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: Record-Setting Heat Waves Are Baking the Arctic Region
Dear Diary. This summer we have been concentrating on heat waves at mid-latitudes. A new Washington Post article reminds me that upper latitude areas are being affected by climate change building heat domes as well during this torrid summer of 2024. Here are some examples of recent records set in Canada:
This is very bad news for those of us wanting to keep essential boreal forests intact, which aid in making tundra regions whole and also keep the Arctic region chilly. The succumbing of northern forests to heat over the last two years due to forest fires have spread choking spoke not only in Canada but from time to time across the northern U.S.
Here are more details from the Washington Post:
Record-setting heat waves are baking the Arctic region
Northern Canada, Alaska and northern Scandinavia have recently experienced record highs
Temperatures up to 20 or 30 degrees above average for a full day have been common in parts of the Arctic and northern Canada recently. CDAS temperature anomaly reanalysis shown here over the past week. (weatherbell.com)
August 13, 2024 at 12:12 p.m. EDT
Parts of the Arctic are enduring exceptionally high temperatures — up 30 to 40 degrees above normal — because of multiple intense heat domes.
One intense heat dome has progressed from northern Alaska to Canada’s Hudson Bay over the last week, delivering round after round of historically high temperatures. A smaller but equally persistent heat dome has been toasting parts of Scandinavia’s Arctic on the opposite side of the North Pole.
One intense heat dome has progressed from northern Alaska to Canada’s Hudson Bay over the last week, delivering round after round of historically high temperatures. A smaller but equally persistent heat dome has been toasting parts of Scandinavia’s Arctic on the opposite side of the North Pole.
As these high-latitude locations have heated up, some of the cool air normally found there has been displaced into the mid-latitudes — offering temporary relief from scorching summer heat in parts of the central and eastern United States.
Heat in Canada’s north and Alaska
Underneath the heat dome in northern Canada, drought has intensified and fires are ravaging many areas.
Canadian weather historian Thierry Goose has been compiling a growing number of temperature records. Some of the more notable records are listed below:
- All-time highs in the Northwest Territories: Little Chicago at 97 degrees (36.3 C); Fort McPherson at 95 degrees (35.1 C); Inuvik at 95 degrees (34.8 C); Trail Valley at 92 degrees (33.6 C); and Paulatuk at 88 degrees (31 C).
- August record highs in the Northwest Territories: Fort Good Hope at 99 degrees (37 C); Norman Wells at 98 degrees (36.2 C); Tulita at 94 degrees (34.6 C); and Colville Lake at 87 degrees (30.4 C).
- August record highs in Nunavut (which is in far northern Canada): Arviat at 88 degrees (31.3 C); Chesterfield Inlet at 87 degrees (30.6 C); and Coral Harbour at 81 degrees (27.1 C). Arviat set monthly records on multiple days.
Records were also set in portions of Alaska because of the same heat dome before it shifted east. Deadhorse, along the southern coast of the Arctic Ocean set an all-time high of 89 on Aug. 6, and was warmer than most places on the Florida Peninsula.
Heat and rapid ice melt near Norway
On the opposite side of the hemisphere, historic heat was observed north of the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia in recent days.
Longyearbyen in Norway’s Svalbard Islands — between the Greenland and Barents seas — reached its highest August temperature on record the 11th, with a high of 68 degrees (20.2 C), or about 4 degrees (2.2 C) above the previous monthly record, according to meteorologist Daan van den Broek. On the 12th it topped what was the record before 2024 yet again. Such back-to-back highs are without modern precedent.
Rapid ice melt in the Svalbard islands of Norway from recent heat. (Copernicus E.U.) (Copernicus EU)
On Monday, the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Service shared imagery of freshwater flowing, and kicking up sediment, into the ocean in the Svalbard Islands.
“[I]n early August, snow and ice melting on the surface of the Svalbard ice caps reached the highest levels ever recorded, while temperatures remained up to 5°C above average for this area of the Arctic Circle,” the group wrote.
Arctic heat to persist
The heat this month comes on the heels of one of the hottest Julys on record for much of Canada, according to data presented by meteorologist Patrick Duplessis. Cities that posted July record highs include Edmonton and Calgary. Some places in far northern Canada now witnessing record heat, however, were colder than normal in July.
Temperatures compared to normal for the next week, as forecast by the European ensemble. (weatherbell.com)
At the same time, Arctic sea ice levels are nearing their annual minimum and are the fourth lowest on record to date. The usual low point for the season arrives by mid- or late September.
Temperatures are forecast to run 10 to 20 degrees (5.5 to 11.1 C) or more above normal across Arctic and sub-Arctic Canada through at least the next week to 10 days.
By Ian Livingston Ian Livingston is a forecaster/photographer and information lead for the Capital Weather Gang. By day, Ian is a defense and national security researcher at a D.C. think tank. Twitter
Here are more “ETs” 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 new July 2024 climatology (More can be found on each prior daily post during August):
Here is More Climate 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.)