The Merciless Rains of Climate Change Hammer Houston, Southeast Texas — 12-18 Inches Accumulation, More Than 1,200 Water Rescues Reported
“I can hear your whisper and distant mutter. I can smell your damp on the breeze and in the sky I see the halo of your violence. Storm I know you are coming.”
*****
The
atmospheric ingredients right now are ripe for some serious trouble.
Globally, the world is just starting to back away from the hottest
temperatures ever recorded. This never-before-seen heat plume, driven
on by a fossil-fuel abetted warming not seen in at least 115,000
years and an extreme El Nino combined, has loaded an unprecedented
amount of moisture into the Earth’s atmosphere. As
El Nino shifts toward La Nina and the Earth marginally cools, a
portion of this massive excess of water vapor is bound to fall out as
rain —
manifesting as terrible extreme precipitation episodes that can
result in serious trouble. A seemingly endless procession of freak
events that challenge the record books time and time again.
Across
the world, we’re starting to see such episodes now. Over the past
week, Iran,
Yemen, Qatar Saudi
Arabia and Afghanistan have
experienced flash floods resulting in loss of life.Severe
floods spurred a major emergency response effort in Central and
Northern Russia this weekend.
And in Santiago Chile, streets
turned into rivers as a sudden and extraordinary deluge both polluted
the water supplies of 1 million people and transformed the world’s
largest copper mine into a lake.
(Severe
flooding around the world this week includes the Houston area —
sections of which have essentially been crippled by 12-18 inches of
rainfall over the past 24 hours. In total, more than 1,200 water
rescues have been reported throughout the region. Many residents,
like the gentleman above, appear to have been shocked and surprised
by the flooding’s severity. Video source: Houston
ABC News.)
Sudden,
Extreme Flooding in Houston Area
In
the US, the
City of Houston and the region of southeastern Texas experienced its
own extreme deluge.
There, a stubborn and unyielding high pressure system over the US
East Coast, an omega block in the Jet Stream, a cut off upper level
low, and a nearly unprecedented amount of moisture streaming in from
the Gulf of Mexico and regions to the Equatorial South all conspired
to aim a train of powerful storms in the form of an eye-popping
mesoscale convective system (MCS) at the Houston region. Since early
this morning, between 12-18 inches of rainfall fell over the city’s
western suburbs with 6-8 inches inundating the city center. In
some places, rates of rainfall accumulation hit a crippling rate of
nearly 4 inches per hour.
… the Houston area was socked on Monday morning by a huge mesoscale convective system (MCS) that drifted southeast across the area, dumping eye-popping amounts of rain: 6” – 8” over central Houston, with 12” – 18” common over the far western suburbs… While individual thunderstorms often weaken after dark, the large mass of thunderstorms that makes up an MCS will often persist overnight and into the next morning, as the MCS cloud tops radiate heat to space and instability is enhanced.
The
record single day rainfall total for Houston before today was 11.25
inches.
It appears likely that 11.75 inches recorded at Houston International
Airport today will mark a new daily high mark for a city that grew up
out of fossil fuel burning but now appears to be drowning in the
heat-intensified effluent. More to the point, most of Houston’s
western suburbs experienced what amounts to an entire typical
season’s worth of rainfall in just one 24 hour period.
Drainage
systems, not designed to handle anywhere near so much water over so
short a period, were rapidly overwhelmed. By midday, more than 70
subdivisions in the Houston region were reported flooded, more
than 1,200 vehicle water rescue operations had been conducted along
the inundated region’s streets and highways,
and more than 1,000 homes were inundated. Seven hospitals were shut
down, airport operations were crippled, and more than 100,000 people
were reported to be without power. The Weather Channel’s Jim
Cantore, not known for understatement, may have hit a bit below the
mark when he noted that “this
is a mind boggling situation” earlier
this afternoon. CNN, in
its summation report of this, most recent, disaster declared
that the entire city had been basically shut down.
(River
of moisture flows up from the Equator and Gulf of Mexico and into the
Houston region on Monday — spurring extreme rains that cripple the
city. A pair of doggedly persistent weather systems — a blocking
high to the east and an upper level low to the north contributed to
the extreme weather over Houston. Climate change related features
like record atmospheric moisture loading, and persistent ridge and
trough generation due to Jet Stream changes likely linked to record
low Arctic sea ice levels also likely influenced today’s severe
storms. Image source: LANCE
MODIS.)
As
of early this evening, a series of somewhat less intense storms still
trailed through the Houston region as
heavier rains marched off toward the east over Louisiana and
Arkansas.
A strong moisture flow is expected to persist over Eastern Texas and
the southern Mississippi River Valley region through to at least
Thursday as both the upper level low and blocking high complicit in
Monday’s extreme flooding in Houston appear reluctant to budge from
their current positions. As a result, NOAA
is predicting another 4-5 inches of rainfall for areas near and just
to the North and East of Houston over the next seven days.
To this point, it’s worth noting that NOAA’s precipitation
models had
‘only’ predicted about 4 inches of rainfall for the past 24 hour
period in the near Houston area —
a period that produced about five times that total for some
locations. So it appears that weather models may be having a little
bit of trouble managing the new and extremely dynamic atmospheric
conditions now coming into play.
But
One Extreme Event of Many in the Past Five Months
Houston’s
likely record rainfall for this time of year comes on
the back of hailstorms generating up to a billion dollars worth of
damage over Northeastern Texas last week and
follows a
record March inundation of the Mississippi River region just to the
North and East.An
event that also followed a freak December flooding of Missouri and
Illinois which likewise re-organized the record books.
Overall, this represents an extreme spate of severe weather for one
localized region.
Consistent
trough generation in the Jet Stream over the area (likely influenced
by record low Arctic sea ice coverage), consistent above average sea
surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico, a strong moisture flow
from a record El Nino, and record global temperatures contributing to
high atmospheric moisture loadings all influenced severe storm
formation over this area during recent months. Sadly, it’s a spate
of severe weather that is likely to continue at least until the end
of Spring.
Links:
Hat
Tip to Colorado Bob
Hat
Tip to Greg
Hat
Tip to DT Lange
Hat
Tip to Daniel Hatem
Su-34 jets strike huge ice-jam in northwest Russia to prevent flooding (VIDEO)
Over
4,500 people living along the Sukhona River in the Vologda region are
currently in danger, as thick ice has created a natural dam that is
preventing the river from traveling downstream, causing it to
overflow its banks.
Two
Su-34 jets took off from the Voronezh region in southwestern Russian
on Monday on a mission to drop precision-guided explosives onto the
frozen parts of the river in order to allow natural water flow to
resume.
The
warplanes were ordered to deploy explosives “every hour,” said
the head of the Russian Emergencies Ministry, Vladimir Puchkov.
“We
just completed a flyby to once again look at the areas of the river
being blocked by ice … We looked at the condition of the flooded
territories. And using this information we will guide the latest
operations taking place,” TASS quoted Puchkov as saying.
There
are also two icebreakers nearby to break up the ice further.
In
the meantime, the Emergencies Ministry is working on rescuing people
in a number of danger zones.
Local
authorities are also using boats to deliver food and other supplies
to a number of towns and villages already affected by the flooding.
Other
areas in Russia experiencing a similar problem this year included the
Novosibirsk, Tyumen, Kurgan, Tomsk, and Kemerovo regions, according
to data provided by the ministry.
Just
a few months ago, Su-34 jets were being used by Russia in an
anti-terror operation against Islamic State (IS, previously
ISIS/ISIL) in Syria.
The
Su-34 model is one of the most modern aircraft in Russia’s military
arsenal. It began being developed in the mid-’80s as a replacement
for the Su-24, with the first batch of new warplanes being delivered
in 2006.
Dozens
killed as flooding hits the normally desert-dry countries of Saudi
Arabia, Yemen, Iran, and Qatar.
Unusual
heavy rains have poured down on the Middle East, causing flash floods
and resulting in the deaths of dozens of people.
Rains
and flooding killed 18 people throughout Saudi Arabia and 915 had to
be rescued from inside their vehicles, the General Directorate of
Saudi Civil Defence said on Thursday.
Floodwaters
inundated roadways in the capital Riyadh, Mecca, and the mountainous
south of the mostly desert kingdom, the directorate said in a
statement.
Videos
posted on social media showed cars submerged in water in the
southwestern city of Abha.
Heavy
rains lashed Saudi Arabia for several days and the education ministry
closed schools in and around the capital.
In
neighbouring Yemen, heavy rainfall in several parts of the country
caused widespread flooding that killed at least 16 people and caused
the collapse of small dams, including two in Hajja and Omran
provinces north of the capital, Sanaa, security officials and the
Interior Ministry said on Thursday.
Damage
to property was particularly heavy with rushing muddy water cutting
off roads and sweeping away cars and cattle, according to the
officials.
Besides
Hajja and Omran, unusually heavy rainfall over the past 24 hours has
also hit Sanaa and the southern port of Aden.
Iran's
state TV reported on Thursday that heavy precipitation in the
country's western and southwestern provinces resulted in flash floods
that killed two people.
The
wet weather continued in neighbouring Qatar, with heavy rains and
hail backed by a lightning storm.
Flash floods claim 18 lives across Saudi Arabia
Flash
floods sweeping Saudi Arabia for the past week has left more than a
dozen dead as the kingdom grapples with heavy downpours across the
country.
Saudi
Arabia’s civil defense agency said in a statement on Thursday that
at least 18 people were killed in the floods which struck areas
starting from the desert capital of Riyadh to Hail, Mecca,
Medina, Al-Baha, Asir, Najran and Jazan.
The
statement said a total of 915 people were rescued by the agency.
Flash floods in north Afghanistan kill 38 people overnight
Afghan
officials say flash floods in northern provinces have killed at least
38 people overnight.
Remote,
northern areas of Afghanistan often see flash floods triggered by
heavy rains, which also cause landslides.
The
officials said Monday that the flash floods struck the provinces of
Takhar, Badghis and Samangan. Heavy rains have also hit the capital,
Kabul, with no major damages.
Takhar’s
natural disasters director Abdul Razaq Zinda says 13 people,
including women and children, died in Kalafgan and Bangi districts.
He says scores of houses were damaged, especially mud-brick
structures.
In
Badghis province, local spokesman Ahmad Khalid Safi says 19 people
died in Muqur district. And in Samangan province, spokesman Seddiq
Azizi says flash floods killed six people — three women and three
children — and damaged about 20 houses.
Santiago in chaos: Millions left without water as flooding strikes Chile capital
Severe
flooding has brought chaos to Santiago as heavy rains have been
battering the region since Friday. An estimated four million people
have been left without drinking water and, according to police
reports, at least one person has been killed as a result of the
floods so far. The capital was deluged after the Mapocho River
overflowed its banks for the first time in 30 years
Extreme Drought in Micronesia Worsens; Palau, FSM Declare State of Emergency
Because
of one of the strongest El Nino event in the past hundred years, Guam
along with many islands in Micronesia are experiencing an extreme
drought
Chile’s capital, Santiago, has been inundated by rains that caused the Mapocho River to breach its banks and flow into one of the city’s upbeat neighborhoods. The calamity has killed at least two people and left four million more short of water.
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