The heat wave bedeviling Texas, Florida and parts of the Westis spreading across much of the country this week. Dangerously hot temperatures are due to expand east after arriving in the north and central states and Plains, according to the National Weather Service. Heat is already the top weather-related cause of death in the U.S., with health care costs that stem from it running to $1 billion every summer, research shows.
Phoenix hit a record 24th consecutive day of temperatures at or above 110 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday — with low temperatures at or above 90 degrees for a record 14th straight day.
Miami’s heat index (or ‘feels like’ temperature) was above 100 degrees for a record 43rd straight day Sunday, as the ocean around South Florida and the Keys rose to unprecedented levels.
Soaring temperatures have added to the costs of livestock producers, as they spend to keep animals cooler and shift their own schedules to avoid the heat.
Overall productivity costs related to heat could run to $100 billion a year in the U.S., according to research, and slash global output by a sixth by 2100.
By Cate Chapman, Editor at LinkedIn News
Severe heat wave in southern U.S. remains entrenched as records mount
Nearly 100 million Americans are under heat alerts after temperatures approached all-time records in Reno, Las Vegas, Flagstaff and Salt Lake City on Sunday
Heat alerts as issued by the National Weather Service. (Pivotal Weather)
The southern United States is in its third week of an extreme and stubborn heat wave that refuses to budge. It continues to set records as nearly 100 million Americans remain under heat alerts from South Florida to northern Nevada.
The intensity of the heat wave probably peaked on Sunday in California’s Central Valley and the Desert Southwest. Temperatures climbed as high as 128 degrees in Death Valley and approached all-time records in Reno, Nev.; Las Vegas; Flagstaff, Ariz.; and Salt Lake City. Although temperatures won’t be quite as high in the Southwest in the coming days, it will still be dangerously hot, and more records could be set.
Meanwhile, in parts of the South and Southeast, above-normal temperatures and sauna-like humidity will make it feel intolerably hot, with triple-digit heat indexes continuing for days.
High temperatures Monday as forecast by the National Weather Service. (Pivotal Weather)
The “heat dome” over the southern United States is one of several across the Northern Hemisphere that are bringing high-impact heat to Europe and Asia as well. Sunday featured a high temperature of 126 degrees in Sanbao, China, the country’s highest temperature ever observed and the highest recorded north of 40 degrees latitude globally.
In Europe, the Italian island of Sardinia could approach 117 degrees on Tuesday, while Rome nears 108 degrees — which would eclipse Rome’s all-time record by 3 degrees. In the Middle East, Persian Gulf International Airport in Iran posted a suffocating heat index of 152 degrees Sunday.
It’s well established that the frequency, intensity, size and duration of high-end heat events are increasing because of human-caused climate change. The southern U.S. heat wave has occurred amid the hottest days on record for the planet; every day since July 3, the Earth’s average temperature has surpassed the temperature that held the previous record.
The forecast
The heat dome expands and languishes across the southern United States over the next five days, as simulated by the American GFS model. (WeatherBell)
The heat dome — a persistent lobe of hot, sinking air that is responsible for the excessive temperatures — isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, it’s expected to consolidate and intensify some again while shifting east.
That will allow temperatures to decline slightly for a few days in California, but readings are spiking once again in Texas and across the south-central United States. As the heat slowly progresses east and builds, more records are in jeopardy. Here’s where records will be challenged:
Monday
Albuquerque is set to tie a record of 104, set in 1980.
Tucson may fall just a degree shy of its 111-degree record set in 2005.
Austin will approach a record of 105 set in 1984, but could fall just shy.
Corpus Christi, Tex., is forecast to hit 100 degrees, tying a record set in 1998.
San Angelo, Tex., is expected to reach the record of 106, set in 1989.
San Antonio is predicted to fall a degree shy of a record, only hitting 104.
Tuesday
Albuquerque should tie a record of 105, set in 1980.
Tucson should break a record and make it to 110; the number to beat is 109, set in 1992.
Austin is forecast to break a record and make it to 105; the prior record, set last year, was 103.
Corpus Christi, Tex. will probably tie a record of 99, set in 2011.
Laredo and San Angelo, Tex., should both make it to 108, which would fall one degree short of the record in Laredo but would break a record by one degree in San Angelo.
Wichita Falls, Tex., is aiming for 109, which is one degree short of last year’s record.
Phoenix is forecast to challenge several records this week. It also is set to easily surpass its record-long streak of 18 straight days at or above 110 degrees, set in June 1974. This past Sunday was the city’s 17th consecutive day in that range, and it’s expected to reach at least 112 every day through this coming Sunday.
The heat is helping exacerbate several ongoing wildfires across the Southwest, including California’s Rabbit Fire, which has burned 7,950 acres southeast of San Bernardino. It is 35 percent contained. More than a dozen blazes were also burning across Arizona.
Records set Sunday
California and the West
Sunday featured numerous weather records across the West and Desert Southwest. Death Valley set a calendar-day record at 128 degrees, falling just shy of 130 degrees, the highest temperature observed globally since at least 1931. The nearby station of Badwater remained at 120 degrees after midnight, the Earth’s highest temperature ever observed so late at night, according to weather historian Maximiliano Herrera.
Reno reached 108 degrees Sunday, matching its highest temperature ever observed. Kingman, Ariz., set an all-time record of 114.
Flagstaff (high of 96), Las Vegas (116) and Salt Lake City (106) missed all-time highs by one degree but set calendar-day records.
Phoenix didn’t set a record high on Sunday but has seen low temperatures bottom out only in the 90s a record eight days in a row.
To the north, in California’s Central Valley, Sacramento and Stockton set calendar-day records of 109 on Sunday. The heat made it as far north as the Columbia River Basin, including Idaho Falls, which nabbed a calendar-day record of 98.
Plains and Southeast
Across Texas, the southern Plains and the Southeast, high temperatures mostly didn’t make it to record values but, coupled with the humidity, were yielding heat indexes in the 105-to-115-degree range. The humidity was also preventing overnight lows from falling much, which led to record warm overnight temperatures.
Key West, Fla., only dropped to 85 degrees Sunday morning, a record warm minimum for the date. Records at Key West date to 1872. Alma, Ga., logged an overnight low of 76, which was a record. College Station, Tex., had a record warm low of 81 degrees.
