Jeremy R. Porter, Ph.D.’s Post

The topic of conversation this week has been the heat, and more specifically, talk about a heat dome. It’s a term that’s being used a lot more recently – including this week, and people have been asking just what is a heat dome? The answer is in my latest #AskAllister column: https://lnkd.in/e_uaprX2

The precise location of the heat dome this summer will play a crucial role in determining the intensity of heat experienced in the region.

How about this heat? It affects those of us in poor quality homes, often renters and low-income families, but of course First Nations in remote communites. People living in poorly designed homes could face indoor temperatures of over 45 degrees on the hottest days. And while some can afford to pump air conditioners and fans to stay cool, others will be risking heat stroke and going without food and medicine to pay their energy bills.  ACOSS is running a survey in partnership with the First Nations Clean Energy network and National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing Association to understand the impacts of heat on people experiencing financial stress. Will you complete the survey to tell your story and help advocate for change? https://lnkd.in/gK5zc3xJ

National Weather Service is accepting public comment on its experimental heat risk tool: The NWS HeatRisk is an experimental color-numeric-based index that provides a forecast risk of heat-related impacts to occur over a 24-hour period. HeatRisk takes into consideration: * How unusual the heat is for the time of the year * The duration of the heat including both daytime and nighttime temperatures * If those temperatures pose an elevated risk of heat-related impacts based on data from the CDC See details at: https://lnkd.in/gDDbnd2m #extremeheat #publichealth #heatrisk

It’s not officially summer yet, but the West is already dealing with its first heat wave of the year. Parts of California and the Southwest are expected to break temperature records Thursday because of a heat dome broiling the region. A heat dome occurs when high-pressure atmospheric conditions trap heat over an area, creating a “dome” of stagnant, hot air. More than 18 million people were under excessive heat warnings, according to the National Weather Service. Phoenix is expected to reach a high of 114 degrees Thursday, besting the daily temperature record it set in 2016 at 111 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. Las Vegas on Thursday and Friday is forecast to break daily temperature records set more than a decade ago, reaching 111 and 110 degrees, respectively. The West is getting a preview of what could be punishing heat this summer, which starts on June 20. Local economies have struggled in places with relentless heat. In Houston last year, during weeks of 100-degree days, people stayed inside and didn’t spend as much. Last year was Earth’s hottest year on record, fueled by rising greenhouse gas emissions. More than 2,300 people died of heat-related causes in the U.S. in 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. California is on track to have its biggest fire season in recent years, with wildfires already burning more than 34,000 acres—four times more land than usual by this time of year, according to state fire officials. After devastating fire seasons in 2020 and 2021, California’s last two wildfire years were relatively tame, in part because of heavier rains and more widespread preventive measures including controlled burns. This season is off to a faster start. Firefighters since last weekend have been battling a roughly 14,000-acre blaze about 50 miles east of San Francisco, weeks before peak fire season begins. The blaze, called the Corral Fire, is almost fully contained, state fire officials said. The heat wave, which started earlier this week, is expected to last through the end of the week, the National Weather Service said. Meteorologists said the heat wave would expand to Oregon and Washington on Friday and Saturday. Parts of South Texas are also expected to deal with hazardous heat, according to the weather service.

The atmospheric heat dome that is causing record temperatures in parts of the Northeast arrived earlier than usual, is situated farther north and is the strongest in several decades, according to weather experts. Heat domes usually form in the South and Southwest during the summer and are rarely seen in the Northeast in mid-June. “It is out of the ordinary and is unusual to see this type of intense high,” said Paul Pastelok, senior meteorologist at AccuWeather. A heat dome is an area of high pressure that traps hot air below it. Such a system also diverts jet-stream winds that might bring down the temperature. Heat domes can remain stationary for days until conditions change and the high-pressure system moves on. “The atmosphere is fluid, and, like a river, it’s always moving,” said Bob Oravec, lead forecaster for the National Weather Service in College Park, Md. “But sometimes it will get cut off into different types of vortices, and they may spin in place for a while. And that’s what’s kind of happening now across the United States.” This week’s heat dome formed over the Carolinas in recent days and expanded over the region from Chicago to New England. A heat dome’s high temperatures are uncomfortable and sometimes dangerous to human health. A dome over the Pacific Northwest in 2021 caused an estimated 650 heat-related deaths in the U.S. and Canada. “There is a lot of heat stress on people, on animals, and a lot of potentially dangerous situations,” Oravec said. Chicago broke its daily record temperature on Monday, hitting 97 degrees Fahrenheit, while forecasters said Pittsburgh is expected to hit three straight days of temperatures of 95 degrees beginning Wednesday. Hartford, Conn., is set to tie record temperatures of 95 Wednesday and 97 on Thursday, while Albany, N.Y., is expected to hit a record high of 97 degrees on Wednesday. I live in Queretaro, Mexico. Today's high is expected to be about 90. But starting tomorrow, the next seven days, the highs here will be in the 70s, and we will see much-needed rain, the result of a tropical storm Uno coming from the Gulf.

Stay safe in the heat on this particularly hot Fourth of July week. 🇺🇸 About a fifth of the country is under heat alerts, as a spell of extreme heat passes from the Mid-Atlantic through the Southeast and back to Texas. ☀️ Excessive-heat warnings are in place for much of California and Oklahoma, as well as the north-central Gulf Coast, including New Orleans. About a third of Americans will likely experience high temps at or above 100 degrees, while two-thirds of the U.S. will likely experience 90 degrees, even on multiple days. A slew of daily and all-time heat records could be beat this Independence Day week, including in Death Valley, where temperatures could reach 130 degrees – this could be the highest temp ever recorded by modern instrumentation. 🌡️ In the West, California and Utah are also on alert for fire weather (California has already seen about 30 fires in the past month.) Here’s a snapshot of our AI forecast WeatherMesh’s prediction for the 4th below 👇 Plus, check out NOAA’s HeatRisk tool to stay up to date on the latest heat advisories 🔗: https://lnkd.in/eSw73CNd #AIforecasts #IndependenceDay #weatherprediction

Extreme heat continues to intensify and records continue to shatter. And, the harsh reality is that not everyone experiences the heat equally. The striking disparities in tree cover in cities across the United States affect how residents experience extreme heat. In Phoenix, a neighborhood with a Tree Equity Score of 92 (pictured on the left) experienced surface temperatures nearly 5 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than a south Phoenix neighborhood with a score of 63 (right), according to American Forests’ heat disparity dataset, which uses Landsat surface temperatures to measure heat severity differences. Our cities have never needed #TreeEquity more. Dive deeper into why in our latest feature: https://lnkd.in/eqq8GExi

What system is best for measuring extreme heat? As extreme heat impacts much of the Southern US this week, Joseph Allen, DSc, MPH, Associate Professor recommends using the “wet-bulb globe temperature” system to measure heat. This system measures air temperature, the amount of heat our bodies absorb from the sun, and our body’s ability to cool itself, making it more accurate than heat index measurements. Dr. Allen argues that “what matters is not how hot the air is but how hot the weather is to a human body. For that, we need “wet-bulb globe temperature.” Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eGGxqyQe

🌧️Curious about rainfall distribution across the USA? Want to see how the average temperature shifts between 2024 and 2025? Check out our latest Data Facts on USA Rainfall Prediction (2024-2025) https://lnkd.in/gSQtCcei #RainfallPrediction #DataInsights #ClimateTrends