Happy August! It’s hard to believe how fast summer has gone this year. Here in Texas we are certainly in the dog days of summer and it doesn’t look like the heat is going anywhere soon. For more on our unrelenting heat and some other August facts check out Frank’s latest blog. While we have dry, hot weather other parts of the globe have been dealing with intense storms. Last week we talked about devastating wildfires and storms across Italy, but this week we’re talking about a typhoon in Japan and strong storms in Washington, DC.
Typhoon Khanun hits Japan:
Typhoon Khanun is a powerful storm that has been heavily impacting Eastern Asia. At it’s peak, Khanun was producing sustained winds of 137 mph (this would be a Category 4 hurricane on our scale), and dropping up to 10″ of rainfall leading to flash flooding. This powerful storm has caused hundreds of thousands of power outages, and at one point Okinawa lost power to 30% of the city. Typhoon Khanun is a slow moving system that has stalled in the East China Sea, which means Japan will continue to get rainfall from the system.
Although I didn’t dive into it, it is worth mentioning that Japan is not the only location in Asia dealing with heavy rainfall. Beijing saw over 29″ of rainfall from Sunday to Wednesday morning from Typhoon Doksuri, which is the heaviest rainfall they have seen in over 140 years.
Extreme thunderstorm in DC:
A line of strong damaging thunderstorms pushed through Maryland on Saturday afternoon bringing widespread wind damage. These storms formed and quickly strengthened when a strong cold front moved into an area that was already experiencing high heat. These electric storms brought winds over 80mph, which is the equivalent to a category 1 hurricane. The intense winds we saw are from a downburst, which is a strong, powerful gust of wind that rushes downward from a thunderstorm. It can cause sudden and intense wind damage at the surface. On smaller scales it is called a microburst, similar to what we saw in Huntsville late May. While the storm was ongoing, rain was coming in sideways and the winds were so loud locals reported hearing a howling sound. This led to hundreds of thousands to lose power and a tremendous amount of tree and property damage.
Something Good:
We get two stunning supermoons this month! A supermoon is a full moon that appears larger and brighter in the sky because the moon is at its closest point to Earth in its orbit. Our first full moon was on August 1, and our next full moon is on August 30. The second full moon of the month is called a blue moon! If you missed the full moon on August 1st (called the sturgeon moon) you can check out this serene video below taken on a beach in Southern Maine.
Stay safe always,
Caroline