Category: Posts EN

Historic River Flooding Sweeps the Plains and Midwest!

Written by Team Morecast

 

A wave of heavy rain swept through the Midwest and central Plains with the huge winter storm earlier this week. Temperatures also rose dramatically with the system after months of snow and sub-freezing weather. The combination of rapid snow melt and heavy rain have overwhelmed streams and rivers across the region. Numerous stations are reporting major flooding, some shattering previous record levels.

 

 

The map above shows river gauges reporting levels above flood stage with purple indicating major flooding. There are forty-four such stations from the Dakotas all the way to the central Gulf coast. Several rivers have surged to levels never previously recorded, inundating numerous houses and businesses and forcing widespread evacuations. Fifty-three counties in Nebraska alone have declared emergencies and requested federal aid. As with any large-scale river flood event, high waters are affecting tributaries now with flooding likely for the major rivers such as the Mississippi later on. Ice jams are exacerbating the flooding in many areas, demolishing roads and bridges. Below are some tweets showing the terrible toll exacted by the record flooding. Lead photo courtesy flickr contributor Lauri Vain.

 

 

 

Powerful Late Winter Cyclone Sweeps Across the Plains!

Written by Team Morecast

 

A large, historically strong winter storm is producing destructive impacts all the way from the Mexican to the Canadian borders. On the cold side, gusty winds are combining with heavy snow to produce a whiteout blizzard, closing numerous highways and interstates. To the south, hurricane-force wind gusts are blowing trees and powerlines over. Heavy rain and melting snow are resulting in flooding for portions of the Upper Midwest as well!

 

 

The storm intensified rapidly overnight Tuesday, rolling into the High Plains by early Wednesday. Numerous observation stations set new records for low pressure, readings usually associated with mature hurricanes. The extreme low pressure came with a surge of Arctic air north and west of the storm, producing very heavy snows up to two feet in spots. Winds also increased rapidly with widespread reports of gusts exceeding 70 mph (see map above). Colorado Springs reported a gust to 97 mph coinciding with heavy snow. The combination of heavy snow and high winds has brought prolonged blizzard conditions with near-zero visibilities and very high drifts. Travel has become virtually impossible with numerous highways and interstates closed from eastern Colorado to western Kansas, western Nebraska, and eastern Wyoming. Denver International Airport was completely closed down for much of the day with thousands of flights cancelled.

 

 

 

 

Gusts up to 100 mph or more have been reported south and east of the storm, blowing over trees, powerlines, and even some high-profile vehicles (see tweet video above). Amarillo, Texas reported wind gusts of 60-80 mph continuously for 8+ hours on Wednesday. Severe storms slammed central Texas from Tuesday afternoon into the overnight. Storm-induced wind gusts of 70-80 mph felled trees, powerlines, and semi trucks across the Dallas-Ft. Worth metro during the pre-dawn hours on Wednesday. A surge of warm Gulf moisture lifted all the way up to the Upper Midwest. Heavy rain showers affected the region on Wednesday, however the abnormally warm temperatures proved more harmful. Rapid snow melt quickly overloaded streams and rivers, resulting in flooding. Ice jams added to the flooding threat.

Deadly Cyclone Idai to Slam Mozambique Later This Week!

Written by Team Morecast

 

Tropical Cyclone Idai rapidly strengthened on Tuesday to Category Three status. It will continue to move over the very warm waters of the Mozambique Channel separating mainland Africa from Madagascar. This dangerous storm is expected to turn towards central Mozambique later in the week, bringing deadly winds, rains, and waves.

 

 

Flooding rains from the same storm system have been soaking portions of Malawi and northern Mozambique for the better part of two weeks. Dozens of lives have been lost already. Unfortunately, additional strengthening could occur in the next 24-36 hours and Idai may be a category four at landfall. That would make it one of the most powerful cyclones in the past 50 years to strike Mozambique. The major coastal city of Beira lies directly in the path of the cyclone. Much of the low-lying city could be inundated by a predicted storm surge of 5-10 feet. Destructive wind gusts up to 150 mph (kph) and flooding rainfall up to (mm) will also be major hazards. A cyclone of this magnitude will likely have devastating effects on Mozambique, whose population and industry is heavily concentrated near the coast. Lead satellite image courtesy NASA’s Earth Observatory.

Mid-South Tornadoes Kill Dozens, Worst Outbreak In Years!

Written by Team Morecast

 

Numerous tornadoes roared across portions of Alabama, the Florida panhandle, Georgia, and South Carolina on Sunday, March 3rd. Almost two dozen people lost their lives to one of the twisters alone, more deaths than were attributed to all tornadoes across the country throughout 2018. The outbreak ended a years-long stretch of relatively harmless tornado activity.

 

 

Seventy-five tornado reports were tallied by the Storm Prediction Center. Based on these reports, National Weather Service survey teams found 34 individual twisters had developed. By far the most significant mowed a path stretching almost 70 miles through parts of Alabama and Georgia. This tornado was at one point nearly a mile wide, boasting winds of 170 mph. It was the first EF4-rated tornado anywhere in the U.S. since one struck the town of Canton, Texas in April 2017. The death toll of 23 made it the deadliest single tornado since the EF5 that devastated Moore, Oklahoma in May 2013.

 

 

 

 

Officials blame the unusually high death toll in part on the prevalence of vulnerable mobile homes in the tornado’s path. Residents had ample warning of the approaching twister, but many had no sufficient sheltering options available. Other factors include the lack of emergency communication channels for some in the poverty-stricken community, and a sense of complacency due to previous unrealized tornado warnings. Lead photo courtesy Wikipedia contributor Matt Putzel.