Weather

At least 96 people were killed after an unseasonal violent storm hit the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh with heavy rain, hail and lightning on Wednesday, officials said.

Heat is expected to intensify across western parts of the US and Mexico this week as a ridge of high pressure pushes temperatures well above the seasonal norm. Daytime highs are forecast to reach 10-15C above average in some areas.

Extreme weather phenomena are being recorded in recent days, with weather conditions resembling winter, as many areas of the country were “dressed” in white, despite being in early May. Just before the start of the summer season, temperatures have plummeted due to a cold front invasion, with readings even dropping below zero.

A study released last year by the Brazilian Alliance for Ocean Culture found that rain disasters, including flooding and landslides, tripled in Brazil from 1991 to 2023.

The storms may bring reprieve to the wildfires raging in several places in the Netherlands. But before the thunderstorms, the Netherlands has some summer weather to look forward to.

The hail injured some drivers, knocked out power to thousands and damaged hundreds of vehicles and even some aircraft. One of the softball-size hunks of ice that hit the Springfield area on Tuesday measured 4.75 inches (12 centimeters).

At the Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield, staff tried to move animals inside including Adam, a 21-year-old female emu. But an emu’s natural behavior is to lie down and take cover, spokesperson Joey Powell said in an email to The Associated Press.

Adam died from head trauma. And Oscar, a 17-year-old type of flightless bird called a rhea, was injured by the hail but was receiving pain medication and doing well Wednesday morning, as the zoo remained closed.

Qinzhou authorities said the city’s meteorological station recorded rainfall of over 270 millimeters (about 10 inches) during a 24-hour period ending at 8 a.m. on Monday. That was the highest amount recorded there on a single day in April.