GLOBAL WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS

MARCH 2025

CANARY ISLANDS

On Monday, a storm brought heavy rainfall to the Canary Islands, especially affecting Gran Canaria and Tenerife. Telde, in eastern Gran Canaria, received more than 30mm of rain, nearly three times the March average.  Flash floods submerged homes, turned streets into rivers, and swept cars out to sea. Airports and popular beaches shut down ahead of the downpour, affecting more than 850,000 residents. The islands’ mountainous topography, tropical climate and urbanisation worsened the floods by aiding thunderstorm formation and runoff. Snow accumulated on Mount Teide in Tenerife, creating a rare but disruptive scene for emergency services and local infrastructure. The storm was driven by a weather system known locally as depresión aislada en niveles altos (Dana), which translates as an isolated depression at high levels. This occurs when cold air at high altitudes mixes with warm, moist air below, creating unstable conditions and significant rainfall. Mainland Spain is expected to receive heavy rain in the coming days as the Dana system moves north-eastwards across the Iberian peninsula.

CLIMATE NEWS

Conspiracy theories about weather manipulation go back centuries and are more dangerous than you might think.  In the ninth century, St. Agobard of Lyon wrote a treatise called On Hail and Thunder attacking the popular superstition that storm-raisers could call up tempests at will. Bizarrely, these magicians were supposedly paid by aerial sailors from the land of Magonia, who sailed in the clouds and collected the crops destroyed by hail and storms.  Agobard relied mainly on biblical authority, citing passages indicating that only divine power could control the weather. But he also used logic, asking sarcastically why supposed storm-raisers did not slay their enemies with giant hailstones or offer to end droughts with rain showers.  Belief in storm-raising persisted. King James I (James VI of Scotland) had dozens of supposed witches arrested, tortured and probably executed for calling up the storm that nearly wrecked his ship when he sailed home from Scandinavia in 1590.  Such ignorance might now seem absurd. But several US states, motivated by conspiracy theories about government-created hurricanes and other weather disasters, are moving to criminalize atmospheric experiments. Last year, Tennessee was the first to pass a law banning cloud seeding. Such laws could prevent legitimate meteorological research, as well as feeding paranoia about chemtrails and other threats that are as imaginary as storm-raising.

The devastating impacts of the climate crisis reached new heights in 2024, with scores of unprecedented heatwaves, floods and storms across the globe, according to the UN’s World Meteorological Organization.  The WMO’s report on 2024, the hottest year on record, sets out a trail of destruction from extreme weather that took lives, demolished buildings and ravaged vital crops. More than 800,000 people were displaced and made homeless, the highest yearly number since records began in 2008.  The report lists 151 unprecedented extreme weather events in 2024, meaning they were worse than any ever recorded in the region. Heatwaves in Japan left hundreds of thousands of people struck down by heatstroke. Soaring temperatures during heatwaves peaked at 49.9C at Carnarvon in Western Australia, 49.7C in the city of Tabas in Iran, and 48.5C in a nationwide heatwave in Mali.

UNITED STATES

A powerful atmospheric river storm was set to wallop California on Wednesday evening, drenching large swaths of the state with rain and bringing several feet of snow to the mountains – the latest in a wave of intense storms that new research shows are getting worse.

Much of northern California was under a winter storm warning because of the gusty winds and heavy snow in the forecast that the National Weather Service (NWS) said would lead to “difficult to impossible travel conditions”. Severe thunderstorms and high winds were predicted across the San Francisco Bay area, according to reports.  The NWS issued a flood watch in much of southern California through Thursday afternoon. The region was also anticipating dangerous driving conditions as well as road flooding and debris flows in areas affected by recent wildfires. Los Angeles placed several areas under evacuation warnings and orders due to the risk of debris flows from heavy rain, and announced the closure of several roads, including a portion of the Pacific Coast Highway.

Three major wildfires that broke out in one North Carolina county still recovering from Hurricane Helene have exploded to burn more than 3,000 acres combined as South Carolina’s governor declared an emergency in response to a growing wildfire in the Blue Ridge mountains.  The North Carolina department of public safety announced a mandatory evacuation starting at 8.20pm on Saturday for parts of Polk county in western North Carolina about 80 miles (129km) west of Charlotte.  “Visibility in area will be reduced and roads/evacuation routes can become blocked; if you do not leave now, you could be trapped, injured, or killed,” the agency said in a social media post.  The public safety department said a shelter had been established in Columbus, North Carolina.

Extreme weather has caused at least 40 fatalities across parts of the US through the past week, with a variety of hazards including tornadoes, dust storms, and wildfires across the Midwest and south. More than 300 tornado warnings were issued by the US National Weather Service (NWS) between Friday and Saturday. By Wednesday, the NWS had confirmed a total of 109 tornadoes, with almost 1,000 reports of large hail and strong thunderstorm wind gusts. Missouri recorded 12 fatalities on Friday as a result, with a further dozen deaths in Texas and Kansas. In Mississippi, at least 200 people were displaced and six people died resulting from more than 10 tornadoes across three counties. By Sunday, more than 320,000 people were left without power, with about 75,000 still without power in Pennsylvania and Missouri on Monday. Nearly 1,100 flights were cancelled as a result of this extreme weather.

At least 34 people have died across six states in the US in the past week as a powerful storm system swept through the Midwest and south, affecting Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Mississippi. The storms brought a devastating combination of dust storms, tornadoes, wildfires, flash flooding and large hailstones, and left behind a trail of wrecked vehicles, severely damaged buildings and widespread power outages. More than 60 million Americans have been affected by the severe weather.  Since Friday, 68 tornadoes have been observed, an unusually high number for this time of year, as tornado season doesn’t typically begin until May. Wind gusts reached up to 70mph. These intense storms were fueled by a clash of warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, which mixed with colder air from Canada and the Rocky Mountains. This temperature contrast combined with strong wind shear strengthened the rotating vortex of the thunderstorms. The flat terrain of Tornado Alley also assisted the storms, allowing them to develop and move rapidly across the region.

SOUTH AMERICA

Rescue teams in Argentina are searching for two girls, aged one and five, who were swept away by severe floods that ripped through Buenos Aires province, killing at least 16 people.  A year’s worth of rain fell on the city of Bahía Blanca and the town of Cerri on Friday, rapidly inundating neighborhoods and destroying homes, bridges and roads. The rainfall – 400mm (15.7in) recorded in just eight hours – was more than twice the city’s previous record of 175mm (6.8in) set in 1930. The sisters, Delfina and Pilar Hecker, were travelling with their parents when their car became trapped in the rising waters. According to reports, a truck driver, named as Rubén Zalazar, attempted to rescue the children before they were swept away. The body of 43-year-0ld Zalazar was found in a lagoon on Sunday.

MEXICO

At least three people have died after severe storms along the Texas-Mexico border, officials said on Friday.  Meanwhile, crews were rescuing residents trapped in their homes by drenching rains a day earlier, which also forced drivers to abandon their vehicles on flooded roads and shut down an airport.  Hidalgo county officials said in a statement that they did not immediately have more information about the three deaths except that they involved law enforcement efforts.Officials in Harlingen said their city received more than 21in (53cm) of rain this week, with the heaviest rainfall on Thursday causing severe flooding that had authorities rescuing more than 200 residents, with another 200 people still waiting to be rescued.

AUSTRAILIA

Melbourne’s unpredictable weather provided a thrilling and challenging opening to the Formula 1 season during the Australian Grand Prix this weekend. In the lead-up to the race, south-eastern Australia sweltered under a severe heatwave, with temperatures soaring above 40C on Saturday. This was caused by hot winds from the outback and a northerly airflow that pushed heat across southern parts of the country, creating a “heat dome” as high pressure trapped the scorching air in the region. However, as race day arrived on Sunday, a shift to a south-westerly wind brought cooler temperatures and a sharp temperature gradient, triggering heavy rain. This sudden change created a treacherous and chaotic environment for drivers, intensified by the presence of six rookie racers. The wet conditions led to an aborted start after an accident (non-fatal) on the formation lap, plus spinning cars, multiple stops and safety interventions.

TROPICAL

More than 230,000 households and businesses are without power and flash flooding alerts have been issued for coastal areas in the aftermath of ex-tropical cyclone Alfred. The warnings follow heavy rain across southeast Queensland overnight and are clustered around the Brisbane, Gold Coast, Logan and Ipswich council areas. Residents have been told to move to higher ground away from the water or get ready to leave immediately if the threat worsens.  “If you are near flood waters get up as high as you can where you are,” Queensland Police said on Monday.  In northern NSW, where one person has died, rain is falling, roads remain closed and people are warned not to drive through high water.  Some 1800 people have been isolated by the deluge and other 18,500 have been told they could be isolated.  Across the northeast, 20,300 people have been told to evacuate. Over the weekend, some residents were allowed to return to their homes in places such as Lismore as conditions eased.

Cyclone Jude was the third cyclone to hit Mozambique this season. First spotted as a depression last Friday to the south-west of the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, it intensified over the next few days to a moderate tropical storm, affecting northern Madagascar on Saturday and killing at least one person.  Jude strengthened into a tropical cyclone as it tracked westwards over the Mozambique Channel, where sea surface temperatures of close to 30C provided the heat and moisture necessary to fuel the cyclone. It hit Mozambique early on Monday morning, with sustained wind gusts of 75mph (120km/h) and gusts of up to 120mph, equivalent to a category 1 hurricane. More than 200mm of rain fell over the coastal districts of Memba, Monapo, Mossuril, Mozambique Island and Nacala in 24 hours, leading to significant flooding. Flights were grounded and 40,000 people were left without power. So far six fatalities have been linked to Jude and 900 homes have been destroyed.