Tag: tracker
Weather tracker: Severe thunderstorms threaten flooding in northern Australia
A broad trough has dragged in warm, moist air and offers perfect ingredients for heavy rainfall and even supercells Northern parts of Australia have been under a flood warning this weekend, with further flooding set to bring havoc to south-eastern parts of the Northern Territory and western Queensland early this week. A broad trough –…
Weather tracker: Cyclone Jude causes chaos in Mozambique
More than 200mm of rain fell in 24 hours, destroying 900 homes and leaving 40,000 people without power Cyclone Jude was the third cyclone to hit Mozambique this season. First spotted as a depression last Friday to the south-west of the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, it intensified over the next few…
Weather tracker: six cyclones swirl simultaneously in southern hemisphere
Bianca, Garance and Honde churn across Indian Ocean as Alfred, Rae and Seru spin through south-west Pacific Three developed in the south-west Pacific. Severe Tropical Cyclone Alfred formed on 20 February in the Coral Sea to the north-east of Australia, reaching an intensity equivalent to a category 4 hurricane on Thursday with sustained winds of…
Weather tracker: Elvis shakes Madagascar after Europe’s triple threat
Low pressure strengthens to tropical cyclone status in Indian Ocean, while European windstorm season rages on A compact and stationary area of low pressure brought a sustained period of heavy rain to southern parts of Madagascar this week, with weather stations at Taolagnaro and Toliara recording five-day rainfall totals of 178mm and 196mm respectively, with…
Weather tracker: powerful Santa Ana winds fuel California wildfires
Gusty conditions have enabled fires to take hold and spread at great speed. Plus, a cold snap grips South Korea The rapid spread of one of the most destructive wildfires in the history of Los Angeles is believed to have been fuelled by strong Santa Ana winds and months of drought. Santa Ana winds occur…
Colossal scale of building challenge revealed by BBC’s new housing tracker
Some local councils in England would need to see at least a five-fold increase in new housing to meet government targets, analysis by BBC Verify suggests. The BBC’s figures lay out the immense challenge Labour has set itself in government with its “milestone” of building 1.5 million new homes in England over five years. In…
Weather tracker: the polar vortex disturbance behind Storm Blair
The winter storm has brought significant snow, dangerous ice storms and freezing rain across North America A bitterly cold Arctic airmass, which has gathered across Canada in the past week, has spread southwards into the US over the weekend. Having already allowed temperatures to fall as low as -40C in northern Canada, this cold airmass…
Weather tracker: Cold air over warm waters brings heavy snow to Japan
Prefectures in north hit by falls of up to 30cm in a day as similar weather pattern affects parts of north America Heavy snow fell across northern Japan on Thursday, with the prefectures of Hokkaido, Aomori, Yamagata and Niigata particularly affected. Accumulations of 20-30cm over a 24-hour period were recorded across the affected areas, with…
Weather tracker: Giant waves bring rare surfing event to Hawaii
Competition named after champion surfer Eddie Aikau is held only when waves in Waimea Bay top 30ft A rare surfing event, the Eddie, took place in Hawaii last week, thanks to some giant waves. Formed about a week ago in the north Pacific Ocean, the waves emerged as a low-pressure system produced an exceptionally large…