Ten Billion-Dollar Plus Weather, Climate Disasters Hit U.S. in 2015

Record December elevated 2015 to 2^nd warmest year for US 48  —NOAA

The 2015 annual average U.S. temperature was 54.4°F (12.4°C), 2.4°F above the 20^th century average, the second warmest year on record.

• Warmest year for U.S. was  2012  with an average temperature of 55.3°F.
• 2015 was the 19^th consecutive year the annual average temperature exceeded the 20^th century average.

The average contiguous U.S. precipitation was 34.47 inches (87.55cm), 4.53 inches above average, and ranked as the third wettest year in the 121-year period of record.

• Only 1973 and 1983 were wetter.
• The national drought footprint shrank about 10 percent last year.

Ten weather and climate disaster events with losses exceeding $1 billion each occurred  across the United States in 2015. These events included

• Drought (1 event)
• Flooding (2)
• Severe storms (5)
• Wildfire (1)
• Winter Storm (1)

The 1980–2015 annual average is 5.2 events (CPI-adjusted); the annual average for the most recent 5 years (2011–2015) is 10.8 events (CPI-adjusted), said NCDC/NOAA.

Additionally, the U.S. experienced five distinct disaster event types in 2015. It is more common to observe three or four disaster event types in a given year. Five or more disaster event types exceeding $1 billion in the same year occurs less frequently (i.e., 2015, 2011, 2008, 1998, 1994 and 1989).

U.S. climate highlights: 2015

• Florida, Montana, Oregon and Washington were record warm.
• Alaska, California, and Idaho had their second warmest year.
• Twenty-one other states were much warmer than average.
• 14 States were much wetter than average.
• Oklahoma and Texas were record wet for the year, and became drought free for the first time since 2010.
• The U.S. Climate Extremes Index (USCEI) for 2015 was 70 percent above average, ranking as the fourth highest annual USCEI in the 106-year record and highest since 2012.

U.S. climate highlights: December 2015

• December 2015 was record warm for the contiguous U.S., with a temperature of 38.6°F, 6.0°F above the 20^th century average.
  • Previous record of 37.7°F was set in 1939.
  • 29 Eastern states had the warmest December on record.
  • No state was record cold.
• The December precipitation total for the contiguous U.S. was 3.93 inches, 1.58 inches above the 20^th century average, ranking as the wettest December on record.
  • Previous record of 3.76 inches was set in 1982.
  • Above-average precipitation occurred across the country
  • 23 States were much wetter than average.
  • Iowa and Wisconsin had a record wet December.

Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, State of the Climate: National Overview for December 2015, published online January 2016, retrieved on January 9, 2016 from http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/national/201512.

 

Bushfires Threaten Multiple Towns in WA

Bushfire EMERGENCY WARNINGS Issued for Several Towns in WA

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) said the emergency situation had escalated and the towns of Harvey, Cookernup, Wokalup and surrounding areas could be hit within hours.

Residents in the towns in Western Australia’s South West have been urged to evacuate their properties as bushfires ravage the area.

• Bushfire EMERGENCY WARNINGS has been issued for East of Waroona, Hamel, Cookernup, Yarloop, Harvey and surrounding areas in the Shires of Harvey and Waroona.

• EMERGENCY WARNINGS has been issued for south of the South Coast Highway in the Dalyup area, west of Esperance in the Shire of Esperance.

Meanwhile, Human remains were discovered in two houses in Yarloop, in Western Australia’s South West region, which was devastated by bushfire.

DFES has issued the following statement:

Bushfire EMERGENCY WARNING for East of Waroona, Hamel, Cookernup, Yarloop, Harvey and surrounding areas in the Shires of Harvey and Waroona
Saturday 9 January 2016 – 9:43 PM

A bushfire EMERGENCY WARNING remains for people in an area bounded by Old Coast Road, south of Coronation Road, South Western Highway, McDowell Road, Nanga Brook Road, Dawn Creek Road, south to Murray River Fire line, Driver Road, Logue Brook Dam Road, Dupont Road, Tallanalla Road, Myles Avenue, Mornington Road, South Western Highway, Mitchell Road, east to Wellesley Road, Forrest Highway north to Old Coast Road.

This includes east of Waroona, Hamel, Cookernup, Yarloop, Harvey townsite and surrounding areas. It doesn’t include the Waroona townsite.

• There is a threat to lives and homes in Harvey, Cookernup, Wokalup and surroundings areas.
• Unless you are ready and prepared to actively defend your property, evacuate to the south via the South Western Highway if safe to do so.

BUSHFIRE BEHAVIOR:

A number of breakouts to the south have occurred as a result of fluctuating wind conditions.

• The bushfire is moving in a south easterly direction.
• The fire remains uncontained and is not yet controlled.
• Burning embers are likely to be blown around your home.

Related Links

• Monster Bushfire Destroys Town in W. Australia January 8, 2016

Multiple Crop Disasters Declared in Three U.S. States

UPDATED

Extreme Weather Events Destroy Crops in 36 Counties across Three States

Flooding, Late Frost and Freeze have destroyed or damaged crops in at least 36 counties across three states: Wisconsin, Virginia and North Carolina.

Disaster Designation # 1

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 14 counties in Wisconsin as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by a late frost and freeze that occurred from May 17, 2015, through June 6, 2015. Those counties are:

Clark, Forest, Langlade, Lincoln, Marathon, Menominee, Oconto, Oneida, Portage, Price, Shawano, Taylor, Waupaca and Wood counties.

Disaster Designation # 2

USDA has designated a total of 22 counties in Virginia and North Carolina as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by flooding that occurred from Sept. 24, 2015, through Oct. 6, 2015. Those counties are:

Virginia. Carroll, Charles City, Floyd, Franklin, Franklin City, George, Greensville, Henry, Isle of Wight, James City, Newport News, Patrick, Prince, Southampton, Suffolk, Surry and Sussex counties.

North Carolina. Gates, Hertford, Northampton, Stokes and Surry counties.

All counties were designated natural disaster areas on Jan. 06, 2016.

Crop Disasters 2015

USDA declared crop disasters in at least 4,017 counties and county equivalents across 46 States [as well as Puerto Rico, and US Virgin Islands] in 2015. Those states are Arizona, Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington and Wyoming.

• About 99 percent of the 2015 crop disaster designations were due to drought last year.

Crop Disasters 2014

In 2014, USDA declared crop disasters in at least 2,904 counties across 44 states. Most of the designations were due to drought.

Those states were:

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan. Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. [FIRE-EARTH has documented all of the above listings. See blog content.]

Notes:
i. USDA trigger point for a countywide disaster declaration is 30 percent crop loss on at least one crop.

ii. The counties designated as agricultural disaster areas, as listed above, include both primary and contiguous disaster areas.

iii. Some counties may have been designated as crop disaster areas more than once due to multiple disasters.

iv. The U.S. has a total of 3,143 counties and county-equivalents.

Related Links

• Crop Disasters Declared in Five U.S. States December 24, 2015
• Crop Disasters Declared in North Carolina, Virginia December 19, 2015

• Multiple Crop Disasters Declared in Montana December 19, 2015
• Crop Disasters Declared in Alabama, Florida, Georgia December 10, 2015
• Crop Disasters Declared in the Carolinas December 3, 2015
• Crop Disasters Declared in Kansas December 3, 2015
• Multiple Crop Disasters Declared in Michigan and Ohio November 26, 2015
• Multiple Crop Disasters Declared in Six U.S. States November 22, 2015
• Drought
• Agricultural Disasters Index