STORM2K

As I do every year, here is my list of the top 10 weather events in the US in 2015. It is a subjective list that I drew up in my own opinion on the top events. It does not take account events outside the US.

1 - Extreme cold winter: Once again continuous record cold penetrated the east, especially in the Northeast where it beat even 2014's extreme cold (January to March)

2 - Carolina floods: Record rainfall partially related to Hurricane Joaquin leads to catastrophic flooding, especially in South Carolina (October 1-10)

3 - New England blizzards: Multiple blizzards, one after the other, slam into the Northeast, with Boston setting snow records (Late January to early March)

4 - Late fall warmth: Snow and cold weather was lacking in most of the US, with record warm temperatures dominating (November and December)

5 - Christmas tornadoes: After a slow year, a major tornado outbreak slams the South just before Christmas, with Mississippi and Texas hardest hit (December 23-26)

6 - Spring floods in the Plains: Coming out of a major drought, record rainfall and flooding impacted Texas and Oklahoma for a period of several weeks (Late March to June)

7 - California wildfires: Three devastating wildfires torched large, populated areas in northern California with thousands of homes burned (September 5-25)

8 - Northwest fall storms: Several intense El Nino-spurned storms hit the Northwest, with extreme snow in the mountains and high winds in the valleys, Spokane hardest hit (November 17 peak, other storms November and December)

9 - Remnants of Patricia: After reaching incredible intensity in the eastern Pacific and hitting Mexico hard, the remnants of Hurricane Patricia lead to extensive rainfall and flooding across multiple US regions (October 23-30)

10 - Oklahoma ice storm: During Thanksgiving weekend, a swath of ice led to extensive damage and power outages especially in Oklahoma (November 26-30)

Heat Wave Christmas?

Tireman4 wrote:Heat Wave Christmas?

I have that as #4.

Adjusted 5, 6 and 7. Moved the Christmas severe weather up to #5. Globally, I would say the top event was Hurricane Patricia, despite the lack of significant loss of life (there wasn't an extreme death toll event in 2015).

CrazyC83 wrote:

Tireman4 wrote:Heat Wave Christmas?

I have that as #4.

Shouldn't that be considered a good weather event, kind of like a sunny and mild spring day?

What about that giant squall line (derecho) that swept from the midwest to the east coast? That was in June. It caused tremendous power outages and damage. It was certainly more significant than a little warm air around Christmas, which caused no one any harm except the feelings of those hoping for a white Christmas.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2015/06/22/a-powerful-derecho-is-blasting-across-the-midwest-with-hurricane-force-winds/

I think the massive El Nino should be in the top 5. Many of these events listed probably were influenced to some degree by this super event. Top 3 ENSO event of our lifetimes.

wxman57 wrote:

CrazyC83 wrote:

Tireman4 wrote:Heat Wave Christmas?

I have that as #4.

Shouldn't that be considered a good weather event, kind of like a sunny and mild spring day?

What about that giant squall line (derecho) that swept from the midwest to the east coast? That was in June. It caused tremendous power outages and damage. It was certainly more significant than a little warm air around Christmas, which caused no one any harm except the feelings of those hoping for a white Christmas.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2015/06/22/a-powerful-derecho-is-blasting-across-the-midwest-with-hurricane-force-winds/

I look also at the magnitude and deviation from normal. For example, in 2012 I had the March heat wave very high up, ahead of numerous deadly natural disasters.