Top International Weather Events of 2009

Let’s look back at some of the top International weather events of 2009.

…On September 23rd, Sydney, Australia looked more like Mars than Earth as a dust storm rolled in from the Outback, cloaking the city in clouds of orange dust.

…August 1st: One person was killed and 75 injured when high winds ahead of a severe thunderstorm collapsed a stage at the Big Valley Jamboree music festival in Camrose, Alberta.

…On November 19th, 12 inches of rain fell at Seathwaite in northwestern Great Britain. It is a UK record for a single location in any given 24-hour period

…Weak Indian Monsoon: The El Nino pattern led to a very weak Indian monsoon. The result was 25% less precipitation that normal and greatly reduced crop yields.

…Australian Black Saturday Wildfires: Fires ripped across 1,500 square miles of the country, burning over 1,800 homes and farms and killing more than 200 people.

…European Storm: A powerful storm named Klaus ripped across France, Spain and Great Britain on January 24th and 25th. Four children were killed in France. Forty two storm related deaths were reported in England.

…Indonesian Ferry Capsizing: On January 11th, a ferry capsized off the island of Sulawesi. 250 fatalities occurred

…Typhoon Morakot struck Taiwan in August, killing over 600 people. The Category Two storm caused the worst flooding in 50 years in Taiwan.

…On June 1st, an Air France Airbus enroute from Rio de Janeiro to Paris over the equatorial Atlantic northeast of Brazil. There were 228 people on board. No survivors were ever found.

I will be listing my top U.S. and Alabama Weather Events of 2009 over the next two nights. Add the ones I forgot with your comments.

Follow my weather history tweets on Twitter.com. I am @wxhistorian.

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