Heaviest rains in Colombia's history trigger deadly landslide; 145 dead or missing
Colombia's heaviest rains in history triggered a landslide in the poor hillside community of Bello on Sunday, killing at least 20 people and leaving 125 missing. This year's unprecedented rainy season had already killed 176 people prior to Sunday, making it one of the deadliest flooding years in Colombia's history, according to the director of Colombia's national disaster management office, Luz Armanda Pulido. In 2009, 110 people died in flooding disasters, and 48 were killed in 2008, according to Colombian Red Cross director of national relief operations Carlos Ivan Marquez. This year's rains are the heaviest in the 42 years since Colombia's weather service was created and began taking data, agency director Ricardo Lozano said. The resulting flooding has destroyed or damaged the homes of 1.6 million people. Colombia's president Juan Manuel Santos said the number of homeless from the flooding could reach 2 million, and said "the tragedy the country is going through has no precedents in our history." Neighboring Venezuela has also been hard-hit by this year's severe rainy season--at least 30 people are dead from floods and mudslides, and tens of thousands homeless. More rain is in the forecast--the latest forecast from the GFS model (Figure 2)--calls for an additional 4 - 6 inches (100 - 150 mm) across much of western and northern Colombia in the coming week.
Figure 1. Satellite-observed rainfall over Colombia during the past two weeks shows a region of 100 - 200 mm (4 - 8 inches) has fallen near Medellin, close to where Sunday's landslide in Bello occurred. Image credit: Navy Research Lab, Monterey.
Colombia's rainy season usually peaks in October, then gradually wanes in November and December. The heavy rains are due to the presence of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, the area encircling the earth near the Equator where winds originating in the northern and southern hemispheres come together. When these great wind belts come together (or "converge", thus the name "Convergence Zone"), the converging air is forced upwards, since it has nowhere else to go. The rising air fuels strong thunderstorm updrafts, creating a band of very heavy storms capable of causing heavy flooding rains. This year is a La Niña year, which means there is a large region of colder than average water off the Pacific coast of Colombia. Colder than average water off the Pacific coast enhances rainfall over Colombia, and this year's La Niña, which is at the borderline between the "moderate" and "strong" categories, is largely to blame for Colombia's deadly rainy season.
Figure 2. Rainfall forecast from today's run of the GFS model predicts that region to the north and west of Bogota, Colombia may see another 100 - 150 mm (4 - 6 inches) during the coming week (red colors.) Image credit: NOAA/CPC.
See also my November 22 post, Colombia rainy season floods kill 136.
I'll have a new post on Wednesday.
Jeff Masters
Reader Comments
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88?
We been freezing our high knees off up here!
Evening all!
o okay.. I'm doing pretty good.. about to go out and get something to eat.. brb.. hope ur doing good other than all that rain..
Haha, i've seen him around a lot lately.
Oh boy. Wonder what will happen down here.
doing fine,thank you
Rain has been a minor inconvenience for me
other areas,quiet the opposite.
I got 39 over here in RPB. I have a pair of socks on and my feet are still cold.
Actually it is a little cold here. I had to bring in my vertubenblubens and and gernockens in before they froze. (P.S. I drive just fine, just don't know why everyone else drives on the wrong side of the road on I-95.)
No, it really is cold. I forget where you are door?
I think you love that square-dance flag a little too much.
Going to have a nice electric bill next month! Have the air off and it's 69 in my house. Nice sleeping weather.
ya.. I just got to 38.. its dropping pretty good..
When are you going to move back to sunny Florida? 10 is ridiculous.
Have the same thing going for me but it's 64 inside.
Don't you people have reverse cycle on your air conditioners with heat?
Hey Jeff.. how was ur day sir?? pretty chilly all day here.. Hopefully we will get some snow sometime this winter.. ;)
not quite snow yet. Shreveport says accumulations up tp 1" by morning though
Yeah, we switch the thermostat to "heat". 45.3 here, at the moment.
What it is, Instigator?
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIAMI HAS ISSUED A FREEZE WARNING... WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM TO 9 AM EST WEDNESDAY.
WINDS TONIGHT ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME LIGHT NORTHWEST AND EVEN CALM IN AREAS OVERNIGHT. DRIER AIR WILL ALSO BE MOVING IN FROM THE NORTH. THIS ALONG WITH A MOSTLY CLEAR SKY WILL ALLOW FOR STRONG RADIATIONAL COOLING TO OCCUR TONIGHT. TEMPERATURES ARE FORECAST TO FALL INTO THE MID 20S TO AROUND 30 OVER MUCH OF GLADES AND HENDRY COUNTIES... AND 29 TO 32 OVER INLAND PALM BEACH COUNTY AND BROWARD COUNTY. TEMPERATURES OVER THE SOUTHERN AREAS AWAY FROM THE COASTS ARE FORECAST TO FALL INTO THE LOWER TO MID 30S EXCEPT AROUND 30 OVER THE REDLANDS.
Hi Jeff, been awhile and yes i remember you saying last week it might. kinda want to see some but not looking forward to the drive thursday morning.I think i could get to 25 tonight and a hard freeze.
It be cold! How cold are you supposed to get tonight, way up North there?
How dare you forget me!
Just kidding, Northshore of lake Ptrain in Louisiana.
NWS, Melbourne, FL:
"Tonight: Clear, with a low around 30. Northwest wind around 5 mph."
been relaxing for once.. But checking up on this weather and what can happen in the morning or into the weekend or maybe monday..
Shall be interesting..
I hope not, I gotta work in the mess tomorrow!
Yea I love snow, but of course I live in the south.. So maybe one day I will move up north someday.. Maybe near Cleveland where most of my family is at..
LOL. See my last. The air is so dry that we shouldn't have frost, thankfully.
Yeah i hear you and thats what the NWS is saying, but i remember last year covered the ground and the roads north of Tampa. Stay warm dude and will talk later.
Yes, it is getting colder. Hope your Mom gets better. Just looked out the window and saw this: Gecko alert!!!
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