The number of extreme weather events has seen a "staggering rise" in the past 30 years, says the United Nations, and experts warn climate change is "supercharging these extreme events," per The Associated Press. Intense heat as well as extreme rainfall events "are getting more frequent, more severe," explains Kai Kornhuber, a research scientist at Columbia University.
Climate change is also causing more "compound events," NPR says, which is when "climate change causes two extreme things to happen at the same time," according to an annual report by the American Meteorological Society. "The risk of extreme events is growing, and they're affecting every corner of the world," warned Sarah Kapnick, the chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Here's a chronological look at the extreme weather events unfolding in 2023:
January
The year kicked off with the sixth-warmest January on record, averaging a temperature of 35.2 degrees Fahrenheit in the U.S. This was due to a jet stream that spread warmer Pacific air over the whole country, along with high pressure that pushed storms west. Climate change also intensified the warmer temperatures, reported The Washington Post.
The month saw high levels of rainfall, making it the third wettest January on record. A record number of atmospheric rivers brought unprecedented rains to California, which was suffering from a drought. The state experienced 10 storms, resulting in floods and landslides, as well as snowfall in the mountainous regions.
The Midwest and South experienced a string of tornados. The Storm Prediction Center reported that there were 168 preliminary reports of tornadoes, most of them in the South. The warmer temperatures made for better conditions for tornados, CNN wrote.
February
February was marked by tornados and warm temperatures, but also unexpected snow. The month began with an ice storm across Texas and the Midwest, along with freezing temperatures across the Northeast. The Midwest also saw a number of tornados throughout the month, which was unusual for February.
Later in the month, the country experienced both extreme cold and unusually warm temperatures. Southern California saw winter storm conditions, inhibiting travel in the region. Other parts of the country saw almost spring-like temperatures with some breaking records, especially across the southeast U.S.
March
Cyclone Freddy made renewed headlines in March, after first "walloping" Madagascar and Mozambique at the end of February, The Washington Post wrote. The storm made landfall in Mozambique for a second time on March 11. Lasting more than a month, Freddy was one of the longest-lived tropical cyclones on record, as well as one of Earth's most energetic storms. Freddy killed at least 400 people in both Malawi and Mozambique and injured dozens more, according to Reuters. In addition to flooding, Freddy ripped roofs off of buildings, disrupted phone and power infrastructure, and prompted landslides. "What is interesting about Freddy is how far it has traveled," BBC said. "It began its journey off the coast of north-west Australia, crossing the Southern Indian Ocean from east to west, one of only four storms in history to do so."
California's atmospheric river brought a "bomb cyclone" that left two people dead and more than 100,000 people without power. The National Weather Service warned of "rapid runoff, flooding, and mudslides given the already wet, saturated soil conditions." Winds reached hurricane-level speed and affected 35 million people, with the San Francisco Bay area facing the most severe weather. The storm was considered to be "the strongest March storm ever recorded in the Bay Area," per ABC News.
Tornadoes tore through the South, killing at least 25 people in Mississippi and one person in Alabama. The National Weather Service reported winds reaching between 166 and 200 miles per hour, giving the storm an EF-4 tornado rating. "It is almost complete devastation," said Royce Steed, the emergency manager in Humphreys County, Mississippi. "This little old town, I don't know what the population is, it is more or less wiped off the map." The storm was "the deadliest in the state of Mississippi in more than a decade," per BBC.
April
A deadly storm system tore through the Midwest, South, and Mid-Atlantic from March 31 to April 1, bringing with it tornados that left at least 32 dead and many without power. The system had "two bull's eyes," Jake Sojda, a meteorologist for AccuWeather, told The New York Times. "Usually, you have the greatest risk really concentrated in one area," and "to have two separate areas that had such a significant risk for tornadoes — that is definitely more uncommon." By April 7, almost as many people had been killed by tornadoes in the first three months of 2023 as are usually killed by tornadoes in an entire year, CBS News reported.
Tornadoes continued throughout the month with a storm in Oklahoma on April 19. The tornado left at least three people dead and was considered "large and extremely dangerous," according to McClain County Emergency Management. More than 17,000 residents were left without power in the central U.S. following the storm, Axios wrote. The region's unstable air also led to storms with high winds across Texas and the South.
April was also marked by a number of heat waves in Asia and the Mediterranean. A number of countries in Asia including India, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Laos saw some of the highest temperatures to date with some reaching over 45 degrees Celsius or 113 degrees Fahrenheit. In the Mediterranean, Spain and Morocco also experienced record-breaking heat with each surpassing 101 degrees Fahrenheit. Both heatwaves have been attributed to climate change. Scientists studying the Asia heatwave reiterated, "Global temperatures will continue to increase and events like this will become more frequent and severe until overall greenhouse gases emissions are halted."
May
As summer inched closer so did summer weather phenomena like wildfires, typhoons, and cyclones. Wildfires raged in Alberta, Canada, reducing air quality all over the world. While wildfires are common this time of year, this was an "unusually active" start to the season, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) tweeted. Smoke from the fires traveled into the U.S., and several states including Nebraska, Washington, Montana, and Wisconsin issued air quality warnings. Inhaling wildfire smoke is linked to a number of health and respiratory complications.
Cyclone Mocha hit Myanmar and Pakistan in the middle of the month. Hundreds were estimated to have been killed, and hundreds of thousands were left homeless. Many of those affected were refugees or Rohingya Muslims, who were relocated to the region a decade ago. "The main reason the Rohingyas are dying in large numbers during the cyclone is that they have to live in a small area with a large population," Dr. Win Myat Aye, the minister of humanitarian affairs and disaster management of Myanmar's National Unity Government, told The New York Times.The United Nations requested $375 million in aid to be sent to the countries for supplies, Reuters reported.
Typhoon Mawar unleashed its power on Guam, causing widespread power outages in the region. The storm was deemed a Category 4 hurricane, one of the strongest to hit Guam in recent history. President Biden declared a state of emergency in the territory, authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to "identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment, and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency."
Editor's note: This article will be updated throughout the year.
