GLOBAL WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS

DECEMBER 2019

UNITED STATES

Severe storms spawned a record-setting December tornado outbreak in the Midwest on the 1st week. Tornadoes stirred up damage from the Plains to southeastern Georgia over the weekend, especially in Illinois. A total of 27 tornadoes blasted central
Illinois on Saturday, making it one of the most weather-violent December days in the state's history. The tornadoes snapped trees and power lines, and shifted one house off its foundation in Macon County. About 10,000 people across the state were without
power at the height of the severe weather.

One weather-related death has been reported in North Carolina as a result of this weekend's snowstorm (9th). A nasty mix of snow and ice gripped the SE USA this weekend, leading to treacherous driving conditions, canceled flights and thousands of people
stranded at home. Over 20 million people were under winter weather alerts. More than 12 inches of snow fell Sunday in the southern and central Appalachians, the National Weather Service said. The area with the highest snowfall total was Whitetop,
Virginia, at the border of North Carolina, which had 2 feet of snow. Raleigh-Durham International Airport received about 7 inches of snow on Sunday, which was the most snow at the airport since 2002. Charlotte also saw record-setting snowfall totals.
With 2.7 inches, the city had its snowiest December since 1997. The storm already has knocked out power for more than 546,000 customers in the Southeast.

Severe storms swept across Florida, damaging dozens of homes ahead of the holiday weekend (20th). Up to 70 homes were damaged in Zephyrhills, Florida, on Thursday morning as severe storms rolled through. Paso County Emergency Management said that this
damage was caused by straight-line winds, not a tornado. Three tornadoes were reported elsewhere in Florida during Thursday's storms, but no significant damage was reported.

AUSTRAILIA

Severe storms have swept across Queensland, bringing flash flooding - and much-needed rain - to communities that a few days ago were fighting bushfires (4th). At the height of the storm on Tuesday evening, more than 37,000 homes between Rockhampton and
Gympie were without power as gales felled trees and damaged roofs. On Wednesday morning a few thousand people were still waiting for their electricity to be restored. Further, north on the Atherton Tablelands, buildings and cars were damaged by hail.
Coastal and inland areas north of Gympie received widespread rainfalls of 25-50 mm, with some areas recording almost 100 mm.

Seventeen people have been rescued by helicopter and 100 people are stranded in their cars on a flooded Hume Highway in northeast Victoria, Australia (13th). With more than a month's worth of rain having already fallen across parts of northeast Victoria
as wild weather rages across the state, authorities say some people have not heeded warnings about driving into floodwaters. The moisture from tropical Cyclone Owen is feeding the low-pressure system over Victoria on Thursday, which is forecast to bring
heavy rain and thunderstorms. The Bureau of Meteorology says there's been record-breaking rainfall across the state's northeast in the 24 hours to 9 am on Thursday and the few hours since, including 162 mm at Everton and 110 mm at Eldorado.

A thunderstorm sweeping across Melbourne on Friday caused widespread flash-flooding prompting numerous calls for assistance (14th). Sydney siders were also dealing with traffic chaos as residents along the length of the New South Wales coast were being
told to prepare for heavy rainfall, damaging winds and large hailstones. A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for NSW's east with damaging winds up to 90 km/h predicted including in Sydney, the Hunter region and the Blue Mountains. Dungong in the
Hunter region received 40 mm in just 30 minutes during the afternoon as heavy rains drenched much of NSW.

Temperature records have been broken as a heatwave continues across the country and parts of South Australia are expected to enter catastrophic fire conditions later on Friday (27th). Marble Bar in north-western Western Australia its all-time heat record
on Thursday, reaching 49.3C. In northern Victoria, Mildura had another day of temperatures in the mid-40s, reaching 44C on Thursday. In New South Wales, near Broken Hill, and Wentworth, near the Victorian border, peaked at 45C.

ASIA

A mild autumn and start to December came to a bone-chilling end as bitterly cold air reached Beijing and northeast China (4th). The cold air quickly pressed southward, encompassing much of eastern China and the Korean Peninsula by Friday. Friday was one
of Beijing's coldest December days on record as temperatures were held to almost -6C. A maximum temperature near 4C is more common in early December.

Residents of northern India are again during a long-term poor air quality event, and recent government efforts have come too late in preventing health impacts this season (29th). Each autumn, agricultural burning combines with industrial and urban
emissions to kick off a month-long poor air quality event across the region, including the capitol region of New Delhi, home to over 18.5 million people. New Delhi recorded its highest pollution levels of the year on Sunday, when the air quality index
reached 450. Since then, it has remained consistently above 300 across most of the city. The government has even deployed firefighters on high-rise buildings to release water on the surrounding areas. This is an effort to settle dust in the air and put
out any garbage fires.

The death toll from a storm that struck the Philippines shortly after Christmas rose to 68 with the number of fatalities expected to climb even higher (29th). Fifty-seven people died in the mountainous Bicol region, southeast of Manila, while 11 were
killed in the central island of Samar, mostly due to landslides and drownings, the officials said. The weather disturbance locally named Usman hit the country on Saturday. While it did not have powerful winds, it brought heavy rains that caused floods
and loosened the soil, triggering landslides in some areas. Many people failed to take necessary precautions because Usman was not strong enough to be rated as a typhoon under the government's storm alert system.

TROPICAL

Tropical Cyclone Owen lashed parts of Australia with heavy rainfall for more than a week before weakening into a tropical low for what is expected to be the final time 18th). After first moving into northern Queensland as a tropical rainstorm last week,
Owen tracked over the Gulf of Carpentaria and re-intensified into a severe tropical cyclone late last week. The storm reversed course and made its second landfall in Cape York Peninsula during the predawn hours of Saturday, local time. Owen was a
Category 3 severe tropical cyclone when it moved onshore between Kowanyama and the mouth of the Gilbert River on Friday. Its strength at that time was equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane in the Atlantic or eastern Pacific oceans. The hamlet of Halifax
in northern Queensland now claims the record for the wettest December day on record for the entire country of Australia following the weekend deluge, according to the Australia Bureau of Meteorology. In a 24-hour period, 681 mm of rain fell on the
community, causing widespread flooding. The flooding had a devastating impact on livestock and agriculture in the region.



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