Two countries that rarely see tornadoes, the UK ו Japan, have both been hit with storms this week.  The Japan tornado wiped out power to over 20,000 בתים, injured 20 people and killed one person.  Fortunately no significant damages were reported in the UK tornado.  In other news, Flint, Michigan, a place no stranger to tragedy, was deluged by rain earlier this week.  Flood waters were up to four feet (1.2m) in some areas of a state highway that was forced to close.  Nepal has also seen flooding this week resulting in the deaths of no fewer than 20 אנשים.

One of the predicted effects of global warming on human life is the increase of crop damage.  The hail damage to crops in Lake City, Minnesota is perhaps a data point in this disturbing trend.

While most of the United States is under the effects of a heatwave, with May temperatures more on par with June, the BBC predicted that Britain will have temperatures colder than those on Christmas Day.

Click here for a link of all the past week’s weather events.

The week started off violently, with three people dying from lightning strikes in the Bengal region and another 17 ב India,  It is unusual to hear of this level of lightning fatalities, which was mentioned in last week’s newsletter.  Additionally in India, bad weather is blamed for the sinking of a ferry.  Norfolk, UK was doused by rain this weekend and fortunately there were no fatalities reported there.  While the heavy rain has flooded some parts of England, claiming the lives of a man and his dog, it is not enough to counteract the drought that envelopes the country.

Heat waves seem to be sweeping the globe, ו Europe is no exception, seeing record-breaking heat, sometimes nearly twice what is expected (in Celcius) in many places.  Where the average temperatures for this time of year are about 15ºC (59ºF), the temperatures are nearly 30ºC (86ºF).

In other news, a tornado struck the south of France this week, a very rare event indeed.  Fortunately, the damage it caused was minimal.

Whereas the USA and Canada saw winter return with a vengeance in mid-to-late February, by the middle of March it experienced far more erratic weather, עם droughts, heat waves, storms and then, just as suddenly in some areas, more snowfall. Meanwhile, the cherry blossom trees of Washington, DC bloomed weeks early due to the unusually warm weather. Indeed, Spring’s early arrival allowed farmers in New Jersey to get into the fields two weeks early but forced them to deal with an increase of crop-eating insects due to the mild winter. Overall, it was a very warm March, with dozens of record temperatures being set.

In other parts of the world, the warm weather had troubling effects. In Morocco, droughts caused the country’s cereal harvests to falter. Northern Mexico experienced its worst drought in 71 שנים, causing a severe shortage of food and water across the country. Meanwhile, Vietnam braced itself for Tropical Storm Pakhar, ו Fiji experienced flash floods. However, just when it had seemed that Spring had come for good, citizens of western Serbia experienced large snowfalls, and in Scotland snow fell just days after record-breaking heat waves.

Thus, to call the weather over the past six weeks “erratic” seems like an understatement. It’s a period that has seen record heat waves and snow storms, and droughts and floods, often in the same places.

Click here to view all weather events during this six-week time period.

We are changing our format.  In an effort to better elucidate trends, our blog will now be more in depth and reflect what has been happening for the last six weeks.  You can still read our weekly reviews by signing up for our email list here or liking us on Facebook.

While conditions finally seem to be settling for סרביה and other Balkan states, winter is hitting the United State, notably California, with a vengeance.  The state had more than 18 inches (45.7ס מ) in one blizzard, generating a high risk of avalanches in the area.  Though the highest risk of avalanches is to skiers, these slope failures can cause severe property damage too.  Snow also hit Henryville, Indiana on the heels of a devastating rash of tornado that destroyed hundreds of homes and claimed 52 lives.  Also this week, a tropical storm in Madagascar has cut short the lives of 65 people there.  In Australia, more than 13000 people have been forced to leave their homes due to flood fears. The Warragamba Dam in Sydney, which has not overflown in 13 years has so done.

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As winter approaches spring in the northern hemisphere, the massive snowfalls that have already brought death and destruction to the Balkan states threatens to cause even more damage in the form of floods.  A total of 9 tornados hit Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia. בינתיים, the drought-stricken טקסס is seeing some relief, but in much of the state, it is still not enough.  Only if they get the sustained rains and the major rain event that they need will the drought be lifted.

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The record breaking, deadly cold snap continued this week, raising the death toll in Romania עד 79.  The same system has driven the death toll in Ukraine up to 151, and is causing devastating economic losses in סרביה.

Rain has finally been falling in southern states, While this lifted drought conditions for much of טקסס, 20% of the state is still experiencing drought conditions, and the rainfall is still below average.  However, key crop producing states in the southeast are now in drought.  Some southeastern states received a dumping of snow, uncharacteristic of this mild winter in North America.  Power was knocked out to several homes in Kentucky, וירג 'יניה המערבית, Virginia, and Tennessee.

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Several people were killed in eastern Europe this week as a snowstorm and brutal cold have gripped the region.  The death toll in Serbia has risen to nine, and totals more than 250 across Europe, many of those homeless.  About 20% of the country has declared a state of emergency.  It is highly unusual to see this cold of weather in eastern Europe.  In Colorado and Nebraska, a storm covered large swaths and knocked out power to 15,000 customers initially, but later that day only 10,000.  As of yet, no deaths have been reported here.

While winters have been unusually harsh in Europe, the US is seeing very little snow  at all.a  This is a huge problem for ski resorts, who as our correspondent have had to rely on manufactured “snow.”  The significant lack of snow can also cause difficulties for farmers planting in the spring. בינתיים, Dallas, Texas is no longer in drought, but are not yet out of the woods.

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Three people have died in סרביה this week due to extreme cold and snowfall.  The same system blanketed large swaths of central and eastern Europe with snow as well. The system is blamed for an additional death near Bucharest. Near record cold has hit Alaska, with temperatures hovering around -62ºF (-52ºC). בינתיים, temperatures in Brooklyn, New York are unseasonably warm, causing the usual winter festival there to be cancelled.  In California, wet weather caused traffic chaos.

Continuing drought in Texas, despite a recent spate of tornados and associated flooding, is forcing cattle to migrate north.  Tornadoes in winter months are exceedingly rare, though as we have reported they have been occurring throughout the month of January. בנוסף, six people lost their lives and hundreds more lost their homes in Fiji, due to landslides and flooding there.

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This week started off with another rash of winter tornadoes, injuring two people and damaging mobile homes and picking up and throwing two tractor trailers.  A tornado in Alabama also killed two people.  An Oregon winter storm left 30,000 residents in the dark.  The resulting flooding caused the deaths of a mother and her baby.  The same storm system resulted in over 250,000 residents of Washington losing power, with temperatures there hovering just above freezing. בסרביה, conditions showed little improvement.  Surdulica, a town there lost most of its road access.

Click here to view all weather events during this time period.