Flooding disaster unfolding right now in Central Europe.

Why is it so bad?

This thread takes a quick look at some of the key ingredients of this record-breaking storm.

Let’s start with the background. It has been an exceptional Summer for the Mediterranean Sea. Heat records have been broken.

Warmer sea surface temperatures allow more moisture to evaporate, like fuel for a storm. The warmer the water, the greater the evaporation…

Insane full-winter scenes emerging from Austria right now. The historic September storm in Central Europe is delivering record cold, record early deep snow and heavy flooding rains.

This is Obertauern (resort elevation range 1600-2500 m).

https://x.com/winfriedveil/status/1834858411588026667

For those who may not believe this report, the live webcams reveal all. Blizzard conditions with drifting deep snow. This camera is 1700 m elevation.

obertauern.com/en/service-inf…

Shock to the system 🥶

Unusually strong cold is pouring south out of the Arctic into Europe right now. This is an ideal setup for deep fresh snow accumulations in the Alps and flooding in Central Europe.

This is about as cold as it gets this early in September. Incredible contrast in temperatures.

This map shows how much cooler (🔵) or warmer (🔴) it is compared to average at this time of year.

Very impressive weather pattern in Europe right now.

Strong easterly winds and hot in Central/Northern Europe meanwhile heavy rain plagues the west with much cooler conditions. The heat is breaking records (for this time of year).

THREAD

Many monthly heat records set in Germany 🇩🇪 yesterday... Beating some records which have stood for a long time (1895). Great summary here by @EKMeteo which links to comments by official @DWD_presse

https://x.com/EKMeteo/status/1831433920036135325

Truly outlandish.

Some places in Europe didn't just record their warmest February on record.... They went on to beat their warmest MARCH temperature levels.

[THREAD] Effectively everywhere in the dark red shading smashed warmest February record - most by large margin. Austria 🇦🇹 has over 250 years of temperature record and nothing compares to this. Not even close.

Source: zamg.ac.at/cms/de/klima/n…

Heatwave going out with a bang in Europe.

Watch how the jet stream digs aggressively into Southern Europe. The atmosphere is primed for severe weather - unfolding right now... This animation captures the transition from extreme heat (unprecedented for this late in August) to relatively cool conditions.

The variable shown here is the temperature at 850 hPa (usually around 1.5km above sea level). This can help show where our airmass is coming from.

BREAKING: Valencia 🇪🇸 has just scorched its previous heat record by a shocking +3.4°C

The new provisional record stands at 46.8°C (116.2°F). This is a huge record-break. Before commenting.... please read the thread.

Historical record can be found here:

Simply select the variables you would like to check. This weather station has data since 1966. A lengthy period of observation to smash a record by such huge margin. https://t.co/JHyxNLmKZXaemet.es/es/servicioscl…

This is the hottest we have ever observed.

The Mediterranean is now completely outside all previous records. We have never measured this level of heat across the basin at any time of year.

It is only July. We usually see the annual maximum in August.

We could also be looking at a new world record in ocean heat from Manatee Bay (Florida). Please carefully read the excellent thread by @DrJeffMasters, there are a few uncertainties explained

https://twitter.com/DrJeffMasters/status/1683660816610893826

BREAKING: Palermo in Sicily has just obliterated its all-time heat record by over 2°C. The previous record was +44.8°C in August 1999.

The observatory has weather data dating back to 1791. This is a very significant record to fall by such an enormous margin. It looks like Europe has also just set a new heat record for the month of July.

The heat in Southern Europe and North Africa on top of the extraordinary overnight temperatures really is astonishing.

Our oceans have been breaking heat records across the globe daily since March.

Excessive and sustained heat in the oceans can have enormous impact on many types of marine life. We have seen damaging marine heatwaves before, but not like this.

A short thread... Let's start with the Mediterranean...

The Mediterranean Sea has never been this warm so early in the year (in modern record). The current heat is challenging some of the hottest moments which usually occur in August.

'Beyond extreme' by definition.

Ireland and the British Isles are at the epicentre of a major marine heatwave. We have not seen the North Atlantic look like this in modern records.

Marine heatwaves are categorised from 1 to 5. There are hotspots hitting category 5. You can access the data and learn more about the marine heatwave products here: coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/product/marine…

Extreme and prolonged hot and dry conditions in Canada are setting records and making it effortless for wildfires to rage.

Canada was at the epicenter of the most significant heat anomaly on the planet in May. How things look when you zoom out...

This is the second warmest May on record for the global average temperature.

Extreme cold in Finland 🇫🇮 provisionally breaks national June cold record while relentless heat smashes countless records in China 🇨🇳

Special mention for Dongchuan, China where it reached +42.2°C (108°F) at 1250m above sea level.

A short thread... Really impressive mass of cold pushing through Fennoscandia currently.

The winds would make it feel more like -18°C, biting even for the north of Finland at this time of year

On the frozen edges of Hudson Bay, something remarkable just happened.

A weather station smashed its monthly heat record by nearly 7°C. Even in a warming world, this magnitude of record-break is enormous.

A short THREAD... Pervious record for May was 14.5°C (26 May 2001).

21.2°C recorded on 13 May breaches the previous record by 6.7° and is an anomaly of +22.4°C warmer than the average. Data from here: climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_normal…

Onslaught of heat record in Southeast Asia. There are far too many to count.

National heat records are tumbling...

[THREAD on some of the extreme temperatures on Planet Earth lately] Cambodia just set a new heat record for the Month of May.

It is worth noting that the hottest time of year for many places in this part of the world is around April and May.

This fact does not detract from the scale and severity of this long-lived heatwave.

Thailand 🇹🇭 just measured over 45°C for the first time on record. A new national heat record has been set.

A brutal heatwave tightens its grip across more than a dozen countries in Asia.

[THREAD] More information regarding the previous heat record in Thailand from 2016 via @EKMeteo and h/t @extremetemps on the initial report.

https://twitter.com/EKMeteo/status/1647266982499106816

Intense heat is breaking March records in Morocco and Southwest Europe.

Hottest March day for many weather stations including nearly 40°C in Agadir in Morocco with many stations breaking 30°C across Spain, Portugal & southern France. A non-exhaustive list from @meteofrance in this thread, many sites breaking March monthly records.

https://twitter.com/meteofrance/status/1641107512408657920

The extent and longevity of extremes so far in March is impressive.

Averaging the temperatures through the month so far reveals very striking hotspots. Many records are being broken.

Meanwhile it has been notably cold in the western half of North America.

[THREAD] The heat in South America has been smashing records. @SMN_Argentina even had to extend their colour scale to capture the magnitude of the anomalies

https://twitter.com/cindymfernandez/status/1638863415027408897

Astonishing intensity of cold smashing through Canada and Northeast USA right now.

Mt. Washington in New Hampshire just recorded a windchill value of -109°F (-78°C), which sets the lowest windchill value ever observed in the USA (including Alaska). This dashboard captured by @ThierryGooseBC from the @MWObs site really is staggering.

The combination of powerful winds (gusting >120mph) and extreme cold air (sub -40°F) is creating an extremely hostile environment.

https://twitter.com/ThierryGooseBC/status/1621728858226688001

The intensity and extent of warmth in Europe right now is hard to comprehend.

Warsaw in Poland 🇵🇱 just smashed its January record by over 5°C. There are too many record to count. Literally thousands.

Overnight minimum temperatures are like summer.

Exceptional warmth is surging into Europe to end 2022. What a year of extremes it has been and it is going out with a bang.

Likely hitting +20°C in Southern Germany with overnight lows in the widely in the mid-teens. Bonkers for this time of the year. A strong jet-stream lifts north over high pressure building strongly out of North Africa, through the Mediterranean and into Eastern Europe.

A perfect setup for delivering significant warmth from the Azores like a blow-torch.

Snow-sport fans... look away now.