Sunday, February 6, 2011

A bad year for the weather

It certainly has been a dramatic year for the weather, especially in Australia, but before we loose our heads a quick look at the record books indicates things have been as bad or worse in the past. 


1918 for instance saw two cyclones kill over a hundred people in North Queenland, both as intense as recent cyclone Yasi. There were record floods in eastern Australia, including the Great Rockhampton flood that saw the Fitzroy River rise to its highest level on record. There were notable floods also in New Zealand, Germany, England, and Africa. Meanwhile heat waves swept Australia (Sydney, VictoriaPerth, Brisbane), and Pennsylvania; and droughts occurred in Australia, Norway, India, North America, Brazil and Africa. Blizzards affected the eastern United States with the "coldest weather in history". There were also snowstorms in New Zealand, Argentina and in Europe, and tornados destroyed towns in the USA. 


To top it off there was also a World War, an influenza pandemic that killed millions, earthquakes rocked the Western USAPuerto Rico, left over a 100,000 homeless in Guatemala, and a magnitude 6 earthquake damaged buildings in flood affected Rockhampton. Vesuvius erupted in Italy and Katla in Iceland.  


Let's get more serious, how about 1934? The Sydney Morning Herald provided the following weather related headlines?


Floods

Australia 
Lismore deluged Kyogle in darkness The Courier Mail Tuesday 2  January 1934
9 inches in 24 hours Rivers in High flood Cairns  The Courier Mail Tuesday 2  January 1934
Tweed Flood Feared The Courier Mail Tuesday 2  January 1934
Queensland Storms Floods delay trains. Bridges under water The Sydney Morning  Herald Tuesday 2 January
Thunder Storms cause damage. Lithgow The Sydney Morning  Herald Tuesday 2 January
Floods in Melbourne Suburbs Western Argus Tuesday 2 January
Heavy Thunderstorms damage in South Australia  Western Argus Tuesday 2 January
Storm ravages border areas, shops flooded in Kyogle The Courier Mail Wednesday 3 January
Flood in Burdekin  The Courier Mail Wednesday 3 January
Floods in Queensland The Sydney Morning Herald Wednesday 3 January
Melbourne Streets resemble canals The Mercury Wednesday 3 January
Queensland Rivers in flood The Advertiser Wednesday 3 January
Canberra Isolated by Road The Courier Mail Tuesday 9 january
Wangaratta suffers large flood expected The Argus Monday 8 January
Floods in Queensland The Sydney Morning Herald 31 January
Flood warning. North Coast Rivers. Monsoonal Rain The Sydney Morning Herald 2 February
Flood in Queensland The Sydney Morning Herald 17 February
Hawkesbury River in Flood The Sydney Morning Herald 23 February
Castlereagh River in Flood The Sydney Morning Herald 23 February
Queensland Floods Sixty men marooned The Sydney Morning Herald 23 February
Flood devastation The Sydney Morning Herald 24 February
Bridge work swept away. Merriwa. The Sydney Morning Herald 3 March
Torrential Rain Floods in Queensland The Sydney Morning Herald 13 March
Heavy Rain in Queensland The Sydney Morning Herald 2 April
Falls in WA. Perth The Sydney Morning Herald 4 April
Floods in Western Australia. Town isolated for week The Sydney Morning Herald 3 April
Floods in South Australia Dead Sheep in Tall Trees. The Sydney Morning Herald 14 April
Floodwaters. Residences menaced at Coroki. The Sydney Morning Herald May 12
Diprotodon’s jaw uncovered by flood. The Sydney Morning Herald May 17
Rain in Queensland The Sydney Morning Herald June 25
More Rain. Flooding on south coast. The Sydney Morning Herald June 27
Flood rains on South Coast The Sydney Morning Herald July 25
Snowy River in Flood. The Sydney Morning Herald July 28
Weekend Gale. Warning of floods. The Sydney Morning Herald July 30
Flooded Molonglo at Canberra and floods at Camden. The Sydney Morning Herald August 1
Heavy Rain in Riverina. The Sydney Morning Herald August 3
Burrinjuck Dam overflows The Sydney Morning Herald August 14
Southern Rivers flooding extends The Sydney Morning Herald August 15
Floods in the South. The Sydney Morning Herald August 16
The flooded Murrumbidgee. The Sydney Morning Herald August 16
Storm Sweeps Brisbane The Sydney Morning Herald August 25
Floods in Hunter The Sydney Morning Herald September 3
Cyclonic Storm Terrific rain Flooding in Suburbs The Sydney Morning Herald September 7
Car swept away from flooded bridge The Sydney Morning Herald October 22
Heavy Floods in NSW and Victoria The Sydney Morning Herald October 26
Torrential rain cause floods at Orange The Sydney Morning Herald October 27
Wagga Inundated The Sydney Morning Herald October 29
The floods near Narrandera The Sydney Morning Herald October 30
Flooded Rivers Murray overflows  The Sydney Morning Herald October 31
Violent Storms. More flooding in south The Sydney Morning Herald November 8
Rivers Swollen. Heavy Rain in Queensland The Sydney Morning Herald November 8
Flooding in Queensland The Sydney Morning Herald November 30
Havoc in Melbourne The Sydney Morning Herald December 1
Flood Disaster The Sydney Morning Herald December 5
Goulburn River in Flood The Sydney Morning Herald December 3
Record Flood Yarra’s devastating rush  The Sydney Morning Herald December 3
Yallourn open cut flooded The Sydney Morning Herald December 3
Rain without precedent The Sydney Morning Herald December 4
The Melbourne floods The Sydney Morning Herald December 10
Floods in Tasmania  The Sydney Morning Herald December 31

New Zealand
New Zealand Flood The Sydney Morning Herald May 8
Torrential Rain devastates two valleys. The Sydney Morning Herald May 7
Floods in New Zealand The Sydney Morning Herald June 20
Torrential Rain. Houses flooded in Auckland. The Sydney Morning Herald July 9
Hurricane in New Zealand The Sydney Morning Herald October 2
Floods in New Zealand The Sydney Morning Herald December 11

Italy
Floods in Venice The Sydney Morning Herald November 8

USA
Results of floods in Los Angeles The Sydney Morning Herald 9 February
Floods wreak havoc in California The Courier Mail Wednesday 3 January

Central America
Disastrous Storm in Central America The Sydney Morning Herald June 13

Poland
Floods in Poland. 50,000 families homeless. The Sydney Morning Herald July 20

Africa
Floods in South Africa The Sydney Morning Herald 9 January

India
Fire and Flood. Indian Earthquake death toll now 2500 The Sydney Morning Herald 19 January
Floods in India. Many lives lost. The Sydney Morning Herald 25 June
Terrific Rainfall. Huge Areas inundated The Sydney Morning Herald July 13
Floods in India The Sydney Morning Herald August 27

Japan
Japanese Floods. Heavy Death Toll The Sydney Morning Herald July 13
Typhoon Sweeps Japan The Sydney Morning Herald September 22

China
Floods in China. The Sydney Morning Herald July 19
Floods in Manchukuo The Sydney Morning Herald August 21

Drought
South Australia
Drought Broken The Sydney Morning Herald November 8

Britain
Drought in Britain The Sydney Morning Herald 4 January
Drought in Britain The Sydney Morning Herald June 18
Water shortage Heath fires in Britain  The Sydney Morning Herald June 18

United States of America
Wheat crop. United States drought The Sydney Morning Herald May 11
US Wheat crop smallest for 30 years The Sydney Morning Herald July 12
Drought in USA  The Sydney Morning Herald August 8
United States Worst Drought in history The Sydney Morning Herald August 17      

Canada
Wheat crops Canadian Production The Sydney Morning Herald August 8   

Russia
Wheat crop failures USA and Russia The Sydney Morning Herald May 31

Europe/North America
Drought Three Continents Heavy Losses reported The Sydney Morning Herald June 4

Germany
Drought in Germany The Sydney Morning Herald June 6

Bulgaria
Drought in Bulgaria The Sydney Morning Herald June 9

Japan
Japan Floods and Drought The Sydney Morning Herald July 12

China
Chinese Wheat Crop The Sydney Morning Herald November 5

Heat Waves
Australia
Heat Wave 110.2 degrees at Perth The Sydney Morning Herald 13 January
Heat Wave expected in coastal areas The Sydney Morning Herald 16 January
Heat wave in Victoria and South Australia The Sydney Morning Herald 17 January
Heat Wave danger of bush fires The Sydney Morning Herald 18 January
Heat Wave in three states The Sydney Morning Herald 19 January
Intense heat birds die and horses collapse  The Sydney Morning Herald 20 January
Heatwave throughout the state The Sydney Morning Herald 25 January
Heatwave in Sydney The Sydney Morning Herald 26 January
Oysters Heavy Mortality during heat wave The Sydney Morning Herald 7 February
Heat wave fires in South Australia The Sydney Morning Herald 9 February
Heatwave. High temperatures inland The Sydney Morning Herald 13 March
Heat wave over inland districts The Sydney Morning Herald 18 December

India
India Heat wave and storms  The Sydney Morning Herald June 1

North America
Drought in America The Sydney Morning Herald June 4
Heat wave in United States The Sydney Morning Herald July 23
Heat Wave Heavy Death toll The Sydney Morning Herald July 25
Heat Wave in USA causes 1100 deaths The Sydney Morning Herald July 27

Bulgaria
Drought in Bulgaria The Sydney Morning Herald June 7

Britain
Heat wave in southern England The Sydney Morning Herald June 18

China
Floods in china The Sydney Morning Herald July 19

Snow Storms/Blizzard
Japan
Blizzard in Japan The Sydney Morning Herald 6 January

United States of America
Intense cold in North America. People frozen to death The Sydney Morning Herald February 12
Blizzard in USA The Sydney Morning Herald February 22
Blizzard Sweeps USA The Sydney Morning Herald February 26

New Zealand
Blizzard. Most violent in Memory The Sydney Morning Herald July 2
Snow and Rain Heavy Storm in New Zealand The Sydney Morning Herald August 27

India
North-west India Unprecedented cold The Sydney Morning Herald 15 January

Cyclones/Typhoons/Hurricanes/Tornados
Australia
Cyclone at Inverall The Sydney Morning Herald 5 January
Cyclone disaster. The Sydney Morning Herald March 15         
Queensland Cyclone, heavy death toll feared The Sydney Morning Herald March 17           
Cyclone death toll 79. The Sydney Morning Herald March 17
Cyclone extensive damage Onslow The Sydney Morning Herald March 30

Central America
Disastrous Storm in Central America The Sydney Morning Herald June 11

Japan
Typhoon in Japan The Sydney Morning Herald September 25

Philippines
Typhoon in Philippines The Sydney Morning Herald October 15

USA
Tornado in New Orleans The Sydney Morning Herald March 26

Killed by Lightning
Australia
Year’s weather The Sydney Morning Herald 5 January
Terrific Storms The Sydney Morning Herald 8 January
Floods in Riverina The Sydney Morning Herald 9 January
Death in Storms Two men struck by lightning The Sydney Morning Herald 31 January
Sheep killed by lightning The Sydney Morning Herald 12 April
Storm in Queensland Man killed by lightning The Sydney Morning Herald 14 April
Lightning kills football enthusiast The Sydney Morning Herald 20 August
Lightning. Man killed on Road The Sydney Morning Herald 20 August
Casualties The Sydney Morning Herald 5 November
Cyclone sweeps Victoria three men killed The Sydney Morning Herald 9 November

South Africa
Lightning Flash kills and injures natives The Sydney Morning Herald November 19

Damaging Hail
Australia
Storms in Queensland wind lifts man bodily The Sydney Morning Herald 9 January
Hailstorm damage in Cessnock The Sydney Morning Herald February 16
Severe Storms heavy damage by hail The Sydney Morning Herald February 16
Remarkable Storm. Worst Hail on record The Sydney Morning Herald 20 December
Storms in Queensland Loss of lIfe The Sydney Morning Herald 21 December
Terrific Storm lashes Bathurst The Sydney Morning Herald 29 December

Bush fires
Australia
Bushfires-losses in Tasmania The Sydney Morning Herald January 18
Bushfires damage in suburbs The Sydney Morning Herald January 25
Bushfires Buildings Saved The Sydney Morning Herald January 26
Grass fires damage in South Australia The Sydney Morning Herald February 8
Heat wave Fires in South Australia The Sydney Morning Herald February 9
Bushfires Losses in Tasmania The Sydney Morning Herald February 12
Victorian outbreaks The Sydney Morning Herald February 12         
Bushfires The Sydney Morning Herald March 15
Bushfires damage in Queensland  The Sydney Morning Herald October 8
Bushfires Destruction in Western Australia The Sydney Morning Herald December 13

Dust Storms
Australia
Severe Dust Storms The Sydney Morning Herald September  8
Dust Storms The Sydney Morning Herald December 10

USA
US Crop prospects The Sydney Morning Herald July 24

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