A storm system crossing the central US has caused an array of severe weather across several states in recent days. It instigated an early start to the tornado season in the Texas Panhandle, with numerous tornadoes reported south of Amarillo on 13 March. Two tornadoes on the ground from the same camping site at the Palo Duro Canyon state park resulted in several camper vans being overturned, but no injuries were reported due to the sparseness of the area affected.
The same storm system was also responsible for heavy snowfall through Colorado and Wyoming over the weekend bringing accumulations of up to 65.5cm (25.8 inches), recorded in Cheyenne. Denver international airport shut down all runways on Sunday due to heavy to moderate snow during the day alongside blustery winds. Elsewhere across northern Colorado, power outages affected about 40,000 customers on Sunday afternoon.
Meanwhile, in Europe, a period of settled weather has given way to much more unsettled conditions across the north-west of the continent, bringing strong winds. These winds combined with spring sunshine led to a near-record-breaking level of renewable energy production, with Germany reaching 61.2GW for a time on 12 March, remarkably close to the record of 61.4GW on 26 August 2020.
