Category: Posts EN

Oppressive Heat Wave Heralds the New Year Down Under

Written by Team Morecast

 

Much of Australia is baking under a stubborn ridge of high pressure as the calendar turns to 2019. High temperatures will continue to reach well up into the 40s over the interior, not uncommon for the middle of summer. However, this heat will creep into the major coastal cities as well in the next few days, creating a dangerous heat stroke risk for the dense urban population centers.

 

 

Hot, dry air will invade much of Victoria on Friday, including the Melbourne metro area (see map above). Northerly winds off the interior deserts will push temperatures above 40 degrees in the city. These will likely be the warmest temperatures there since January 2018. In fact, Melbourne averages only about one day above 40 degrees all year. Fortunately, this extreme heat won’t overstay its welcome. By this weekend, look for highs near normal in the 20s around Melbourne thanks to onshore winds.

 

 

Much above average temperatures are dominating New South Wales, as well. The map above shows the potential for an official heatwave (extreme temperatures for three consecutive days) to end the week. Melbourne is excluded from the higher categories only because the dangerous heat there will be limited to Friday. The capital of Canberra has seen high temperatures above 30 degrees for the past nine days. Little relief is expected in the next several days, potentially not until early next week. The capital hasn’t seen a streak of 13 days above 30 degrees since January 2017. Sydney will see hot temps, too, especially on Saturday when highs will reach the mid-30s. Lead photo courtesy flickr contributor Alex Proimos.

Soggy End to a Record-Setting Wet 2018 in the Eastern U.S.

Written by Team Morecast

 

Another significant storm system is rolling across the eastern U.S. tonight. The north and west sides of the storm have dumped heavy snow and even blizzard conditions from the Southwest to the Plains and Upper Midwest. However, the main story to the east has been more heavy rain. It’s the appropriate end to a very wet 2018 that saw yearly rainfall records shattered in many locations.

 

 

The current system has dropped rainfall amounts of 3-5 inches from the Mid-South to the southern Appalachians (see map above). Flooding has been common in these areas, some of it serious (see tweets below).

 

 

 

This rainfall has helped some cities set their new record rainfall marks for the year. Many cities, however, saw records broken much earlier. Wilmington, NC outran their previous yearly rainfall record all the way back in mid-September! The table below shows 2018 totals compared to previous records and the normal yearly rainfall. All but two cities easily surpassed their old records, in some cases by ten to nearly 20 inches!

 

 

Across much of the Midwest, the southern and central Appalachians, and the Mid-Atlantic, rainfall ran 150% to 200% of normal values. That helped eliminate any remnant drought conditions in these regions. As you can see from the map at bottom, there exists very little drought east of the Rockies. This is certainly good news for farmers as we start to turn towards the spring growing season. In the meanwhile, though, flooding makes for a sour way to start the new year. Lead photo courtesy FEMA.

 

 

Massive Hail Stones Slam Sydney Region!

Written by Team Morecast

 

A potent mix of high instability and strong upper level winds combined to produce severe thunderstorms from central into northeast New South Wales on Thursday afternoon and evening. These powerful boomers dropped hail up to 8 cm in diameter and larger along with high winds, leading to serious damage and thousands of power outages. It’s being called the worst hail storm in two decades for Sydney!

 

 

Several rounds of powerful storms moved across the Sydney metro between 4 pm and 8 pm AEDT. The radar animation above shows the intense cells. Radar echo reflectivity values were maxed out (the white spots in the center). There was also quite frequent cloud-to-ground lightning. Hailstones of 5-8 cm were reported in several areas, large enough to shatter windows and punch holes in roofs. Wind gusts of 110-140 kph knocked over trees and powerlines, resulting in tens of thousands of power outages. The storms are being compared to the infamous 1999 hail storm in Sydney that cost insurance carriers $1.7 billion in damage claims, the most expensive natural disaster in Australian history. Lead photo courtesy flickr user DM.

 

 

 

Dangerous Cyclone Owen Rolling Towards Cape York Peninsula!

Written by Team Morecast

 

Cyclone Owen has continue to intensify today as it moves slowly east across the Gulf of Carpentaria. Very warm water temperatures and low shear are helping Owen pick up steam. The cyclone is moving more slowly than anticipated, but destructive winds and rains will eventually reach the Cape York peninsula!

 

 

Owen is currently a category three cyclone and may reach category four status later on Friday. Landfall is now expected early on Saturday morning near Pormpuraaw and Kowanyawa. Near the landfall point and just inland, destructive winds are likely gusts exceeding 150 kph. Owen will weaken as it traverses northern Queensland. However, locally damaging winds and flooding rains will accompany the system as it passes near Cairns on the east coast.

 

 

Owen’s prospects from Sunday into early next week are in question. Some of the models suggest the storm will continue to move out over the Coral Sea. However, some keep the cyclone hugging the QLD coast. Obviously a track closer to the coast would increase the risk of significant winds and rains south of Townsville towards Rockhampton. We’ll keep watching and issue updates as needed.