Interesting global weather stories this week

While the soccer team trapped in the flooded cave in Thailand is making major news, several other interesting weather stories are also worthy of attention.

Santiago, Chile, is expecting its heaviest rainfall of the winter over the next 24 hours as the region braces for 25-50 mm (1-2 inches). Travel in the region will be impacted and ski resorts can expect up to a meter (3 feet) of fresh snow.

In Reykjavik, Iceland, cool, wet weather has been the theme since May. While most of Europe has been graced with warmth and sunshine, Iceland has had perhaps its worst start to summer since at least 1914. Rain was recorded for every day in May and the maximum temperature in June was only 13.2 C (55.8 F).

While the summer is always hot and dry in Iraq, farmers are facing worse conditions than normal this year. The government has banned farmers from even planting summer crops as water shortages continue to worsen by the day. Nationwide, one in five Iraqis works in agriculture.

Satellite image of Typhoon Maria on Thursday, courtesy of NOAA.

Finally, Typhoon Maria in the west Pacific Ocean will track over the open ocean in the coming days but could become a super Typhoon and one of the strongest tropical cyclones in the world so far this year. Impacts to land are not expected until early next week when Japan's Ryukyu Islands will be at risk for damaging winds. Areas from eastern China to the Korean Peninsula and Japan should monitor this storm closely.