Brace for stormy weather

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

Re: Atlantic hurricanes on the rise, October 21 story.

Did readers notice this AP story on page 11 in Saturday’s Herald?

With warmer oceans serving as fuel, Atlantic hurricanes are now more than twice as likely as before to rapidly intensify from wimpy minor hurricanes to powerful and catastrophic, a study said.

Last month Hurricane Lee went from barely a hurricane at 129kmh to the most powerful Category 5 hurricane with 249kmh winds in 24 hours.

Meanwhile, reported alongside this article, hundreds of people were being evacuated from their homes and schools closed in parts of Scotland as much of northern Europe braced for stormy weather, heavy rain and gale-force winds from the east. The UK’s weather forecaster, the Met Office, issued a rare red alert — the highest level of weather warning — for parts of Scotland, predicting “exceptional rainfall” that is expected to cause extensive flooding and “danger to life from fast-flowing or deep floodwater”.

I point out the Pacific is also due to get a dramatic shift in weather over the next 12 months as it moves from a triple dip La Niña event to the opposite direction. https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/493081/warning-of-more-cyclones-for-parts-of-pacific-as-el-nino-threatens

Again I remind readers that, “Climate change creates the conditions in which more powerful storms can form, intensify rapidly and persist to reach land while carrying more water”. Tairāwhiti is mostly situated in a coastal zone, so be prepared, please.

Bob hughes