Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms - Roundup of Tropical Storms:

Tropical Cyclone Chapala (tc) 04a, located approximately 245 nm east-northeast of Socotra Island, Yemen, is tracking westward at 09 knots.

NewsBytes:

Texas, USA - Strong storms and heavy rains thundered across central and southern Texas Friday, causing floods that trapped school buses and other vehicles. The formation of several short-lived tornadoes is suspected.

El Nino's Global Weather Havoc Intensifying

Weather shifts believed caused by a strengthening El Niño in the tropical Pacific are gaining momentum around the world, according to officials.

Drought in parts of Brazil, northern South America and the Caribbean are reportedly draining rivers and sparking wildfires.

The head of Colombia’s environment ministry says El Niño has caused “a rise in temperatures of between 5 and 6 degrees Celsius (9 to 10.8 F) in some regions of the country.”

Flooding from East Africa’s “short rains” are washing out roads and destroying crops in Kenya and Somalia, but the destruction is not as severe as during the 1997-98 record El Niño because there isn’t an accompanying warming of the Indian Ocean as seen back then.

The aid agency Oxfam warns that once the short rains end later this year, a protracted drought is likely to bring famine to some of the most impoverished areas of Africa.

The strengthening El Niño is also being blamed for the explosive development of Category-5 Hurricane Patricia off Mexico.

NOAA predicts a 95 percent chance the ocean warming will linger into next year, but says it will peak during the northern winter.