Gigantic ‘Heat Dome’ Baking The Whole US May Be Historic, Scientists Say : ScienceAlert

Massive Heat Dome Sweeps Across U.S., Breaking Records and Shattering Climate Norms

A relentless heat dome has engulfed the United States, smashing temperature records in 14 states and across the entire nation, as meteorologists warn it could become one of the most expansive heat waves in American history. The scorching system, which has already baked the Southwest, is now creeping eastward, with no signs of letting up until at least the middle of next week.

“This is not your average spring heat wave,” said Gregg Gallina, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center. “Basically the entire U.S. is going to be hot. The area of record temperatures is extremely large. That’s the thing that’s really bizarre.”

The heat dome, a high-pressure system acting like a lid trapping hot air over a region, has already left Flagstaff, Arizona, with 11 or 12 straight days of temperatures higher than the city’s previous March record. As it moves east, temperatures in the 90s Fahrenheit (mid-30s Celsius) are expected to hit the southern and central plains by Wednesday. From one-quarter to one-third of the 48 continental states will be flirting with March heat records.

“This is a truly historic event,” said meteorologist Jeff Masters of Yale Climate Connections. “The physical area of this heat wave likely dwarfs two other historic heat waves—one in 2012 in the Upper Midwest and Northeast and another in 2021 in the Pacific Northwest.”

While the Dust Bowl heat waves of 1936 were more intense, they were a series of heat waves over two months during summer, not a single big event like now. Another saving grace for people in this heat wave is that it’s not as humid as it would be if the temperatures rose in the summer.

On Friday, four places in Arizona and California hit 112 degrees Fahrenheit (44.4 degrees Celsius), smashing the record for the hottest March day in the continental United States by 4 degrees (2 degrees Celsius). It was also just 1 degree shy of the hottest day recorded in the Lower 48 in April.

Climatologist and weather historian Maximiliano Herrera, who tracks global weather records, compiled a list of 14 states that have notched their hottest March day on record since this heat dome started: California, Arizona, Nevada, Kansas, New Mexico, Nebraska, Utah, South Dakota, Missouri, Iowa, Colorado, Wyoming, Minnesota, and Idaho.

“In Mexico, even May records were trashed with March records broken by as much as 14 degrees Fahrenheit, far more than July 1936, March 1907, or June 2021,” Herrera wrote in an email.

The National Center for Environmental Information registered at least 479 weather stations breaking records for March from Wednesday through Saturday, based on its network of stations. Herrera, who analyzed a broader set of data, said the true number is likely higher. Another 1,472 daily records were shattered at the same time.

What’s causing this unprecedented heat? The jet stream, which moves weather systems from west to east, is stuck as far westward as the storms dousing Hawaii, where people are seeing torrential rains and flooding. This has created a perfect storm of conditions for the heat dome to expand and intensify.

On Friday, a group of international climate scientists called World Weather Attribution determined that the record heat was “virtually impossible” and 800 times more likely because of climate change from the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas. The result of those activities added at least 4.7 degrees (2.6 degrees Celsius) to the heat, said report co-author Clair Barnes, an Imperial College of London scientist with the group.

“The heat dome will move on by late next week,” Masters said. “We just have to give it time.”

Tags: heat wave, climate change, record temperatures, heat dome, extreme weather, global warming, Southwest, March heat, U.S. weather, meteorologist, National Weather Service, Weather Prediction Center, Yale Climate Connections, Dust Bowl, jet stream, World Weather Attribution, Imperial College of London, climate scientists, weather records, Hawaii storms, torrential rains, flooding.

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