In the first two weeks of March, a series of storms piled between 4 and 9 feet of new snow on the already deep powder on the western slopes of the Cascades.
According to NOAA’s 2012 Spring Outlook, odds are that dry conditions and above-average temperatures will persist in much of the South, where drought is still lingering after making headlines in 2011. But last year’s most devastating flood events are unlikely to repeat.
Climate Science 101: Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States
February 15, 2012
The Record-Breaking Texas Drought
February 14, 2012
Amid months of persistent heavy rains, some areas in Zimbabwe received their heaviest rainfall in 30 years during January, causing flooding and damage to crops.
Cuba experienced extreme drought conditions in 2011, marking one of the driest years in the nation’s history and causing serious shortages in water supplies.
During the third week of August, portions of southern Europe and western Russia experienced a heat wave. Temperatures skyrocketed near 90 to over 100°F over several consecutive days, prompting emergency heat alerts.
In August 2011, over seven inches of rain fell in a six-hour downpour in southwestern Nigeria. The torrential rains caused flooding and damage to infrastructure, buildings, and homes.
From October 10-20, 2011, two separate storm systems dumped nearly five feet of rain across southern Central America, causing flooding and landslides in several areas.
More than a week of torrential rain in mid-September 2011 caused deadly floods across Sichuan, Shannxi, and Henan provinces in China.