Category Archives: Extreme weather

Oregon wildfire causes miles-high ‘fire clouds’ as flames grow

Posted on by

Pyrocumulus clouds viewable from 100 miles away as Bootleg fire grows beyond size of New York City

Smoke and heat from a huge wildfire in south-eastern Oregon are creating giant “fire clouds” over the blaze – dangerous columns of smoke and ash that can reach up to six miles (10km) in the sky and are visible from more than 100 miles (160km) away.

Authorities have put these clouds at the top of the list of the extreme fire behavior they are seeing amid the Bootleg fire, the largest wildfire burning in the US. The inferno grew on Friday to about 377 sq miles (976 sq km), an area larger than New York City, and was raging through a part of the American west that is enduring a historic drought.

Continue reading...

Western US and Canada brace for another heatwave amid more than 70 wildfires

Posted on by
  • Fires have burned about 1,562 sq miles
  • Next heatwave expected to start on Saturday

The fourth searing heatwave in five weeks is set to strike the west of the United States and Canada this weekend, aggravating wildfires that are already ravaging an area larger than Rhode Island as drought and record-breaking temperatures tied to the climate crisis pummel the region.

The impending heatwave comes as 12 states are already battling 71 active wildfires. The combined area of the blazes is about 1,553 sq miles (4,021 sq km), according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

Continue reading...

‘Catastrophic’ flooding hits western Germany leaving dozens dead – video report

Posted on by

Heavy rain and floods have caused the collapse of six houses in Germany’s western state of Rhineland-Palatinate, leaving at least 38 people dead and many missing or stranded on rooftops. Two firemen drowned and the army was deployed to help stranded residents on Wednesday, after a slow-moving low-pressure weather system caused once-in-a-generation floods

Continue reading...

Deadly heat: how rising temperatures threaten workers from Nicaragua to Nepal

Posted on by

As scorching temperatures spread, the search for ways to protect against heat stress is becoming ever more urgent

William Martínez, who as a child worked on a sugarcane plantation in rural Nicaragua, learned the hard way what many in the US and Canada are now realising: that rising temperatures are costing lives and livelihoods.

Martínez, along with fellow villagers in La Isla, found himself getting sicker as he worked long, gruelling days in the fields under the beating Nicaraguan sun two decades ago. Workers at the nearby mill, which supplies molasses to alcohol companies, began to suffer kidney failure, and would be forced out of the workforce and into expensive and time-consuming dialysis. His father and uncles, addled with the same affliction, had died when Martínez was a boy, forcing him to join the workforce.

Continue reading...

London and southern England hit by torrential rains and floods

Posted on by

Met Office says thundery downpours also caused floods in parts of London, where fire brigade received over 150 calls

Southern England was hit by torrential downpours that resulted in significant flooding on Monday night.

The Met Office said the heavy and slow-moving thundery showers caused floods in parts of London. The London fire brigade said its 999 control officers received over 150 calls to flooding incidents in the capital.

Continue reading...

Firefighters struggle to contain exploding northern California wildfire

Posted on by

Blaze rushes north-east from the Sierra Nevada forest region after doubling in size as heatwave blankets US west

Firefighters struggled to contain an exploding northern California wildfire under blazing temperatures as another heatwave blanketed the west, prompting an excessive heat warning for inland and desert areas.

Death Valley in south-eastern California’s Mojave Desert reached 128 F (53C) on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service’s reading at Furnace creek. The shockingly high temperature was actually lower than the previous day, when the location reached 130F (54C).

Continue reading...

US west heatwave: 31m people brace for record-breaking temperatures

Posted on by

Las Vegas could surpass its record-high of 117F as residents of US west face very high risk of heat-related illness

More than 31 million people across the US west and south-west are bracing for a brutal heatwave that could bring triple-digit temperatures this weekend, with authorities warning that records could be broken in many regions of California and Nevada. Officials have said that Las Vegas could even surpass its record-high temperature of 117F.

The “heat risk” is classified as “very high” across much of this area, meaning all residents there face “very high risk of heat-related illness due to both the long duration heat, and the lack of overnight relief”, the National Weather Service (NWS) has said.

Continue reading...

New York City hit by extreme weather, flooding subways and streets – video

Posted on by

The US east coast was hit by extreme weather on Thursday as heavy thunderstorms brought flooding and travel disruption to New York City. The city witnessed dramatic scenes as subway stations were inundated by water due to heavy rainstorms ahead of the arrival of Tropical Storm Elsa

Continue reading...

Hail, tornadoes and flooded New York subways as stormy weather hits east coast

Posted on by

Rainstorms drenched New York while Tropical Storm Elsa sparked tornadoes in North Carolina and Virginia

The US east coast was battered by extreme weather on Thursday as heavy thunderstorms brought flooding and travel disruption to the New York City area, while Tropical Storm Elsa dumped heavy rainfall and even sparked tornadoes in North Carolina and Georgia.

Some subway system ya got there. This is the 157th St. 1 line right now. @NYCMayor @BilldeBlasio pic.twitter.com/xyfTAUPPNu

Continue reading...

Record-breaking US Pacific north-west heatwave killed almost 200 people

Posted on by

Officials reported 116 deaths in Oregon and 78 in Washington after extreme temperatures in normally moderate region

The death toll from the record-breaking heatwave that struck the US Pacific north-west last week has risen to nearly 200, with health authorities reporting 116 deaths in Oregon and 78 in Washington state.

The data in Washington state are particularly striking given historical context. There were seven heat-related deaths in Washington between mid-June and the end of August in 2020. Between 2015 and 2020, the state saw just 39 deaths in the late spring and summer months.

Continue reading...

At least one killed as Tropical Storm Elsa hits Florida and sweeps into Georgia

Posted on by
  • Several injured as possible tornado hits Georgia navy base
  • ‘This could have been worse,’ says Florida governor

A weakened Tropical Storm Elsa made landfall in Florida on Wednesday, killing at least one person in the state and injuring several others when a possible tornado struck a campground at a navy base in south-east Georgia.

The National Hurricane Center said Elsa still packed 45mph (72kph) winds more than nine hours after making landfall along Florida’s northern Gulf Coast. The storm’s center was sweeping over south-east Georgia by Wednesday evening.

Continue reading...

‘No chance of life’: search for survivors ends as Miami condo deaths hit 46

Posted on by
  • About 100 people remain unaccounted for in Surfside
  • ‘Our primary goal is to bring closure to the families’

Emergency workers have given up hope of finding survivors in a collapsed Florida condo building, telling distraught families that there was “no chance of life” in the rubble as crews shifted their efforts from rescue to recovery mode on Wednesday.

The announcement followed increasingly somber reports from officials, who have told relatives to brace for the worst.

Continue reading...

World ‘must step up preparations for extreme heat’

Posted on by

Rising temperatures may be hitting faster and harder than forecast, say climate scientists in wake of heatwave in US and Canada

The world needs to step up preparations for extreme heat, which may be hitting faster and harder than previously forecast, a group of leading climate scientists have warned in the wake of freakishly high temperatures in Canada and the US.

Last week’s heat dome above British Columbia, Washington state and Portland, Oregon smashed daily temperature records by more than 5C (9F) in some places – a spike that would have been considered impossible two weeks ago, the experts said, prompting concerns the climate may have crossed a dangerous threshold.

Continue reading...

Temperatures rising – Inside the 9 July Guardian Weekly

Posted on by

Is the world getting too hot for humans?
Get the Guardian Weekly delivered to your door

Last week’s searing temperatures in North America’s Pacific north-west were more than just another heatwave. The 49.6C registered in the tiny British Columbian town of Lytton was not simply the hottest temperature on record in Canada, it also defied computer modelling of how the world might change as emissions rise. Our global environment editor Jonathan Watts looks at how the rare phenomenon known as a heat dome is part of a growing trend towards extreme weather events, while climate science professor Simon Lewis explains why global heating is making more of the planet too hot for humans.

Starting with the Soviet invasion of the 1970s, Afghanistan has spent four decades as a battleground for proxy wars between competing nations and ideologies. As US and British troops withdraw, Emma Graham-Harrison returns to Kabul, where she spent several years as a foreign corespondent, to find little optimism and much anxiety at the resurgence of the Taliban.

Continue reading...

Tropical Storm Elsa to make landfall in Cuba after 180,000 evacuated

Posted on by

Florida governor declares state of emergency in 15 counties, including site of collapsed condo

Tropical Storm Elsa was expected to make landfall in Cuba on Monday afternoon, after 180,000 people were evacuated from southern regions amid fears of heavy flooding.

Elsa is expected to bring tropical storm conditions to Florida, where Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in 15 counties, including Miami-Dade county, where the partially-collapsed Champlain Towers condominium was demolished with explosives on Sunday night.

Continue reading...

Cuba evacuates 70,000 as Tropical Storm Elsa threatens heavy flooding

Posted on by
  • Storm leaves three dead after battering Caribbean
  • State of emergency declared in Florida

Cuba evacuated 70,000 people in its southern region on Sunday, amid fears that Tropical Storm Elsa could unleash heavy flooding after battering several Caribbean islands and killing at least three people.

Related: Miami condo collapse: death toll at 24 as search pauses for demolition

Continue reading...

Three people dead as Tropical Storm Elsa nears Cuba

Posted on by

Storm kills one person in St Lucia and a 15-year-old boy and a 75-year-old woman in the Dominican Republic

Cuba prepared to evacuate people along the island’s southern region on Sunday amid fears that Tropical Storm Elsa could unleash heavy flooding after battering several Caribbean islands, killing at least three people.

The government on Sunday opened shelters and moved to protect sugarcane and cocoa crops ahead of the storm, whose next target was Florida, where governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in 15 counties, including in Miami-Dade County where the high-rise condominium building collapsed last week.

Continue reading...

Record heatwave may have killed 500 people in western Canada

Posted on by

British Columbia reports jump in number of ‘sudden and unexpected deaths’ and links them to extreme weather

Nearly 500 people may have been killed by record-breaking temperatures in Canada’s westernmost province, as officials warn the grim toll from “heat dome” could rise again as more deaths are reported.

On Friday, British Columbia’s chief coroner said that 719 “sudden and unexpected deaths” had been reported over the past week – triple the number during a similar period in a typical year.

Continue reading...

Deadly British Columbia heatwave sows wildfires across Canada’s west

Posted on by

Residents recovering from record-breaking temperatures face a new threat, with more than 100 fires burning

On the heels of an unprecedented heatwave that left hundreds dead in British Columbia, Canada’s westernmost province is now battling a fresh threat.

More than 100 wildfires are burning across the province, as of late on Thursday, 86 of which started in the past two days. Evacuation orders and alerts have gone out in a dozen communities. The province’s premier, John Horgan, suggested that the crisis could become dire enough to see the Canadian military deployed.

Continue reading...

Canadian inferno: northern heat exceeds worst-case climate models

Posted on by

Scientists fear heat domes in North America and Siberia indicate a new dimension to the global crisis

If you were drawing up a list of possible locations for hell on Earth before this week, the small mountain village of Lytton in Canada would probably not have entered your mind.

Few people outside British Columbia had heard of this community of 250 people. Those who had were more likely to think of it as bucolic. Nestled by a confluence of rivers in the forested foothills of the Lillooet and Botanie mountain ranges, the municipal website boasts: “Lytton is the ideal location for nature lovers to connect with incredible natural beauty and fresh air freedom.”

Continue reading...