The extreme weather events of 2023
Extreme weather events are becoming more common thanks to climate change, and “they’re affecting every corner of the world”
The number of extreme weather events has seen a “staggering rise” in the past 30 years, said the United Nations, and experts warn climate change is “supercharging these extreme events,” per The Associated Press. Intense heat as well as extreme rainfall events “are getting more frequent, more severe,” explained Kai Kornhuber, a research scientist at Columbia University.
Climate change is also causing more “compound events,” NPR reported, which is when “climate change causes two extreme things to happen at the same time,” according to an annual report by the American Meteorological Society. “The risk of extreme events is growing, and they’re affecting every corner of the world,” Sarah Kapnick, the chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told NPR. Below is a chronological look at the extreme weather events unfolding in 2023.
January
The year kicked off with the sixth-warmest January on record, averaging a temperature of 35.2 degrees Fahrenheit in the U.S. This was due to a jet stream that spread warmer Pacific air over the whole country, along with high pressure that pushed storms west. Climate change also intensified the warmer temperatures, per The Washington Post.
There were also high levels of rainfall, making 2023’s the third-wettest January on record. A record number of atmospheric rivers brought unprecedented rains to California, which was suffering from a drought. The state experienced 10 storms, resulting in floods and landslides, as well as snowfall in the mountainous regions.
The Midwest and South experienced a string of tornados. The Storm Prediction Center reported that there were 168 preliminary reports of tornadoes, most of them in the South. The warmer temperatures made for better conditions for tornados, according to CNN.
February
February was marked by tornados and warm temperatures but also unexpected snow. The month began with an ice storm across Texas and the Midwest, as well as freezing temperatures across the Northeast. The Midwest also saw several tornados throughout the month, which is unusual for February.
Later in the month, the country experienced both extreme cold and unusually warm temperatures. Southern California saw winter storm conditions, inhibiting travel in the region. Other parts of the country (especially across the southeast U.S.) saw almost spring-like temperatures.
March
Cyclone Freddy made renewed headlines in March, after first “walloping” Madagascar and Mozambique at the end of February. The storm then made landfall in Mozambique for a second time on March 11. Lasting more than a month, Freddy was one of the longest-lived tropical cyclones on record, as well as one of Earth’s most energetic storms. It killed at least 400 people in both Malawi and Mozambique and injured dozens more, according to Reuters. In addition to flooding, Freddy ripped roofs off of buildings, disrupted phone and power infrastructure and prompted landslides. “What is interesting about Freddy is how far it has traveled,” BBC reported at the time. “It began its journey off the coast of northwest Australia, crossing the Southern Indian Ocean from east to west, one of only four storms in history to do so.”
Tornadoes tore through the South, killing at least 25 people in Mississippi and one person in Alabama. The National Weather Service reported winds between 166 and 200 miles per hour and gave the storm an EF-4 tornado rating. “It’s almost complete devastation,” Royce Steed, the emergency manager in Humphreys County, Mississippi, told the AP. “This little old town — I don’t know what the population is — is more or less wiped off the map.” The storm was the “deadliest in the state of Mississippi in more than a decade,” per BBC.
April
A deadly storm system tore through the Midwest, South and mid-Atlantic from March 31 through April 1, bringing with it tornados that left at least 32 dead and many without power. The system had “two bull’s eyes,” Jake Sojda, a meteorologist for AccuWeather, told The New York Times. “Usually, you have the greatest risk really concentrated in one area,” and “to have two separate areas that had such a significant risk for tornadoes — that is definitely more uncommon.” By April 7, almost as many people had been killed by tornadoes in the first three months of 2023 as are usually killed by tornadoes in an entire year, CBS News reported.
April was also marked by several heat waves in Asia and the Mediterranean. Several countries in Asia, including Bangladesh, India, Laos, and Thailand, saw some of their highest temperatures to date, in certain cases reaching over 113 degrees Fahrenheit. In the Mediterranean, Spain and Morocco experienced record-breaking heat surpassing 101 degrees Fahrenheit. Both heat waves were attributed to climate change. “Global temperatures will continue to increase, and events like this will become more frequent and severe until overall greenhouse gas emissions are halted,” said scientists studying the heat wave, per BBC.
May
As summer inched closer, so did summer weather phenomena like wildfires, typhoons and cyclones. Wildfires raged in Alberta, Canada, reducing air quality all over the world. While wildfires are common in the spring, this was an “unusually active” start to the season, NOAA tweeted. Smoke from the fires traveled into the U.S. and several states including Montana, Nebraska, Washington, and Wisconsin issued air-quality warnings.
Cyclone Mocha hit Myanmar and Pakistan in the middle of the month. Hundreds were estimated to have been killed, and hundreds of thousands were left homeless. Many of those affected were refugees or Rohingya Muslims, who were relocated to the region a decade ago. “The main reason the Rohingyas are dying in large numbers during the cyclone is that they have to live in a small area with a large population,” Dr. Win Myat Aye, the minister of humanitarian affairs and disaster management of Myanmar’s National Unity Government, told The New York Times. The United Nations requested $375 million in aid for the countries, Reuters reported.
Typhoon Mawar unleashed its power on Guam, causing widespread power outages in the region. The storm was deemed a Category 4 hurricane, one of the strongest to hit Guam in recent history. President Biden declared a state of emergency in the territory, authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to “identify, mobilize and provide, at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency.”
June
June began as smoke from the Canadian wildfires blew across the U.S., starting in the Northeast before spreading to the South and West. The smoke raised the level of particulates in the air, causing hazardous air quality in several regions.
Later that month, India experienced a strong heat wave that lead to several power outages and nearly 170 deaths. Heat waves are only declared in India if “temperatures are at least 4.5 C above normal, or if the temperature is above 45 C (113 F),” wrote the AP. “Adding to the heat stress are consistent power outages across the region, leaving people with no running water, fans or air conditioners.” Hospitals were over capacity and struggled with the loss of power and cooling systems.
Tropical storm Bret formed in the Atlantic Ocean and moved toward the eastern Caribbean Sea. The storm was deemed “an unusually early and aggressive start to the Atlantic hurricane season,” per the AP. “No June on record has had two storms form in the tropical Atlantic.”
July
July 3 through 6 were the four hottest days on record globally, the hottest of which was July 6, when the global average temperature “climbed to an unprecedented 17.23°C (63.02°F), per Axios. Various regions across the globe experienced heatwaves, including Europe, China, and parts of the U.S. The heat was magnified by El Niño and extremely warm oceans.
Climate change meanwhile amplified India’s monsoon season, when intense flooding left at least 100 dead, reported The Washington Post. The influx of water also destroyed parts of highways and other infrastructure. “It’s one of the worst floods I have ever seen in my lifetime,” Tikender Singh Panwar, the former deputy mayor of Shimla, one of the hardest-hit cities, told the Post. “It’s really catastrophic. And we can understand that the principal reason is climate change. That is not new.”
Canadian wildfires also continued to rage, burning close to 25 million acres as they disrupted air quality in different parts of the U.S. The fires burned close to 25 million acres, per Axios.
Editor’s note: This article will be updated throughout the year.
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