Weather & Earth Science News

One of the warmest days of the year in much of Britain yesterday - indeed I suspect some places may have recorded their highest temperature of 2011. In my garden it reached 28.4c making it my 3rd warmest day. The official maximum of 28.8c at Kew Gardens was the highest ever recorded on this date in Britain. RAF Finningley (now the Robin Hood airport) near Doncaster reported 29c but this was a rounded up figure. News reports telling of records smashed in weather heatwave are therefore not entirely accurate. It's also been unusually cloud free. But despite the heat, winter is on its way. So Plymouth city council gritters on standby whilst Heathrow airport triples snow clearance fleet . And in London, rail commuters warmed of major cold weather travel disruption *. Somehow, you just know that it's going to be a largely snow-free winter ...... * Bob the anti-Crow's comments at the end of that piece are, of course, as useless as everything else he utters. He'd b...

Typhoon Nesat leaves 18 dead in Philippines Down under, what happened to Spring? Brace yourself for wild weather whilst parts have seen the most rain since summer floods last year and storms force Melbourne flight suspensions . Put autumn on hold - summer's finally set to arrive says the Independent in a surprisingly accurate write-up. They even manage to point out that this is not an Indian Summer! Norwegian envoy tells sorry tale of flood-hit Sindh Musical weather shows climate influence A good piece here from Ed Douglas on how climbers have a key role to play in highlighting global warming - or, at least, the extent to which glaciers are retreating in some parts of the world. Did Iceland's Katla volcano erupt under the ice this summer? Scientist have discovered that Venus weather not boring after all - though no indication on how accurate the Venusian Met Office are with their forecasts. Wind farm noise respite call in Welsh assembly petition - no worries, it it gets...

Powerful Typhoon Nesat hits Philippines Utterly failing to see the irony, after last week's snow headlines, the Express tell us it's glorious ... hottest autumn in 25 years (and what they mean by that is that we could see the highest October temperatures in 25 years at the weekend - Britain's warmest autumn on record was 2006 , which was also Europe's warmest in 500 years ) Rain hits relief operations in quake-affected Sikkim In S Carolina at the weekend a near-record deluge floods basements, damage cars Ice age blankets Raglan , NSW Radical measures mooted as climate insurance A MODRIS image of contrails and smoke over central Canada In the Canaries, the island of El Hierro prepares for volcanic eruption Salty water and gas tucked into Earth's interior helps unravel planetary evolution And I think we already knew this? Climatic fluctuations drove key events in human evolution . If it wasn't for climate change, we might never have left the trees! And more...

India floods situation worsens in Orissa and Bihar whilst a downpour wreaks havoc in eastern UP Flood concerns ease after heavy rains hit B.C. coast Tropical depression worsens flooding in Vietnam Evacuations as typhoon nears Philippines Everest's ice is retreating as climate change grips the Himalaya (I've dropped the 's' from the headline as to my knowledge there is only one Himalaya) Nitrate levels rising in northwestern Pacific

Well, well. Having told us a few days ago to expect snow in October, the same media outlets are now headlining the fact that we're actually in for a spell of warm, sunny weather .... Though they can't even get this right, trumpeting on about the highest autumn temperatures for 25 years. I'm sure 2006 (when 28.8c was recorded on the 21st September) wasn't THAT long ago? Of course, they're also insisting that its an indian summer on its way - which obviously it can't be since even the Scottish Highlands have barely seen a frost yet this autumn. But that's the media for you. Makes you wonder just how reliable their stories on other subjects are, doesn't it?

A slightly off topic headline today as speed-of-light experiments give baffling result at Cern 16 feared dead from typhoon in Japan , but fortunately it appears the only damage to the Fukushima nuclear plant was a broken security camera In the east Pacific, Hilary strengthens into category 4 hurricane off Mexico's coast Scientists probe Indian Ocean for clues to worldwide weather patterns whilst new research shows that El Nino and the tropical Eastern Pacific annual cycle run to the same beat . And after recent Arctic ice melt has been much greater than models were predicting, a new model provides successful seasonal forecast for fate of Arctic sea ice Melting ice ends species solitude for Canadian whales There's been a steep increase in global CO2 emissions despite reductions by industrialised nations with binding Kyot0 targets - which surprises me as much as hearing that the sun rose in the east this morning. Whisper it quietly, lest the global coolers hear, but extreme ...

Four dead as Typhoon Roke makes landfall in Japan - they're having a bad time of it this year. In China, floods claim 57 lives as rain wreaks havoc with more rain forecast for flood-hit SW Switzerland sees record September snowfall In the US, deadly spate of tornadoes sends sales of storm shelters through the roof And in Indonesia, farmers flee as world's deadliest volcano rumbles Guatemala hit by four earthquakes Lloyds of London hit by record claims for natural disasters Traffic fumes can trigger heart attacks say researchers NASA's WISE raises doubt about asteroid family beleived responsible for dinosaur extinction Controversy as Times Atlas publishers apologise for 'incorrect' Greenland ice statement And even bigger controversy after yesterday's headlines warning that Britain faces an early big freeze - Piers Corbyn hits back saying " it's baseless hype from a gaggle of wannabees " . Meanwhile, as the 'wanabees' warn of snow and ...

Rescuers race to reach Himalayan quake villages as landslides and rain hamper search for survivors Meanwhile, over 340 dead, 6 million affected by floods in Sindh while in Thailand, flood death toll 112 - both events, albeit not unusual for the regions during the Monsoon, largely overlooked by western media. Nice pictures, but a ridiculous, misleading headline from the Daily Mail: Stock up on hats and scarves: Autumn draws in as forecasters warn of unsettled weather ahead - in fact, as the story itself relates, temperatures are expected to be close to average. And the longer term outlook is currently for some fine settled weather to set in for the end of the month and early October, actually offering the prospect of an 'Indian summer' Drought remains in parts of Britain - thought bizarrely the article mentions a 'wet summer' yet most of Central England - the areas affected by drought - experienced well below average rainfall. As shown in the MetO anomaly map ....

Texas rain: 'like manna from heaven' - it rained quite heavy here in Evesham this morning as well. Quite strange .... Hurricane Maria hits Newfoundland with a whimper In the US, Fall happens every year but still gets people talking - though other there most folk consider summer to end (as I do) with the autumn equinox. So it's still summer. Cold summer blamed for low Big Butterfly Count numbers . Not been cold here, just hasn't been hot. Landslide in western Nepal kills 7 Channel 4 appoints its first weather presenter - time will tell whether he actually gets allowed to give us a decent forecast or not. UK 'set to miss' climate targets - though how you can make such things legally binding when everyone in the country is responsible in varying ways, beats me. Just one of the daft, daft, ideas that make a mockery of the climate debate and fuel scepticism. And even if wecut emissions to zero, so what? If as a consequence we've encouraged the buring ...

Hurricane Maria bears down on Newfoundland Across the Atlantic region as a whole, storm numbers somewhat deceiving - despite 14 named storms, only Irene has been significant hurricane. I never realised this until I read it in the local paper, as it occurred the other end of the high street, but on Monday tree falls in Evesham due to high winds . Shame, as I'd have liked to have photographed it. And it looks like damage from Hurricane Katia will cost UK £100m after hig winds battered Britain . The latest news on his year Arctic ice is that minimum cover was reached on the 9th and, accoridng to current NSIDC data, Arctic ice at 2nd lowest level since 1979 - not quite as low as previous German data suggested. After they had such a dry spring and early summer, in East Anglia, sugar beet production starts early due to wet weather . Though reading the story it's more a case that recent, normal, rain has enabled them to start early in order to avoid the problems of frozen groun...

Strong winds were perhaps more widespread across Britain yesterday (my wheely bin blew over!) but didn't affect the Highlands so much as expected, indeed as the 'eye' of the depression formed from the remnants of Katia crossed NW Scotland they had it relatively calm. Nonetheless, as storm from Hurricane Katia hits Scotland there was disruption and damage elsewhere. Hurricane Katia and full Moon combine to create giant waves * Sadly a driver killed as tree falls on to car in County Durham and this morning, Northern Ireland still being hit by Hurricane Katia whilst coastline remains on flood alert as Wales hit by 82mph winds. Needless to say we had hardly any rain in Evesham from this system and September is so far shaping up to be another very dry month with less than half the average rainfall so far. * Jonathan Powell doesn't know what he's talking about when he says this is the worst storm to hit our shores since Lili in 1996 ! We get worst storms nearly...

It looks like Arctic ice cover hits historic low - although it may be a few days before the data is confirmed. Rather windy here this morning - and strange with it being so warm as well. No doubt be a fair few reports of damage from ex-Katia in tomorrow's post. On a hot streak: Seattle breaks weather record for the most consecutive Sepetember days of 80f+ Storm Nate weakens, oil contractors found in Mexico Tornado hits Auckland Monsoon floods bring chaos to India and Pakistan Brazil hit by severe flooding NASA launches mission to study Moon from crust to core And the latest in the ever yo-yoing sea level saga: a new method of dating corals suggests sea levels much less stable than earlier believed

...however the remnants of Hurricane Katia will get caught up by the jet stream this weekend, become an extratropical cyclone , and quickly race across the Atlantic to, most likely, bring storm force winds to the Outer Hebrides and gales or severe gales across much of northern and western Britain on Monday. Also some heavy rain possible, most likely across the West Highlands. A hurricane is a tropical cyclone defined by structure and wind speed, however a storm with hurricane force winds is NOT a hurricane. Thought I'd better just make that clear. Especially since even the Independent uses the 'H' word: severe storm warning as Hurricane Katia blows towards UK (worth noting that Charley was not a 'full blown hurricane', quite a few remants have affected Britain since then, and the nearest a hurricane has actually go to the British Isles was probably Hurricane Gordon in 2006 which underwent the full transition from tropical to extratropical in the Bay of Biscay) ...

Worst flooding in forty years hits Northeast USA, flooding forces Wilkes-Barre area to evacuate . In the Washington area, rain floods roads, forces evacuations, three dead whilst heavy rain floods New Jersey - again . However, there is some good news as rains from Lee improve Alabama drought picture . Well, the figures are in and Texas endures hottest summer in US history as meteorologists blame La Nina phenomenon . And overall, the US has second warmest summer on record . The NOAA report is here . Also worth noting that La Nina is back . Texas wildfires as seen from space As Katia blows by the East Coast, Nate and Maria are brewing in tropics and it still looks like Katia expected to lash parts of Britain by Tuesday , though uncertainty remains as to its exact track and, indeed, how strong the, by then, extratropical storm will be. Dr Stephen Barker of Cardiff University, has produced a prediction of what climate records from Greenland might look like over the last 800,000...

Texas wildfires torch 1,000 homes Hurricane Katia not expected to make US landfall - but its remnants look like hitting the Outer Hebrides next Monday. So more than just 65mph storms to hit Britain - though I see from that story that I should be on the look out for tornadoes! Meanwhile, heavy rain moves north with the remnants of Lee In Japan, typhoon toll rises to 49 as search, relief efforts continue Lightning raid on park cops as two officers are struck by lightning in Glasgow. And in the US, 23 soldiers taken to hospital after lightning strike Migrating birds rescued after at Newgale after high winds yesterday, whilst there was also severe weather causing problems across Dorset Early planning to avoid repeat of Scotland's snow chaos London ranks among worst European cities for air pollution Somalia famine: UN warn of 750,000 deaths We reported yesterday that in 2010 the actual amount of Arctic sea ice reached it's lowest recorded level, and it's looking possible ...

Japan airlifts supplies to Typhoon stranded residents as the Typhoon toll reaches 34 dead, 56 missing and Stranded victims rescued / elderly people brought to safety after typhoon no 12's fury In the Atlantic, Katia ramps up power, been seen missing US East Coast Lee's remnants cause twisters, flooding in South Mother and daughter killed in Texas wildfires And as the first autumn storm hits Britain, Southend Pier hit by barge in high winds While down under, winter-like blast to end Sydney's warmest weather in months and in NZ it was a warm winter overall - despite polars blasts . Much as I suspect this winter in Britain will be. US counts the cost of nine months of unprecedented weather extremes Pakistan flood-hit districts declared 'calamity area' The problem with the argument that increased atmospheric CO2 is good for plants is that in order them to make use of it, plants also need more nitrogen. However, bedrock nitrogen may help forests buffer climate chan...

Although downgraded to a tropical depression soon after making landfall, frmer Typhoon Talas has brought severe weather in Japan over the weekend as typhoon's record rainfall wreaks havoc - the latest news is that at least 27 people have died and over 50 are missing. The BBC has pictures here And in America, Tropical Storm Lee hits Louisiana on US Gulf Coast and after a foot of rain in New Orleans, flood fears rise inland as Lee soaks Gulf Coast . And as central Texas wildfires threaten destruction, winds from Tropical Storm Lee partly to blame 88 dead on Pakistan floods Pictures here of the 'gob-smacking' scale of of Petermann Glacier break-up Here in the UK, abnormal weather boosts autumn crops - though I should point out (again!) that not everywhere has had a wet summer, for some of us it's been extremely dry.

Louisiana declares emergency as storm nears Typhoon Talas reaches southern Japan, bringing heavy rain; reports of 1 dead, 5 missing Millions hit by heavy floods in north and east India , however that's not necessarily a bad thing, and quite expected as India sees 2011 monsoon picking up to normal (less flooding implies a poor monsoon which in turn would have serious longer term impacts) Tsunami alert cancelled as 'small wave' reaches Alaska Arctic closing in on 2007 melting record Journal editor resigns over 'problematic' climate paper and some interesting comments on this from Roger Pielke Sr here . And some further information on this story as Editor who published controversial climate paper resigns, blasts media . Taking a fresh look at the weather - scientists from the University of Manchester point out that the 'Norwegian Model' of cyclone evolution is flawed. A helium balloon the size of Wembley Stadium and a 14-mile garden...

Weather wars have broken out in the US! But only over which State was hottest. Texas summer may be warmest in US history whilst this summer was Oklahoma's hottest on record and the Carolinas also recorded their hottest summer. Elsewhere, August 2011 hottest on record for Denver whilst after manageably warm August, second hottest summer on record in Washington DC. Official NOAA data will be released later this month. Heavy rainstorm plods towards US Gulf Coast Strong typhoon likely to pound Japan on weekend, agency warns Something we've been saying for years: TV weather bulletins must be longer to improve accuracy, expert claims . Ironic that this is published in the Telegraph though, the newspaper which most consistently displays a total lack of understanding of anything the Met office say or do! Something else I've been saying for years (and this isn't the first study to back me up, either) cutting soot emissions: fastest, most economical way t...