This week brought several big headlines in extreme weather news:
Check out photos of the week's extreme weather from around the world:
- The polar vortex descended across much of North America on Monday and Tuesday, bringing sub-zero temperatures that set records across the continent.
- Three new schools opened in Joplin, Missouri this week, after a devastating tornado swept through the town on May 22, 2011 that killed 161 people and destroyed more than 8,000 buildings.
- Nearly 100,000 bats died in Australia this past week from a heat wave, as temperatures soared to 109 degrees Fahrenheit.
- A low pressure system, dubbed the "black swell," brought nearly 60-foot waves to France, Portugal and Ireland.
- Indonesian officials confirmed that Mount Sinabung's eruptions are intensifying, having erupted 220 times over the past week-and-a-half and displacing 20,000.
Check out photos of the week's extreme weather from around the world: