Weather station near Bangkok recorded 213.5mm in a single day
Bangkok’s floodwaters followed days of relentless rainfall across central Thailand. MetDesk reporting in The Guardian traced the downpours to a weak area of low pressure that traveled north-westwards up the Gulf of Thailand early on Thursday before settling over central Thailand by Friday morning. The system remained roughly in place through the weekend, pouring continuous rain on Bangkok and nearby areas.
The deluge left the city’s markets and streets submerged. At one weather station near Prachin Buri, just north-east of the capital, 213.5mm fell within a single 24-hour window between Friday and Saturday evening local time. The Guardian noted the comparison: London receives an average of 585mm over an entire year. By Sunday, the center of the low-pressure cell had shifted north-westwards, and the torrential rainfall over Bangkok came to an end.
Out in the central Pacific, Hurricane Nolo took aim at Hawaii’s Big Island over the weekend. The system initially approached the archipelago earlier in the week, bringing heavy rainfall from around Tuesday evening. By the early hours of Saturday, Nolo had intensified to a Category 2 hurricane, with sustained winds of 85 to 90 knots — 98 to 104 mph — and sat at its closest point approximately 145 miles, or 233 kilometers, south of the Big Island. Strong winds were not the only threat. Weather stations in the north-east of the island recorded more than 530mm of rainfall since the storm’s impacts began late on Tuesday, September 22. Nolo has since propagated westwards away from Hawaii and was forecast to peak in intensity on Monday, September 28, with current predictions of Category 4 status.
Farther east in the Pacific, Hurricane Polo was on track to make landfall with the Baja California peninsula late on Monday. Once a Category 5 system, Polo was forecast to downgrade to Category 2 at landfall, with sustained winds of 96 to 110 mph. A hurricane warning had been issued in coastal regions due to the risk of storm surge where winds were onshore. The Guardian’s MetDesk forecast 100 to 200mm of rain across the peninsula, potentially reaching up to 250mm locally, with the bulk falling within a 12-hour period — conditions that raised concerns of life-threatening flooding and mudslides. The storm was expected to weaken as it propagated north-eastwards across Mexico’s Sonora region.