Blizzard in the United States, deadly storm in Japan and rain on the ski slopes in France: Mother Nature is not doing the planet any favors at the end of the year. Overview in photos.
Blowing hot and cold in the United States
The storm that hit Quebec also caused around 50 deaths in the United States.
“We are talking about temperatures between 10 and 15 ° C below normal on almost the whole territory”, specifies to the Homework a meteorologist from the United States Agency for Oceanic and Atmospheric Observations (AAOOA). The drop in mercury has been brutal in some central regions of the Rockies, where the temperature has dropped by 25 to 30 ° C “in the space of a few hours”.
Cold records were reached across the United States on December 24. Snowfalls reaching two meters also buried the Great Lakes region.
Headwinds have since begun to blow. Not only is the temperature gradually rising, but in a few days it will be “well above seasonal averages”, according to the AAOOA.
We will also feel this return of the pendulum here. The mercury will exceed the freezing point by Friday and will hover around 5°C on New Year’s Eve throughout southern Quebec.
“Until Thursday morning, it’s very wintry, very seasonal,” explains Maxime Desharnais, meteorologist for Environment Canada. […] Then, a warm air mass will come up from the Midwest to bring a three-day mild spell. »
It will rain for the countdown to the evening of the 31st, he confirms. The heaviest precipitation will be concentrated north of Montreal. “It coincides with regions that have a lot of snow. The snow will become quite dense, loaded with water. It would be important for people to clear their roofs, especially because the snow is light at the moment. »
Europe is sweating
Europe, on the other hand, is going through what could almost be called a winter heat wave.
France, for example, has just had a particularly mild Christmas, well above seasonal norms and the second warmest since 1945.
And the mercury will continue to rise. “The sweetness will reach its climax on Saturday with regularly 15 ° C exceeded in the afternoon almost everywhere, and even 20 ° C exceeded in the South-West”, stipulates Tuesday the organization Météo France.
Germany predicts that New Year’s Day will be the hottest on record in its territory, with highs of 20°C in regions near Switzerland.
As a result of this exceptional thaw: many ski slopes are closed. Barely a quarter of the slopes are open in the Pyrenees, while in the Vosges or the Jura, less than a quarter have been able to open. Three-quarters of the slopes in the Alps remain open, however.
Snow in Japan… and Mexico
Heavy snowfall in Japan has killed at least 17 people and injured 93 others in the past ten days, according to a provisional report from a government agency on Monday. Most died when they fell from their roofs while trying to clear it, or they were buried by snow falling from the roofs. Up to 80 cm of snow fell in the area north of Tokyo.
Thousands of homes across the country have also experienced power cuts.
The exceptional snow and cold did not spare… Mexico. A thin layer of snow covered the high regions of the center-east of the country, including the capital Mexico City. Average temperatures are on average between 7°C and 20°C in December.
With Agence France-Presse