Exceptional Heat Hits Pacific Northwest

[multiweb]

49c surface temp in Seattle :eyepop:

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/148506/exceptional-heat-hits-pacific-northwest

[JA]

Over the next few years, I think we can expect some changes compared to the last few years as the Sun is "coming round the mountain" and now building in to Solar Cycle 25, just out of the solar minimum and the relatively weak previous Solar Cycle (24). Sunspots, Solar output, temperatures, crop yields, etc.. should all be on the up.

Best
JA

[glend]

It reached 49.6C at Lytton, British Columbia, Canada; pretty much unheard of up there.
The very serious flow on from this year event, is the catastrophic risk of forest fires. British Columbia is heavily forested, with Fir and Spruce, and some Redwoods on Vancouver Island. The needle bearing conifers literally burst into flames if ignited, due to the kerosene type properties of their sap (The very thing that keeps them from freezing solid in the harsh winters). Conifers have similiar flamibility to Gum trees. With the high temperatures, and lack of rain/snow the usual water runoff into lakes and dams is missing this summer (which has only really started in the last few weeks). This is a climate bomb waiting to go off. If the conifer forests catch fire, in this sort of heat, there will be no stopping it.

[AdamJL]

And their infrastructure isn’t geared for heat. I feel for them but expect this to continue for years into the future

[glend]

Ok tuff guy, but you expect that in Australia, not at latitude 50 degrees North. And of course asphalt surface temperatures are going to be much higher ( anywhere), notice they did not mention that in their reporting.

[N1]

Sure. Now, imagine that place dropping to minus 20. That's the kind of extreme they are experiencing, just in the opposite way.

[muletopia]

We have dear friends who live in Victoria BC in an apartment without air conditioning. They have not replied to an email I sent them yesterday.
The city is ill prepared for this weather.


Chris

[Hans Tucker]

Apologies for being blasé to the situation with my comment.

[mura_gadi]

[QUOTE=muletopia;1524703]We have dear friends who live in Victoria BC in an apartment without air conditioning. They have not replied to an email I sent them yesterday.
The city is ill prepared for this weather.


It seems very bad, I have just been reading an article for BC on the coroner report for one area. Average Friday-Monday death reporting is 110, they are at 233 and expecting more reports in. Below is a chart that shows the new highest temps, there are some ridiculous jumps in the new records.

Fingers crossed for your friends, hopefully the end for the heat wave is close.



Steve
Ps. Nice to have two damp t-shirts, keep one in the freezer and swap them around as required. Same again for tea towels to put around your neck, armpits and inside top thighs. Those places have fairly large surface blood veins/arteries and are the best spots to chill.

[multiweb]

I think that is the issue. Adaptability. They're not used to that kind of heat nor geared for it. Quite the opposite. Also as Glen pointed out the vast conifer forests are a powder keg. Only a matter of time. That is one scary prospect.

[billdan]

These extreme weather events are certainly concerning.

Four months ago in Feb 2021, Dallas Texas (Latitude 32° N, similar to Sydney or Perth) its temperature dropped to -18° C due to an Arctic cold storm. Those temperatures broke all their previous records, also the Texas power grid collapsed..

[DeWynter]

Just to remind you guys, that latitude does NOT represent a climate zone. Climate zones boundaries fluctuate on each continent and also depend on quite a few factors. My hometown has the same latitude as Rome (Italy), but climate is not even close to be as in Rome. So sub-zero temperatures in Dallas are not a surprise. Maybe not like -18 (that is certainly an extreme), but climate in Dallas is much colder than in Sydney even if we are still in the same Sub-tropical climate zone.

[Steffen]

Indeed. Distance from body of water, size of landmass, hemisphere, ocean currents, etc. all play a major role in the climate.

Consider that all of Germany is at a higher latitude (closer to the pole) than Invercargill at the southern tip of New Zealand. And all of Scandinavia is at a higher latitude than the southern tip of Patagonia.

[andyc]

Actually it wasn't the record for Dallas
(https://www.weather.gov/fwd/dgr8mxmn), and though seven stations did manage all-time station lows in that weather event (https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2021/03/february-2021-was-the-16th-warmest-february-on-record-noaa-reports/) (excellent summary at the link), they were in Colorado, North Dakota and Nebraska. These are only a few out of very many stations. In keeping with the warming trends the event was only the coldest Feb since 1989 in the US, and 19th coldest on record. Globally, it was the 16th warmest February. It's a common pattern now, with all-time heat records vastly more likely to fall than cold records, even as some fairly extremecold still can happen. And what seems unremarkably cold to the 20st Century human is astonishing to the 21st Century human (https://xkcd.com/1321/). I've seen some of the plausible weather events for Melbourne & Sydney later this century, they are intimidating 50C events :(

[gary]

Reuters reports a few hours ago (1 July 2021) on the rising death toll
from the heatwave.





Full story here :-
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/dire-fire-warnings-issued-wake-record-heatwave-canada-us-2021-06-30/

[multiweb]

Apparently as a result of the heat a few smaller towns in the area have also already reached the same number of homicides in june 2021 as the whole previous year. The police force is walking on eggs and reticent to maintain a strong presence after the latest events.

[Hans Tucker]

A bit if a stretch to blame the heat for the rise in homicides or crime even... more due to radical social change particularly across California.

[multiweb]

Not much of a stretch imho. Here in Liverpool there's more domestic violence with the heat and people drinking. Goes hand in hand. Just lucky we don't have guns.

[AdamJL]

Yep. Spent 7 years living in the UK in the early 2000s, and when they had their hot summers (there were a few!) boy it was uncomfortable. The Tube?!?! Awful. Winter, though. Another story. It was always easy to heat the flat.



Geez, that's sad. Does remind me of the heatwave in France 2003. Wasn't it around 40,000 extra deaths? I can't remember the exact figure but it was massive.



Off topic, but that's something I've never understood. When I've had a bit to drink, I get happy and maybe hand out a few too many cuddles. Violence? I just don't get it.

[gary]

In a June 30th 2021 article (https://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/transportation/infrastructure/how-heat-domes-can-cripple-trains-power-grids) at the The Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers (IEEE) Spectrum Magazine web site, Peter Fairley reports on
the consequences the heatwave is having on some infrastructure, including,
as he writes, how "Portland, Oregon’s crippled rail systems reveal how
climate change sometimes outpaces infrastructure".



Story and video here :-
https://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/transportation/infrastructure/how-heat-domes-can-cripple-trains-power-grids

[multiweb]

More businesses from now on will prioritize climate in their risk assessment. I remember the USAF mentioned that as a priority when the last serious cyclone in Florida badly knocked around some of their very expensive latest fighter jets ground based there.

[glend]

The inevitable,


https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-wildfires-lytton-july-1-2021-1.6087311

And while this was going on Exxon had its lobbiest ringing around to key US Senators to insure that Biden's Infrastructure Bill was stripped of any climate change initiatives, and they succeeded.

[Retrograde]

Seems Canada has been experiencing some of the same, fire-generated weather that we saw in the Australian bushfires during the 2019/2020 season.

Pretty scary: https://www.sfgate.com/weather/amp/pyrocumulonimbus-British-Columbia-lightning (https://www.sfgate.com/weather/amp/pyrocumulonimbus-British-Columbia-lightning-Canada-16287681.php?__twitter_impression=t rue)

[multiweb]

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/148530/blazes-rage-in-british-columbia

[drylander]

The sky is falling Run
Pete

[multiweb]

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/148555/smoky-summer-in-the-pacific-northwest

[mura_gadi]

Hello,

After that post I think they added 85 fires in 48 hours after that. There are now operators who's business rely on smoke proofing houses and business over on the Canada/USA coast.

That's insane to think that there have been enough fires for long enough over wide enough area for these companies to operate now. Imo a sign for us later on.



Steve

[drylander]

and major floods in Germany and Belgium. We're doomed I tells ya doomed.
:rofl:

[multiweb]

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/148669/californias-dixie-fire-keeps-on-growing

[DarkArts]

Aye, Peter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxqvwkmTNy8