Record heat bakes drought-stricken West

[Eldorado]

High temperatures shattered daily records in California this week as the state prepares for a potentially catastrophic wildfire season fueled by a prolonged drought.

The mercury climbed to 109 degrees Fahrenheit Monday in Redding, obliterating the previous record of 103 F for the same day in 2016. It also set an all-time high for the month of May, beating a record of 108 F set in 1984.

“It’s definitely early [in the year] for this, and it’s also been another dry winter,” said Scott Carroll, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Eureka.

Full article at Sciientific American: Link

[+susieice]

We're all baking over here. This is our second day of 90+ with three more to go. Last weekend gave us rain we desperately needed, but it's been really dry. It's 89 F right now but getting warmer.

https://weather.com/forecast/regional/news/2021-06-02-heat-wave-record-highs-west-midwest-northeast

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/weather/sweltering-heat-blankets-upper-midwest-aims-northeast-n1269757

Edited June 6, 2021 by susieice

[+and-then]

My sincere condolences to all who are suffering this heat.  The places that are being hardest hit rarely have to deal with it, especially so early in the season.  It's not unusual for us on the gulf coast to see temps around 90 with humidity above 70% as early as May.  So far this season it's been relatively cool and dry - for us.

[Tatetopa]

Same out here.  Its going to be a tough fire season.  Last year the fires got within half mile of my nieces place  Without neighbors to help she would have  lost her horse, barn and other stock.  She sold out, packed up and bought a place in Maine to practice her vet skills. 

If it is as bad as last year, even Bigfoot will have to find a place in town.

15 minutes ago, and then said:

It's not unusual for us on the gulf coast to see temps around 90 with humidity above 70% as early as May

I remember that from visiting my Houston  aunt.   It may be small consolation, but at least you have lightening bugs.  I kinda miss those.

[+and-then]

1 hour ago, Tatetopa said:

Same out here.  Its going to be a tough fire season.  Last year the fires got within half mile of my nieces place  Without neighbors to help she would have  lost her horse, barn and other stock.  She sold out, packed up and bought a place in Maine to practice her vet skills. 

If it is as bad as last year, even Bigfoot will have to find a place in town.

I remember that from visiting my Houston  aunt.   It may be small consolation, but at least you have lightening bugs.  I kinda miss those.

  Yeah, the lightning bugs almost make up for the mosquitos.  As insufferable as the humidity is here, I think it's worse in Houston.  At least here, we get a gulf breeze occasionally AND we tend to have a good chance to get an afternoon thunderstorm off the gulf that can cool things a bit.  That is, IF they happen late, just before the sun sets.  I remember working as a painter in my youth and having black clouds roll in, the wind pick up, usually around mid-afternoon and then came a heavy downpour.  Then the sun comes back out in all its glory and you can literally see STEAM rising off the streets and even the grass    

Those thunderstorms and the semi-regularity of tropical systems dumping rain on the coast, made my hometown (Mobile) rank number two, behind Seattle for the rainiest city in the country.

[+susieice]

1 hour ago, and then said:

My sincere condolences to all who are suffering this heat.  The places that are being hardest hit rarely have to deal with it, especially so early in the season.  It's not unusual for us on the gulf coast to see temps around 90 with humidity above 70% as early as May.  So far this season it's been relatively cool and dry - for us.

This is like mid-July or August weather. It makes me wonder how hot this summer is going to get. Our humidity is usually over 70%. That causes the heat index that makes temperatures feel 5-10 degrees hotter than it is.

Edited June 6, 2021 by susieice

[+and-then]

5 hours ago, susieice said:

Our humidity is usually over 70%. That causes the heat index that makes temperatures feel 5-10 degrees hotter than it is.

I think the only thing that keeps our humidity from going over 90% very often is the fact that as temps rise above 90 or so, the air just can't hold as much moisture.  I'm born and bred to this weather and I've never in my adult life gotten used to summers here.  If a person is outdoors and not at the beach, pool or creek, summers are not pleasant.  Folks laboring in that heat have a particularly rough time of it.  I was miserable even as a teen working as a painter or roofer.

To give an idea about how bad it is, my wife and I flew to Albuquerque back in the early 90s for a driving trip through the four corners area.  It was early September and as we were leaving the airport and picking up our rental vehicle I noticed that something as simple as stepping from the sunshine into the shade made an unusually noticeable difference in how we perceived the heat.  It was like stepping from a hot day in August into a warm day in October.  I think that was also the first time I could appreciate the cooling mechanism our bodies have because down here, it doesn't work very well.  The body produces the sweat but the air is so saturated for 7 months of the year that the air won't dry it from the skin. I noticed the difference as an almost eerie, tingling sensation on my skin.  I gradually understood that it was the moisture being released from the surface of the skin and the cooling that goes with that.  I was about 30 years old .  

[Eldorado]

"Mega-drought" takes dramatic toll on Colorado River system that provides water to 40 million people

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/mega-drought-colorado-river-system-water-system/

[Raptor Witness]

Quote

 

Raptor Witness     2,664

•  
•   #130  
•  

Posted February 26, 2020

California she will soon be dealing with multiple types of disasters, all at once.

I saw the Destroying Angel, generally take up a position over the Southwest U.S.

Source

[Eldorado]

Update:

The drought situation in the western United States continued to worsen after another mostly hot and dry week.

A few areas of drought in south-central and southeast New Mexico saw some slight improvement due to effects from several rain and thunderstorm events in the last month. Unfortunately, widespread severe or worse drought continued in New Mexico, and conditions remained the same or worsened elsewhere.

Increases in moderate, severe, extreme (and in a few cases, exceptional) drought coverage occurred in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Montana.

Severe drought also expanded in western Idaho. Wildfires and increasing wildfire danger, water restrictions, and damage to agriculture are very common across the West region.

U.S. Drought Monitor: https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

[+Desertrat56]

On 6/6/2021 at 10:59 AM, susieice said:

We're all baking over here. This is our second day of 90+ with three more to go. Last weekend gave us rain we desperately needed, but it's been really dry. It's 89 F right now but getting warmer.

https://weather.com/forecast/regional/news/2021-06-02-heat-wave-record-highs-west-midwest-northeast

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/weather/sweltering-heat-blankets-upper-midwest-aims-northeast-n1269757

I am curious about what the humidity is when you consider it dry?   9%, 35%?  

[+susieice]

8 minutes ago, Desertrat56 said:

I am curious about what the humidity is when you consider it dry?   9%, 35%?  

When the humidity here is below 60%, it's good. It's never 9%! Or 35% really. This isn't desert. We can't use swamp coolers at all. You won't see them up here.

[Dark_Grey]

Last week it was 30+C (86 F) in Alberta and I can see the Rocky Mountains from my front window. Everything cooked under the dry heat. Next week it's projected to be 104 C(!) on Wednesday. Insane 

[+Desertrat56]

28 minutes ago, Dark_Grey said:

Last week it was 30+C (86 F) in Alberta and I can see the Rocky Mountains from my front window. Everything cooked under the dry heat. Next week it's projected to be 104 C(!) on Wednesday. Insane 

Could that be a typo?  104C?  Maybe it will be 104 F  (40 C)   No way it would get up to 219 F that far north.

Edited June 24, 2021 by Desertrat56

[Still Waters]

Canada weather: Heatwave hits record 46.6C as US north-west also frazzles

Canada has recorded its highest ever temperature as the country's west and the US Pacific north-west frazzle in an unprecedented heatwave.

Lytton in British Columbia soared to 46.6C (116F) on Sunday, breaking an 84-year-old record, officials said.

A "heat dome" of high pressure parked over the region has set new records in many other areas.

The US and Canada have both warned citizens of "dangerous" heat levels that could persist this week.

The high pressure zone is huge, from California right up to Canada's Arctic territories and stretching inland through Idaho.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-57634700

[Eldorado]

Pacific Northwest is in one of the most intense heat waves ever, with the worst still to come

A heat wave so extreme it stopped Olympians in their tracks, buckled roadways and brought public transportation to a standstill.

NBC news

[Eldorado]

The record-breaking heat wave in the Pacific Northwest is pushing people’s bodies to the limit — sending more than 800 people to the hospital for possible heat-related illness in recent days.

Yahoo news

[Bavarian Raven]

I live near Vancouver, BC. Yesterday, with the humidity, it felt like 50-51 degrees C. I've only ever been in temps like that once before (in Ontario a few years back during one of their record heatwaves). It is NOT GOOD. Especially for people like me who work outside for a living. I simply could not work yesterday, or today (or last sat). Too dangerously hot to work. 

[Buzz_Light_Year]

Well I know where all the precipitation is. So far 19.4 inches for the month and 9.4 inches fell on June 25th. Yeah there's a few flooded basements. Monthly average is 5.3 inches.

[Tatetopa]

23 hours ago, Eldorado said:

A heat wave so extreme it stopped Olympians in their tracks, buckled roadways and brought public transportation to a standstill.

Our mass transit trains were shut down for two days with busses trying to take up the slack.  Trains are electric and in order not to overload the electric grid with trains and AC,  trains will not run during highest heat days.  Cooling centers have opened up around the city.  Public buildings and churches are providing water and a cool place to sit. Pets are allowed in most.  Some are open 24 hrs. for people to sleep there as well. 

 Commercial berry farmers estimate 10%-15% crop loss  even if it cools enough for plants to rebound next week.

[+Desertrat56]

26 minutes ago, Buzz_Light_Year said:

Well I know where all the precipitation is. So far 19.4 inches for the month and 9.4 inches fell on June 25th. Yeah there's a few flooded basements. Monthly average is 5.3 inches.

We got an inch in the last 3 months cumulative.

[Buzz_Light_Year]

Just now, Desertrat56 said:

We got an inch in the last 3 months cumulative.

Well I'm sure the local folks and farmers around here would sure like to share some of our copious bounty.

Storm moving through as I type this and more heavy rain throughout tonight into tomorrow.

[+Desertrat56]

2 minutes ago, Buzz_Light_Year said:

Well I'm sure the local folks and farmers around here would sure like to share some of our copious bounty.

Storm moving through as I type this and more heavy rain throughout tonight into tomorrow.

We need a pipeline.

[+susieice]

Our news tonight said we will remain in the 90's with a heat index of 104 F through tomorrow. Our humidity right now is 76%. Then the Gulf Stream will move and a cool front will come in by Friday. It will be in the upper 70's over the weekend and then soar back up. Thursday is predicted to be severe thunderstorms as the air moves in with thunderstorms possible every day until next Tuesday. Some will get the storms and some won't.

[+and-then]

5 hours ago, Buzz_Light_Year said:

Well I'm sure the local folks and farmers around here would sure like to share some of our copious bounty.

Storm moving through as I type this and more heavy rain throughout tonight into tomorrow.

As of yesterday, we'd gotten nearly 12 inches in less than 2 weeks.  On a positive note though, summer has been unusually mild so far.  We've only gotten into the low 90s once.  That's a real blessing considering the air here when the temps are in the upper 80s, "feels like" 95-98.