cloud ceilings were very low – visibilities at the level of skyscraper rooftops were only a few hundred feet at most. Minutes after takeoff the pilot radioed in that he may have to turn back. Eyewitnesses describe the helicopter as moving “erratically” over the river and the adjacent city buildings, nosediving at high speeds before coming almost to a dead stop. The pilot reportedly attempted to make an emergency landing on top of the building at 787 7th Avenue but was unsuccessful. That particular building has no helipad on which to land. The wrecked helicopter caught fire and was totally destroyed.

 

 

Occupants of the building felt a hard thump and were then told to evacuate. No one besides the pilot was injured. Hundreds of firefighters responded to the emergency and quickly doused the flames. Officials say the pilot, a volunteer firefighter in his down time, had just dropped off a company executive on the East River helipad and may have been attempting to return to an airport in New Jersey. Lead photo courtesy Wikipedia contributor Andres Nieto Porras.