Extreme Heat, Drought Continue To Rage In Climate Change Fueled Summer

One computer model depicting the temperature 
departure from normal in the Northern Hemisphere.
Dark reds and black shading is much above normal,
light purple is much cooler than normal. Huge
areas will be hot and the only really chilly areas
will be the central U.S. and a small slice of Ontario.

This is another week in which the weather has really gone off the rails in many parts of the world. 

We've been talking about that heat wave that is beginning now in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and British Columbia, Canada.

 If anything, the forecasts have gotten worse, with all time record highs very likely to be challenged in these regions. 

Drought in the western United States, already extreme in many areas, is rapidly worsening and turning into a crisis. 

Meanwhile, a large chunk of Europe is also dealing with its own record-breaking heat wave.   I'll save it for a soon to be released subsequent post on all the other weather problems out there this week, including tornadoes in weird places and flooding. 

But the heat is the main story here. 

In most of the northern hemisphere, summer heat peaks in July, weeks after the summer solstice. The kind of heat waves going on now, if the happen at all, are unprecedented for June, this early in the year. 

While temperatures relative to normal today vary across the Northern Hemisphere, like they always do, there is almost no cool air. The only places by Sunday that will be noticeably cooler than normal will be parts of the central United States and a slice of Ontario, Canada.

Here in Vermont,  we won't be nearly as extreme as these examples in the coming days.  We won't set any June or all-time records. But we are still going to be dealing with another oppressive hot spell and possibly a worsening drought in the coming days. More on that in a moment. 

I say this every time I bring up these big heat waves, but it bears repeated.  Although there have always been heat waves, the longer and more intense ones we've been seeing in recent years are being influenced by climate change.  

The overall warming world helps turn run of the mill hot spells into torturous heat waves. The droughts are probably influenced by climate change, too, as hotter, drier air causes more evaporation, making droughts worse. 

 NORTHWEST HEAT

If anything, forecasts for the heat wave building in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia are even worse than before. Some examples: 

A high of 109 degrees is forecast in Portland, Oregon Sunday. That city's all time high is 107.

Spokane, Washington is expected highs of 110 degrees Monday and Tuesday. That city's all time high is 108 degrees.

Yakima is forecasting a high of 113 degrees Tuesday. 

It's possible that it could reach 112 degrees in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. If it gets that hot, it would tie the record for the hottest temperature in history for all of Canada. 

DROUGHT

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, 90 percent of the West is in drought and 50 percent of that area is extreme or exceptional drought, the two worst categories. By many assessments, this is probably the worst on record out there. 

Monsoon moisture seems poised to come into New Mexico and maybe a few spots in Arizona and southern Utah, which might help some communities a bit. But the rest of the region will just keep baking and stay almost rain-free for the foreseeable future. 

EUROPE HEAT

Early season  heat is also ongoing in Europe. 

According to the Washington Post, Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia, Estonia, Belarus, Malta and Hungary in the past few days all established new records for the hottest temperatures record for June. 

Helsinki, Finland, also broke its all-time record for the month of June with a high of 89 degrees.  Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, also set at new June record with 104 degrees. Sarajevo, Bosnia had a June record for the third straight day with 101 degrees, as reported in the Washington Post.

Last Sunday was the fourth consecutive day that 95 degree weather was reported in Germany. 

The heat will last into the weekend, with epicenter of it being in and near western Russia over the next few days. 

 NEW ENGLAND HEAT

Here in Vermont and most of the rest of the Northeast, and southern Quebec, the pleasant weather of the past few days is about to fade into another hot spell.

This will not be as extreme as the Pacific Northwest, but it will still have its impacts.  At this point, Sunday and Monday will be the worst, with highs topping 90 in most of the warmer valleys of northern New England and in much of southern New England.  Some places in southern and central New England have an excellent shot of reaching 95 degrees or a little more Sunday and Monday. 

A few daily record highs might he challenged here and there, but we definitely won't come close to all time highs like places such as Oregon and Washington State will. 

The humidity will of course stay way up there as well, so nights will be stuffy and not great for a good night's sleep during the upcoming week. 

Although it might not be as hot after Monday, there are signs the very warm and humid weather could last all the way to Friday. That's uncertain at this point, as it all depends on the timing of a cold front that will be trying to make a run at that Bermuda High. 

If stronger than expected, the front could cool us off as early as Wednesday. Or it might wait until Friday or even beyond that. Time will tell.  

Hopes for decent rains are now dashed, too, at least until the middle of the week.  With the hot northwestern extension of the Bermuda High being the main influence, only widely scattered showers and thunderstorms will dot the landscape Sunday through Tuesday.  If anyone gets any of these storms, the best chances are near the Canadian border. But even there, don't hold your breath on these.

There might be a better chance of showers and storms mid to late week, but that's still iffy.