Mother Nature kept everyone on high alert throughout 2024! From avalanches, record-breaking winter storms and landslides to major heatwaves, dangerous wildfires, major tropical systems and earthquakes. Some of the world even saw a total solar eclipse!

Here are some of the most extreme weather from 2024.

January: Destructive Weather in China
The first month of the year began on a deadly note across parts of China.

Avalanches trapped around 1,000 tourists located in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region where continuous heavy snowfall over a weeklong period fell in parts of the region. The multiple avalanches blocked multiple roads, more specifically near China’s border along Mongolia, Russia and Kazakhstan. Rescuers worked tirelessly to free the trapped tourists, with some sustaining injuries and having to be airlifted to nearby medical facilities. According to local officials, about 220 miles of roads were affected by the 31 avalanches that occurred, with the popular tourist city of Hemu Village being closed until January 20 due to the extreme weather.

The extreme weather wouldn’t end there though, as landslides would provide another headache for parts of China towards the end of the month. About 47 people located in about 18 homes in China’s Yunnan province near the village of Liangshui fell victim to a landslide that would occur just before dawn on January 22. The landslide was said to have been triggered by a collapsing steep clifftop area where over 1,000 rescuers frantically searched the rubble for survivors amid freezing temperatures and snowfall. Sadly, this event claimed the lives of 44 people while forcing over 900 people to evacuate the region.

In the same week, a devastating 7.1-magnitude earthquake would rock portions of western China, leaving a devastating blow to the Xinjiang region near the border of Kyrgyzstan. The quake would occur just after midnight on January 23, with three people lost in the quake while 5 were injured. Over 12,426 people were evacuated from the area following the devastating quake. Strong aftershocks would follow in the days after the quake as well, with the highest being a 5.7-magnitude quake. Fouty-four people were also said to be injured from the quake in the neighboring Kyrgyzstan.

February: Major Texas Wildfire Outbreak
February 2024 perhaps will be most remembered by several major wildfires that ran amok across western Texas into parts of Oklahoma. This outbreak of wildfires was the result of a flash drought that had developed throughout the southern Plains over Summer 2023. While beneficial rain was observed across eastern Texas, western Texas and most of Oklahoma remained very dry leading up to February 2024, and rapid worsening of drought continued. In fact, June 2023 to February 2024 was ranked as the 12th driest “June to February period” for the parts of the River Grande River Basin.

With both short- and long-term dryness a concern, the stage was set for rapid fire growth by February 2024 when high pressure settled overhead and delivered a long period of warm, dry and windy weather to parts of the southern Plains. Towards the end of February, there were ten fires that quickly developed and expanded throughout western Texas and Oklahoma. Some wildfires were caused by human activity, while others were caused accidentally.

The largest wildfire in 2024 was the Smokehouse Creek Fire, which also is now the largest wildfire in Texas state history. It is also the second largest in U.S. history. It impacted the Texas Panhandle into parts of western Oklahoma and began on February 26 due to powerlines from a downed powerline. Most notably, the Smokehouse Creek Fire impacted the towns of Canadian and Stinnett, Texas. This fire alone cut power to 11,000 people and claimed the lives of two people and 15,000 cattle. It burned an estimated 1,058,482 acres.

In total, the February wildfires consumed over 1,260,237 acres and destroyed over 500 structures. Insured losses have exceeded $350 million, while the total economic loss to the panhandle, including the economies it feeds, is around $4.6 billion.

March: Deadly Monsoon Rain and Landslides on Indonesia’s Sumatra Island
March was an unlucky month for Indonesia’s Sumatra Island as heavy rains battered the region through the middle of the month. The monsoonal rains paired with rising rivers across the West Sumatra region led to devastating flash floods and landslides between March 7 and March 11. In fact, a major mudslide breaking out along the Pesisir Selatan Regency on March 8 led to the bursting of a nearby river that led to more than 37,000 structures submerged under flood waters.

By March 11, the death toll from this round of extreme weather had reached 26 lives with 11 people still unaccounted for. Damages were said to be 170.4 billion Indonesian Rupiahs which is equivalent to about $10.5 million U.S. dollars.

April: Eastern U.S. Total Solar Eclipse
One event that took North America by storm this year was the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. Prior to this date, the last time there was a total solar eclipse in the contiguous U.S. was back on August 21, 2017, with the next total solar eclipse not occurring in the U.S. until August 23, 2044! The path from this most recent eclipse stretched from Mazatlan, Mexico, northeast to New England and portions of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland in Canada. This path was also 115 miles wide and included stops like Dallas, Little Rock, Ark., Indianapolis, Cleveland, Buffalo, N.Y., Burlington, Vt., and Houlton, Maine.

The duration of the total solar eclipse, where the moon completely blocks out the sun, was a total of 4 minutes and 28 seconds. Many saw this astronomical phenomenon through special solar eclipse glasses, fitted with a special solar filter to protect your eyes from severe injury. Many also decided to view the eclipse by way of a pinhole projector and looking at the shadows that the eclipse makes on a flat surface. The pinhole projectors can be made by using an index card with a hole punched through or even with household objects like a colander! While you may have to wait a while for the next total solar eclipse, the next partial solar eclipse will occur on March 29, 2025, for portions of the northeastern U.S. and eastern Canada!

May: Flash Floods, Cold Lava Hit Indonesia’s Sumatra Island
An unlikely pair of massive amounts of rainfall and lava flows led to a devastating mix of extreme weather for Indonesia’s Sumatra Island in May. Sumatra Island is no stranger to monsoonal rains, but the situation was exacerbated when a neighboring active volcano from the island’s Mount Marapi produced a cold lava flow. Differing from the heated variety, a cold lava flow, also known as a lahar, is produced when heavy rains sweep a toxic mixture of volcanic material down the slope of a volcano. In this case, the mountainside villages of the West Sumatra province fell victim to the flash flooding and cold lava flows produced from the heavy monsoonal rain.

Between May 11 and May 25, a search and rescue was underway to locate any survivors of the devastating event. Sadly, 67 people were killed while about 44 people were injured and 20 people remained unfound. About 3.2 billion Indonesian Rupiahs were spent in the recovery of this extreme weather event. This is equivalent to about $200,000 U.S. dollars.

June: Major U.S. Heatwave
With June comes summer weather, which means heat making its presence known. In fact, much of the U.S. was in a major heatwave for the month! Heat waves are triggered from heat domes, which occurs when an area of high pressure develops in the upper-levels of the atmosphere, causing sinking and compressing air below it. This in turn will raise the temperatures at the surface. Heat waves impacted the Desert Southwest, Great Lakes and Northeast this month, but much of the South and Southeast experienced periods of hot temperatures as well.

Much of the Northeast was experiencing high temperatures in the mid-to-upper 90s with heat indices peaking past the century mark. Those in the Desert Southwest saw plenty of highs between 105 and 115 degrees. The southern Plains and Southeast too saw temperatures nearing or exceeding 100 degrees as well. Most notably, however, was the National Weather Service in Caribou, Maine, issuing its first ever Excessive Heat Warning as they were expected to get intense heat indices nearing 110 degrees! With this heat comes dangers as heat related illnesses can quickly result in deaths. Thus, extra precautions have to be taken like opening cooling centers, not leaving pets or children in hot cars, taking frequent water breaks and spending plenty of time in the shade.

July: The Hottest Day Ever on Earth
Not only was June a hot month for the U.S., but July was also a sweltering month worldwide! On July 21 of this year, the hottest day ever recorded occurred with a global average temperature of 17.09 degrees Celsius, or 62.76 degrees Fahrenheit. The previous record was set only in July 2023 and was marginally lower than this year’s record with a global average of 17.08 degrees Celsius or 62.74 degrees Fahrenheit.

This record-breaking event was largely thanks to several heatwaves in the U.S., particularly in California and other portions of the West, as well as in Europe and Russia. On top of that, Antarctica was also warmer than normal, which also fueled this toasty month.

August: Extreme Greece Wildfire
Widespread fires raged across the northern and northeastern suburbs of Athens during August 11-12. Winds were gusting around 60 to 70 kilometers per hour (37 to 43 mph) causing the fires to grow and spread from their origin near Lake Marathon about 35 kilometers (22 miles) northeast of Athens. Multiple evacuations were triggered by local authorities and at least one person was confirmed dead. The combination of strong wind and very dry conditions lead to fire formation, which burned 21,237 acres of land in Greece.

September: Powerful Typhoon Yagi Makes Landfall on Hainan Island
Powerful Typhoon Yagi wreaked havoc on Hainan Island and northern Vietnam September 6-9. Yagi brought flooding and heavy rainfall, damaging and destructive winds and major storm surge to near Wenchang in Hainan Island, where it made landfall on September 6. Yagi progressed eastward and moved into Haiphong and Quang Ninh in Vietnam on September 7, followed by a weakening trend inland over northern Vietnam through September 9.

Yagi at its strongest achieved Category 5-equivalent super typhoon status on the Saffir-Simpson Scale, with one-minute sustained winds of 260 km/h (160 mph). In total, Yagi caused at least 844 deaths, 2,279 injuries, and left many people missing. Yagi also damaged, flooded or destroyed over 741,800 structures, resulting in $16.6 billion in damage across eight countries and territories.

October: Historic Spain Flooding
A strong area of low pressure caused torrential rain to fall in several areas in eastern Spain on October 29, 2024. The city of Valencia was greatly impacted by devastating flooding across the area. Some locations, including Utiel, recorded 200 mm (~8 inches) of rainfall in a 12- to 24-hour period. Many municipalities lost electricity and phone services and many cars and even homes and properties were displaced and destroyed due to the severe flooding that occurred.

This destructive storm system caused the death of at least 230 people and led to the rescues of a total of 36,605 people. Over 100,000 cars and 1,800 businesses were destroyed and there was an estimated total of at least $3.8 billion for insurance claims for flood damage.

November: Whopper of a Snowstorm Buries Colorado, New Mexico
The start of the snow season got off to a big start across parts of Colorado and New Mexico. An upper-level weather system moved across parts of the West Coast and Rockies at the start of November. Once it got east of the Rockies, it became “cut-off” from the normal weather flow and drifted across the Front Range and southern half of the High Plains from November 5th through November 9th. Despite being “cut-off,” this low pressure system was slow to weaken and forced plenty of moisture from the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico into parts of the High Plains.

The prime spot for this snowfall was found from near the Denver metro area and just to the south near the Palmer Divide in Colorado into northeastern New Mexico. Snow began during the evening of November 5th and would continue through the early morning hours of November 9th. Snow was consistent or nearly consistent throughout this 84+ hour period, with frequents rounds of heavy to very heavy rain also occurring.

While not particularly strong, winds were high enough to whip snow around and create blowing and drifting snow. The combination of winds and heavy snow led to downed trees and powerlines. More than 30,000 people were without power in the Denver metro area alone, with 45,000 people without power in New Mexico. Many highways and interstates were impacted by this system, with a large stretch of I-70 closing east of the Denver metro area.

When all was said and done, the storm total snowfall amounts ranged from 24 to 36 inches across the southern foothills, the Palmer Divide and across the east-central Plains. Locally higher amounts exceeding 40 inches fell in areas southeast of Denver. The Denver metro area picked up around 12 to 24 inches of fresh powder. North of Denver, however, little to no snow fell, with anywhere from a Trace to a few inches occurring into southeastern Wyoming. Across northeastern New Mexico, snowfall amounts ranged from generally 20 to 40 inches. Even Santa Fe, New Mexico’s capital, picked up 16 inches of snow!

It is worth noting that November snow is not out of the ordinary for these areas. In fact, this was actually a late first measurable snow, which usually happens in mid-October. However, this will likely be the largest storm in November in nearly 30 years!

December: Santa Ana Wind Event Fuels Malibu, Calif., Wildfire
A Santa Ana wind event started across southern California on the evening of December 9th, with fierce winds raging through late December 10th. Santa Ana winds occur when high pressure settles over the Great Basin, causing winds to funnel from the northeast to the southwest through the mountainous terrain of southern California. As air moves down the mountains and higher elevations, winds accelerate while warming and drying out the air. Santa Ana wind events usually occur October through February and happen most often in the month of December.

With this event, widespread wind gusts up to 90 mph and humidity levels of 5 to 15-percent were expected across the coasts, valleys and mountains of the Santa Ana wind-prone corridor. In response to dry, windy conditions, a Particularly Dangerous Situation red flag warning was issued for the San Gabriel and Santa Monica mountains, the Santa Clarita Valley, Ventura County coasts and valleys and the western San Fernando Valley.

The so-called Franklin Fire broke out late in the evening of December 9th in Malibu, Calif., near Pepperdine University. It grew dramatically, caused thousands to evacuate and forced many students at Pepperdine University to shelter-in-place. Many celebrity houses were in the evacuation zone, including Dick Van Dyke, Cher, Mark Hamil and Lady Gaga. The wildfire started about three miles north of the Pacific Coast Highway and quickly spread south, jumping across the route into the Malibu Pier area. The highway was shutdown for a while as a result.

It burned around 4,037 acres and was declared 100-percent contained on December 18th. It destroyed 20 structures and damaged 28 structures. Thankfully, there are no fatalities from this fire. This Santa Ana event came just a month after another similar wind event helped spread the Mountain Fire, which scorched nearly 20,000 acres in Ventura County, Calif.

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Image: A car drives past flames from the Franklin Fire at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

2024 Year in Review: Year of Extreme Weather Worldwide