A dangerous 'Omega block' is trapping scorching hot air over the US and Canada

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Doka
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A dangerous 'Omega block' is trapping scorching hot air over the US and Canada

Post by Doka » 06-30-2021 07:34 PM

This has been hidious weather, everything that you would immagine "Hell" to be. Now we are in for high winds and dry lightening. Not a happy ideal.

The article can't help its self by blaming air breathing humans, I wonder if the author is an air breather.? :confused:

A dangerous 'Omega block' is trapping scorching hot air over the US and Canada

Monday was the hottest day ever for many US cities and the entire country of Canada.

The Northwestern United States and Pacific Canada are in the grips of a heat wave that the National Weather Service called "historic and dangerous" in a bulletin on Sunday (June 27). A weather anomaly called a "heat dome" is partially to blame.

In the last few days, multiple cities across Washington, Oregon, Northern California and British Columbia have seen scorching all-time heat records fall, including a reading of 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42 degrees Celsius) in Seattle on Sunday (June 27) — the city's highest recorded temperature ever — and a high of 117 F (47 C) in Salem, Oregon, on the same day. In Portland, the city's streetcar system had to cancel service for the day because the power cables were melting in the heat.

Meanwhile, north of the Canadian border, the town of Lytton, British Columbia, recorded a high of 116 F (47 C) on Monday — the hottest temperature ever recorded anywhere in Canada, according to NASA's Earth Observatory.

While average summer temperatures are steadily increasing every year due to human-induced global warming (2020 tied 2016 for the planet's hottest year on record, Live Science previously reported), a meteorological anomaly is also partly to blame for the Pacific Northwest heat. Conflating high- and low-pressure systems have trapped the region in a so-called heat dome, according to CBS News — essentially, "a mountain of warm air" locked in place by undulations in the jet stream (a river of strong wind weaving high through the upper atmosphere), the news site reported.

In this case, the jet stream has trapped a ridge of high pressure (that's the heat dome) over the Pacific Northwest, creating a block in the atmosphere that prevents the weather system from moving on. Instead, the hot air in the high-pressure system pushes down over the region, creating a suffocating blanket of heat. As you can see in weather maps like this one, the wind patterns swirl around the heat block in the shape of the Greek letter Omega — giving systems like these the nickname "Omega blocks," according to CBS.

Fortunately, it seems that the worst is over for now, the National Weather Service reported on Tuesday (June 29), with "the stagnant upper-level high pressure in place over the region [beginning] to shift to the east over the next couple of days." The highest temperatures will likely fall in eastern Washington, Oregon and western Idaho for the next few days, the NWS added, and eventually move over Montana by Thursday (July 1). Excessive heat advisories remain in effect for much of the region.

https://www.livescience.com/a-dangerous ... and-canada
KARMA RULES

Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities, Can Make You Commit Atrocities': Voltaire

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Doka
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Re: A dangerous 'Omega block' is trapping scorching hot air over the US and Canada

Post by Doka » 07-01-2021 06:05 PM

Summer of Fire


62 new wildfires, 29K lightning strikes reported in 24 hours in B.C; state of emergency possible this summer

VANCOUVER -- With dozens of wildfires reported in the last 24 hours alone, a state of emergency may be declared in B.C. this summer.

When asked if it was possible, just over 13 hours after a months-long state of emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic was called off in the province, Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth said, "absolutely."

While the situation is being monitored, Farnworth said a state of emergency, which grants the province additional powers, may be required this summer.

B.C.'s longest wildfire-related state of emergency was in 2017, and lasted 10 weeks, though the just-called-off COVID-19 state was in place for 67 weeks.

Sixty-two wildfires and 29,000 lightning strikes have been reported in just 24 hours.

At a last-minute news conference hosted by Farnworth in Vancouver and B.C. Premier John Horgan in Victoria, the minister addressed wildfires currently burning across the province, and a separate fire tearing through the village of Lytton.

That fire has destroyed most homes and buildings, he said. Several residents are still unaccounted for.

The cause of that fire is still under investigation, but it is not considered a wildfire.

Horgan said he spoke with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Thursday morning, during which time Ottawa promised help to the residents of the village.

Additionally, federal and provincial support is being promised to those impacted by what may be a challenging wildfire season, with more dry heat in the forecast.


Full article

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/mobile/62-new-wil ... -1.5493358
KARMA RULES

Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities, Can Make You Commit Atrocities': Voltaire

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