Hey y’all and welcome back to the wild weather blog! Last week we focused on the the dry ski hills in the Alps and the extreme precipitation events in California. As an update, California has continued to see heavy rains and intense snowfall but there is relief in sight with the next two weeks forecast to be drier-than-normal. This is excellent news, as they desperately need to dry out after seeing record-breaking precipitation.

This week we’re going to talk about severe weather here in the States, and a winter storm in France, so let’s dive in!

Iowa tornadoes:

Severe weather can happen any season, but tornadoes in January, in Iowa are exceptionally rare. On Monday we saw several confirmed tornadoes in the Hawkeye State, which were the first January tornadoes there since January, 24, 1967. You might be wondering why this happened, and the answer likely won’t surprise you if you frequently read this blog; abnormally high temperatures are to blame. The average high temperature in Cedar Rapids in January is in the 20s, but on Monday temperatures were in the 50s and lower 60s for some across the state! These temperatures were warm enough to supply instability and enough energy for tornadoes to form.

This video below is of one of the tornadoes which occurred near Williamsburg, Iowa. The National Weather Service determined this was an EF-1 tornado (90 mph winds) that traveled 4.7 miles, and had a maximum width of 400 yards.

Major winter storm hits France:

A large winter storm battered down on Western Europe bringing heavy snowfall, flooding rains, enormous waves and even hurricane-force winds earlier this week. At the The Pointe du Raz (far northwest France) wind gust readings reached 98 mph. Not surprisingly, the intense wind led to tens of thousands losing power as strong winds brought down trees. Downed trees also impacted rail travel with branches covering train tracks. Heavy rainfall led to flooding in small villages which prompted evacuations. Check out this harrowing video below showing the powerful storm at night.

Something good:

In an effort to end the blog on a positive note, I wanted to share this video from Donegal, Ireland. On Tuesday, snowy conditions led local schools to close and as you can see, the kiddos loved it! Always sweet to see the joy that snow can bring, especially because growing up in Houston, we didn’t really have snow days, just flood days.

Stay safe always,

Caroline