Not to be confused with severe weathering or extreme weather.
"Bad weather" redirects here. For the song of the same name, see Bad Weather.
This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article.(September 2021)
Various forms of severe weather
Part of a series on
Weather
Temperate and polar seasons
Winter
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Tropical seasons
Dry season
Harmattan
Wet season
Storms
Cloud
Cumulonimbus cloud
Arcus cloud
Downburst
Microburst
Heat burst
Derecho
Lightning
Volcanic lightning
Thunderstorm
Air-mass thunderstorm
Thundersnow
Dry thunderstorm
Mesocyclone
Supercell
Tornado
Anticyclonic tornado
Landspout
Waterspout
Dust devil
Fire whirl
Anticyclone
Cyclone
Polar low
Extratropical cyclone
European windstorm
Nor'easter
Subtropical cyclone
Tropical cyclone
Atlantic hurricane
Typhoon
Storm surge
Dust storm
Simoom
Haboob
Monsoon
Amihan
Gale
Sirocco
Firestorm
Winter storm
Ice storm
Blizzard
Ground blizzard
Snow squall
Precipitation
Drizzle
Freezing
Graupel
Hail
Megacryometeor
Ice pellets
Diamond dust
Rain
Freezing
Cloudburst
Snow
Rain and snow mixed
Snow grains
Snow roller
Slush
Topics
Air pollution
Atmosphere
Chemistry
Convection
Physics
River
Climate
Cloud
Physics
Fog
Mist
Season
Cold wave
Heat wave
Jet stream
Meteorology
Severe weather
List
Extreme
Severe weather terminology
Canada
Japan
United States
Weather forecasting
Weather modification
Glossaries
Meteorology
Climate change
Tornado terms
Tropical cyclone terms
Weather portal
v
t
e
Severe weather is any dangerous meteorological phenomenon with the potential to cause damage, serious social disruption, or loss of human life.[1][2][3] Types of severe weather phenomena vary, depending on the latitude, altitude, topography, and atmospheric conditions. High winds, hail, excessive precipitation, and wildfires are forms and effects of severe weather, as are thunderstorms, downbursts, tornadoes, waterspouts, tropical cyclones, and extratropical cyclones. Regional and seasonal severe weather phenomena include blizzards (snowstorms), ice storms, and duststorms.[4]
Severe weather is one type of extreme weather, which includes unexpected, unusual, severe, or unseasonal weather and is by definition rare for that location or time of the year.[5] Due to the effects of climate change, the frequency and intensity of some of the extreme weather events are increasing, for example, heatwaves and droughts.[6]: 9
^World Meteorological Organization (October 2004). "Workshop On Severe and ExPOO Events Forecasting". Archived from the original on 3 January 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
^"Severe Weather 101 – NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory". nssl.noaa.gov. Archived from the original on 21 September 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
^"Severe Weather Facts". factsjustforkids.com. Archived from the original on 28 April 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
^Glossary of Meteorology (2009). "Severe weather". American Meteorological Society. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
^IPCC, 2024: Annex II: Glossary Archived 14 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine [Möller, V., R. van Diemen, J.B.R. Matthews, C. Méndez, S. Semenov, J.S. Fuglestvedt, A. Reisinger (eds.)]. In: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Archived 28 February 2022 at the Wayback Machine [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, M. Tignor, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem, B. Rama (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, pp. 2897–2930, doi:10.1017/9781009325844.029.
^IPCC, 2022: Summary for Policymakers Archived 22 January 2023 at the Wayback Machine [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, M. Tignor, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem (eds.)]. In: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Archived 28 February 2022 at the Wayback Machine [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, M. Tignor, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem, B. Rama (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, pp. 3–33, doi:10.1017/9781009325844.001.
Severeweather is any dangerous meteorological phenomenon with the potential to cause damage, serious social disruption, or loss of human life. Types of...
Severeweather events or extreme weather events in Sydney, Australia, include hailstorms, thunderstorms, gale, bushfires, heatwaves, drought, and flash...
established as a state-owned enterprise in 1992, issues weather forecasts and official weather warnings. Most cities receive between 618 mm or 24.3 in...
various parts of the world. Severeweather terminology (United States) Severeweather terminology (Canada) Severeweather terminology (Japan) Hong Kong...
New Zealand. Tornadic events are often accompanied by other forms of severeweather, including thunderstorms, tropical cyclones, strong winds and hail....
a severeweather event in percentage categories. Mesoscale discussions are issued to provide information on certain individual regions where severe weather...
can typically expect to see that smaller, secondary, severeweather season. While severeweather season is technically from March through May, tornadoes...
During severe conditions the cycle is shortened into: hazardous weather outlooks, short-term forecasts, special weather statements or tropical weather summaries...
Middle Ages. Finland suffered a severe famine in 1696–1697, during which about one-third of the Finnish population died. Weather forecasting is the application...
long periods of cold dry weather and in summer long periods of hot dry weather. There have also been occurrences of severe flash floods caused by intense...
Weathering is the deterioration of rocks, soils and minerals (as well as wood and artificial materials) through contact with water, atmospheric gases,...
weather forecasting is the severeweather alerts and advisories that the national weather services issue in the case that severe or hazardous weather...
provide public tornado warnings and preventing the release of the USAF SevereWeather Warning Center's tornado forecasts (pioneered in 1948 by Air Force Capt...
Texas' weather varies widely, from arid in the west to humid in the east. The huge expanse of Texas encompasses several regions with distinctly different...
was first used in 1952 as the title of a research project to study severeweather in areas of Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, South Dakota, Iowa and...
A severe thunderstorm watch (SAME code: SVA) is a statement issued by weather forecasting agencies to advise the public that atmospheric conditions in...
A severe thunderstorm warning (SAME code: SVR) is a type of public warning for severeweather that is issued by weather forecasting agencies worldwide...
Weather modification is the act of intentionally manipulating or altering the weather. The most common form of weather modification is cloud seeding, which...
rainband, known as a squall line. Strong or severe thunderstorms include some of the most dangerous weather phenomena, including large hail, strong winds...
SevereWeather Database. European Severe Storms Laboratory. Archived from the original on 2022-12-05. Retrieved 2022-12-05. Multiple sources: "Severe...
these were the outbreak's strongest tornadoes. Damage caused by the severeweather and associated flooding amounted to US$4.1 billion (US$5.8 billion in...
warm-summer humid continental (Köppen Dfb) or oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb). Severeweather, in the form of tornadoes, tropical cyclones, and winter storms, impacts...
Extreme weather includes unexpected, unusual, severe, or unseasonal weather; weather at the extremes of the historical distribution—the range that has...
ordinary citizens. When severeweather is anticipated, local weather service offices request these spotters to look out for severeweather and report any tornadoes...
extratropical cyclone extreme weather Any weather that is unexpected, unusual, unpredictable, unseasonal, or especially severe (i.e. weather at the extremes of an...
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...
Global Information
Weather portal