Hazards/Climate Extremes

Powerful Typhoon Cimaron moved across the northern Philippines at the end of October 2006. Additional information can be found below.

Across the United States, significant drought affected areas of the Plains and Rocky Mountains. Extreme drought was also concentrated in northern areas of Minnesota.

For complete drought analysis across the United States, please see the U.S. drought report.

In Australia, severe drought affected large areas of the southeastern part of the country during October. New South Wales recorded its driest October on record, Victoria its second driest, with South Australia and Queensland both ranking in the bottom ten years. Averaged across the country as a whole, it was the 11th driest October on record (Australian Bureau of Meteorology). Australian Prime Minister John Howard characterized the drought as the "worst drought in living memory" (New Zealand Herald).

In China, extreme drought was concentrated in Shandong and Hebei provinces during October.

While long-term drought persisted in areas of Somalia and Ethiopia, mostly beneficial rainfall was noted in areas of Ethiopia, Sudan and into areas of West Africa. Localized areas of flooding occurred in parts of the Ethiopian Highlands. More extensive flooding occurred in the Jubba and Shabelle River basins, where at least 67 people were killed in southeastern Ethiopia. Of those fatalities, at least ten were killed by crocodiles from the swollen rivers (AFP).

For the latest African weather impacts assessment, see the Famine Early Warning System Network.

Heavy rainfall in parts of southern Alaska totalled 75-125 mm (3 to 5 inches) during the 8th-12th. Subsequent flooding and mudslides washed out sections of the Richardson Highway, closing a 106-km (66-mile) stretch of highway north of Valdez (Associated Press).

In Thailand during early October, heavy rainfall in the wake of the remnants of Typhoon Xangsane was responsible for 32 deaths across the country, and affected 1.8 million people. In neighboring Myanmar (Burma), at least 10 people were killed in the city of Mandalay in some of the worst flooding in recent memory (AFP/Royal Thai Government).

In southwestern China, torrential rainfall during October 6-12 in the Honghe prefecture of Yunnan province triggered flooding and landslides in the mountainous region, killing 20 people. The flooding forced the evacuation of 20,000 people and caused the destruction of 2,000 homes (AFP).

In Sri Lanka, monsoon-related rainfall prompted flooding that was blamed for at least 23 deaths (OCHA).

Two Greek Aegean islands and a portion of northwestern Crete were placed in a state of emergency after heavy rainfall produced flooding and mudslides during the 17th-18th(AFP). More heavy rainfall affected southern Greece on the 21st.

Across Turkey, flooding on the 31st was blamed for 38 deaths. Fourteen of the fatalities occurred when a mini-bus was swept away by floodwaters near the town of Cinar in Diyarbakir province (Associated Press/IFRC).

Across southeastern Texas, heavy rainfall on the 22nd-23rd produced flooding that destroyed about 40 homes. The flooding was concentrated along the swollen Neches River. Texas Governor Rick Perry declared nine southeastern Texas counties disaster areas (Associated Press).

In Panama, flooding rains since mid-October affected about 1,900 people. Much of the flooding was along the River Pacora (IFRC).

No reports of significant severe weather were received during October 2006.

Hurricane Paul developed as a depression in the eastern Pacific Ocean on the 21st, reaching hurricane strength by the next day. Paul weakened considerably prior to landfall near La Reforma, Mexico on the 26th, coming ashore as a tropical depression. Heavy rainfall was the primary impact from this system.

Typhoon Cimaron developed in the Philippine Sea as a depression on the 26th, reaching typhoon intensity by the next day. Cimaron crossed northern Luzon in the Philippines on the 29th with maximum sustained winds near 260 km/hr (140 knots or 160 mph). There were at least ten reported fatalities in the Philippines from the typhoon (Reuters). Cimaron dissipated over the South China Sea by November 4.

For 2006 basin tropical cyclone statistics, please refer to the following:
Australian Basin
North Indian Ocean Basin
Western North Pacific Basin
South Pacific Basin
South Indian Ocean Basin
Northeast Pacific Ocean Basin
Atlantic Basin

No reports of significant extratropical cyclones were received during October 2006.

In the United States, the season's first blast of cold air affected areas of the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes. In addition to subfreezing temperatures across a large area, snowfall was common throughout the region.

The unseasonably cold air traversing the relatively warm waters of the Great Lakes generated significant lake effect snowfall during October 12-13. In western New York, record October snowfall occurred in Buffalo, with 57.4 cm (22.6 inches) recorded at the airport. This broke the monthly record for a single snowfall event, and also was the 6th heaviest snowfall on record. Nearly one million people lost power during the event. For a complete synopsis of the event, see the National Weather Service report.

Heavy snow and strong winds created blizzard conditions in parts of Colorado on the 26th. Parts of the Rockies received as much as 46 cm (18 inches) of snow (Associated Press).

Snow cover at the end of October penetrated unusually far to the south over southern provinces of Canada and into the U.S. northern Plains.

For all climate questions other than questions concerning this report, please contact the National Climatic Data Center's Climate Services Division:

Climate Services Division
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue, Room 120
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
fax: 828-271-4876
phone: 828-271-4800
email: ncdc.orders@noaa.gov

For more information, refer also to ...
Selected U.S. City and State Extremes
2006 Atlantic Hurricanes
2006 East Pacific Hurricanes
2006 U.S. Wildfire Summary
Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN)
The Global Temperature Anomalies
CLIMVIS - Global Summary of the Day
CAMS data provided by the Climate Prediction Center
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) - NASA
Relief Web
Geographic Reference Maps (pdf format)

For further information on the historical climate perspective presented in this report, contact:

Scott Stephens
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
fax: 828-271-4328
email: Scott.Stephens@noaa.gov