February saw countless extreme weather events. From record wind, snow and cold in Hawaii, record heat in Europe to record cold in the US and Canada as well as record snow and rainfall.
We also observed the Northern Hemisphere’s strongest tropical cyclone for February. Super Typhoon Wutip underwent rapid intensification over marginally favorable or average SST’s for the time of year when it peaked at 155 mph and hit 925mb just west of Guam on February 23rd.
Himawari-8 infrared image of Super Typhoon Wutip taken at 7:00 am EST Saturday, February 23, 2019. At the time, Wutip was a Category 4 storm with 155 mph winds–the strongest February typhoon on record. Image credit: NOAA/RAMMB.
According to Weather Underground, prior to Wutip, the previous strongest February typhoon on record was Super Typhoon Higos, which hit 150 mph winds on February 10, 2015.
WU also says that Wutip is tied with Super Typhoon Rose of January 1957 as the second strongest typhoon to form in these two months. The only stronger typhoon ever observed so early in the year was Super Typhoon Ophelia, which peaked as a Category 5 storm with 160 mph winds on January 13, 1958.
Earth records southernmost 87F & 90F reading!
At the beginning of February, the typically brisk and breezy southernmost portion of South America was under an unusual heatwave. This heat wave happened to produce earth’s most southerly 30C (87F) and 32C (90F).
This narrow strip of land is typically trapped beneath a semi permanent low often presenting cold and windy weather much of the year. However, Porvenir, Chile (53.25 degrees south latitude), recorded a high of 91 degrees (32.5 degrees Celsius) Monday, while Rio Grande, Argentina (53.80 degrees south latitude), observed a high of 87 degrees (30.8 degrees Celsius), according to Etienne Kapikian, a forecaster at Météo-France.
This new global heat records were recorded barely 600 miles from the northernmost point of Antarctica.
Credit: weather.com
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