Wednesday July 15th… Dear Diary. The main purpose of this ongoing blog 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).😉
Main Topic: Prolonged Historic U.S. Heat Wave…Update #11: Dangerous Heat Diminishes In Some Areas
Dear Diary. I have some good news regarding our ongoing heat wave today. It appears that at least temporarily heat levels will go below record levels in New Mexico and Texas in most locations and that, though still dangerous, heat levels will be manageable through Thursday.
As usual to start this blog let’s access U.S. heat levels for the next two days. Our mid level CAT 2 heat wave from yesterday has diminished to CAT 1 status today. Heat advisories have been paired back substantially in the south-central states:
This is not to write that this heat wave will end. Cities like Atlanta and Miami should see at least slightly above average July temperatures for as far out as meteorological model guidance goes.
On Thursday I don’t see any one place that will see historic record heat, but our low level CAT 1 heat wave will continue to simmer across most of the South and Mid-Atlantic:
Dallas may start a streak of days above 100°F.
So when will this “historic” prolonged heat wave truly get noteworthy and affect the Midwest? Today let’s look at 850 temperature anomalies to get a clue. Over the weekend a surge of warm air should move into the Great Lakes ahead of the next front:
This surge should increase temperature levels towards dangerous levels northward to a line west to east from Kansas City to Chicago to Detroit to New York City, well past 90 degrees by Sunday with the nation as a whole going back to my CAT 2 heat wave status:
As you can see by the above forecast chart heat levels will be about the same across the South as they are today. Will we see many records fall? Probably not through the weekend. The only facet making this heat wave truly historic will be its longevity.
As usual, I’ll be posting more updates on this dangerous heat wave as the day progresses.
Here is more climate and weather news from Wednesday:
(As usual, this will be a fluid post in which more information gets added during the day as it crosses my radar, crediting all who have put it on-line. Items will be archived on this site for posterity. In most instances click on the pictures of each tweet to see each article. The most noteworthy items will be listed first.)
Now here are some of today’s articles and notes on the horrid COVID-19 pandemic:
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Guy Walton… “The Climate Guy”