The main purpose of this ongoing blog will be to track planetary 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: Reports From Pacific Northwest Heatwave Beta…Day 2
Dear Diary. The much anticipated, well forecast by meteorological models, heatwave that I’ve dubbed Beta is in full swing across the Pacific Northwest, which will last at its peak through at least Tuesday. I’m hoping that we won’t see a dire, deadly event as happened in 1995 in Chicago when over 700 people succumbed to the heat due to a lack of air conditioning. As things stand now Beta is a dangerous CAT3 on my scale of 1-5, but I’ll probably raise the ranking to a potentially catastrophic CAT4 once we start seeing many reports of more all-time records.
What makes a heat wave as deadly as that of Chicago in 1995 is a fairly long period of warm overnight temperatures. In Chicago’s case mins failed to fall much below 80°F. Seattle’s all-time record warm min is 67°F, so we probably won’t see at least two back to back nights with near 80°F for a low. Still, staying outdoors for any length of time and not getting into an air conditioned building could prove deadly for many, We will see.
It’s not only the Pacific Northwest but much of California and Nevada that are under heat warnings from Beta:
Here is the latest Washington Post piece summarizing records that have already happened from Beta:
Portland and Seattle shatter records amid historic heat wave
Jason Samenow, Ian Livingston 2 hrs ago
Gwen Berry turns away from flag at U.S. track and field trials: ‘I feel like it was a…Trump’s Big Lie about 2020 results suffers legal blows in key swing states
The most severe heat wave that the Pacific Northwest has ever endured is underway. Predicted to be “historic, dangerous, prolonged and unprecedented,” according to the National Weather Service, it’s already rewriting the record books.
Forecast highs Sunday from the National Weather Service. (PivotalWeather)
On Saturday, Portland soared to its highest temperature in more than 80 years of record-keeping: 108 degrees. Seattle surged to 102 degrees, its highest temperature observed in June and second highest in any month.Pacific Northwest suffers through blistering temperatures
The extraordinary heat swelled north of the international border as Canada saw its highest June temperature on record, nearly 111 degrees.
Temperatures are predicted to be even hotter Sunday into early next week.
Here are the predicted highs in several major population centers along with what the current all-time high temperatures at those locations, all of which are predicted to be broken:
The strength of the heat dome, or sprawling zone of high pressure centered near the U.S.-Canadian border, promoting these temperatures is simply off-the-charts. Its intensity is so statistically rare that it might be expected only once every several thousand years on average. But man-made climate change has made exceptional events like this many times more probable.
Meteorologists are describing the situation as “insane,” “bonkers” and “incredible.”
In the coming days, hordes of high temperature records are expected to fall. Due to the heat wave’s longevity, new record-long streaks for surpassing different temperature thresholds are also anticipated. For example, Seattle is forecast to experience triple digit heat on three straight days for the first time on record.
Here is a running list of some of the most significant records established so far; we will update this daily until the heat wave is over.
All-time record highs
All-time highs are the most rare and refer to the highest temperature on record for any month at a given location.
Saturday
- Portland hit 108 degrees, topping 107 from 1965 and 1981.
- Vancouver, Wash., hit 108 degrees, tying the mark from 2009.
- Troutdale, Ore., hit 109 degrees, topping 108 from 1977.
Record warm lows
Record warm lows refer to the warmest nighttime or morning minimum temperatures on record. The ones we present here are all-time (any month) cases.
Sunday
- Seattle’s (preliminary) low temperature of 73 degrees was the warmest on record for any date, topping 72 from 2009.
June record highs
These are the warmest temperatures ever observed during the month of June at the given locations. They are rare but monthly records are easier to break than all-time records.
Saturday
- Seattle hit 102 degrees, topping 97 from 2017.
- Portland hit 108 degrees, topping 102 from 2006.
- Bellingham, Wash., hit 95 degrees, topping 93 from 1955.
- Vancouver, Wash., hit 108 degrees, topping 105 from 2014.
- Troutdale, Ore., hit 109 degrees, topping 104 from 1992.
- Salem, Ore., hit 105 degrees, tying the mark from 1992.
- Eugene, Ore., hit 103 degrees, topping 102 from 1992.
Notable Canada heat records
- Lytton, British Columbia, hit 110.8 degrees, the highest temperature ever recorded in Canada during June, topping the previous mark of 109.9 from 1900, 1931 and 1941.
Other notes on Heatwave Beta:
Here are some of Sunday’s “ET’s”:
Here is more climate and weather news from Sunday:
(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”