July 2021 Global Weather: From Fires to Floods

Extreme weather has, without question, been a huge statistic this July across the world. Palette looks at examples of the most intense weather events around the globe.

Western wildfires and heat

• NBC News said a record-breaking June heatwave in Western North America, along with an abnormally dry winter and spring, have created fires this past month. For example, The Weather Network reported that Lytton, British Columbia, set an all-time Canada high temperature of 49.6°C on June 29.
• Yale Climate Connections reported that Death Valley, CA, reached 54.4°C (129.9°F) on July 9, tying the all-time world’s highest temperature from Aug. 16, 2020.
• According to Los Angeles Times, the Dixie Fire, which started on July 13, has been California’s largest wildfire so far this year, burning 181,289 acres 
• According to CNN, the Bootleg fire in Oregon nearly reached 400,00 acres on July 22. 
• CBC said northwestern Ontario had 81 fires on July 20, the highest single-day forest fires on record. Lightning strikes have been the main factor in these fires.
• According to CBS News, 88 fires were burning in the U.S. as of July 24.

Europe floods

• According to BBC, severe floods struck Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland from July 12 to 15.
• Brandon Miller, a meteorologist at CNN, said that parts of western Germany had between 100 and 150 millimetres (3.9 to 5.9 inches) of rain in 24 hours. These amounts are more rainfall than what a month typically sees in the area.
• CNN also reported that 154 millimetres (Six inches) of rain fell in Cologne, Germany, within a day.
• In addition, CNN claimed that 207 millimetres (8.1 inches) fell from isolated, out-of-this-world downpours in Reifferscheid, Germany. This rain came down in only nine hours.
• According to Yale Climate Connections, Jalhay, Belgium recorded 271.5 millimetres (10.69 inches) of rain in over two days.

Tropical storms

• A map on Zoom Earth indicates that Category 1 Hurricane Elsa reached maximum winds of  135 km/h (85 mph) west of St. Lucia on July 2. The map also shows that Elsa made landfall in the Eastern U.S. between July 7 and 9. According to Insurance Information Institution, the storm ensured heavy rains and floods in some Eastern U.S. locations.
• Another Zoom Earth map shows that the Pacific Ocean’s Category 4 Hurricane Felicia peaked at 230 km/h (145 mph) on July 17. Felicia did not make landfall, however.
• According to Taiwan News, Typhoon In-fa in the Western Pacific dropped excessive rainfall to Northern Taiwan. Hsinchu Country picked up 269.5 millimetres of rain in 38 hours on July 22.

Tornadoes

• National Weather Service indicated that two E-F1 tornadoes touched down in Delaware on July 1. Winds were also a major issue with these storms.
• According to Des Moines Register, a tornado outbreak hit Iowa on July 14. Numerous E-F1 and E-F3 tornadoes struck the state. In addition, there were 18 tornado warnings in Iowa that day, the highest number of daily tornado warnings in over 17 years.
• According to The Weather Network, an E-F2 tornado touched down in Barrie, Ont. The storm’s maximum speed was 210 km/h, and the path was 12 kilometres.
• CP24 mentioned that four more tornadoes struck the Ontario locales of Dwight, Lake Traverse, Lorneville and Zephyr-Little Britain on July 15.

Other notes

• Independent reported that Finland’s Arctic Lapland area’s 33.6°C (92.5°F) on July 4 was the area’s highest temperature in over 100 years.
• According to New Hampshire Union Leader, July 2021 has been the rainiest July in history in southern New Hampshire.