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A major cold front brought unusually low temperatures to many central southern US states early last week, as a chilled mass of air pushed southwards. With clear, calm conditions on the night of 3/4 May, the mercury plunged to just 3.5C in Austin, Texas, which broke the previous May minimum temperature record of 8C, set in 1978.
In China, Shanghai's skyscrapers were shrouded in clouds of mist and dust on 3 May. The cause was a major sandstorm, which originated in the southern Xinjiang basin and swept eastwards through 10 of China's northern provinces, reaching Shanghai late on 2 May.
Wind speeds then dropped and the dust became trapped below an atmospheric temperature inversion, causing severe pollution levels in and over the city. A few light rain showers on 4 May left muddy yellow deposits on all surfaces as the fine sediment was washed from the air.
The North Island of New Zealand endured tempestuous conditions last week. A tornado left a 6km long path of destruction through Auckland's Albany district on the afternoon of 3 May, damaging buildings, flipping over cars and killing one person. A deep low pressure trough and associated thunderstorms were responsible. Auckland then suffered flooding last Saturday, as a large depression in the Tasman Sea triggered bands of heavy showers over the city: 24mm of rain fell in less than an hour.
