Over the past week, an intense tropical cyclone has been strengthening, with winds reaching 120mph. This cyclone originated on the west coast of the Cocos Islands and has been tracking south-west over the Indian Ocean in recent days.
This tropical cyclone was named Anggrek by the Jakarta Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre, but is not forecast to make landfall as it circulates around the central Indian Ocean before weakening later this week.
After the eastern US was hit by a series of winter storms last week, which caused severe damage to many states amid extreme snowfall, western US will experience heavy rain as a deepening low moves in from the Atlantic.
Areas in the north-west of California are expected to have the highest rainfall, with totals of more than 100mm possible on Wednesday. These weather phenomena are sometimes referred to as atmospheric rivers, with the one of the best-known examples over the west coast of the US sometimes referred to as the “pineapple express”. The name is a reference to the warm and moist air that is transported north-west from the tropical Pacific near Hawaii.
This warm and moist air then makes landfall over the west coast of the US, causing heavy rain and snow over the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Western areas of Canada are also expected to be affected by flooding linked to atmospheric rivers this week, with Vancouver Island expected to receive more than 200mm of rain over a couple of days.
These atmospheric rivers are potentially enhanced by the current El Niño, which allows more moisture to be absorbed by the warmer temperatures over the Pacific. Atmospheric rivers can be very damaging and cause severe flooding, but can also provide a much needed source of water to areas that commonly suffer from drought.
A heatwave across Spain brought some of the highest temperatures ever recorded in January. Temperatures reached close to 30C, which is about 10C above average for this time of year. The heatwave across Spain is expected to weaken this week although temperatures will remain above average.
Canada and northern areas of the US are also set to see above average temperatures towards the end of this month and through the beginning of February after having suffered from bitterly cold temperatures through much of January.