Top 10 Weather Events: 2018
Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2018 8:37 pm
Another year has come and gone. I have once again come up with the top 10 weather events, in my opinion, in the US in 2018. Some of the ordering was difficult, especially among the top 3.
1 - California wildfires, especially the Camp Fire: Some of the worst wildfires in US history occurred this past summer and fall across every corner of the state; the death toll was unprecedented and the damage to communities was unthinkable (July to November)
2 - Hurricane Michael: The strongest storm in centuries to hit the Florida Panhandle set so many records and decimated communities and also severely affected inland areas (October 10-11)
3 - Hurricane Florence: Sure, it wasn't a particularly intense hurricane at landfall, but it was incredibly wet and led to the worst flooding ever in already weary parts of the Carolinas (September 12-18)
4 - January "bomb cyclone": Nearly a year has passed since the polar vortex and the Gulf Stream came together, leading to a storm among the strongest ever seen in the eastern US (January 3-6)
5 - Dearth of tornadoes: While there were certainly active days for severe weather, 2018 should be the least deadliest year for tornadoes AND the first year without an EF-4+ tornado in the US (entire year 2018)
6 - March Nor'easters: Several storms in quick succession produced prolific snow, high winds and coastal flooding along the east coast, significantly delaying spring and causing billions in damage (March 1-29)
7 - Hawaii rainfall: Multiple systems, including Hurricane Lane on the Big Island and a spring storm in Oahu, combined to produce several rounds of extreme rainfall in parts of Hawaii throughout the spring and summer (March to September)
8 - December Southern storm: An unusually early season winter storm set snow records stretching from Texas to Virginia, with the Piedmont and southern Appalachians hardest hit (December 7-10)
9 - Colorado hailstorm: A destructive hailstorm in Colorado in August caused many injuries and billions in property damage, especially around Colorado Springs where softball size hail occurred in populated areas (August 6)
10 - Maryland flooding deja vu: Yet again, Ellicott City sustained devastating flooding, less than two years after a nasty deluge hit the city in 2016 with recovery still underway from that (May 27)
Globally, there weren't too many extreme stand-out events - a lot of big ones were due to earthquakes or other non-weather events. Thoughts on the list?
1 - California wildfires, especially the Camp Fire: Some of the worst wildfires in US history occurred this past summer and fall across every corner of the state; the death toll was unprecedented and the damage to communities was unthinkable (July to November)
2 - Hurricane Michael: The strongest storm in centuries to hit the Florida Panhandle set so many records and decimated communities and also severely affected inland areas (October 10-11)
3 - Hurricane Florence: Sure, it wasn't a particularly intense hurricane at landfall, but it was incredibly wet and led to the worst flooding ever in already weary parts of the Carolinas (September 12-18)
4 - January "bomb cyclone": Nearly a year has passed since the polar vortex and the Gulf Stream came together, leading to a storm among the strongest ever seen in the eastern US (January 3-6)
5 - Dearth of tornadoes: While there were certainly active days for severe weather, 2018 should be the least deadliest year for tornadoes AND the first year without an EF-4+ tornado in the US (entire year 2018)
6 - March Nor'easters: Several storms in quick succession produced prolific snow, high winds and coastal flooding along the east coast, significantly delaying spring and causing billions in damage (March 1-29)
7 - Hawaii rainfall: Multiple systems, including Hurricane Lane on the Big Island and a spring storm in Oahu, combined to produce several rounds of extreme rainfall in parts of Hawaii throughout the spring and summer (March to September)
8 - December Southern storm: An unusually early season winter storm set snow records stretching from Texas to Virginia, with the Piedmont and southern Appalachians hardest hit (December 7-10)
9 - Colorado hailstorm: A destructive hailstorm in Colorado in August caused many injuries and billions in property damage, especially around Colorado Springs where softball size hail occurred in populated areas (August 6)
10 - Maryland flooding deja vu: Yet again, Ellicott City sustained devastating flooding, less than two years after a nasty deluge hit the city in 2016 with recovery still underway from that (May 27)
Globally, there weren't too many extreme stand-out events - a lot of big ones were due to earthquakes or other non-weather events. Thoughts on the list?