Human Interest The Most Extreme Weather Events of 2022 (So Far) As the effects of climate change continue to impact our planet, people from all over the world have been experiencing severe weather changes — from record-breaking heat waves to powerful winter storms By Diane J. Cho Diane J. Cho Diane J. Cho was the Features Editor of PEOPLE Digital from 2019 to 2022. She worked at the brand for nearly four years covering news, features, human interest, evergreen, holiday gift guides and more. She launched the How I Parent and What It's Really Like to Be …. digital series and has interviewed several celebrities and influential leaders within the entertainment industry. Prior to joining PEOPLE, Diane worked at Bustle, VH1 and Complex. She received her bachelor's degree in Journalism from Rutgers University and her master's degree from Columbia Journalism School. People Editorial Guidelines Published on April 22, 2022 04:38 PM Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos 01 of 09 January: Winter Storm Izzy Leaves More Than 100,000 Without Power in the Southeast Peter Zay/Anadolu Agency via Getty North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky were hit particularly hard by winter storm Izzy, which brought on freezing temperatures, high winds, snow and ice to the southeast region of the United States. The frigid weather event left more than 100,000 people without power and places like North Carolina saw up to 10 in. of snow, Newsweek reported in Janurary. North Carolina highway patrol responded to 300 car crashes and nearly 800 calls for assistance, according to spokesman First Sgt. Christopher Knox, the outlet also reported at the time. 02 of 09 January: Deadly Snow Storm Malik Pounds Northern Europe Owen Humphreys/PA Images via Getty Public transportation was forced to stop, major bridges had to shut down, markets were flooded, several people were killed and officials in areas in Northern Europe, like Germany's Berlin, declared an emergency order for residents to stay home as Storm Malik thrashed through in January. The storm, also known as Nadia in Germany, brought on hurricane-level winds, floods and at least 130,000 homes in England lost power, DW reported in January. Out of the several people who were killed, one was a 9-year-old boy who died when a tree fell on him, and a person in Czech Republic was killed after sustaining injuries from a wall that was blown down by the wind, the outlet reported. 03 of 09 January: 7 States in Malaysia Hit by Massive Floods NAZRULHAD HASHIM/AFP via Getty More than 125,000 people had to evacuate as heavy rain caused massive floods in Malaysia's Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Johor, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan and Sabah, CNN reported in January. The country's annual monsoon season usually brings a lot of rain but this year's unusally heavy rainfall displaced more than 8,000 people, and filled up more than 100 relief centers. At least 50 people died in the floods, the outlet reported, based on a police tweet citing Inspector-General Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani. 04 of 09 February: 'One of the Most Significant Icing Events' in Texas John Moore/Getty In early February, the Northeast was pounded with snow, sleet and ice. Moving from New Mexico to New England, the freezing cold front buried neighborhoods with more than a foot of snow in New York and New England. As several schools across several states and thousands of flights were canceled, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called the winter storm "one of the most significant icing events that we've had in the State of Texas in at least several decades," The New York Times reported at the time. 05 of 09 March: Heat Wave Hits Antarctica Sebnem Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty It was shocking news to scientists to learn that the coldest location on the planet had reached up to 70 degrees above normal for more than three days in March. "This event is completely unprecedented and upended our expectations about the Antarctic climate system," Jonathan Wille, a researcher studying polar meteorology at Université Grenoble Alpes in France, told The Washington Post in an email. The outlet shared that the average temperature in the middle of the east Antarctic ice sheet is around minus 63 degrees (minus-53 Celsius) around that time of year, but this year in March, the temperature was measured at 0 degrees (minus-17.7 Celsius). The staggering leap broke the record for hottest ever in the region, so far. 06 of 09 March: India's Hottest Month in 122 Years Debarchan Chatterjee/NurPhoto via Getty The month of March was the hottest month on record for India in 122 years, Quartz India reported. The country basically skipped spring and zoomed into summer, which has been gradually happening year after year. People have had to adapt to safer work conditions, like cutting their shifts or working at night, to avoid the extreme heat — even if it meant less wages. Richshaw puller Sunil Das told Quartz that, "It's become impossible to work after 10 o'clock in the morning," so he heads home and then continues at night. He added, "It has reduced my earnings but what alternative do I have?" 07 of 09 March: Tropical Cyclone Gombe Kills More Than 50 in Mozambique ALFREDO ZUNIGA/AFP via Getty The death toll rose to at least 50 people after Tropical Cyclone Gombe pummeled Mozambique in March. The initial death toll was estimated to be only seven, according to Aljazeera. The outlet also reported that Southern Africa has seen a rise in cyclones that have become more deadly over time, and scientists believe it's a result of the Indian Ocean getting warmer, which has been fueling the strength of the cyclones. 08 of 09 April: Alabama Has the Most Tornado Warnings in the Country Ben Hendren/Anadolu Agency via Getty The southern state endured floods, hail storms and dangerous winds, but the National Weather Service announced that Alabama had the most tornado warnings out of all the states this year — 115 to be exact, as of April 18. Coming in second was Mississippi with 110, Texas with 104 and Arkansas with 88, according to WSFA12 News. 09 of 09 April: Tropical Storm Megi Kills More Than 120 in the Philippines BOBBIE ALOTA/AFP via Getty The first big storm of the year ravaged the Philippines, especially the city of Baybay, where landslides from the relentless rain buried a remote community, The New York Times reported in April. Tropical Storm Megi killed at least 123 people, and the following intermittent rains made the search for missing people a lot more difficult. Mark Timbal, a spokesman for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, told the Times, "The landslide reached beyond the hazard-prone areas," and the residents that had evacuated their areas in anticipation of the storm did not expect the landslide to reach their location. The outlet also reported that overall, approximately nine regions and about 139,000 people were affected by the storm.