Heat Waves This Week Are/Will Be One For The Record Books, Especially Out West

The 6 to 10 day outlook favors warmer than normal
temperatures across the Lower 48. This covers July
12-16. The darker the red, the greater the odds
of above normal temperatures. If you want 
cool weather, go to Alaska

The Desert Southwest, Las Vegas, and valleys in California and Oregon away from the coast get hot every summer, but this is ridiculous.   

The East Coast has been baking as well, even up here in Vermont. Long term prospects have heat reigning in most of the nation through most of the rest of the month.

More on that in a bit, but first, the western heat wave is withering and wowing people all over that region.  

RECORD HIGHS

The intense, long lasting heat wave in the west began in earnest Friday and only intensified over the weekend. has begun, and all time record highs in some cities could well fall. Some already did. 

On Friday, Palm Springs, California reached 124 degrees, setting a new all time high there.  Blythe, California reached 123 degrees, tying the record for the hottest reading in the month of July. 

Several other cities reported record high temperatures for the date. Redding, in north central California, reached 119 degrees Saturday. breaking their all-time record for the date. 

  Ukiah, in northwestern California, tied its all time high temperature Saturday, reaching 117 degrees. That also beat the record high for the date by a whopping nine degrees. 

More all time record highs could easily fall in various western cities between today and Thursday.  

 The world record for hottest temperature recorded on Earth is 134 degrees, set in Death Valley back in 1913.

However, experts say that measurement is suspect due to an improper placement of a thermometer. The actual world record is probably actually 130.

That said, there's a decent chance that between today and Thursday, Furnace Creek in Death Valley could reach 130 degrees.    It was 128 degrees in Furnace Creek Saturday, a record high for the date. 

Also, each day today through Thursday has the potential to at least tie the all-time record high in Las Vegas, which is 117 degrees. 

All heat waves are dangerous, but this one has meteorologists really sounding the alarm.

"It cannot be stressed enough that is is an exceptionally dangerous and lethal situation....It may not seem so if you live near the coast, but an event of this scale, magnitude and longevity will likely rival anything we've seen in the last 18 years for inland areas," wrote the National Weather Service office in San Francisco. 

The hot conditions are extending even up into the Sierra Nevada mountains, which are better known for epic snowstorms, not heat waves.  A rare heat advisory is in effect through Friday for areas around Lake Tahoe.  

A more extended outlook covering July 14-20
doesn't really release the nation from hot weather.
Best odds of hot weather are in the Northern Rockies
with high chances across most of the nation's
northern tier, and Florida. 

Officials are warning of all kinds of deep trouble associated with the heat wave, including hot weather related deaths, rolling blackouts and wildfires. Two dozen wildfires were already burning in California as of Friday. 

EASTERN/NATIONAL HEAT

Meanwhile, it's hot in the East, too.  Raleigh, North Carolina on Friday reached 106 degrees, setting a new mark for the all time hottest temperature on record there. Temperatures of 100 degrees reached as far north as Maryland Friday.  

The National Weather Service Heat Risk map forecasts large areas of major and extreme heat impacts in the western third of the United States through at least next Friday. On the East Coast, widespread major impacts are forecast through Tuesday. 

After that, the heat in the East should temporarily ease in the second half of the week before possibly re-surging again 

Major impacts means.the heat endangers everyone who has not adequate access to cool rooms and hydration.  Extreme impacts are considered rare and will impact health systems, heat-sensitive industry and infrastructure.  

As we well know, the heat has invaded Vermont.  It reached 90 degrees both Thursday and Friday in Burlington, so now the total number of 90 degree days so far this year is seven - about average for an entire summer.

There's a low, but not zero chance Burlington could make it to 90 degrees again today, and a somewhat better chance of achieving that level Monday and Tuesday. Rain and clouds should hold temperatures down toward Wednesday (But that rain might cause other trouble. More on that in another post later today).

The outlook beyond this coming week in terms of heat is not great here in Vermont, or almost anywhere else in the nation for that matter.  Long range forecasts - always somewhat iffy I know - suggest the two heat domes in the West and East might sort of merge to make the whole nation roast starting in about a week.

The trend toward above normal temperatures in mid-July comes at the climatological peak of summer, so any hot spells would be especially so.

As a reminder, we know that heat waves happen every summer. The problem is the new extremes we've been seeing in recent years in the United States and globally.  Climate change is tilting the odds of turning regular old heat waves into torturous, dangerous new all time record highs. 

The hotter it gets, the the more persistent the heat, the more dangerous it gets. Climate change increases the odds that we'll get summers like the one that seems to be underway right now. 

Not every summer going forward will be super hot. But the general trend because of our greenhouse gas emissions will continue to be more and more all-time record heat. 

That's especially dangerous in areas where heat waves might not be as historically common. If it's 100 degrees in Phoenix, that's bad, but for them, manageable. Up here in the Great No Longer So White North, it's a recipe for disaster.