Two countries that rarely see tornadoes, the UK 和 日本, have both been hit with storms this week.  The Japan tornado wiped out power to over 20,000 家园, 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 人.

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 in 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, 和 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, 与 droughts, 热浪, 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 年, causing a severe shortage of food and water across the country. Meanwhile, Vietnam braced itself for Tropical Storm Pakhar, 和 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 Serbia and other Balkan states, winter is hitting the United State, notably California, with a vengeance.  The state had more than 18 inches (45.7cm) 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, Indian继毁灭性的轻率的龙卷风摧毁了数以百计的安老院，而索赔 52 生活. 本周还, 一 热带风暴 在马达加斯加已切短的生命 65 那里的人们. 在澳大利亚, 多个 13000 人被迫离开家园，由于 洪水的恐惧. The Warragamba Dam in Sydney, which has not overflown in 13 years has so done.

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随着冬天的临近在北半球的春天, 已经带来了死亡和破坏的大规模降雪 巴尔干 造成更多破坏形式的洪水威胁和国家. 共 9 龙卷风 击中弗吉尼亚州, 南卡罗莱纳州和格鲁吉亚.  Meanwhile, the drought-stricken 德克萨斯州 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 到 79.  The same system has driven the death toll in Ukraine up to 151, and is causing devastating economic losses in Serbia.

Rain has finally been falling in southern states, While this lifted drought conditions for much of 德克萨斯州, 20% of the state is still experiencing drought conditions, 和降雨仍低于平均水平. 不过, 在东南的主要作物生产国家现在已在干旱. 一些 东南各州 收到倾倒雪, 这种温和的冬天在北美的异样. 电源撞在肯塔基州的几个家园, 西弗吉尼亚州, 弗吉尼亚州, 和田纳西州.

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

几人死亡 东欧 本周作为一场暴风雪和残暴冷笼罩了该区域. 在塞尔维亚的死亡人数已上升至 9 人, 和总计超过 250 整个欧洲, 其中许多人 无家可归. 关于 20% 在该国已宣布进入紧急状态.  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.  Meanwhile, Dallas, Texas is no longer in drought, but are not yet out of the woods.

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Three people have died in Serbia这周由于极端寒冷和降雪. 在同一系统以及积雪覆盖中央大片和东欧. 该系统是归咎于附近的额外死亡 布加勒斯特. 记录冷附近打 阿拉斯加州, 气温徘徊-62ºF (-52º C).  Meanwhile, 在布鲁克林的温度, 纽约 是暖和, 通常冬季节那里导致被取消. 在加利福尼亚州, 潮湿的天气造成的交通混乱.

继续 干旱 在得克萨斯州, 尽管最近一系列 龙卷风和关联 洪水, 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. 此外, 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 洪水 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.  In Serbia, 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.