Brutal heat building over the US Pacific Northwest and Western Canada right now will shatter many all-time heat records over the coming days.
The extent, intensity and longevity of this level of heat is absolutely mind-blowing.
THREAD
Yes, you are reading this correctly. Glowing white hot over +40°C (104°F) widely all along the western side of North America.
This is the animation in hourly detail. Let's not forget about how hot the nights will be.
The punishing heatwave has an incredible jet stream pattern.
The dome of heat will be encircled by the polar jet and this helps lift a sub-tropical jet branch almost into the Canadian Arctic.
An 'unfathomable temperature anomaly'.
'Approaching 25°C (>40°F) above normal for B.C.'
Parts of Washington State, like Seattle also looking at unprecedented anomalies. Places that don't necessarily have the infrastructure to deal with such heat.
Some places in Europe didn't just record their warmest February on record.... They went on to beat their warmest MARCH temperature levels.
[THREAD]
Effectively everywhere in the dark red shading smashed warmest February record - most by large margin. Austria 🇦🇹 has over 250 years of temperature record and nothing compares to this. Not even close.
BREAKING: Valencia 🇪🇸 has just scorched its previous heat record by a shocking +3.4°C
The new provisional record stands at 46.8°C (116.2°F). This is a huge record-break.
Before commenting.... please read the thread.
Historical record can be found here:
Simply select the variables you would like to check. This weather station has data since 1966. A lengthy period of observation to smash a record by such huge margin. https://t.co/JHyxNLmKZXaemet.es/es/servicioscl…
The final maximum to the decimal point may still change in final daily maximum but it is a clear record by large margin.
Please read through this thread... There is a lot of detail. The temperature dropped suddenly after the maximum and can be explained.
The Mediterranean is now completely outside all previous records. We have never measured this level of heat across the basin at any time of year.
It is only July. We usually see the annual maximum in August.
We could also be looking at a new world record in ocean heat from Manatee Bay (Florida). Please carefully read the excellent thread by @DrJeffMasters, there are a few uncertainties explained
Our oceans have been breaking heat records across the globe daily since March.
Excessive and sustained heat in the oceans can have enormous impact on many types of marine life. We have seen damaging marine heatwaves before, but not like this.
A short thread...
Let's start with the Mediterranean...
The Mediterranean Sea has never been this warm so early in the year (in modern record). The current heat is challenging some of the hottest moments which usually occur in August.
We know from past study that the some of the fiercest marine heatwaves (like 2003 and last year) led to mass mortality of some species in the Meditteranean