A tornado is an example for an extreme weather event. This tornado struck Anadarko, Oklahoma during a tornado outbreak in 1999.
Extreme weather includes unexpected, unusual, severe, or unseasonal weather; weather at the extremes of the historical distribution—the range that has been seen in the past.[1][2] Extreme events are based on a location's recorded weather history. They are defined as lying in the most unusual ten percent (10th or 90th percentile of a probability density function).[2] The main types of extreme weather include heat waves, cold waves and heavy precipitation or storm events, such as tropical cyclones. The effects of extreme weather events are economic costs, loss of human lives, droughts, floods, landslides. Severe weather is a particular type of extreme weather which poses risks to life and property.
Weather patterns can experience some variation, and so extreme weather can be attributed, at least in part, to the natural climate variability that exists on Earth. For example, the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) or the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) are climate phenomena that impact weather patterns worldwide.[3] Generally speaking, one event in extreme weather cannot be attributed to any one single cause. However, certain system wide changes to global weather systems can lead to increased frequency or intensity of extreme weather events.[4]
Climate change is making some extreme weather events more frequent and more intense.[5]: 1517 This applies in particular to heat waves and cold waves. The science of extreme event attribution looks at the reasons behind extreme events. Scientists are fairly sure that climate change makes heavy rainfall events as well as drought periods more severe.[6] Climate models indicate that rising temperatures will make extreme weather events worse worldwide.
Extreme weather has serious impacts on human society and on ecosystems. There is loss of human lives, damage to infrastructure and ecosystem destruction. For example, a global insurer Munich Re estimates that natural disasters cause more than $90 in billion global direct losses in 2015.[4] Some human activities can exacerbate the effects, for example poor urban planning, wetland destruction, and building homes along floodplains.
^"Has Climate Variability, or have Climate Extremes, Changed?". Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Archived from the original on 2005-11-01. Retrieved 13 April 2007.
^ abCite error: The named reference :8 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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^ abAttribution of Extreme Weather Events in the Context of Climate Change (Report). Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. 2016. pp. 21–24. doi:10.17226/21852. ISBN 978-0-309-38094-2.
^Seneviratne, S.I., X. Zhang, M. Adnan, W. Badi, C. Dereczynski, A. Di Luca, S. Ghosh, I. Iskandar, J. Kossin, S. Lewis, F. Otto, I. Pinto, M. Satoh, S.M. Vicente-Serrano, M. Wehner, and B. Zhou, 2021: Chapter 11: Weather and Climate Extreme Events in a Changing Climate. In Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S.L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M.I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J.B.R. Matthews, T.K. Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu, and B. Zhou (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, pp. 1513–1766, doi:10.1017/9781009157896.013.
^Attribution of Extreme Weather Events in the Context of Climate Change (Report). Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. 2016. pp. 127–136. doi:10.17226/21852. ISBN 978-0-309-38094-2. Archived from the original on 2022-02-15. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
Extremeweather includes unexpected, unusual, severe, or unseasonal weather; weather at the extremes of the historical distribution—the range that has...
This is a list of weather records, a list of the most extreme occurrences of weather phenomena for various categories. Many weather records are measured...
The weatherextremes in Pakistan include extremely high and extremely low temperatures, heaviest rainfalls and floodings. Pakistan has one of the highest...
weatherextremes in Canada. *A snowfall season is the amount of snow that falls between July 1 and June 30, spanning over the winter period. Weather portal...
The United Kingdom weather records show the most extremeweather ever recorded in the United Kingdom, such as temperature, wind speed, and rainfall records...
into the air is expected to affect the frequency of extremeweather events such as drought, extreme temperatures, flooding, high winds, and severe storms...
Tornado Extremes". www.torro.org.uk. Archived from the original on 28 August 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2017. Doe, Robert K. (2016). ExtremeWeather: Forty...
Extremeweather events in Melbourne, Australia have occurred on multiple occasions. The city has experienced a number of highly unusual weather events...
environment and people. In addition to increased heat, drought and extremeweather in parts of the country, the melting of glaciers in the Himalayas has...
The sky is described as "blended with alien elements" just like cloudy weather, except prolonged. It was "stretched like a hide across the sky" and prevented...
−17.8 °C in the winter not being unusual. The state has its share of extremeweather, prone to nor'easters and to severe winter storms. Summers can bring...
the original on 2009-06-12. Retrieved 2009-01-08. Burt, Christopher. ExtremeWeather: A Guide and Record Book. New York: Norton, 2004: 100. Water Policy:...
where temperatures drop by 4 to 5 °C (7 to 9 °F).: 27 Cold weather, occasionally extreme cold can persist for a long time, being characterized by a long...
parts of Oman including Muscat remain dry during this period. The most extremeweather events in Oman are tropical storms that form in the Arabian sea. Following...
URL accessed 13 June 2006. "World: Highest Temperature". World Weather / Climate Extremes Archive. Arizona State University. 2012. Archived from the original...
are high, averaging above 25 °C (77 °F), but not reaching the summer extremes of up to 40 °C (104 °F) in the temperate zones. There is little seasonal...
geographic and geomorphic characteristics of Argentina tend to create extremeweather conditions, often leading to natural disasters that negatively impact...
and macrobursts) Air pollution Extremeweather List of weather-related phenomena Meteorology Severe weather terminology (United States) Space weather...
April 2015. "Climate and monthly weather forecast Madurai, India". Weather Atlas. Retrieved 19 July 2022. "Extremes of Temperature & Rainfall for Indian...
wettest known tropical cyclones in Australia Weatherextremes in Australia, an index of extreme Australian weather articles Effects of the El Niño–Southern...
Extreme cold weather clothing is clothing for arctic or mountainous areas. Its primary function is to trap air as an insulator to prevent heat loss from...
heat wave (or heatwave), sometimes described as extreme heat, is a period of abnormally hot weather.: 2911 High humidity often accompanies heat waves...
recorded temperature in the list of countries and territories affected by extreme temperatures. During the wet season, it is not unusual to experience rainfalls...
Delhi (Safdarjung) ExtremeWeather Events in the Month of December". Retrieved 29 December 2020. "New Delhi (Safdarjung) ExtremeWeather Events in the Month...
seasonal severe weather phenomena include blizzards (snowstorms), ice storms, and duststorms. Severe weather is one type of extremeweather, which includes...
Climate". City-Data. Retrieved August 20, 2007. "U.S. Extreme Record Temps & Differences". Golden Gate Weather Services. 2005. Retrieved November 23, 2006. "Climate...
"Belgrade, Serbia – Detailed climate information and monthly weather forecast". Weather Atlas. Yu Media Group. Archived from the original on 3 July 2019...
overall warming trend, changes to precipitation patterns, and more extremeweather. As the climate changes it impacts the natural environment with effects...
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