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| The extreme autumn heat in Phoenix, Arizona has shocked even seasoned meteorologists and climatologists. Almost the entire West is in the throes of an unprecedented October heat wave. |
More than 200 weather stations set records for the hottest temperature on record for October.
More than 2,000 weather stations in the West set daily high temperatures records in just the first three days of October.
Climate change has made extreme record heat more likely, and now this heat is spilling into seasons other than summer.
This heat wave is even more off the charts than almost all other strange hot spells various parts of the world have suffered in this warming world.
PHOENIX MISERY
While the entire West is embroiled in extreme October heat, Phoenix, Arizona, which had its hottest, most miserable summer on record, is now enduring previously unimaginable October heat:
The records being broken in Phoenix are absolutely insane as their equally insane summer continues unabated well into autumn.
Here's the Washington Post to fill us in on what's been going on in Phoenix.
"Phoenix also set an October record Tuesday, with a high of 113 degrees. That record was established only four days after reaching a September record of 117 on Saturday. The high of 113 demolished its previous calendar day and months records by six degrees."
Additionally, an unprecedented 113 consecutive days in which temperatures reached 100 or more in Phoenix ended on September 17. Residents there probably thought that autumn had arrived, as by their standards, each day from September 17 to 22 failed to reach 100 degrees.
So much for that idea. Each day since September 23 has been at least 105 in Phoenix, and six of those reached at least 110 degrees.
"Temperatures reaching 110 this late in the year is pretty unfathomable at this point, given the lowering sun angle, length of day, and considering the previous latest 110+ on record was September 19, two weeks ago," the National Weather Service in Phoenix wrote.
On Thursday, Phoenix endured an unprecedented tenth day in a row with record high temperatures. The record for consecutive days of record temperatures for any U.S. city was 14 in Burlington, Iowa on July 4-17, 1936 during the Dust Bowl heat waves of the 1930s, reports climatologist Brian Brettschneider.
Phoenix could well see at least four more days of record highs
Each day in Phoenix through next Monday is forecast to be at least 106 degrees, and each day through at least next Thursday should be at least 100 degrees.
The normal high in Phoenix this time of year is around 94 degrees
UNPRECEDENTED HEAT EXPANDS
It's not just Phoenix due for many more days of weird autumn heat.
Palm Springs, California reached 117 degrees Tuesday, breaking the record for hottest October there, and tying the record for hottest October day anywhere in the United States.
It was the 15th time this year that Palm Springs reached 117, another record. And, Palm Springs set its all time record high of 124 back on July 5
Other cities setting all-time records for October are Death Valley, 114 degrees; Yuma, Arizona, 113 degrees; 112 in Blythe and Needles, California; 107 in Van Nuys, California, and 105 degrees in Tucson, Arizona and Fresno, California, 103 in Sacramento, 89 in Grand Junction, Colorado and 85 in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
In all, 230 weather stations in the West hit all time highs for the entire month of October in just the opening three days of the month.
. Heat warnings and advisories extend northward through California past San Francisco and Sacramento.
The dry air mass has prompted wild fire alerts in a vast area of the West, stretching from California to South Dakota.
The hot, dry, windy weather has revived some existing wildfires in California that had been temporarily tamped down by a spell of somewhat cooler, slightly more humid air last week.
Much above normal temperatures, occasionally record warmth, should continue in the western half of the United States through mid-month
VERMONT EFFECTS
Here in Vermont, temperatures have not reached record levels, but we have still been oddly and persistently warm.
Friday was the eighth consecutive day in Burlington with highs in the 70s, which is quite unusual for this time of year. Much more odd is the string of warm nights, at least by autumnal standards. Friday was the 23rd day in a row in Burlington in which the low temperature stayed above 50 degrees.
The warm streak here is showing signs of ending.
The heat dome causing the western hot weather will if anything strengthen and expand, That'll create a corresponding dip in the jet stream over the eastern United States.
The process has started. The forecast low in Burlington Sunday morning is 43 degrees, which isn't the least bit unusual for this time of year but would still be the coolest morning since April 27. That in itself is odd, because it has frequently been cooler than 43 degrees every month of the year, including July and August. So we've had a really weird run of balminess in Vermont.
The chill will intensify next week when highs Tuesday through Friday should stay in the 50s across Vermont. Again, those temperatures are pretty run of the mill for October, but it'll feel weird in this hot year of 2024.
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