Image in thumbnail credit: National Weather Service. A widespread heatwave has been affecting California and the West Coast with multiple record stations shattering their June records by on average around 3 to 4 Fahrenheit.
San Francisco itself has recorded highs of 100°F, smashing previous records. To put things into perspective, the average maximum temperature for this part of the world in June is around 66°F, so we are running around 35°F above normal, fairly dangerous to health.
Why is it “dangerous”? – For an area with limited air conditioning facilities that is a fairly significant, dangerous heatwave, heatwaves of high intensity like the current one are rare for the cooler west coast, meaning they are not as well adapted to cope with these conditions.
However, there is a cool down on the way, with temperatures falling back towards average through the remainder of this week. Tweet via National Weather Service:
Today will be another hot day for temperatures in CA. However, tomorrow begins a cooling trend for the remainder of the week, especially along the coast, that will bring more seasonable temps.#caWx #caHeat #cooling #summer pic.twitter.com/MH4SYwcMHL
— NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) June 11, 2019
They also tweeted about the health concerns of major heatwaves:
Temperatures continue to climb with multiple locations now at 100°F. Keep an eye out for signs of heat illness in both humans and pets. #CAwx #CAheat pic.twitter.com/JYgwg8ubHD
— NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) June 11, 2019
Air quality is also reduced during large heatwaves. An air quality alert is in force for area surrounding San Francisco. This mean those with chronic respiratory conditions such as Asthma should take extra care.
The west is warmer than average, however central and eastern parts of the country are actually quite chilly at present. This temperature gradient will continue to fuel low pressure systems, several of which are expected to move across the country in the coming days. This is a worry as a large proportion of this rain will be falling on river catchment zones in the Mid West and Mississippi basin that are currently flood – prone.
The following map from pivotalweather.com shows how much rainfall is expected to fall (according to the GFS weather model), over the next 5 days.
Some parts of the Mid West could see over 5 inches, 125mm of rain in the next 5 days. That’s not an awful lot, however with grounds being saturated, that is enough to produce the risk of flooding, so stay tuned to local warnings over the coming week.