April showers in May by Helen Willetts
Tornadoes are a weather phenomena that most of us associate with destruction in the USA. However the truth is that here in the UK we see more tornados per square mile than our cousins across the Atlantic. The average per year has been creeping up too, from 30 back in the nineties to 35 currently. Perhaps this can be linked to Global warming but it’s more likely to be the advanced communication links we have nowadays and the simple fact that more people are out spotting them.
However they are often described in this country, perhaps a little disrespectfully as ‘mini’ tornadoes. Yes it’s true they are far weaker than their American counterparts, but have been known to render homes uninhabitable. Just yesterday evening 30 homes in Lancashire sustained some minor damage.
Tornado’s here in the UK are classified according to their wind strength. In the USA tornadoes are far more deadly because the atmosphere is more energetic. When the air is warmer it expands to fill a bigger space and therefore clouds are bigger and have a greater potential to generate big storms which in turn can spawn the deadly tornadoes. A different scale is used to measure tornado strength in the US, the Fujita scale, but it still essentially surrounds the wind speed.
On another note you may have read that in England and Wales, the period between November 2004 and March 2005, has been the driest for thirty years. Now even though the final figures for April are yet to be released, it’s fairly certain the month has seen above average rain falling over England and Wales. 119% of the average as it stands, importantly that is the positive side of normal but possibly not enough however to ensure we won’t be needing hose pipe bans in the near future.
It seems that we are not alone. News out today confirms that Spain has had it driest winter and early spring since records began almost 60 years ago. Rainfall between November and March was 37% below average, the lowest since 1947. Water reserves are at just 60% of full capacity and farmers fearing water rationing are planting fewer crops.
In neighbouring Portugal, authorities have already imposed irrigation restrictions in the south as the country is suffering it’s worst drought in a quarter of a century.
Elsewhere around the World, in Upper Sindh in Pakistan history has been made, the recent thunderstorms brought the first rains every recorded in April and May, locals said “it made the weather quite pleasant”
In Amarillo, Texas it was a rather chilly weekend, for a start Sunday nights’ frost was very late in the season, on average they see their last frost in mid April. However Monday’s 16cm (nearly 7 inches) of snow must have come as a real surprise, they have had snow as late as May 6th but that was back in 1917.
Talking about snow, it’s in the forecast here in the UK for later this week, granted just up in the Scottish mountains, but bye bye warmth for now.
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