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Five 2020 Weather Events You May Not Have Heard About

Five 2020 Weather Events You May Not Have Heard About

We are a week into 2021, but before we close the door on 2020, I want to add one more “top weather events” list. Last year, the U.S. saw its share of devastating and destructive weather. Many of these events didn’t make the national headlines but had major impact on the regions where they occurred and deserve to be recognized. Here’s my list of the top five 2020 weather events that maybe you didn’t hear as much about last year unless they affected you.

Iowa Derecho

The derecho that hit Eastern Iowa last August is officially the most costly thunderstorm event in recorded U.S. history. A derecho is a widespread, long-lived wind storm that is associated with a band of rapidly moving thunderstorms. Specifically, a storm is considered a derecho if the wind damage swath extends more than 240 miles and includes wind gusts of at least 58 mph or greater.

According to data released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Iowa derecho started in South Dakota and went nearly 800 miles in just 14 hours, causing a total of $7.5 billion in damage. Iowa took the brunt of the storm’s blow, experiencing wind gusts as high as 126 mph and 25 tornadoes. The damage in Iowa was devastating, resulting in three fatalities and causing extensive crop damage. In Cedar Rapids, the storm caused a nearly complete blackout and according to NOAA, an estimated 90% of structures in Cedar Rapids were damaged by the storm, with more than 1,000 homes destroyed. 

Oklahoma Ice Storm

Nearly 4,000 Oklahoma residents were left without power – some for more than a week – during late October 2020 after ice storms took down electrical lines across the state creating hazardous conditions across much of the state. It was the first time in Oklahoma that the National Weather Service had to issue an ice storm warning during October, and it was the single-worst ice storm on record in more than five years. In some locations, ice accumulation was more than two-inches thick, causing power lines to sag or come down, setting many homes and buildings on fire. 

There were nearly 150 injuries reports and there was widespread tree damage as well. Oklahoma City’s most important tree wasn’t spared in the storm either. The Survivor Tree, an American elm tree that survived the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, was one of thousands of trees damaged by the storm. The accumulating ice caused a major branch to break off, but there was no other significant damage to the tree. 

Saharan Dust Reaches Midwest

Saharan dust plumes are actually a regular meteorological phenomenon that sends dust from the Sahara Desert across the Atlantic to the Southeastern portion of the United States most summers. But during 2020, that cloud made its way all the way to the Midwest, leaving a hazy sky in its wake. This dust plume reached as far north as North and South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin and brought colorful sunsets. Cities on the Gulf Coast, such as Houston, Tampa, and New Orleans, saw some of the most intense haze ever recorded. They also experienced dangerous amounts of air pollution, for example, near Lake Charles, Louisiana, the Air Quality Index (AQI) exceeding the 24-hour U.S. EPA standard for PM2.5 pollution by ten times. 

Air Travel Impacts on Weather Data Collection

With COVID-19 related travel restrictions and economic impact, The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts reported an 80% drop in meteorological readings due to flight cancellations of commercial flights in 2020. This situation had a slight impact on the skill of weather forecasters, as the aircraft provide wind and temperature observations at jet stream level, but this error reduces when the uncertainty of the atmosphere as a whole takes over after 24 hours. 

However, some of these ‘data gaps’ were filled by using a combination of increased use of weather balloons and also sophisticated satellites that can measure wind speeds through the depth of the lower atmosphere, so the overall impact on forecast quality wasn’t significant. Just one more challenge to figure out during 2020.

Easter 2020 Tornado Outbreak 

On April 12 and 13, 2020, more than 140 tornadoes touched down in 10 different states, from Texas to the Southeast US Coast, killing more than 30 people. It was the deadliest tornado outbreak in the U.S. in six years. Three of those states in the storm’s track recorded 20 or more tornadoes during those two days. The tornado outbreak caused more than $450 million in damages. 

Not only were there a lot of tornadoes, but also several powerful tornadoes in this two-day span. There were three EF4 tornadoes in the outbreak, two of which took nearly the same track northwest of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. There were 35 other tornadoes that were classified as violent, EF2 or stronger storms. 

These tornadoes not only caused significant damage and loss of life, but also wreaked havoc on the power grid, with more than 4.3 million power outages record, including a maximum of 1.4 million at one time. The storm system didn’t just produce tornadoes, but also pummeled parts of Texas with four-inch hail as well.

Meteorology and climate science are significantly advanced in proving accurate forecasts and long-range outlooks, but Mother Nature always seem to have something extra to surprise us – remember the Zombie storm?  Let’s hope that the 2021 weather events are interesting enough to remind us of the spectacular side of science but safe so that we can all enjoy it together.

This article is auto-generated by Algorithm Source: www.forbes.com

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