Extreme weather news and discussion

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France's longest river (the Loire) is at its lowest recorded level:


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New water cuts coming for Southwest as Colorado River falls into Tier 2 shortage
Source: CNN

(CNN)An extraordinary drought in the West is drying up the Colorado River and draining the nation's largest reservoirs -- Lake Mead and Lake Powell. And amid the overuse of the river and the aridification of the region, the federal government is implementing new mandatory water cuts and asking states to devise a plan to save the river basin. The federal government announced Tuesday the Colorado River will operate in a Tier 2 shortage condition for the first time starting in January as the West's historic drought has taken a severe toll on Lake Mead.

According to a new projection from the Department of Interior, Lake Mead's water level will be below 1,050 feet above sea level come January -- the threshold required to declare a Tier 2 shortage starting in 2023. The Tier 2 shortage means Arizona, Nevada and Mexico will have to further reduce their Colorado River use beginning in January. California will not yet have cuts made to the water they receive from the Colorado River. Of the impacted states, Arizona will face the largest cuts -- 592,000 acre-feet -- or approximately 21% of the state's yearly allotment of river water.

"Every sector in every state has a responsibility to ensure that water is used with maximum efficiency. In order to avoid a catastrophic collapse of the Colorado River System and a future of uncertainty and conflict, water use in the Basin must be reduced," Interior's assistant secretary for water and science Tanya Trujillo said in a statement. It was just a year ago that the Department of Interior declared the first shortage on the Colorado River -- a Tier 1.

But the past 12 months did not bring enough rain and snow. Lake Mead's level has been around 1,040 feet this summer, just 27% of its full capacity. The growing concern is that the mandatory cuts announced today -- part of a system that was updated as recently as 2019 -- aren't enough to save the river in the face of a historic, climate change-driven drought. States, water managers and tribes are now back at the negotiating table to figure out how to solve the West's water crisis.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/16/us/color ... index.html
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Europe storms: Children among dead in France, Austria and Italy
Source: BBC News

Powerful storms have battered areas of central and southern Europe, killing at least 12 people including three children.

The deaths, most from falling trees, were reported in Italy and Austria, and on the French island of Corsica.

Heavy rain and winds wrecked campsites on the island, while in Venice, Italy, masonry was blown off the belltower of St Mark's Basilica.

The storms follow weeks of heatwave and drought across much of the continent
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62598573
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Yangtze Shrinks as China’s Drought Disrupts Industry
August 19, 2022

Introduction:
(Courthouse News) CHONGQING, China (AP) — Ships crept down the middle of the Yangtze on Friday after China's driest summer in six decades left one of the mightiest rivers barely half its normal width and set off a scramble to contain the damage to a weak economy in a politically sensitive year.

Factories in Sichuan province and the adjacent metropolis of Chongqing in the southwest were ordered to shut down after reservoirs that supply hydropower fell to half their normal levels and demand for air conditioning surged in scorching temperatures.

River ferries in Chongqing that usually are packed with sightseers were empty and tied to piers beside mudflats that stretched as much as 50 meters (50 yards) from the normal shoreline to the depleted river's edge. Smaller ships sailed down the middle of the Yangtze, one of China's biggest trade channels, but no large cargo ships could be seen.

Normally bustling streets were empty after temperatures hit 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) in Chongqing on Thursday. State media said that was the hottest in China outside the desert region of Xinjiang in the northwest since official records began in 1961.
Read more here: https://www.courthousenews.com/yangtze ... industry/
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Floodwaters overtake trucks and cars in downtown Dallas as flash flooding threat persists
Source: CNN

Flooding overwhelmed cars and trucks early Monday on interstates in downtown Dallas as flash flooding continues to threaten into the morning rush hour.

Though the heaviest rain has moved out, flash flooding is due to continue for a few more hours as broader flood watches Monday cover over 13 million people from northeastern Texas into northern Louisiana and far southern Arkansas from the same system that unleashed heavy rain and flash floods this weekend in parts of the Southwest.

Fast-rising water trapped vehicles around 3 a.m. CT (4 a.m. ET) on Interstate 30 in Dallas, said Cassondra Anna Mae Stewart, who took video of the dark, watery scene.

“I was able to back up on a ramp to get off the highway,” she said. “I took an alternate route home … although most streets are flooded down there as well.”
Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topst ... r-AA10Vi3q
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Flooding hits Dallas-Fort Worth as some areas receive more than 13 inches of rain

Aug. 22, 2022

Thunderstorms hit the Dallas-Fort Worth area Sunday night into Monday and dropped massive amounts of rain in the span of 18 hours, inundating streets, flooding homes and forcing some drivers to abandon their vehicles in high water.

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins has declared a state of disaster in the region based on preliminary damage assessments, allowing the area to use available state resources to respond. Jenkins has also requested federal assistance.

Gov. Greg Abbott also directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to increase the readiness level of the state’s emergency operations center to support communities impacted by the flooding.

The rainfall in some areas qualifies as a 1-in-1,000-year flood, which means that in any given year it has a 0.1% chance of happening. Such events could become more frequent in the coming decades as the effects of climate change worsen. Climate scientists have found that warming temperatures increases the frequency of bouts of extreme precipitation.

The east side of Dallas received 13 to 15 inches of rainfall over the past 24 hours, according to a reading from Dallas Water Utilities.

https://www.texastribune.org/2022/08/22 ... ort-worth/
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