Friday 28 November 2014

Climate news - 11/27/2014

Brisbane cleans up after hailstones and high winds smash city in huge storm
Army called in to help after roofs are ripped off buildings and planes flipped over in severe thunderstorm


Brisbane storm

Cars caught in flood water during the storm. Photograph: AAP



28 November, 2014

A massive clean-up effort was beginning in Brisbane on Friday after it was smashed by hailstones the size of golf balls and destructive gusts up to 140km/h.

Brisbane bore the brunt of the storm’s ferocity, with the insurance industry declaring it a catastrophic event that will leave a multimillion dollar damage bill.

The severe thunderstorm left a trail of destruction across the central city on Thursday, smashing highrise windows and ripping roofs off buildings, and flipping planes at Archerfield Airport.

View image on Twitter
Damage at Archerfield Airport @MarkBraybrook



The Queensland premier, Campbell Newman, has called in the army to help with roof repairs and recovery efforts and has called the storm “the worst since 1985”. Forecasters said it was the worst since at least the 2008 Gap storm.

Shattered glass, trees, powerlines and other debris were strewn across roads, causing traffic chaos and long public transport delays during peak hour.




One woman was reportedly injured by a falling tree at West End, while emergency services had responded to more than 1,000 calls for assistance across the city by late Thursday night.

SES acting assistant commissioner Peter Jeffrey told the ABC volunteers worked through the night.

View image on Twitter
The Army has been called in to help after a violent storm ripped across . http://yhoo.it/1vSbSH7 

There’ll be a bit of a delay before they can help people, and jobs will be prioritised around those who are the most vulnerable,” he said.

Authorities worked overnight to try to restore power to the almost 90,000 homes in the southeast region, mainly in Brisbane, that had their power cut.

The ABC reported power was cut to 83,000 customers after the storm struck during the afternoon peak hour. About 73,000 customers were believed to be still without power at 12:30am..



Many schools were severely damaged and were expected to remain closed until at least Monday.

Newman said defence personnel had been mobilised on Thursday night and would assist emergency crews to help with the clean-up from Friday morning
.

Hailstones carpet the Brisbane river during the storm.
Hailstones carpet the Brisbane river during the storm. Photograph: Demotix Live News/Demotix Live News/Demotix/Corbis

So we are getting in as many people as we can on the job,” he told the Seven Network. “We want people to be safe; there are all sorts of hazards out there.”

Brisbane residents posted dramatic pictures and videos of the storm on social media.

TimeLapse video of the this afternoon. Large hail, strong winds, 8 aircraft flipped over at . http://youtu.be/P0xIeYsjCDw 

The Insurance Council of Australia said insurers had already received thousands of calls and that number was expected to rapidly rise on Friday.


More violent storms set for south of France
The south of France is set to be lashed by more extreme weather with some 12 departments placed on alert for floods on Thursday after violent storms and heavy rain were forecast.

More violent storms set for south of France
The south of France is set to be hit by more rough weather. Photo:AFP

27 November, 2014
France’s meteorological service Météo France issued warnings for storms, rainfall, and floods for a dozen regions in the south of France that will remain in place until Saturday morning.

The departments Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Hautes-Pyrénées, Haute-Garonne and Ariège are on alert for strong winds while Aveyron, Ardèche, Gard, Hérault, Lozère, Tarn and the two Corsican departments face the risk of flooding due to heavy rainfall. The Var department is also on alert for potential floods.

Météo France expects that up to 240 mm of rain will fall in the Languedoc region, and up to 150 mm over the Cévennes in the Ardèche department, in just 24 hours.

Météo France also urges caution in areas where the grounds are already completely saturated with water due to the recent heavy rainfall.

Winds may reach up to 110 km/h in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Hautes-Pyrénées, Haute-Garonne and Ariège departments.  
The warnings are just the latest to be handed out for southern France, which has been frequently battered by extreme weather throughout the autumn.

Earlier this month, heavy storms and rainfalls wreaked havoc in parts of the region
The Ardèche department was hit especially hard after river banks burst and flooded the area and some 6,000 homes were left without power. Firefighters were called out to deal with almost 100 incidents.

We have an enormous amount of damage, with walls collapsing onto roads,” said deputy mayor of an Ardèche village Michel Aymard at the time.
We’ve only just received the financial aid from the government for damage caused by flooding in 2013,” he said.

France set for warmest year since 1900 (26 Nov 14)

Hot spots in the Pacific


Global Ocean Anomalies 26/11/2014. Hot Spots are everywhere. 

BOM reports that the Pacific Ocean has shown some renewed signs of El Niño development in recent week. 

Above-average temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean have warmed further in the past fortnight, while the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) has generally been in excess of El Niño thresholds for the past three months. 

Climate models suggest current conditions will either persist or strengthen. 

These factors mean the Bureau's ENSO Tracker Status has been upgraded from WATCH to ALERT level, indicating at least a 70% chance of El Niño occurring.
---Kristy Lewis, via Facebook


Australian ocean currents


The East Australian Current is Stretching down Completely past Tasmania. 

This Current is Not supposed to be flowing down that far. 

It's bringing Tropical Fish and destroying many ecosystems around Tasmania.

---Kristy Lewis, via Facebook


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