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Climate change supercharged a heat dome, intensifying 2021 fire season, study finds
Climate change supercharged a heat dome, intensifying 2021 fire season, study finds
As a massive heat dome lingered over the Pacific Northwest three years ago, swaths of North America simmered—and then burned. Wildfires charred more than 18.5 million acres across the continent, with the most land burned in Canada and California.
A new study has revealed the extent to which human-caused climate change intensified the extraordinary event, with researchers theorizing the heat dome was 34% larger and lasted nearly 60% longer than it would have in the absence of global warming. The heat dome, in turn, was associated with up to a third of the area burned in North America that year, according to the study, published in Communications Earth & Environment.
“What happens is you get a stagnated weather pattern—it’s very hot and very dry,” said study author Piyush Jain, research scientist with Natural Resources Canada. “And it dries out all the vegetation and makes whatever is on the ground extremely flammable.”
The study adds to a body of literature documenting how the fingerprints of climate change can be detected in events such as heat waves, droughts and wildfires.
Jain was living in Edmonton in late June 2021 when the mercury in North America’s northernmost million-resident city topped 100 degrees. “I was blown away,” he said. “I’d never experienced those temperatures anywhere I’d lived.”
Farther south, the town of Lytton, British Columbia, on June 29 experienced Canada’s hottest recorded temperature, 119 degrees, and was largely destroyed by a wildfire the next day..
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“Dangerous” Heat Dome Shifts Eastward, Triple-Digit Temps Expected For Southeast
“Dangerous” Heat Dome Shifts Eastward, Triple-Digit Temps Expected For Southeast
A heat dome hovering over the northern Plains has begun to shift eastward early this week, expected to bring triple-digit temperatures across southern and eastern regions of the U.S.
“Dangerous heat will continue to make headlines from the central U.S. to the Southeast. One more day of well above normal, near-record and record-breaking heat is expected from the central Plains to the Upper Midwest.
“Excessive Heat Warnings remain in effect for the Red River Valley of the North and the greater Minneapolis area. High temperatures up to 100 degrees along with high humidity will lead to head indices into the mid-100s …
“The center of the heat wave begins to transition further east on Tuesday into the Great Lakes, with forecast highs in the mid- to upper 90s, up to 15-20 degrees above normal.
“In addition to hot high temperatures, very warm, near-record and record-breaking low temperatures in the 70s will provide little relief from the heat overnight. Temperatures will also warm up across the Southeast on Wednesday, with highs into the low 100s expected. Maximum heat indices may reach as high as 110 degrees along the central Gulf Coast when factoring in high humidity. High temperatures in general will be hot and a bit above normal across most of the central and eastern U.S. outside of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic,” the National Weather Service wrote in an early morning weather outlook.
At 0800 ET, at least nine million people across eight northern and central U.S. states, including Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Kansas, were under heat alerts. That number should exponentially increase as the heat dome moves eastward.
Summer begins Tuesday, and large swaths of the Central and southern parts of the country could see above-average max temperatures through the end of the month.
Above-average weather will increase cooling demand from households and businesses, may strain power grids, and result in higher electricity costs for tens of millions of Americans, or worst, power blackouts.
200 Million Americans Roast In Two Massive “Heat Domes”
200 Million Americans Roast In Two Massive “Heat Domes”
At the beginning of the week, we told readers the dog days of summer have finally arrived with above-average temperatures for most of the country.
By late Thursday, watch/warning/advisory alerts for dangerous heat extended to nearly 200 million Americans as multiple heat domes scorch the Pacific Northwest, Central states, and East Coast.
“Dangerous heat and humidity in the Northwest, Northeast, and central portions of the CONUS have prompted Excessive Heat Warnings and Heat Advisories. Severe thunderstorms will impact the areas from the Midwest into the Great Lakes through Thursday,” the National Weather Service (NWS) wrote on its website.
“Around 195 million Americans are under a watch/warning/advisory for dangerous heat. Yes, it’s summer, but this type of heat can kill,” the National Weather Service (NWS) warned in a tweet.
Temperature forecasts for the lower 48 states show mean temperatures will peak Friday/Saturday and trend lower through Monday, with another spurt of hot weather slated through Aug. 22.
NYMEX Natgas futures have slumped nearly 4% in the last four sessions as traders begin to price in colder weather next week.
As we’ve shown, average temperatures are peaking for the lower 48 states and should begin to decline after this month.
Meanwhile, hot temps and a megadrought in the US West have fueled 105 large files burning 2.4 million acres in 14 states. The largest fire is Dixie in northern California, burning more than 500,000 acres so far.
Making matters worse, Bloomberg reports a La Niña weather pattern is forecasted to develop during the August-October season and last through the 2021-22 winter.
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Triple-Digit Heat Dome Bakes Pacific Northwest, Triggers First Blackout
Triple-Digit Heat Dome Bakes Pacific Northwest, Triggers First Blackout
The Pacific Northwest is experiencing a multi-day heat wave that we said last week would be “historic.” The unrelenting triple-digit temperatures shattered records across the region and have stressed out power grids where rolling blackouts have been reported.
Bloomberg reports Avista Corporation, which supplies electricity to 340,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers, triggered its first rolling blackout across its grid after it became overloaded Monday evening. Rotating outages first hit 9,300 customers late Monday and could expand as temperatures remain well above average through July 4.
Avista was the first major utility to report rolling blackouts in the Northwest region, and with positive temperature anomalies to linger through the week, it may not be the last.
Avista has never “experienced this kind of demand on our system and this kind of impact to our system,” Heather Rosentrater, senior vice president of energy delivery at the utility company, told reporters during a press conference Monday. She called the weather event “very unprecedented.”
As we noted last Friday, “a “historic” heat wave was set to transform the Pacific Northwest into a furnace this weekend. It has the potential to shatter long-standing temperature records.” And that is precisely what it did.
Major metros, such as Portland and Seattle, broke record highs by huge margins as positive temperature anomalies reached between 30 to 40 degrees.
Portland hit 116 degrees by Monday afternoon, the highest temperature in more than eight decades of record-keeping. It was the third day of triple-digit temps.
Seattle recorded 108 degrees Monday afternoon, easily surpassing its previous 103-degree record from 2009. Positive temperature anomalies for the city yesterday were 34 degrees, usually temps average around 74 degrees.
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Heat Dome Roasts US With Temps Forecast To Approach 100°F
Heat Dome Roasts US With Temps Forecast To Approach 100°F
A massive heat dome is set to intensify this weekend, expected to roast hundreds of millions of Americans with temperatures in some regions approaching 95-100°F.
A portion of the same weather system, a large area of high pressure, that has been building and broiling the south-central United States much of this week will poke northeastward in the coming days.
Actual temperatures are forecast to rise well into the 90s F from portions of Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York state, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, West Virginia, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia.
A few locations over the mid-Atlantic and Ohio Valley can reach or exceed 100 degrees for a couple of hours in the afternoon on Sunday and Monday. – Accuweather
Meteorologist Ryan Maue tweeted, “the Lower 48 average high temperature will be over 90°F 🌡️ 265 million population 90°+” on Saturday. h/t Meteorologist Ryan Maue
The National Weather Service warns heat indices over 100°F will be found in the Midwest through the weekend.
The National Integrated Drought Information System warns “outside of the Southeast, every region of the USA has some drought.”
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