GLOBAL WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS
SEPTEMBER 1029


UNITED STATES

Three tornadoes that hit Sioux Falls, South Dakota on Tuesday (10th), have left residents reeling. In its wake, extensive damage from the twister has left an Advanced Auto Parts store in shambles and also caused severe damage to the Avera Heart Hospital.
On Wednesday, the National Weather Service (NWS) said a preliminary survey revealed that three EF2 tornadoes had briefly touched down in Sioux Falls late Tuesday night, packing estimated winds of 125 mph.

Flooding downpours and locally severe storms brought some drought relief for the southwest U.S. on Monday (23rd), but with the relief came the headache of road closures, stuck cars, multiple water rescues and a possible tornado across Arizona. At least
five water rescues were performed in Apache Junction, Arizona, on Monday, according to Superstition Fire & Medical District (SFMD). Schools in the area were dismissed early due to the ongoing flooding, according to the school district. Apache Junction,
Arizona, was one community that was hit hard by flooding downpours with more than a month's worth of rain falling in under an hour. There was a report of 3.5 inches of rain in an hour-and-40-minute period just north of Apache Junction. Apache Junction is
located just east of Phoenix, which averages just 0.64 inches of rain in all of September.

The snowstorm that hit the northern Rockies over the weekend (28-29th) was unusually early in the season. The storm unloaded up to 3-4 feet of snow in spots, caused blizzard conditions and set several new daily snowfall records across Montana. The
highest snowfall amount was 52 inches in Babb, Montana, while Browning was blanketed with 48 inches.

JAPAN

Heatstroke has killed two people in Japan, officials said, as nearly half a million homes struggled with electricity outages after a powerful typhoon battered Tokyo and the surrounding area (11th). A 93-year-old woman and a 65-year-old man were found
unconscious at their respective homes on Tuesday and were later confirmed dead by doctors. At least 48 other people were sent to hospital for symptoms of heatstroke Tuesday, as the mercury rose above 35C in areas where electricity is still out after
Typhoon Faxai hit on Monday. By Wednesday morning, some 456,000 households were still without power, Tokyo Electric Co. (TEPCO) said in a statement.

SPAIN

At least six people have died and 3,500 have been evacuated from their homes after flash floods struck south-eastern Spain (13th). Rivers burst their banks as some areas of Valencia, Murcia and eastern Andalucìa saw the heaviest rainfall on record.
Torrential rain caused chaos on roads and public transport with two airports in Murcia and Almeria closing down, leaving travelers stranded. Thousands of police, fire-fighters and soldiers have been deployed in a rescue operation, some in boats and
helicopters. Several railway lines and many schools in the region were shut down by the adverse weather conditions, with 689,000 students affected in Valencia alone, according to AFP.
15th
SOUTHEAST ASIA

Largely dry conditions are expected to continue across parts of south-east Asia over the next couple of days as crews continue to fight fires raging in the region (20th). The Associated Press has reported that "the Indonesian Disaster Mitigation Agency
detected 4,319 hotspots across the country on Thursday." Most of the fires have been deliberately set for agricultural purposes, which is typical for the time of year. But excessively dry conditions across this part of the world are providing plenty of
fuel for fires to spread. Dry conditions will also exacerbate the threat from the fires by spreading smoke throughout the region. Parts of Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and southern Thailand are reporting impacts from the haze. Hazy conditions are
reducing visibility and creating dangerous air quality for many.

INDIA

Torrential rainfall triggered deadly flooding around Pune, India, on Thursday (26th) with at least 17 fatalities reported. At least four people have been reported missing as flooding continues in the region. More than 15,000 people have been rescued or
evacuated due to the flooding, including some from rooftops and others who were forced to cling to trees.

TROPICAL

Hurricane Dorian made landfall on the Bahamas at lunchtime on Sunday (1st), its sustained 185 mph winds tearing apart buildings and ripping off roofs, and destroying or severely damaging thousands of homes. The hurricane, which brought "catastrophic
winds" and a storm surge above 6 meters to the Caribbean island nation, also claimed its first recorded fatality, an eight-year-old boy who drowned on Abaco Island. At landfall the central pressure was 910 mb.

Hurricane Dorian has stalled over the Bahamas, lashing the islands with wind, rain and storm surges, and killing at least five people. Thousands of homes were inundated by floodwater as rescue operations tried to reach stranded residents, many trapped on
roofs. Dorian, one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes on record, has been hovering over Grand Bahama Island for more than a day. It has weakened to a Category 3 hurricane but is still battering the Bahamas with winds of 120 mph, the Miami-based
National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in an advisory issued at 0600 GMT. The ferocious storm's center was about 30 miles north-east of Freeport on Grand Bahama Island and about 100 miles east of West Palm Beach, Florida. The NHC urged residents to remain
in shelters as they continued to be pounded by the storm's "eyewall". The storm's strongest winds are usually close to the eye. In an earlier update, it said Dorian was "continuing to thrash" Grand Bahama and would cause "extreme destruction" into
Tuesday morning. At least five people have been killed in the Abaco Islands, in the northern Bahamas, the country's prime minister, Hubert Minnis, said on Monday. "We are in the midst of a historic tragedy in parts of our northern Bahamas," Minnis said. "
Our mission and focus now is search, rescue and recovery." Abaco and Grand Bahama, neither much more than 40 feet (12 meters) above sea level at their highest points, are home to 70,000 people. Bahamian officials said they received a "tremendous" number
of calls from people in flooded homes. One radio station said it received more than 2,000 distress messages, including reports of a five-month-old baby stranded on a roof and a woman with six grandchildren who cut a hole in a roof to escape rising
floodwaters. At least two designated storm shelters flooded.

After flirting with touching the East Coast for nearly four days, Hurricane Dorian made landfall in the United States at Cape Hatteras (6th), North Carolina, on Friday morning as a Category 1 hurricane. Landfall came around 8:35 a.m., EDT, with maximum
sustained winds of 90 mph and a minimum central pressure of 956 mb. Dorian still brought damaging winds and inundating storm surge along the coast, particularly along the Outer Banks in North Carolina.

Typhoon winds toppled trees, grounded planes and left thousands of South Korean homes without electricity as a powerful storm system brushed up against the Korean Peninsula (7th). Strong winds and rain from Typhoon Lingling caused power outages in more
than 31,000 homes on the southern resort island of Jeju and in southern mainland regions. The typhoon was passing seas 110 km west of the central mainland city of Seosan as of 12:20 p.m. Saturday, moving north at 42 km/h with winds of up to 133 km/h, the
Korea Meteorological Association said. It was expected to affect a broader part of the country as it passed off South Korea's west coast later on Saturday before making landfall in North Korea at around 3 p.m.. The storm toppled trees and streetlamps,
blew signboards off buildings and damaged traffic signs across the mainland and Jeju. Dozens of flights were grounded at airports nationwide, while 38 people were forced to evacuate from their flooded homes in Gwangju, a city near Seoul.

Dorian was downgraded to a post-tropical storm as it made landfall near Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Saturday evening (7th), but wind speeds still reached 150 km/h, similar in intensity to a category 2 hurricane. Trees, power lines and even a crane in
downtown Halifax were knocked down by the powerful gusts, leaving half a million people without power and in many cases, without cellphone service. More than 100mm of rain also fell in less than 24 hours. Widespread damage nonetheless left emergency
crews scrambling throughout the collection of Maritime provinces. Power technicians from Ontario, Quebec, Maine and as far away as Florida were dispatched to assist local crews restore power. The Canadian military also deployed forces to help clear roads.
By Monday (9th), as power was restored in some areas, residents were left to assess damage. Many of the streets in Halifax, the largest city on the east coast, had large trees uprooted, tearing up sidewalks and roads and pulling down power lines. At
least 200,000 remained without electricity in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.

A powerful typhoon landed near Tokyo early in the morning on the 9th, killing at least three people and injuring about 40 as well as affecting hundreds of thousands of rush-hour commuters in the metropolitan area at the start of the week. East Japan
Railway Co., also known as JR East, had suspended all lines in the greater Tokyo area as Typhoon Faxai made landfall near the city of Chiba, shortly before 5 a.m., as one of the strongest typhoons on record in the Kanto region. A woman in her 50s in
Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, was confirmed dead after a security camera captured her being blown off her feet and into a wall, according to police. The weather agency had warned that central and eastern Japan, including Tokyo, could see record winds, forcing
airlines to cancel flights and some major roads to be closed. Authorities issued voluntary evacuation warnings to more than 390,000 people, as forecasters cautioned the rain and wind could reach "record" proportions.

Typhoon Tapah, which left dozens of people injured in southern and southwestern Japan, weakened to an extratropical cyclone Monday (23rd) in the Sea of Japan, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The season's 17th typhoon, which travelled over the sea
through Monday morning, has left more than 50 people injured in the Okinawa and Kyushu regions as it brought strong winds over the weekend, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency. Kyushu Electric Power Co. said blackouts affected
prefectures on the island of Kyushu, with over 30,000 homes without power at one point. Some air and rail traffic disruption also continued in the region, Kyushu Railway Co. and airlines said.
Tropical storm Hikaa intensified into a 'very severe storm' before making landfall around Duqm in Al Wusta around 7 p.m. (24th), as four ministries of the Omani government issued advisories to deal with the situation. Soon after the landfall, Oman's
Directorate General of Meteorology downgraded it to 'tropical storm' with surface wind speed around the center ranging between 45 knots and 55 knots. On Tuesday morning, heavy rain was reported from Masirah Island in South Sharqiyah, while during the
evening widespread flooding was reported in the wilayat of Duqm in Al Wusta governorate after torrential rains tore through the wilayat with gale force winds.

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