Western Australia experienced unusually heavy and torrential rain along with severe wind gusts last weekend, as the remnants of Tropical Cyclone Mangga tracked along western coastal areas. The tropical cyclone transitioned to extra-tropical before reaching the westernmost lands of Australia, but its interaction with an active cold front gave it new strength and it hit the coast with gusts close to 75mph and rainfall totals of more than 40mm on Sunday 24 May.
Meanwhile, southern parts of Italy experienced a record-breaking heatwave between 13 and 16 May, as extremely hot south-easterly sirocco winds caused temperatures to rise above 35C (95F) in three regions. One of the hottest places was around Palermo, on the north coast of Sicily, where temperatures were as high as 34C at 3am, and reached 38-40C, breaking the May national record of 36.8C set in 2008. Temperatures at Palermo–Boccadifalco airport peaked at 38.6C on the 13th, 38.8C on the 14th and 39.1C on the 16th.
Finally, a series of severe thunderstorms occurred in Texas during the night of 23 May. Four tornados were reported close to the border with Oklahoma, and another thunderstorm produced a giant hailstone measuring 5.33in (13.5cm) in diameter, which landed inside a house after falling through the roof.
