An exceptional accumulation of very severe natural catastrophes makes 2011 the highest-ever loss year on record, even after the first half-year. Already, the approx. US$ 265bn in economic losses up to the end of June easily exceeds the total figure for 2005, previously the costliest year to date (US$ 220bn for the year as a whole). Most of the losses were caused by the earthquake in Japan on 11 March.The Japanese earthquake losses were estimated at $210 billion.
Altogether, the loss amount was more than five times higher than the first-half average for the past ten years. The insured losses, around US$ 60bn, were also nearly five times greater than the average since 2001. First-half losses are generally lower than second-half losses, which are often affected by hurricanes in the North Atlantic and typhoons in the Northwest Pacific. The total number of loss-relevant natural events in the first six months of 2011 was 355, somewhat below the average for the previous ten years (390).
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Munich Re: 2011 Breaks Annual Catastrophe Loss Record
The Munich Re insurance company announced today that the first 6 months of 2011 have already broken the record for annual catastrophe losses worldwide:
Midsummer 2011 Texas Heat Review: Austin Not Frostin'
See Record Heat for the latest updates.July 15, PM Update: Today's Austin high: 104°. Again. Day 14.
July 14, 9 PM CDT Update: Today's high: 104°.
July 14, 4 PM CDT Update: The temperature at Austin Mabry was 100° at 4 pm. This is the 13th consecutive day with 100° or higher.
July 13, 5 PM CDT Update: The preliminary high temperature at Austin Mabry was 102° at 4:03 pm. The record for the date was 105° in 2009.
July 13, 3 PM CDT Update: The Austin Mabry temperature reached 100° at 3 pm, making this the 12th consecutive day with 100° or higher.
5 PM CDT Update: The preliminary high temperature for today was 102° at Austin Mabry. Bergstrom was 100°.
Original post:
Just 2 years after setting the record for the hottest summer in one of the longest official climate records in the U.S., Austin, Texas has had its second hottest June in history. The average monthly temperature of 87.1° at Austin Mabry was half a degree higher than the June of 2009 which contributed to the hottest summer on record. Three of the last 4 summers have been the top 3 hottest at Austin in a climate history which extends back 157 years to 1854.
The 10 consecutive days of 100°+ temperatures from June 12th to the 21st tied the record from June 2009. With a temperature of 101° at 4 pm CDT today, this is now the 11th consecutive day of 100°+ temperatures beginning July 2.
Here are some more summer 2011 heat statistics for Austin (Mabry and Bergstrom), Del Rio, and San Antonio published today by the National Weather Service:
JUNE 2011 WAS THE 2ND WARMEST JUNE AT AUSTIN MABRY...THE 3RD WARMESTImage (click to enlarge): Austin, Texas temperatures for 30 days ending July 11, 2011, from Climate Prediction Center/National Weather Service
JUNE AT DEL RIO...AND THE 4TH WARMEST JUNE AT AUSTIN BERGSTROM AND
SAN ANTONIO.
THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE FIRST 11 DAYS OF JULY 2011 HAS
BEEN AROUND 2 TO 5 DEGREES ABOVE AVERAGE FOR JULY.
THE WARMEST JUNES AT AUSTIN...DEL RIO AND SAN ANTONIO ARE LISTED
BELOW...WITH THE YEAR AND AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR EACH JUNE SHOWN.
AUSTIN MABRY AUSTIN BERGSTROM
1. JUNE OF 2008 87.4 1. JUNE OF 1953 86.8
2. JUNE OF 2011 87.1 2. JUNE OF 1998 86.5
3. JUNE OF 2009 86.6 3. JUNE OF 1956 AND 2008 85.4
4. JUNE OF 1998 86.4 4. JUNE OF 2011 85.3
DEL RIO SAN ANTONIO
1. JUNE OF 1953 89.4 1. JUNE OF 1990 87.5
2. JUNE OF 1998 89.1 2. JUNE OF 2008 86.8
3. JUNE OF 2011 88.0 3. JUNE OF 1998 AND 2009 86.3
4. JUNE OF 2001 87.9 4. JUNE OF 2011 86.2
THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE NUMBER OF 100 DEGREE DAYS SO FAR THIS YEAR
AT AUSTIN...DEL RIO...HONDO...NEW BRAUNFELS...SAN ANTONIO AND
UVALDE...AS OF JULY 11TH.
LOCATION 100 DEGREE DAYS HOTTEST DAY
AS OF JULY 11 AS OF JULY 11
DEL RIO 36 106 MAY 28...JUN 17...18 AND 19
UVALDE 16 108 JUN 17...18 AND 19
NEW BRAUNFELS 15 105 JUN 18
AUSTIN MABRY 28 106 JUN 17 AND 18
AUSTIN BERGSTROM INTL AP 19 105 JUN 18
SAN ANTONIO INTL AP 10 104 JUN 17 AND 18
SAN ANTONIO STINSON 30 107 JUN 17
HONDO 22 107 JUN 18
THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE MOST CONSECUTIVE 100 DEGREE DAYS AND MOST
100 DEGREE DAYS OF RECORD IN A YEAR AT AUSTIN...DEL RIO...AND
SAN ANTONIO.
LOCATION MOST CONSECUTIVE MOST 100 DEGREE
100 DEGREE DAYS DAYS IN A YEAR
AUSTIN MABRY 21 JUL 12 TO AUG 1...2001 69 IN 1925
68 IN 2009
AUSTIN BERGSTROM 23 JUL 27 TO AUG 18...1951 55 IN 2009
50 IN 1998
DEL RIO 50 JUN 17 TO AUG 5...1980 78 IN 1953
72 IN 2001
SAN ANTONIO 21 JUL 24 TO AUG 13...1962 59 IN 2009
36 IN 1998
IN JUNE 2011 AUSTIN MABRY TIED WITH JUNE OF 2009 FOR THE MOST
CONSECUTIVE 100 DEGREE DAYS IN THE MONTH OF JUNE...10...FROM
JUNE 12 TO 21...2011. AUSTIN BERGSTROM HAD 9 CONSECUTIVE DAYS
OF 100 DEGREES IN JUNE 2011...FROM JUNE 13TH TO THE 21ST...ONE DAY
LESS THAN THE JUNE RECORD OF 10 DAYS IN JUNE 2009. DEL RIO IN JUNE
2011 HAD 10 CONSECUTIVE 100 DEGREE DAYS FROM JUNE 12 TO 21. THE
RECORD FOR DEL RIO IN JUNE IS 18 DAYS IN JUNE OF 1953. SAN ANTONIO
HAD 6 CONSECUTIVE 100 DEGREE DAYS IN JUNE 2011 FROM JUNE 14 TO 19.
THE RECORD NUMBER OF CONSECUTIVE 100 DEGREE DAYS FOR JUNE AT
SAN ANTONIO WAS 8 DAYS IN JUNE OF 1980.
FROM JULY 1ST TO JULY 11TH...AUSTIN MABRY HAS HAD TEN 100 DEGREES
DAYS IN A ROW FROM JULY 2ND TO JULY 11TH.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Massive Thunderstorms Hit Chicago With Hurricane-Force Winds, Worst Power Outage in History
Images (click to enlarge): Northern Illinois regional radar and mid-atmosphere wind pattern at 8 am CDT, July 11, 2011, from National Weather Service; Chicago firefighters working to rescue driver trapped by fallen tree, from Chicago Sun-TimesJuly 11 Update: About 350,000 remained without power in Chicago as of Tuesday morning. The peak outage estimate was revised upward to 868,000.
Original post:
A line of severe thunderstorms brought hurricane-force winds to the Chicago area Monday morning, July 11. Although no tornadoes were reported, the extremely strong straight-line winds produced widespread power outages. At the peak, over 817,000 customers were without electricity. Commonwealth Edison reported that this was the largest outage from any storm in Chicago history.
The force of the wind moving eastward across southern Lake Michigan prompted a seiche and lakeshore flood warning as water levels oscillated rapidly by over 2 feet.
Trained spotters reported wind gusts as high as 80 mph. Wind gusts of 75 mph were measured at Midway Airport and 63 mph at O'Hare. Here are some selected reports from the National Weather Service:
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO/ROMEOVILLE IL
1029 AM CDT MON JUL 11 2011
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0709 AM TSTM WND GST FRANKLIN GROVE 41.84N 89.30W
07/11/2011 E70.00 MPH LEE IL TRAINED SPOTTER
0715 AM TSTM WND GST ROCKFORD 42.27N 89.06W
07/11/2011 E80.00 MPH WINNEBAGO IL TRAINED SPOTTER
ESTIMATED 70 TO 80 MPH WINDS ON EAST SIDE OF ROCKFORD.
0728 AM TSTM WND GST NW DE KALB 41.93N 88.75W
07/11/2011 E70.00 MPH DE KALB IL TRAINED SPOTTER
0730 AM TSTM WND GST SYCAMORE 41.98N 88.70W
07/11/2011 E60.00 MPH DEKALB IL TRAINED SPOTTER
0735 AM TSTM WND GST ELBURN 41.89N 88.47W
07/11/2011 M65.00 MPH KANE IL TRAINED SPOTTER
MEASURED WITH ANEMOMETER. TREE BLOWN DOWN BEITH ROAD 1
MILE EAST OF RT. 47.
0740 AM TSTM WND GST CRYSTAL LAKE 42.23N 88.33W
07/11/2011 E75.00 MPH MCHENRY IL TRAINED SPOTTER
GREATER THAN 70 MPH WINDS FOR 2 TO 3 MINUTES. POWER
OUTAGES. 1 FT DIAMETER TREES AND LARGE BRANCHES DOWN.
0740 AM TSTM WND GST ROCKFORD 42.27N 89.06W
07/11/2011 E80.00 MPH WINNEBAGO IL PUBLIC
70 TO 80 MPH WINDS TRANSFORMERS DAMAGED CAUSING POWER
OUTAGE AND SEMI BLOWN ON SIDE.
0743 AM TSTM WND GST SUGAR GROVE 41.77N 88.46W
07/11/2011 M60.00 MPH KANE IL ASOS
MEASURED AT AURORA AIRPORT.
0750 AM TSTM WND GST WARRENVILLE 41.82N 88.19W
07/11/2011 E70.00 MPH DUPAGE IL TRAINED SPOTTER
60 TO 70 MPH GUSTS AND HEAVY RAIN.
0750 AM TSTM WND GST SUGAR GROVE 41.77N 88.46W
07/11/2011 M64.00 MPH KANE IL ASOS
MEASURED AT AURORA AIRPORT.
0752 AM TSTM WND GST AURORA 41.77N 88.29W
07/11/2011 E70.00 MPH KANE IL TRAINED SPOTTER
0754 AM TSTM WND GST MUNDELEIN 42.27N 88.00W
07/11/2011 M72.00 MPH LAKE IL TRAINED SPOTTER
0759 AM TSTM WND GST NAPERVILLE 41.76N 88.15W
07/11/2011 E65.00 MPH DUPAGE IL TRAINED SPOTTER
TREES BLOWN OVER.
0801 AM TSTM WND GST LIBERTYVILLE 42.28N 87.97W
07/11/2011 M70.00 MPH LAKE IL TRAINED SPOTTER
0804 AM TSTM WND GST OHARE AIRPORT 41.98N 87.90W
07/11/2011 M63.00 MPH COOK IL ASOS
0810 AM TSTM WND GST MELROSE PARK 41.90N 87.86W
07/11/2011 E60.00 MPH COOK IL TRAINED SPOTTER
0812 AM TSTM WND GST 3 SW MIDWAY AIRPORT 41.75N 87.79W
07/11/2011 M75.00 MPH COOK IL CO-OP OBSERVER
0814 AM TSTM WND GST MIDWAY AIRPORT 41.78N 87.75W
07/11/2011 M75.00 MPH COOK IL ASOS
0819 AM TSTM WND GST EVERGREEN PARK 41.72N 87.70W
07/11/2011 M72.00 MPH COOK IL TRAINED SPOTTER
0901 AM TSTM WND GST GURNEE 42.38N 87.94W
07/11/2011 E70.00 MPH LAKE IL TRAINED SPOTTER
15 INCH TREE UPROOTED.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
110°+ Temperatures Scorch Oklahoma Record Book;
Update: Records Extend to Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri
Images (click to enlarge): High temperatures on July 9 and 10, 2011, from Oklahoma MesonetSee Record Heat for the latest updates.
Midnight Update: Added map of July 10 high temperatures.
5:15 PM CDT Update: Within the last minute, the National Weather Service reports a record for the date at Wichita, Kansas, and the hottest temperature there in over 30 years:
AT 4 PM CDT...THE TEMPERATURE AT WICHITA MID CONTINENT ROSE TO 111The NWS confirms that the high temperature at Oklahoma City tied the daily record.
DEGREES. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 110 SET IN 1980.
THE LAST TIME THE TEMPERATURE WAS 111 OR GREATER AT WICHITA MID
CONTINENT WAS JULY 12, 1980 WHEN THE HIGH REACHED 112 DEGREES.
INCLUDING TODAY...TEMPERATURES OF 111 OR GREATER HAVE ONLY OCCURRED
10 TIMES SINCE JULY 1888.
For the second consecutive day, all stations of Oklahoma Mesonet are reporting highs of 100° or above.
4 PM CDT Update: The current temperature of 105° has at least tied the record for July 10 at Oklahoma City.
The high of 107° at Tulsa breaks the record for the date of 105° set in 1923 and tied in 1933. Tulsa climate records began in 1882.
Fort Smith in neighboring Arkansas also smashed a record from 1933 by 4°. The new record is 108°. Fort Smith's climatological history dates back to 1882.
In Kansas, Wichita's 110° for the last 2 consecutive hours has at least tied the record.
Joplin and Springfield, Missouri also set daily records. In Joplin, it was the hottest temperature in 25 years. The National Weather Service reports:
AS OF 330 PM TODAY...NEW DAILY HIGH TEMPERATURES HAVE BEEN SET FOR JOPLIN AND SPRINGFIELD. FOR JOPLIN...A READING OF 106 DEGREES WAS RECORDED AT 307 PM CDT THIS AFTERNOON. THIS BREAKS THE OLD DAILY RECORD OF 104 SET IN 1980. IN ADDITION...106 DEGREES IS THE WARMEST TEMPERATURE RECORDED IN JOPLIN IN NEARLY 25 YEARS. THE LAST TIME THE MERCURY SURGED THAT HIGH WAS ON JULY 30TH 1986...WHEN THE HIGH TEMPERATURE WAS 107 DEGREES.2 PM CDT Update: So far this summer, 5 daily high temperature records have been set or tied in June and 2 in July at Oklahoma City.
FOR SPRINGFIELD...A TEMPERATURE OF 102 DEGREES WAS REACHED SEVERAL TIMES BETWEEN 300 PM AND 400 PM THIS AFTERNOON. THIS IS ALSO A NEW DAILY RECORD FOR SPRINGFIELD...BREAKING THE OLD RECORD FOR JULY 10TH OF 100 DEGREES...SET IN 1980. THE LAST TIME IT WAS 102 IN SPRINGFIELD WAS ON AUGUST 15TH 2007.
Original post:
The 120 stations of the Oklahoma Mesonet, representing each of the state's 77 counties, all reported temperatures of at least 100° Saturday, July 9. For much of the state, readings were 110° or higher, with the maximum of 114° at Freedom. In all, 53 of the stations were 110° or above.
At Oklahoma City, where records date back to 1890, the high of 110° broke the old daily record from 1964 by 4° and tied the all-time July high temperature record last reached in 1996. With the temperature hitting 100° at noon today, this is now the 12th consecutive day with temperatures of 100° or higher. The average daily high temperature so far this month at Oklahoma City is 103.9°.
From the National Weather Service:
...RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE AT OKLAHOMA CITY FOR JULY 9...
...RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE TIED FOR THE MONTH OF JULY...
THE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE TODAY AT WILL ROGERS WORLD AIRPORT WAS 110
DEGREES ON SATURDAY. THIS BREAKS THE DAILY RECORD FOR JULY 9TH. THE
PREVIOUS RECORD OF 106 DEGREES SET IN 1964.
THE 110 DEGREES ALSO TIES THE RECORD TEMPERATURE AT OKLAHOMA CITY IN
THE MONTH OF JULY. A TEMPERATURE OF 110 DEGREES WAS ALSO RECORDED ON
JULY 6 1996.
THE 110 DEGREES TIES FOR THE THIRD HIGHEST TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED
IN OKLAHOMA CITY. THE OKLAHOMA CITY ALL-TIME RECORD IS 113 DEGREES
RECORDED ON AUGUST 11 1936. THE SECOND HIGHEST TEMPERATURE RECORDED
WAS 112 DEGREES ON AUGUST 10 1936.
TODAY IS THE 11TH CONSECUTIVE DAY...AND THE 20TH DAY SO FAR THIS
YEAR...THAT THE TEMPERATURE AT OKLAHOMA CITY HAS BEEN 100 DEGREES OR
MORE.
THE RECORD FOR THE TOTAL NUMBER OF DAYS IN A YEAR WITH A TEMPERATURE
OF 100 DEGREES OR MORE IS 50...WHICH WAS SET IN 1980. THE RECORD FOR
MOST CONSECUTIVE DAYS OF 100 DEGREES OR MORE IS 22 DAYS FROM AUGUST
4 TO AUGUST 25 1936.
TODAY IS ALSO THE HOTTEST DAY IN OKLAHOMA CITY SINCE JULY 6TH IN
1996...THE LAST TIME THAT THE HIGH TEMPERATURE REACHED 110 DEGREES.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Summer Temperature Update: June Heat Records Smash Cold Records By Nearly 11 to 1
July 10 Update: A site visitor suggested that it would be useful to see the actual ratios of heat records to cold records plotted, so here it is:
Note that the horizontal axis is plotted at a ratio value of 1, so an excess of heat records is above the axis, and a deficit is below. There was only 1 month (December) in the last year-plus with a deficit of heat records.
Original post:For related record temperature posts, see: Following through on the momentum set in the first 9 days of June, the first month of meteorological summer has concluded with U.S. daily high temperature records outnumbering low records by an incredible ratio of 10.8 to 1. This brings the ratio for the first half of 2011 up to 2.4 to 1.
In addition to the 2706 daily high temperature records, 63 all-time June temperature records and 17 all-time (any month) records were set. One all-time monthly record has already been set so far in July (Willow Run Airport, Michigan).
For comparison, here is the number of all-time record low temperatures set in each month of the "cold, snowy winter" of 2010-2011:
Several June monthly records were exceeded by multiple degrees, including Tulsa OK, where 106.0° on the 27th broke a record of 103.0° set in 1953.
Image (click to enlarge):
Monthly total number of daily high temperature and low temperature records set in the U.S. for June 2010 through June 2011, data from NOAA National Climatic Data Center, background image © Kevin Ambrose (www.weatherbook.com). Includes historical daily observations archived in NCDC's Cooperative Summary of the Day data set and preliminary reports from Cooperative Observers and First Order National Weather Service stations. All stations have a Period of Record of at least 30 years.
Note that the horizontal axis is plotted at a ratio value of 1, so an excess of heat records is above the axis, and a deficit is below. There was only 1 month (December) in the last year-plus with a deficit of heat records.
Original post:For related record temperature posts, see: Following through on the momentum set in the first 9 days of June, the first month of meteorological summer has concluded with U.S. daily high temperature records outnumbering low records by an incredible ratio of 10.8 to 1. This brings the ratio for the first half of 2011 up to 2.4 to 1.In addition to the 2706 daily high temperature records, 63 all-time June temperature records and 17 all-time (any month) records were set. One all-time monthly record has already been set so far in July (Willow Run Airport, Michigan).
For comparison, here is the number of all-time record low temperatures set in each month of the "cold, snowy winter" of 2010-2011:
December 0Among the all-time heat records in June were:
January 3
February 5
Location Record Previous Record and DateNote that Amarillo, Borger, and Dalhart each had the distinction of setting new records and then surpassing them a second time in the same month. Each of the new records is an amazing 3° above the record previous to 2011. Tallahassee broke the record by 2° after tying it earlier in the month.
Tallahassee FL 105.0° 103.0° 2011-06-14
Raton NM 102.0° 100.0° 2009-07-25
Amarillo TX 109.0° 108.0° 1998-06-28
111.0° 109.0° 2011-06-24
Borger TX 109.0° 108.0° 1998-06-27
111.0° 109.0° 2011-06-24
Dalhart TX 108.0° 107.0° 1990-06-24
110.0° 108.0° 2011-06-24
Wellington TX 114.0° 113.0° 1994-06-25
Morton TX 111.0° 110.0° 1994-06-28
Garden City KS 109.0° 108.0° 2003-07-15
Several June monthly records were exceeded by multiple degrees, including Tulsa OK, where 106.0° on the 27th broke a record of 103.0° set in 1953.
Image (click to enlarge):
Monthly total number of daily high temperature and low temperature records set in the U.S. for June 2010 through June 2011, data from NOAA National Climatic Data Center, background image © Kevin Ambrose (www.weatherbook.com). Includes historical daily observations archived in NCDC's Cooperative Summary of the Day data set and preliminary reports from Cooperative Observers and First Order National Weather Service stations. All stations have a Period of Record of at least 30 years.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Washington's Second Consecutive Top-3 Hottest June
July 1 Update: The preliminary National Weather Service monthly climate data report confirms the Washington June average temperature of 78.8°, tied for third hottest.Original post:
Following last year's all-time hottest June, this month is closing out tied for third hottest in Washington, DC. Preliminary National Weather Service data analyzed by CapitalClimate indicates that the June 2011 average temperature of 78.8° is tied with 1943 as the third hottest June in temperature records which began 140 years ago in 1871. (Depending on rounding, the final figure may be 78.7°.)
Two out of the top 3 hottest Junes, and 3 of the top 6, have been in the last 4 years (2008, 2010, and 2011). Only 1 of the top 5 has occurred prior to 1981.
The high temperature for the month of 102° tied the all-time June temperature record. There were 10 days with temperatures of 90° or higher. Only 1 day failed to reach 80° (78° on the 14th).
Image (click to enlarge): June 2011 average temperature vs. 10 previous hottest Junes for Washington, DC; CapitalClimate chart from National Weather Service data, background image © Kevin Ambrose
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