A bad year for the weather

It certainly has been a dramatic year for the weather, especially in Australia, but before we loose our heads a quick look at the record books indicates things have been as bad or worse in the past. 


1918 for instance saw two cyclones kill over a hundred people in North Queenland, both as intense as recent cyclone Yasi. There were record floods in eastern Australia, including the Great Rockhampton flood that saw the Fitzroy River rise to its highest level on record. There were notable floods also in New Zealand, Germany, England, and Africa. Meanwhile heat waves swept Australia (Sydney, Victoria, Perth, Brisbane), and Pennsylvania; and droughts occurred in Australia, Norway, India, North America, Brazil and Africa. Blizzards affected the eastern United States with the "coldest weather in history". There were also snowstorms in New Zealand, Argentina and in Europe, and tornados destroyed towns in the USA. 


To top it off there was also a World War, an influenza pandemic that killed millions, earthquakes rocked the Western USA, Puerto Rico, left over a 100,000 homeless in Guatemala, and a magnitude 6 earthquake damaged buildings in flood affected Rockhampton. Vesuvius erupted in Italy and Katla in Iceland.  

Let's get more serious, how about 1934? The Sydney Morning Herald provided the following weather related headlines?

Floods

Australia 

Lismore deluged Kyogle in darkness The Courier Mail Tuesday 2  January 1934

9 inches in 24 hours Rivers in High flood Cairns  The Courier Mail Tuesday 2  January 1934

Tweed Flood Feared The Courier Mail Tuesday 2  January 1934

Queensland Storms Floods delay trains. Bridges under water The Sydney Morning  Herald Tuesday 2 January

Thunder Storms cause damage. Lithgow The Sydney Morning  Herald Tuesday 2 January

Floods in Melbourne Suburbs Western Argus Tuesday 2 January

Heavy Thunderstorms damage in South Australia  Western Argus Tuesday 2 January

Storm ravages border areas, shops flooded in Kyogle The Courier Mail Wednesday 3 January

Flood in Burdekin  The Courier Mail Wednesday 3 January

Floods in Queensland The Sydney Morning Herald Wednesday 3 January

Melbourne Streets resemble canals The Mercury Wednesday 3 January

Queensland Rivers in flood The Advertiser Wednesday 3 January

Canberra Isolated by Road The Courier Mail Tuesday 9 january

Wangaratta suffers large flood expected The Argus Monday 8 January

Floods in Queensland The Sydney Morning Herald 31 January

Flood warning. North Coast Rivers. Monsoonal Rain The Sydney Morning Herald 2 February

Flood in Queensland The Sydney Morning Herald 17 February

Hawkesbury River in Flood The Sydney Morning Herald 23 February

Castlereagh River in Flood The Sydney Morning Herald 23 February

Queensland Floods Sixty men marooned The Sydney Morning Herald 23 February

Flood devastation The Sydney Morning Herald 24 February

Bridge work swept away. Merriwa. The Sydney Morning Herald 3 March

Torrential Rain Floods in Queensland The Sydney Morning Herald 13 March

Flood rains in North Queensland. Large areas inundated. The Sydney Morning Herald 14 March

Heavy Rain in Queensland The Sydney Morning Herald 2 April

Falls in WA. Perth The Sydney Morning Herald 4 April

Floods in Western Australia. Town isolated for week The Sydney Morning Herald 3 April

Floods in South Australia Dead Sheep in Tall Trees. The Sydney Morning Herald 14 April

Floods.North Coast Rivers. Two men nearly drowned. The Sydney Morning Herald 9 May

Floodwaters. Residences menaced at Coroki. The Sydney Morning Herald May 12

Diprotodon’s jaw uncovered by flood. The Sydney Morning Herald May 17

Rain in Queensland The Sydney Morning Herald June 25

More Rain. Flooding on south coast. The Sydney Morning Herald June 27

Flood rains on South Coast The Sydney Morning Herald July 25

Snowy River in Flood. The Sydney Morning Herald July 28

Weekend Gale. Warning of floods. The Sydney Morning Herald July 30

Flooded Rivers. Big damage in Hawkesbury Valley. Windsor Isolated. The Sydney Morning Herald July 31

Flooded Molonglo at Canberra and floods at Camden. The Sydney Morning Herald August 1

Heavy Rain in Riverina. The Sydney Morning Herald August 3

Burrinjuck Dam overflows The Sydney Morning Herald August 14

Southern Rivers flooding extends The Sydney Morning Herald August 15

Floods in the South. The Sydney Morning Herald August 16

The flooded Murrumbidgee. The Sydney Morning Herald August 16

Storm Sweeps Brisbane The Sydney Morning Herald August 25

Floods in Hunter The Sydney Morning Herald September 3

Cyclonic Storm Terrific rain Flooding in Suburbs The Sydney Morning Herald September 7

Car swept away from flooded bridge The Sydney Morning Herald October 22

Heavy Floods in NSW and Victoria The Sydney Morning Herald October 26

Torrential rain cause floods at Orange The Sydney Morning Herald October 27

Wagga Inundated The Sydney Morning Herald October 29

The floods near Narrandera The Sydney Morning Herald October 30

Flooded Rivers Murray overflows  The Sydney Morning Herald October 31

Violent Storms. More flooding in south The Sydney Morning Herald November 8

Rivers Swollen. Heavy Rain in Queensland The Sydney Morning Herald November 8

Flooding in Queensland The Sydney Morning Herald November 30

Havoc in Melbourne The Sydney Morning Herald December 1

Flood Disaster The Sydney Morning Herald December 5

Goulburn River in Flood The Sydney Morning Herald December 3

Record Flood Yarra’s devastating rush  The Sydney Morning Herald December 3

Yallourn open cut flooded The Sydney Morning Herald December 3

Rain without precedent The Sydney Morning Herald December 4

The Melbourne floods The Sydney Morning Herald December 10

Floods in Tasmania  The Sydney Morning Herald December 31

New Zealand

New Zealand Flood The Sydney Morning Herald May 8

Torrential Rain devastates two valleys. The Sydney Morning Herald May 7

Floods in New Zealand The Sydney Morning Herald June 20

Torrential Rain. Houses flooded in Auckland. The Sydney Morning Herald July 9

Hurricane in New Zealand The Sydney Morning Herald October 2

Floods in New Zealand The Sydney Morning Herald December 11

Italy

Floods in Venice The Sydney Morning Herald November 8

USA

Los Angeles. Terrific rainstorm, heavy death toll feared. The Sydney Morning Herald 3 January

Results of floods in Los Angeles The Sydney Morning Herald 9 February
Floods wreak havoc in California The Courier Mail Wednesday 3 January

Central America

Disastrous Storm in Central America The Sydney Morning Herald June 13

Poland

Floods in Poland. 50,000 families homeless. The Sydney Morning Herald July 20

Africa

Floods in South Africa The Sydney Morning Herald 9 January

India

Fire and Flood. Indian Earthquake death toll now 2500 The Sydney Morning Herald 19 January

Bengal Bridge. Fight for safety. Danger of monsoon Floods. The Sydney Morning Herald 20 February

Floods in India. Many lives lost. The Sydney Morning Herald 25 June

Terrific Rainfall. Huge Areas inundated The Sydney Morning Herald July 13

Floods in India The Sydney Morning Herald August 27

Japan

Japanese Floods. Heavy Death Toll The Sydney Morning Herald July 13

Typhoon Sweeps Japan The Sydney Morning Herald September 22

China

Floods in China. The Sydney Morning Herald July 19

Floods in Manchukuo The Sydney Morning Herald August 21

Drought

South Australia

Drought Broken The Sydney Morning Herald November 8

Britain

Drought in Britain The Sydney Morning Herald 4 January

Drought in Britain The Sydney Morning Herald June 18

Water shortage Heath fires in Britain  The Sydney Morning Herald June 18

United States of America

Wheat crop. United States drought The Sydney Morning Herald May 11

US Wheat crop smallest for 30 years The Sydney Morning Herald July 12

Drought in USA  The Sydney Morning Herald August 8

United States Worst Drought in history The Sydney Morning Herald August 17      

Canada

Wheat crops Canadian Production The Sydney Morning Herald August 8   

Russia

Wheat crop failures USA and Russia The Sydney Morning Herald May 31

Europe/North America

Drought Three Continents Heavy Losses reported The Sydney Morning Herald June 4

Germany

Drought in Germany The Sydney Morning Herald June 6

Bulgaria

Drought in Bulgaria The Sydney Morning Herald June 9

Japan

Japan Floods and Drought The Sydney Morning Herald July 12

China

Chinese Wheat Crop The Sydney Morning Herald November 5

Heat Waves

Australia

Heat Wave 110.2 degrees at Perth The Sydney Morning Herald 13 January

Heat Wave expected in coastal areas The Sydney Morning Herald 16 January

Heat wave in Victoria and South Australia The Sydney Morning Herald 17 January

Heat Wave danger of bush fires The Sydney Morning Herald 18 January

Heat Wave in three states The Sydney Morning Herald 19 January

Intense heat birds die and horses collapse  The Sydney Morning Herald 20 January

Heatwave throughout the state The Sydney Morning Herald 25 January

Heatwave in Sydney The Sydney Morning Herald 26 January

Oysters Heavy Mortality during heat wave The Sydney Morning Herald 7 February

Heat wave fires in South Australia The Sydney Morning Herald 9 February

Heatwave. High temperatures inland The Sydney Morning Herald 13 March

Heat wave over inland districts The Sydney Morning Herald 18 December

India

India Heat wave and storms  The Sydney Morning Herald June 1

North America

Drought in America The Sydney Morning Herald June 4

Heat wave in United States The Sydney Morning Herald July 23

Heat Wave Heavy Death toll The Sydney Morning Herald July 25

Heat Wave in USA causes 1100 deaths The Sydney Morning Herald July 27

Bulgaria

Drought in Bulgaria The Sydney Morning Herald June 7

Britain

Heat wave in southern England The Sydney Morning Herald June 18

China

Floods in china The Sydney Morning Herald July 19

Snow Storms/Blizzard

Japan

Blizzard in Japan The Sydney Morning Herald 6 January

United States of America

Intense cold in North America. People frozen to death The Sydney Morning Herald February 12

Blizzard in USA The Sydney Morning Herald February 22

Blizzard Sweeps USA The Sydney Morning Herald February 26

New Zealand

Blizzard. Most violent in Memory The Sydney Morning Herald July 2

Snow and Rain Heavy Storm in New Zealand The Sydney Morning Herald August 27

India

North-west India Unprecedented cold The Sydney Morning Herald 15 January

Cyclones/Typhoons/Hurricanes/Tornados

Australia

Cyclone at Inverall The Sydney Morning Herald 5 January

Cyclone disaster. The Sydney Morning Herald March 15         

Queensland Cyclone, heavy death toll feared The Sydney Morning Herald March 17           

Cyclone death toll 79. The Sydney Morning Herald March 17

Cyclone extensive damage Onslow The Sydney Morning Herald March 30

Central America

Disastrous Storm in Central America The Sydney Morning Herald June 11

Japan

Typhoon in Japan The Sydney Morning Herald September 25

Philippines

Typhoon in Philippines The Sydney Morning Herald October 15

USA

Tornado in New Orleans The Sydney Morning Herald March 26

Killed by Lightning

Australia

Year’s weather The Sydney Morning Herald 5 January

Terrific Storms The Sydney Morning Herald 8 January

Floods in Riverina The Sydney Morning Herald 9 January

Death in Storms Two men struck by lightning The Sydney Morning Herald 31 January

Sheep killed by lightning The Sydney Morning Herald 12 April

Storm in Queensland Man killed by lightning The Sydney Morning Herald 14 April

Lightning kills football enthusiast The Sydney Morning Herald 20 August

Lightning. Man killed on Road The Sydney Morning Herald 20 August

Casualties The Sydney Morning Herald 5 November

Cyclone sweeps Victoria three men killed The Sydney Morning Herald 9 November

South Africa

Lightning Flash kills and injures natives The Sydney Morning Herald November 19

Damaging Hail

Australia

Storms in Queensland wind lifts man bodily The Sydney Morning Herald 9 January

Hailstorm damage in Cessnock The Sydney Morning Herald February 16

Severe Storms heavy damage by hail The Sydney Morning Herald February 16

Remarkable Storm. Worst Hail on record The Sydney Morning Herald 20 December

Storms in Queensland Loss of lIfe The Sydney Morning Herald 21 December

Terrific Storm lashes Bathurst The Sydney Morning Herald 29 December

Bush fires

Australia

Bushfires-losses in Tasmania The Sydney Morning Herald January 18

Bushfires damage in suburbs The Sydney Morning Herald January 25

Bushfires Buildings Saved The Sydney Morning Herald January 26

Grass fires damage in South Australia The Sydney Morning Herald February 8

Heat wave Fires in South Australia The Sydney Morning Herald February 9

Bushfires Losses in Tasmania The Sydney Morning Herald February 12

Victorian outbreaks The Sydney Morning Herald February 12         

Bushfires The Sydney Morning Herald March 15

Bushfires damage in Queensland  The Sydney Morning Herald October 8

Bushfires Destruction in Western Australia The Sydney Morning Herald December 13

Dust Storms

Australia

Severe Dust Storms The Sydney Morning Herald September  8

Dust Storms The Sydney Morning Herald December 10

USA

US Crop prospects The Sydney Morning Herald July 24