1974 Brought Record Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding And Drought

4 Responses to 1974 Brought Record Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding And Drought

1. Eric Simpson says:

   January 28, 2013 at 8:17 am

   Steven, I got the feeling that George Will has been reading Real Science, as he wrote today: Barack Obama — with the lowest approval rating (according to Gallup, 50 percent, four points lower than that of the National Rifle Association) of any re-elected president when inaugurated since the Second World War — has a contradictory agenda certain to stimulate a conservative revival….
   And later in the article: Obama says “the threat of climate change” is apparent in “raging fires,” “crippling drought” and “more powerful storms.” Are fires raging now more than ever? (There were a third fewer U.S. wildfires in 2012 than in 2006.) Are the number and severity of fires determined by climate change rather than forestry and land use practices? Is today’s drought worse than, say, that of the Dust Bowl, and was it caused by 1930s global warming? As for “more powerful storms”:
   Because Sandy struck New York City, where the nation’s media now congregate and participate in the city’s provincialism, this storm was declared more cosmically momentous than the 74 other hurricanes that have hit or come near the city since 1800. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina was called a consequence of global warming and hence a harbinger of increasing numbers of Category 3 or higher hurricanes. Since then, major hurricane activity has plummeted. No Category 3 has hit the U.S. since 2005. Sandy was just a Category 1.

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2. Noelene says:

   January 28, 2013 at 8:55 am

   http://www.warwickdailynews.com.au/news/warwick-kilarney-stanthorpe-high-flood-alert/740980/
   SOUTHERN Downs Mayor Ron Bellingham has warned the region to brace itself for a flood “equal to the Christmas flood or bigger than 1976”.

   The Condamine River could peak at eight or possibly nine metres by the evening, with the 1976 flood, the highest on record, peaking at 9.1 metres.

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3. Robertv says:

   January 28, 2013 at 10:24 am

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcAy4sOcS5M

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4. Rosco says:

   January 28, 2013 at 10:10 pm

   Brisbane flooded over the Australia Day weekend in 1974. In 2013 it was again the Australia Day weekend with “ex” tropical cyclone Oswald bringing more flooding – 2 years after the 2011 January floods.

   Neither 2011 or 2013 were as big a flood event as 1974 which was, according to historical records, not as big a flood event as 1893.

   When I went to school in the 60’s we had a flood in the local creek almost yearly and had massive fun “rafting” down the floodwaters on tractor inner tubes.

   Cyclone Tracy hit Darwin on christmas eve in 1974.

   Have to say that Oswald was different though – cyclones usually rapidly deteriorate once they croos onto land – they may continue heavy rain but the winds usually die down quickly.

   Oswald has been over land for many days and the wind gusts – some up to 140 km / hour – have persisted despite the centre being over 100 km inland for more than a week – that is wierd !
   .
   Something was feeding energy into this thing – maybe it was the missing heat Trenberth has been looking for ?

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