The southeastern United States is awaiting Tropical Storm Debby. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), Debby could cause “catastrophic flooding” in the coming days. Even in the Netherlands, we will face the consequences of the storm, says meteorologist Reinout van den Born.
US Storm Debbie Throws Dutch Summer Out of Balance
The storm's strength is still not too bad. Winds in the core are 90 kilometers per hour. “It's a tropical storm, not even a hurricane,” says van den Born. The winds are spread over a large area far from the core. Rainfall in particular is causing trouble.
“The rain is so heavy that we don’t get it in the Netherlands,” says van den Born. “In recent days, a storm has hit Georgia, dropping 500 millimeters of rain in two days. “That’s 50 buckets of 10 liters of water per square meter. (…) The water was reaching the tops of the roofs. The same is expected in the states north of Georgia in the coming days.”
Authorities in the states where Debbie lives said they had never seen such a large amount of rain before. The storm made landfall in Florida earlier this week, causing extensive damage. At least five people were killed.
“The rain is the heaviest we have ever seen in the Netherlands”
Colorado State University predicts the United States will have to brace for a severe hurricane season. Debbie is just the beginning. Van den Born sees it that way, too. He explains that the seawater in the region where hurricanes form is warmer than usual.
Meanwhile, a cold ocean current called La Niña is developing in the Pacific Ocean along the equator between South America, Australia and Indonesia. “This ensures that the atmosphere in the region where hurricanes are formed becomes very calm. Hurricanes are like that. The calmer the atmosphere, the easier it is for hurricanes to form and the heavier they become.
Holland
“It will also be very interesting” in the Netherlands, says van den Born. Debby is moving north and ending up over the ocean in two separate parts around Tuesday. The Netherlands may have to deal with the first part on Tuesday or Wednesday, after two very warm European days. The second part of the storm will be noticeable by the end of the week. “These two parts together make the summer very unbalanced and more variable and colder.”
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