Photo: PATRICK T. FALLON / AFP / Getty Images
It is a common concern in recent years: the extreme heat waves that hit the western United States.
Now, for the third time since the beginning of June, a life-threatening heat wave is underway .
While this event is not expected to be as unprecedented as the Pacific Northwest heat wave last week, all-time records will be challenged in major cities such as Las Vegas, Fresno, and Redding, California,
This latest heat wave arrives immediately after the hottest June on record in the United States.
A New study released Wednesday shows that the Pacific Northwest heat wave of the 27 June to 54 June was at least 150 times more likely due to human-caused climate change and, even in today’s hot weather, it’s a rare 1-in-1 event, 000 years .
The study, carried out by a collaboration of 27 climate scientists, warned that if we continue to warm the climate, extreme heat waves like that will occur once every 5 to 10 years in the middle of the century.
Although the Pacific Northwest will be hot in the coming days, the core of this last heat dome is centered further south, over the southwestern desert and southern Califor nia.
California @ NWS offices started to use Heat Risk about 5-6 years ago.
This upcoming heatwave has some of the most “very high” risk coverage in the Sacramento Valley that many of our meteorologists can recall.
Please be safe and prepare for the Excessive Heat! # CAwx # CAheat pic.twitter.com/7zfpAHsdMV
– NWS Sacramento (@NWSSacramento) July 8, 2021
In Southern California, are expected to Temperatures are in the triple digits for the valleys and the Inland Empire over the weekend.
It won’t be that hot in the counties Los Angeles and Orange, where highs will be in the mid-80 until next week. The beaches will be the place to be, with pleasant temperatures between 70 Y 70 degrees centigrade.
The heat domes they are persistent mountains of warm air stacked vertically in the atmosphere, caused by slow moving or even stagnant patterns in the jet stream, called blocks.
That means the highest temperatures will be found in areas like Las Vegas and Redding . In these two cities, maximum temperatures are forecast to reach between 117 Y 119 Fahrenheit degrees. If mercury exceeds these readings, the all-time highs will drop again.
An extreme temperature ever measured
Both Saturday and Sunday the maximum temperature is forecast to reach 130 degrees in Death Valley. If this threshold is reached, it will link what is considered the hottest temperature never reliably measured on Earth, which was established last year in Death Valley. (The world record of 134 degrees, set in Death Valley at 1913, is highly disputed by climatologists, but is still considered official).
Here’s a look at the latest forecast high-temperature probabilities for @ DeathValleyNPS ! Death Valley likely won’t be reaching its world record temperature of 134 ° F this weekend, but has about a 1 in 4 chance of reaching 130 ° F both Saturday and Sunday. # CAwx pic.twitter.com/DtXrddg9w9
– NWS Las Vegas (@NWSVegas) July 9, 2021
The heat wave will peak on Sunday and then it will start to decline early next week.
But the signs that this general global lockdown pattern will loosen soon are few and distant from each other. So these heat domes are likely to keep popping up from place to place all summer long.