Extreme Temperature Diary- Thursday January 18, 2024/ Main Topic: Big January Thaw Likely for U.S. Will It Get Historically Warm?

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The main purpose of this ongoing blog will be to track global 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: Big January Thaw Likely for U.S. Will It Get Historically Warm?

Dear Diary. In stark contrast to December 2023, which was the warmest December in history for the United States, this January has been downright frigid for many so far. The polar vortex amplified bringing a historic cold wave, which I dubbed CAT 3/4 Coldwave Gerry after the winter storm that ushered in the Arctic blast. Another cold wave named Aisoyimstan, which is the Blackfeet Indian Nation Winter God, will chill the eastern half of the nation this weekend.

After Sunday a big January thaw will be in the offing, but will we see historically warm weather with many records being set out of this new weather pattern?

Certainly, warmer weather will be welcomed by many:

Across the Northern Hemisphere in a week the polar vortex will consolidate over the North Pole and deamplify, with lobes or pockets of cold air over mid latitudes mostly disappearing looking at Penn State ensembles:

I’m struck here by just how warm anomalies over North America and Europe look. I can recall how warm these 500 millibar heights are forecast for late January compared with typical heights throughout my 40-year career as a meteorologist, and they are quite toasty. For example, here is what is forecast over North America by Sunday the 28th:

582+ decameter heights are typically a spring phenomenon over the CONUS, not one from the winter. Lower down at 850 millibar we see these anomalies for the same extended period:

If the above forecast were to verify, we would see a plethora of records from the western U.S. northward into Canada. Those in Canada would particularly be warm, with some “green” anomalies forecast looking at the legend on the Pivotal Weather chart.

Closer to this date, maxes across the country will be mild indeed by the middle of next week:

I’ll be reporting on this warmth as well as how cold conditions will get from Aisoyimstan over the next couple of weeks.

More:

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

Here is More Climate News from Thursday:

(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.)

More from the Weather Department:

Today’s News on Sustainable Energy, Traditional Polluting Energy from Fossil Fuel, and the Green Revolution:

More on the Environment and Nature:

More on Other Science and the Beauty of Earth and this Universe:

If you like these posts and my work on record temperature ratios, please contribute via my PayPal widget on this site. Thanks in advance for any support. 

Guy Walton… “The Climate Guy”

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