Floods
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Boat

California's 'ARkStorm': Historic 1000-year floods of 1861-62 featured 8 weeks of atmospheric rivers

This 1861 photograph shows flooding at K and
This 1861 photograph shows flooding at K and Front streets Sacramento. A nine-year stretch of calm weather was broken with record flooding in the winter of 1861 to 1862.
Imagine Disneyland under feet of water for weeks. Rivers swelling to levels never seen before and never seen since. Days of rain stretch into weeks as floodwaters rise to epic levels.

California may have endured an onslaught of tropically-infused atmospheric river storms that filled the calendar for months at the end of 2022 and the start of 2023 and is staring at another atmospheric river this weekend, but those storms pale in comparison to the historic floods during the winter of 1861-1862.

Colloquially today known as an "ARkStorm" - a deft reference to an "atmospheric river (AR) 1,000 (k) year storm" - the storms were a recipe for disaster for a young region that had recently been settled. Abraham Lincoln was president at the time, and America was embroiled in the first months of the Civil War. But out West, California's population was bulging to about a half million in the wake of the great Gold Rush about a dozen years prior.

Cloud Lightning

2023: Destructive Storms and Sheets of Rain in the Netherlands

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© Ilse KootkarThe lighthouse Kijkduin Light in Huisduinen, Netherlands, with a sun halo in the sky on March 6th, 2023.
2023 started with snowfall in eastern and southeastern parts of the Netherlands and ended with record high water levels due to record-breaking rainfall. The wettest year since measurements began also included other destructive weather events such as storms and tornadoes. Below are some highlights from extreme weather events in the Netherlands in 2023.

Comment: See also:


Cloud Precipitation

A month's worth of rain in 3 days triggers dangerous flash flooding in Texas and Louisiana

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Dangerous flash flooding is continuing across parts of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi early Thursday as drenching storms deluge the South.

More than a month's worth of rain has fallen in several Texas and Louisiana cities from Monday to Wednesday. But a few Texas cities have picked up nearly double what's typical for January in the same timeframe.

Rainfall totals by Wednesday morning neared 6 inches in the College Station, Texas, area - about 80 miles northwest of Houston - since Monday. The city picks up around 3 inches of rain on average in January.

The week's rainfall eclipsed 10 inches west of Houston, in Industry and Fayetteville, Texas.

The torrential rainfall is part of a multi-day flood threat that began Monday and reached its peak intensity Wednesday.


Attention

Large waves flood the streets of Orchard Beach, Maine

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Powerful waves battered Orchard Beach in Maine. The waves flooded the streets as people climbed on benches to avoid getting wiped out by the water.


Cloud Precipitation

Flooding in northern England after Storm Jocelyn

The River Ouse burst its banks, in central York,
© Paul EllisThe River Ouse burst its banks, in central York, following Storm Jocelyn which brought strong winds and heavy rain across much of the country.
Aerial footage shows flooding across parts of York after Storm Jocelyn battered the UK with strong winds and heavy rain, only two days after the deadly Storm Isha hit the country.

Jocelyn, the 10th named storm of the season, caused major travel disruption in England and Scotland and brought flood warnings amid rising water levels.

Source: PA


Cloud Precipitation

Heavy rain causes flooding in Baja California, Mexico

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Emergency service workers had a busy day in Baja California on Monday as heavy rain caused flooding in Tijuana and other parts of the northern border state.

South of Tijuana in the municipality of Playas de Rosarito, 10 people were rescued after their vehicles became submerged in water when a canal overflowed and flooded two main roads, said local Civil Protection chief Arturo García Ames.

In Tijuana, firefighters rescued a woman on Monday morning when her vehicle was swept away by floodwaters on the city's southside.

The news website Zeta reported that people were rescued in various parts of the northern border city, where many roads were affected by flooding. Two people, one an elderly man, were rescued by firefighters when they got into trouble attempting to cross swollen streams in Tijuana.


Cloud Precipitation

Flash flooding sparks emergency in San Diego, California after 4 inches of rain in 6 hours - cars swept away

A woman walks by cars damaged by floods during a rainstorm in San Diego on Monday
© APA woman walks by cars damaged by floods during a rainstorm in San Diego on Monday
Flash flooding has sparked an emergency declaration in San Diego after four inches of rain fell in six hours on Monday.

San Diego mayor Todd Gloria declared a state of emergency after homes were inundated and cars were overturned as torrential rain swept through southern California over a roughly six-hour period on Monday.

Flood waters swept away vehicles and caused cars to pile on top of each other, while several feet of water inundated the Mountain View, Shelltown and Southcrest neighbourhoods, as well as multiple highways.


Cloud Precipitation

3 killed after severe storms hit Sao Paulo, Brazil

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At least three people have died in the last 24 hours due to severe storms in southeast Brazil's Sao Paulo state, the Civil Defense agency said Saturday.

The casualties comprised two women who were carried away by a flash flood in the city of Limeira, according to Brazil's official news agency Agencia Brasil.

Since November, storms with strong winds have kept battering southern and southeastern Brazil, causing material damage and loss of life.

Sorocaba, about 100 km from the state capital, declared a state of emergency this Saturday after two public hospitals were inundated.


Attention

Freak waves cause damage at US army base, shut airports in remote Marshall Islands

Screenshots of wave hitting Roi-Namur dining room. The waves smashed down the dining hall's doors, knocking people down and flooding the facility as this screenshot from a video
Screenshots of wave hitting Roi-Namur dining room. The waves smashed down the dining hall's doors, knocking people down and flooding the facility as this screenshot from a video taken Saturday night shows.
Powerful waves, driven by offshore storm surges, hit an important US military installation in the Marshall Islands on Saturday night, causing damage and resulting in the evacuation of all "non-mission personnel" from the island.

Flooding caused by the waves also hit two airports at Ailinglaplap Atoll, leaving rocks, coral and debris in their wake, keeping those airports closed for weeks. Other islands reported flooding and moderate damage.

The US Army in a statement on Sunday afternoon that at approximately 9pm on January 20, "a series of weather-induced waves hit Roi-Namur which caused significant flooding in the northern portions of the island".

A video circulating from Roi-Namur, an island at the northern end of Kwajalein Atoll, shows an approximately one-metre wave hitting the Army's dining hall, breaking down doors, knocking people down and washing them from outside into the facility.

Roi-Namur houses the US Army's most sophisticated space-tracking equipment as part of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Test Site.


Cloud Lightning

UK weather: Storm Isha causes power cuts and travel chaos amid 99mph winds

storms isha
© JO-SHREEVE/ReutersHigh waves due to Storm Isha hit the shore in Porthleven, Cornwall, on Sunday 21 January.
Thousands of people have been left without power as Storm Isha brings disruption to electricity and transport networks.

The storm battered the UK with heavy rain and gusts of up to 99mph with the entire country subject to wind warnings issued by the Met Office.

Northern Ireland Electricity Networks said 45,000 customers were without power, while Electricity North West said thousands of properties in north-west England had lost their supply.


Comment: There has been one fatality so far:
An 84-year-old man has died after a car collided with a fallen tree as Storm Isha brought winds topping 100mph to the UK.

Police in Scotland say the man - a front-seat passenger - was pronounced dead at the scene in Grangemouth on Sunday night, while others in the car were unhurt.