Weatherwatch: Supercell storms or a balmy bake-off?
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Version 0 of 1. The severe storm and tornado season is now in full swing across the great plains of the US and, over the past week, several damaging tornadoes have been reported. Last Thursday a succession of powerful supercell thunderstorms tore across parts of Illinois, and Ogle and DeKalb counties were declared disaster areas. At least two people were killed by a tornado which involved winds of up to 200mph, levelling to the ground at least 20 homes in Fairdale, Rochelle, and Kirkland. Flash flooding and large hail stones were also reported. Meanwhile, the same weather system triggered severe thunderstorms across parts of Texas and Arkansas, leading to at least three confirmed tornadoes. Across New Zealand, an unseasonably early blast of cold air caused hail, thunderstorms and the season’s first significant snowfall. A strong southerly wind, blowing straight out of Antarctica, brought thunderstorms with hail and strong winds across much of South Island initially, with several centimetres of snow over the mountains above Queenstown and many of the skiing areas elsewhere. This cold air hit North Island on Monday where the earliest snowfalls of this magnitude in decades affected some of the ski resorts. Mount Ruapehu had up to 15cm of snow, with it settling to altitudes of 900 metres. In Europe, increasingly warm weather came to Spain, with daytime highs ranging from 26C-32C on Monday and Tuesday. The warmth edged north northwards through France, where temperatures were in the high 20s across southern areas and up to 25C in Paris. Southern England, with temperatures of up to 23C on Tuesday, enjoyed the change; in London 25C was reached on Wednesday. |