Finally Colder In Vermont, But Hot News; Other Weather/Climate Problems Continue Elsewhere

Motorist fleeing a southern California wildfire last night.
Photo by Leonard Ortiz/Orange County Register/Getty

We've definitely cooled off from our record December heat, and it looks a little more normal outside my St. Albans, Vermont window.  

We had a dusting of snow Wednesday, and at least a little more snow is in the forecast later in the weekend and next week. So for now, record heat is not in the cards for us. 

However,  that's not true for different parts of the world, as heat waves and worrying climate trends continue on. 

AUSTRALIA WILTS

Spring time is moving on to summer Down Under in Australia, but for many who live there, summer has been broiling for a month now. 

As The Guardian points out:

"Australia has sweltered through its hottest spring and November on record, with both the season and the month more than 3.6 degrees warmer than the long term average."

A heat wave capped the warm month of November. 

"The extraordinary heat last weekend broke heat records for November in South Australia, Victoria and NSW (New South Wales).  Smithville, in northwest NSW reached 46.9C (116F). Andamooka, in the far north of South Australia hit 48C (118F) and Ouyen in Victoria equalled the previous high for the month of 45.8C (114F)"

This early season heat is ominous for Australia. It seems like eons ago, but last January, weeks of record heat in Australia dried things out and created the worst bush fire season in that nation's history.  Will history repeat itself a year later?

SPEAKING OF WILDFIRES

Lots of climate scientists have noted that wildfire season in the west keeps getting longer and longer, almost never ending, due to increased heat, and altered weather patterns due to climate change. 

A seeming case in point is going on in California right now. Extremely critical fire danger alerts are up for much of southern California near Los Angeles and San Diego.  The winter rainy season is a little bit late there. Strong Santa Ana winds, ultra dry vegetation and very low humidity is creating this latest danger.

One large wildfire has already erupted today.  What started as a house on fire spread to vegetation and raced onward, covering 5.5 square miles overnight southeast of Anaheim, California. Mandatory evacuations are ongoing.  The situation is expected to continue worsening today. 

It's somewhat unusual but certainly not unheard of to have wildfires this late in the season in southern California. That part of the state is usually the last to enjoy the winter rainy season.  Still, there should have gotten some rain by now, so this is definitely odd. 

What might actually turn out to be unprecedented is the potential for wildfires in California later in the weekend and next week.

This fire forecast is still iffy, but the fact that anybody is even talking about it is strange. By early December, northern California should be pretty damp, as the usual parade of Pacific storms should have introduced the rainy season a good month ago.

San Francisco,  for instance, only had a third of an inch of rain for all of November and no precipitation since November 18. No rain is in the forecast for more than a week.  Vegetation is the driest on record for this time of year in northern California. 

If wildfires break out in northern California in the coming days, it will be unprecedented. 

ALASKA FLOODS

Serious flood damage in Haines, Alaska after the wettest storm
on record in that region. Photo by Darwin Feakes via
Anchorage Daily News

The weather pattern so far this season has diverted storms northward away from the United States West Coast and toward the southeastern panhandle of Alaska - Juneau and that area.   

That part of the world is normally quite wet to begin with. After all, there are some beautiful rain forests in this area.

Recent rains, though, have gotten extreme. At last report, six people are missing due to flooding and mudslides after the wettest day on record hit cities like Juneau, Haines and Skagway. 

A landslide swept through homes and the cruise ship dock in Haines. Numerous roads are washed out. 

Nearly a foot of rain fell on the town of Pelican in one 48-hour period. Juneau had about five inches of rain just on Tuesday, its wettest day on record. 

This was an "atmospheric river" storm, in which a channel of warm, very moist Pacific air directed itself like a fire hose into coastal southeastern Alaska. Atmospheric river storms are common in this neck of the woods, but this one was extreme.  

The latest Alaska storm is also consistent with climate change.  We've been warned that some normally wet storms could become even wetter as the world warms.