Summer Lin and Ashley Ahn | (TNS) Los Angeles Times
To get an idea of how the forces of climate change and extreme heat are transforming the West, consider the summer Phoenix has endured.
On Wednesday, the city experienced the 101st day in a row with temperatures topping 100 degrees, with little relief in sight.
Residents of the desert city are used to broiling summers, but 2024 has been one for the record books.
At SixPoints Hardware, BreAnna Larson said her customers have been coming in to buy personal fans and anything they can get their hands on to stay cool while working on construction sites.
Larson, who has lived in Phoenix for six years, said this summer’s sweltering heat is nothing like anything she has experienced. The cooling system at her apartment complex has already failed three times this summer because of the excessive heat.
“It has really shown (how) the impact of dark pavements and such can heat up the city, as well as increase electricity bills,” she said.
Phoenix is expected to see triple-digit temperatures for the foreseeable future; it’s supposed to stay above 110 degrees until at least Friday and remain in the mid- to upper 100s for the next seven days, according to the National Weather Service.
“This year, the heat started early and it’s been persistent,” said NWS meteorologist Ted Whittock. “We haven’t really had a break. This is, on average, the record hottest summer for the Phoenix area.”
Southern California is in the midst of a heat wave that is expected to last through the weekend. But it’s nothing compared to the conditions in some of parts of the West that are no strangers to extremes.
In Las Vegas, it reached a whopping 120 degrees July 7, surpassing the city’s previous daily high of 117 degrees. As of a few days ago, forecasters declared 2024 the hottest summer on record for Sin City.
On July 5, Palm Springs broke its previous all-time high temperature when it reached 124 degrees.
July was the hottest month in Death Valley’s recorded history, with the average daily temperature hitting 108.5 degrees and the average daily high reaching 121.9 degrees.
While California’s climate has always had year-to-year and month-to-month variability, the heat the state has experienced recently is consistent with climate change, according to Jane Baldwin, assistant professor of earth system science at the University of California, Irvine.
“These are levels of heat that are extreme and are what we generally expect to see more of as the climate system warms,” she said, although she added that more analysis needs to be done to determine whether this is going to be the new normal for California.
While September heat waves are relatively commonplace, said University of California, Los Angeles climate scientist Daniel Swain, this one is still notable for bringing anticipated temperatures as high as 115 degrees to coastal Southern California.
For the majority of the Southwest, it was the hottest summer on record, although that hasn’t been the case for coastal areas of California, Swain said.
“This heat event will actually be the most …read more
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
