Dueling heat waves are baking the East and West Coasts. One is going to be worse than the other

Jun 26, 2021 Last reply: 5 years ago 24 Replies

Environment Canada, Canada's governmental source for weather information, has issued heat warnings for most of British Columbia and Alberta that extend all the way to the Arctic Circle.



You know it's bad when it's a sauna inside the arctic circle.



Not sure Alberta especially is real big on air conditioning.



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There is a theoretical possibility that they will be identically bad, but even then the west-coastians and the east-coastians won't believe it. Theirs is always going to have been worse than the other's.

OR one could be the same as the other.

One of those two choices.

It will obviously be in the mind of the beholder(s).

I know folks used to 110F here (AZ) would cringe at 90F on the coast -- as the humidity is just inescapable.

It is similarly amusing to see people wearing *gloves*, here, in the (above zero!) winter temperatures -- having lived in places that get considerably colder.

I'll be curious to see what the folks on the northern border/Canada think about this batch of temperatures! Wanna bet there's a big run on "cooling devices" (fans, if nothing else!)

Yes- a line of extreme weather clear across the top of continental U.S.

Berardelli explains what's happening here:

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Jet stream instability of this magnitude means we're rapidly nearing the end. The once in 1000 year event is going to be permanent ongoing event. You can't even call it an event, it's more like just the way things are now.

Swamp coolers might work. When I was in Alberta (Medicine Hat) it was 3% RH and when it got to 90F, the natives disappeared indoors. It was comfy to me (a Texan).

But, is it *always* dry? E.g., coolers work fine here until mid June (i.e., "Summer"). But, once Monsoon comes along (mid June), coolers are ineffective (counterproductive?) and refrigeration is needed.

Kind of muggy today. High of 27 (about 80°F). A bit hotter tomorrow and rain, then down to 70°F highs for the rest of the week.

Not unusual weather for this time of year, more like mid-July weather perhaps. <shrug>

Weather forecasting is fun:

"Changing the Way You Use Weather Data"

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NWS Hazards:

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NWS Forecast - West Coast

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CPC Temp Outlooks, 6-10 days and 8-14 days.

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Drought map - West Coast

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Animation instructions:

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But you're *east*, right? (Ontario?)

I was under the impression that the western half of the country would be getting cooked, more, in this present "wave".

I just had to move my car before the street pavers show up at 8AM. It was chilly in sweats and a parka. It's 54F and 98% humidity. Saw a coyote trotting past the house.

No views. Just fog.

115F in BC. Now *that's* gotta hurt! (and I'll assume the THI is considerably higher!)

I remember driving through the Okanagan valley ca. 1973, it was incredibly hot/humid (no A/C on my '69 Valiant).

Vancouver is pretty hot (for Van) but only a bit over 100°F and dropping down to 80s later in the week.

Bay area meteorologist gives some insight into Bay area weather and how perplexed they are. He says it's just a matter of time until SF is "bubbled."

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Predicting the future of chaotic systems is absurd... economic systems, social systems, weather, climate.

The pnw is getting wind from the east, so it's hot and dry. Our dominant wind is from the west, off the ice-cold ocean, but we usually get a few weeks of hot and dry wind from the east, typically in October. A ceiling fan is enough to make that bearable.

Of course when an area is covered by thousands of continuously-read temperature sensors, some in parking lots or on runways, you get records.

A weather station map of Portland shows 10 degree local variations. And it's cool today so far.

It's no longer absurd or chaotic the closer you get to the occurrence of the event, everything is quite deterministic at that point.

All you're saying is some air is the shade, some is in the sun, some is in between.

Don't forget planetary orbits. But predicting orbits is NOT absurd, it's done all the time; chaotic in some very long timescales, yes, but that doesn't support the 'is absurd' conclusion.

The hot spell here in Seattle (my thermometer hit 110, which is unusual) was predictable, predicted, and... rather an important bit of weather.

I made a mint julep and spent time in the basement with a good book.

And when it's only one or two sensors in a hundred-mile radius, you get records. Significance?

And you can pick the highest one of hundreds to declare a record.

Hundreds? You were talking about 10. I smell a rat.

The 'record' is for the highest peak of some decades of a single station. For Portland, that's 116 degrees, at Portland International Airport (since April 1938).

Rather than random thinking, and posting, check the data sometime.

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