Thursday July 19th… Dear Diary. The main purpose of this ongoing post will be to track United States extreme or record temperatures related to climate change. Any reports I see of ETs will be listed below the main topic of the day. I’ll refer to extreme or record temperatures as ETs (not extraterrestrials)😊. Here is today’s main climate change post related hot topic:
Explosion of All-Time Records
If there was ever a time on this site to press a red alert button if it had one it would be now. Climatologically in the Northern Hemisphere at most locations the hottest time of the year is in July into the first week of August, so even during cooler global periods prior to 1980 people experienced hot conditions during thus period of the calendar year. Adding increasing carbon pollution into the climate mix is like pouring kerosene onto a campfire making the thing explode with record heat, which indeed has happened this month. Bob Henson has written a masterful piece summarizing worldwide, eye opening record reports from the last week here:
https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/Hot-Times-Reindeer-All-Time-Records-Melt-Lapland
Before concentrating on more local national heat I’ll quote segments of Bob’s piece:
“Temperatures soared into the nineties Fahrenheit north of the Arctic Circle on Tuesday and Wednesday, as 2018’s parade of exceptional heat continued marching across the Northern Hemisphere. This week has been northern Scandinavia’s turn under the sizzling klieg lights, including Lapland (Sápmi), the region of northern Scandinavia famed for its reindeer and often associated with Christmas. In contrast to that wintry reputation, Sweden is now grappling with an onslaught of wildfires unprecedented in modern times, as reported by weather.com.”
“At the Makkaur, Norway lighthouse, located at 70.7°N–hundreds of miles inside the Arctic Circle–the temperature did not drop below 25.2°C (77.4°F) the night of July 18 – 19. According to Herrera and weather records expert Jérôme Reynaud, this destroyed the world record of highest minimum temperature for the Arctic, and is the all-time third highest minimum temperature recorded anywhere in Scandinavia. It is also the highest minimum temperature ever recorded in northern Norway (previous record for northern Norway: 24.7 °C on July 1, 1972 at Grøtøy), and for northern Scandinavia as a whole. Several other stations in Norway also set unfathomable minimum temperature marks on Thursday morning, including 20.5°C (68.9°F) at Lyngen Gjerdvassbu, Norway at 69.55°N at an elevation of 710m (1583 feet).”
“The insanely warm minimum temperatures are being made possible by ridiculously warm ocean temperatures in the Baltic Sea, which were more than 8°C (14°F) above average on July 18, in the northern Gulf of Bothnia between Finland and Sweden.”
Heat wave rolls onward in East Asia:
“Extreme heat has gripped parts of East Asia, including Japan and Korea, since last weekend, with several more days of intense heat on tap. The heat wave is being blamed for at least 14 heat-related deaths and thousands of heat-stroke hospitalizations.”
“Dozens of nations and states around the globe have recorded monthly or all-time record high temperatures in 2018 thus far. Each location and record is detailed in the annotated version of this graphic. Image credit: Jérôme Reynaud, Géoclimat.”
I haven’t reposted most of Bob’s numerous international record statistics, which you can read in the post. Segueing into what I intend this site to do, reporting national “ETs,” here is Bob’s U.S. data:
Rocky Mountain highs-Record-breaking strings of hot days:
“Parts of Colorado have seen an unprecented number of days hitting at least 90°F for the year to date. Up through Monday, July 16, Denver reported 33 days in the 90s, which beats the old year-to-date record of 31 such days, set in 2012. Denver’s weather records go all the way back to 1872. In Pueblo, where records go back to 1888, a total of 49 days have hit the 90°F mark so far, compared to the previous year-to-date record of 42, set in 1974. We have a long way to go before Pueblo could reach the full-year record total of 90 days hitting at least 90°F, which was set in 2000. However, the city is predicted to reach 90°F every day for at least the next week, and some of Pueblo’s hottest weather can occur in August, after the peak of the midsummer monsoon.”
“Even the state of Texas—where summer temperatures often climb above 100°F—is feeling the heat. Readings in the Dallas-Fort Worth area hit 104°F on Tuesday and 106°F on Wednesday. The DFW metroplex could reach or exceed 105°F each day into early next week, along with low temperatures possibly failing to dip below 80°F. The longest streak of highs on record of at least 105°F in Dallas-Fort Worth occurred during the infamous heat wave of 1980. That year produced 11 consecutive days of 105°F heat—from July 8 to 18—and an incredible 28 days across the summer as a whole. The forecast calls for the heat wave to peak on Friday, with a high temperature of 109°F. There has been only one July day since 1980 to record a temperature that warm in the city—a 110°F reading on July 12, 1998.”
“Waco, Texas recorded a high temperature of 108°F on Wednesday. This breaks the previous daily record of 106°F set in both 2006 and 1925, and is the hottest temperature recorded in Waco since August 28, 2011 (109°F).”
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Since Waco did exceed record limits let’s arbitrarily declare that Wednesday was the first day of yet another historic heatwave this season to plague the United States. Today I expect numerous reports of records across the Lone Star State:
NWS Fort WorthVerified account @NWSFortWorth
NWS Fort WorthVerified account@NWSFortWorth
NWS San DiegoVerified account@NWSSanDiego
Another #SoCal #HeatWave is on the way and looks to be prolonged as a strong ridge aloft moves overhead next week. #cawx
NWS BurlingtonVerified account @NWSBurlington
NWS BurlingtonVerified account @NWSBurlington
NWS Fort WorthVerified account @NWSFortWorth
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The Climate Guy