Extreme Temperature Diary- Tuesday June 14th, 2022/ Main Topic: Severe Weather on the Edges of Heatwave Apothis

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: Severe Weather on the Edges of Heatwave Apothis

Dear Diary. If we can partially blame climate change for the severity of our current heatwave, then we most certainly can for severe weather that took place on the edges of its heat dome that took place yesterday and overnight last night.

Many times during my 31 year career at The Weather Channel we would see a “ridge runner” pattern of storms that took place mainly overnight in association with the northern and eastern edges of heat domes. It makes sense that the more powerful the heat dome, the more moisture and energy is available for severe storms to develop.

Of course, sometimes during mid and late summer, heat domes can get so large that any storms that do develop would be in Canada and in the tropics. The more compact, powerful early summer season heat domes are most dangerous for the lower 48 states, though, and indeed made more dangerous by climate change. Indeed, this is an aspect of Apothis, which I’m pegging as a big potential CAT4 killer as of today.

Flooding that occurred on Monday due to a cool system moving into the Pacific Northwest was also influenced by the heat dome aloft from Apothis, even though that system was pretty far away from the heatwave. Yes, every weather system is influenced in some way by climate change.

For more details on the severe storms aspect of Apothis, here is yet another recently written article from the Capital Weather Gang of the Washington Post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/06/14/extreme-weather-lower48-heatwave-storms/

CAPITAL WEATHER GANG

Extreme weather is tormenting every U.S. region, and it’s far from over

Excessive heat, violent storms, flooding and fires are all afflicting the Lower 48 states

By Matthew Cappucci and 

Jason Samenow

June 14, 2022 at 1:01 p.m. EDT

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Yu Darvish cuts his pregame workout short Monday as a storm that spawned a tornado warning descends upon Chicago. (Charles Rex Arbogast/AP)

Nearly every corner of the Lower 48 is dealing with some sort of wild weather, with fires, floods, tornadoes and a punishing heat wave all wreaking havoc.

A staggering 120 million Americans are covered by alerts for extreme heat Tuesday, while half a million customers in the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley remain in the dark after violent thunderstorms knocked out power Monday night.

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On Monday, the extreme weather was difficult to escape.

Record heat swelled from Nebraska to South Carolina. Chicago dealt with hurricane-force winds and probable tornadoes. Yellowstone National Park was blocked off to visitors because of roads made impassible by flooding. Fires raged in the Desert Southwest.

The seemingly disjointed atmospheric turmoil is all tied together in what meteorologists refer to as a “ring of fire” weather pattern. A stifling heat dome is parked over the Tennessee Valley, bringing exceptional heat and humidity while severe thunderstorms erupt along its northern fringe. In the dome’s wake, dry air has parched the Southwestern landscape, creating tinderbox conditions for fast-spreading fires. A dip in the jet stream on the heat dome’s northwest flank has allowed exceptional amounts of moisture to pour over the Northern Rockies.

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The active weather pattern, with heat acting as the centerpiece, is slated to stick around for the next week or two. The heat, intensified by human-caused climate change, could well fuel more destructive storms.

Severe storms rage from the Great Lakes to Ohio Valley

A runner passes a home in Riverside, Ill., that was damaged during Monday evening’s storm. (Steven Rosenberg/AP)

The National Weather Service received nearly 600 reports of severe weather Monday as violent thunderstorms erupted in the Midwest and charged southeastward through the Ohio Valley into southwest Virginia and western North Carolina. The storms unleashed winds up to 98 mph, downing hundreds of trees.

Forming on the northern periphery of the heat dome and energized by south-to-north temperature contrasts, the storms drew down roaring high-altitude winds as destructive gusts.

On Monday evening, the storms began along Interstate 94 between Madison and Milwaukee, dropping hen-egg-size hail before shifting over Lake Michigan.

The thunderstorm grew to nearly 70,000 feet tall, feeling the effects of the jet stream aloft, which contributed to its potency. Prolific lightning rates, with more than a dozen flashes per second, accompanied the developing storm cell.

Another severe storm blossomed west of Chicago, becoming a supercell or rotating thunderstorm that prompted the issuance of tornado warnings across the area. Sirens blared as funnels danced west of town, several of which may have intermittently touched down. There was radar evidence of tight circulations near Streamwood, Roselle and Maywood, Ill., and an 84 mph wind gust was reported at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.

Some damage was reported, including the entire roof of a third-floor apartment removed in Maywood, in addition to a partial wall collapse on North Fremont Street in Chicago. The Weather Service was on scene Tuesday conducting damage surveys.

Farther east, storms consolidated into multiple bow echoes, or curved squall lines containing strong winds. The most severe blasted through northeast Indiana, extreme southern Michigan and the majority of Ohio. Winds gusted to 98 mph at the airport in Fort Wayne, Ind., and 75 mph in Putnam, Ohio.

The line broke apart before reaching the Mid-Atlantic, though isolated severe thunderstorms were possible Tuesday afternoon.

Additional bouts of strong to severe storms are probable in the Midwest and Ohio Valley Wednesday and Thursday — again firing along the heat dome’s northern fringe.

Blistering heat over the central, eastern U.S.

The heat dome is centered near Nashville. It has established dozens of high temperature records since it first formed late last week over Texas and the Southwest. Temperatures soared to as high as 123 degrees in Death Valley, Calif., while Phoenix hit 114 and Las Vegas 109 over the weekend. Austin and San Antonio made it to 105.

Now widespread readings in the upper 90s to near 100 are shifting east. Stifling humidity is making these air temperatures feel 10 to 15 degrees higher.

Lincoln, Neb. (with a high of 103 degrees), Columbia, S.C. (103), Austin (102), St. Louis (100), Charlotte (98), Nashville (97), and Louisville and Paducah, Ky. (both 97) set June 13 records Monday. North Platte, Neb., hit 108 degrees — not just a daily record, but the highest temperature ever recorded there during the month of June.

Records highs could be challenged from Minneapolis to Charleston, S.C., on Tuesday. Excessive heat warnings cover much of the Midwest where suffocating humidity levels, enhanced by moisture from corn and other crops, could cause heat index values to top 110 degrees in spots.

“Widespread heat indices of 100+ degrees are dangerous for those working or playing outdoors for long periods,” the National Weather Service tweeted Tuesday.

While Chicago cleans up from Monday night’s storms, it faces “dangerous heat and humidity” Tuesday and Wednesday, the National Weather Service tweeted. The Windy City could feel as hot as 110 degrees.

A look at high temperatures projected for Tuesday. (Pivotal Weather) (Pivotal Weather)

The Weather Service is forecasting a 99-degree high in Minneapolis on Tuesday, which would claim a record, beating out the 98 reading tabulated in 1987. Nashville, Columbia, S.C., and St. Louis are forecast to set record highs for a second straight day.

The heat will ease in Minnesota and Wisconsin on Wednesday but will threaten records from Detroit to Atlanta.

A look at the Climate Prediction Center’s temperature outlook for the next 8 to 14 days. (NOAA/CPC) (NOAA/CPC)

A new insurgence of heat will return to the Plains by the weekend. The Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center continues to predict above-average temperatures over the center of the country through next week.

Yellowstone flooding

Unusually wet weather has flanked the heat dome in the Pacific Northwest, where the jet stream took a dip late last week. This allowed an unusually strong plume of moisture for the time of year — known as an atmospheric river — to surge inland from the Pacific Ocean. It spread exceptional June rainfall not only in Washington and Oregon but also into the Northern Rockies.

Heavy rain and melting snow have combined to produce historic flooding around Yellowstone National Park. Two to three inches of rain was reported at several gauges between Saturday and Monday.

The rain and melting snow have caused river levels to exceed century-old records in multiple cases.

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A roaring river washed away the road to Yellowstone National Park’s north entrance in Gardner Canyon, between Gardiner, Mont., and Mammoth Hot Springs.

“Effective immediately, there will be no inbound visitor traffic at any of the five entrances into Yellowstone National Park on Tuesday, June 14, and Wednesday, June 15, at a minimum” read the Park’s website. The park cited “extremely hazardous conditions” including “heavy flooding [and] rockslides.”

At least one home was captured on video collapsing into a river in southern Montana as the ground on which it sat was eroded.

Southwest wildfires

Meanwhile, the combination of gusty winds, low humidity and drought — intensified by recent record-breaking temperatures — has spurred dangerous fire conditions in the Southwest.

New fires have broken out in California and Arizona since the weekend, including north of Flagstaff, Ariz., where the Pipeline Fire has torched 5,000 acres. The Associated Press reported that the Arizona Snowbowl ski resort was closed, and hundreds of homes evacuated in response to the fire, which is the second to affect the area this year.

In New Mexico, the state’s largest wildfire on record continues to rage east of Santa Fe. The Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon fire complex, has charred a whopping 325,340 acres — twelve times the size of Disney World — and is 70 percent contained. Simultaneously, the Black Fire, New Mexico’s second largest on record, also rages.

President Biden (D) visited New Mexico on Saturday to meet with state and local officials and address ongoing wildfire fighting efforts.

Red flag warnings were in effect Tuesday for much of northern New Mexico and southwest Colorado due to high fire danger.


By Matthew Cappucci Matthew Cappucci is a meteorologist for Capital Weather Gang. He earned a B.A. in atmospheric sciences from Harvard University in 2019, and has contributed to The Washington Post since he was 18. He is an avid storm chaser and adventurer, and covers all types of weather, climate science, and astronomy.  Twitter

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By Jason Samenow Jason Samenow is The Washington Post’s weather editor and Capital Weather Gang’s chief meteorologist. He earned a master’s degree in atmospheric science and spent 10 years as a climate change science analyst for the U.S. government. He holds the Digital Seal of Approval from the National Weather Association.  Twitter

Here are some “ET’s” recorded from around the planet the last couple of days, their consequences, and some extreme temperature outlooks:

Here is more May 2022 climatology:

Here is more climate and weather news from Tuesday:

(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.)

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Guy Walton “The Climate Guy”

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