5 of the most bizarre weather events of 2015

What’s this about?

The weather seems to be increasingly volatile, with summers and winters within the UK that are anything but predictable. However, beyond the usual weekly, monthly and seasonal forecasting it appears that 2015 has served up plenty of rather notable weather events around the world.So here we take a deeper look into the very often bizarre global weather events, for which it’s safe to say that 2015 has already been a vintage year:

WHAT’S THIS ABOUT?

1. The US went for an entire period of 24 days without any tornado or thunderstorm warnings… anywhere - USA

24 days may not sound like a long time, however when we’re talking about a lack of severe weather warnings, coupled with a landmass that is as expansive as the USA then you have something that has actually never happened since the US Storm Prediction Centre was set up in 1970. Although severe weather has made up for it elsewhere, as we’ll see from our next entrant…

2. Four cyclones all threatening the shores of the Eastern hemisphere at once – Eastern hemisphere

Over on the other side of the world to the distinctly severe weather warning free USA is the Eastern hemisphere where four tropical cyclones met on March 12th, 2015. And what was to blame for this rather freakish weather front? Well the Madden-Julian Oscillation (or MJO, for short), which is known as being the largest meeting of atmospheric circulation and tropical deep convection. Or something that can create rather crazy weather, to you and I!

3. It’s raining… milk? – Washington, USA

Car washing is pretty big business in the Northwest US, so early February of this year was likely a seriously busy time as storms in Washington seemed to rain with a milky-white liquid. Theories as to how the rain became infused with another substance include everything from chemical contamination right through to the blaming of distant volcanoes.

4. A solid drought… followed up by mass flooding – Texas, USA

The spring of 2015 brought serious drought to Texas, where reservoirs were practically sucked dry. Fast forward to May however and reservoirs were overflowing and fit to busting with a downpour that ended with widespread flash flooding.

5. 14 years worth of rain… over the course of just 24 hours - Chile

If you think that we have it bad in the UK for rain, then think again. Back in March, Chile’s Atacama Desert which usually receives just 0.07 inches of rain a year was battered with a storm that saw almost an inch of rain water fall in 24 hours.

Now one inch, to us seasoned rain pros, may sound like a good UK summer’s day, however over in the Atacama Desert (and within the nearby city of Copiapo) the natural soil and plant free landscapes simply transitioned into what were fatal flash floods.

APIXU

At APIXU we have an API to track even the most extreme weather events, feeding back essential and robustly accurate data to the developers who make working with the weather their lives. Our API features all that is needed for the latest developer to code something that may, tomorrow, be reporting the next big weather event that can help guide people to safety and shelter.

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5 of the most bizarre weather events of 2015