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This weekend will intensify a heat wave that will beat the western United States, as climate change and an atmospheric “heat dome” combine to achieve the hottest temperature the region has ever experienced.
Over the next few days, the heat wave will move to the Pacific Northwest, where forecasts are shown. Seattle and Vancouver reaching highs of 41C and 39C, respectively.
Seattle-based meteorologist Cliff Mass described the forecasts as “mind-boggling” and “crazy” for a region known for its cool, rainy weather.
“Frankly, I’m a little shocked looking at the predictions of the raw forecast model,” he wrote Mass, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Washington.
Meteorologists have warned that the heat wave can become more deadly as it heads north to areas, where most homes have no air conditioning and people are not used to extreme heat.
Hundreds of temperature records they also settled in the southwestern U.S. through Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and California last week.
Climate scientists have said these patterns could become the new normal as the planet continues to warm due to global warming. It was a June world record of 53.2C engraved earlier this month in Death Valley, California.
“There is no doubt that heat waves have become more frequent and intense due to man-made climate change,” said Friederike Otto, associate director of the Institute for Environmental Change at Oxford University .
“The most important thing is to be aware of the dangers of heat,” he added, highlighting the elderly as particularly at risk.
Unusual temperatures, combined with a historic drought, have significantly raised the risk of fire, according to Otto. Parts of California and Oregon are already gearing up for a summer of more deadly flames than last year.
An area of high atmospheric pressure above the western United States, often referred to as the “heat dome,” holds the heat wave blocked in place.
“This is a weather system that can be very persistent, it can last for many days,” said Dim Coumou, a researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. “It brings a clear sky, a very high temperature[s]”.
Although climate change has already warmed the planet by about 1.2C since pre-industrial times, scientists like Coumou believe it has also changed atmospheric patterns.
His research shows that a gradual weakening of the jet stream during the summer makes these high-pressure systems more persistent, resulting in longer heat waves. Lightning, a rapidly moving wind band in the atmosphere, greatly influences the weather patterns of the northern hemisphere.
“You usually have weather systems coming and going every few days,” Coumou said. “What happens with these heat domes is that they can last a lot longer. That heat can actually build up and you can get these long-lasting heat waves.”
Other regions of the world have also experienced record temperatures this month, including in the Russian Arctic.
The area near Verkhoyansk, known for being one of the coldest places in the world, is recorded a new peak of more than 40C on June 21, according to satellite data from Copernicus, the EU’s earth observation program.
This surpassed the previous record of 38C recorded near Verkhoyansk last year.
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