earth science

Weather of 2016

Weather of 2016 is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Weather of 2016 rather than just read about it. In short: The following is a list of weather events that occurred in 2016. Global conditions Monthly summary Summary by weather type Winter storms and cold waves A crippling and historic blizzard, sometimes referred to as Snowzilla, affected the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.

Key takeaways

Weather of 2016 belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Weather of 2016 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Weather of 2016 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The following is a list of weather events that occurred in 2016.

Global conditions

Monthly summary

Summary by weather type

Winter storms and cold waves

A crippling and historic blizzard, sometimes referred to as Snowzilla, affected the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It originated from a low pressure system developing in the Southeast on January 22 and rapidly intensified as it moved along the Mid-Atlantic on January 23. Blizzard conditions were noted in New York City, Long Island, northeast New Jersey, and southwest Connecticut. Central Park saw 27.5 in (70 cm) of snow, the largest snowstorm to hit New York City since record began in 1869. At Reagan National Airport, 17.8 in (45 cm) of snow was measured, while Dulles International Airport measured 29.3 in (74 cm), the second largest on record.

Floods

Droughts, heat waves, and wildfires

In April and May, a powerful heat wave struck most of India, with the highest temperature being recorded at 51.0 °C (123.8 °F) in Phalodi, Rajasthan. In June, record heat hit many parts of the Southwestern United States, with Burbank, California hitting a record 109 °F (42.8 °C), while Phoenix, Arizona recorded 118 °F (48 °C).

Tornadoes

A small tornado outbreak occurred during a winter storm on February 2-3. An EF1 due to the outbreak caused $5.08 million. Three weeks later, the second largest tornado outbreak in February resulted in 7 deaths. The tornado outbreak caused $1.2 billion in damage.

Tropical cyclones

As the year began, a tropical low was over Australia, and Cyclone Ula was moving toward Tonga. Ula was followed by another 16 tropical cyclones, including Cyclone Winston, which was the most intense tropical cyclone in the Southern Hemisphere on record, with 10 minute sustained winds of 280 km/h (175 mph), and a minimum pressure of 884 mbar (26.1 inHg). At peak intensity, Winston made landfall on Fiji, the strongest ever to hit the country, and one of the strongest landfalls worldwide on record. Damage in Fiji totaled FJ$2.98 billion (US$1.4 billion), and 44 people were killed. In the Australian basin, there were 16 tropical cyclones, which made it the least-active season on record. Activity in the south-west Indian Ocean was also below average, with just tropical cyclones. Among these were Cyclone Fantala in April, which reached 10 minute sustained winds of 250 km/h (155 mph) while near the Seychelles, making it the strongest tropical cyclone on record in the basin. The first northern hemisphere tropical cyclone was Hurricane Pali, a rare off-season hurricane which formed on January 7 southwest of Hawaii. There were an additional 22 tropical cyclones in the north-east Pacific Ocean during the year, including Hurricane Otto, which crossed from the Caribbean Sea in November, killing 23 people in Central America. Otto was the last of 16 tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean. The first, Alex, was a rare January hurricane which hit the Azores. The strongest Atlantic hurricane of the year was Matthew, which attained 1 minute sustained winds of 165 mph (270 km/h) in the Caribbean. Matthew killed 603 people and left at least US$15 billion in damage after its path through Haiti, Cuba, The Bahamas, and offshore the southeastern United States. In August, Hurricane Earl killed 81 people in southeast Mexico after it struck Belize. In September, Hurricane Hermine made landfall just east of St. Marks, Florida as a Category 1 hurricane, with winds of 80 mph (130 km/h), making it the first hurricane to hit Florida since Hurricane Wilma in 2005. In the north Indian Ocean, there were ten tropical cyclones. Among these were Cyclone Roanu in May, which killed 135 people in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, causing over US$2 billion in damage. In contrast to the unusually early start to activity in the north-east Pacific and the Atlantic, the first tropical cyclone in the north-west Pacific did not develop until May 25, when a tropical depression formed. It was the first of 51 tropical cyclones during the year. The strongest of the year was Typhoon Meranti, which reached 10 minute sustained winds of 220 km/h (140 mph) while moving through the Batanes in the Philippines. Meranti later struck China, and along its path it killed 47 people, with US$4.79 billion in damage. In July, Typhoon Nepartak killed 111 people and left US$1.89 billion in damage when it struck Taiwan and southeastern China. In August, Typhoon Lionrock became the first storm on record to strike the Tōhoku region of Japan, with 22 deaths in the country and 525 deaths from flooding in North Korea.

Timeline This is a timeline of weather events during 2016. Please note that entries might cross between months, however, all entries are listed by the month they started.

January

January 12–17 - Hurricane Alex kills one person, and becomes the first Hurricane in January in the Atlantic since 1938. January 21–29 - A historical blizzard, the most recent to be rated a category 5 on the regional snowfall index scale, causes 55 deaths and between $500 million and $3 billion in damage.

February

A tornado outbreak consisting of 61 tornadoes, the second largest on record for February, caused 7 deaths and $1.2 billion.

March

April

May

May 1 – 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire: a wildfire erupts after record high temperatures in April in northern Alberta, forcing the evacuation of the entire city of Fort McMurray in Alberta. It is the largest mass evacuation in Canadian history. The wildfire destroys more than 3000 buildings, burns nearly 600,000 hectares of land, and causes nearly $10 billion in damages. The wildfire is the costliest natural disaster in Canadians history. May 7–10 - A tornado outbreak of 57 tornadoes caused 2 deaths, 19 injuries and $1 billion in damage. May 15 – A nighttime EF2 tornado in Brazil killed four people and injured 21 others. May 22–26 - A tornado outbreak sequence spawns 98 tornadoes, which caused 11 injuries and $1.3 billion in damage.

June

June 23 - The Jiangsu tornado in China caused 98 deaths and 846 injuries, amounting to $760 million in damage. The tornado was rated EF4. Another unrated tornado caused an additional fatality.

July

August

September

September 9 - Philadelphia, for the first time in history, has a low above 80 °F (27 °C) in September. The high that day also set a record at 96 °F (36 °C). September 28 – October 10 - Hurricane Matthew unleashes catastrophic damage across the Caribbean (especially in Haiti), and the Southeastern United States, causing 603 deaths and $16.47 billion in damage.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Weather of 2016

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Weather of 2016 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Weather of 2016 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Weather of 2016 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Weather of 2016

In research: Weather of 2016 appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Weather of 2016 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Weather of 2016 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Meteorological events in 2016, Weather by year, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Weather of 2016 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Weather of 2016 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Weather of 2016 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Weather of 2016 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Weather of 2016 in simple terms?

The following is a list of weather events that occurred in 2016. Global conditions Monthly summary Summary by weather type Winter storms and cold waves A crippling and historic blizzard, sometimes referred to as Snowzilla, affected the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.

Why does Weather of 2016 matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Weather of 2016?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Weather of 2016.