Heat Wave
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June 05, 2015
Heat wave coming to Vancouver
Saturday and Sunday will be the hottest days of this spell
Record-breaking temperatures are on the way for B.C. this weekend.
CBC meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe says it will feel like 30 degrees or warmer on Saturday and Sunday across the southern part of the province.
Read more at CBC
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Insane Heat Wave in Alaska Put Temperatures Higher Than in Arizona
Alaska, along with the rest of the Arctic, has been warming even faster than other regions of the world due to climate change. That was the findings of a report this spring from the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, which found that the rate of warming will only continue to increase in the coming decades.
The signs of rapid warming in Alaska were everywhere this past winter. The Iditarod was moved north 300 miles to Fairbanks because Anchorage had record low snowfall. A ski resort outside of Juneau had to close because of low snowfall and warm temperatures that inhibited snow-making.
Now the 49th state experienced a heat wave at the end of May. Over Memorial Day weekend, while Texas was being inundated with floods, parts of Alaska were warmer than Arizona. On May 23 in Fairbanks, the temperature reached 86 degrees Fahrenheit, while Phoenix topped out at 83 for the day, reports Al Jazeera. Even the town of Bettles, which is north of Fairbanks and falls within the Arctic Circle, recorded a temperature of 82.
That same day, Eagle, Alaska hit 91 degrees Fahrenheit, marking the earliest 90-degree day in state history, according to NASA Earth Observatory. And it wasn’t just one unusually warm day. “Between May 16 and May 24, Eagle hit 27 degrees Celsius (80 degrees Fahrenheit) or higher daily—its second longest such streak on record for any time of the year,” says Al Jazeera.
Read more at Ecowatch
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Heat wave spreads from Pakistan to the Gulf
Temperatures hit 50C in United Arab Emirates as heat spreads across the Middle East.
The highest daytime temperature in the world on Wednesday was recorded at Sweihan, Abu Dhabi, where the temperature climbed to 50.5C at 12pm local time.
The UAE has recently been enduring a heat wave, which started many thousands of kilometres away.
A week ago, while India was suffering an official heat wave, it was hotter still in the middle of Pakistan. In the Indus Valley, temperatures were daily at 48C and 49C.
Nawabshah, north of Hyderabad, registered at least 49C for four days in a row. May 24 saw the highest temperature of Pakistan's heat wave: 49.5C in Nawabshah.
This heat did not just go away, it has been blown gently south, through the Indus delta, over Gwadar, into the Arabian Sea. Indeed, as June came in, Gwadar’s temperature shot up ten degrees to 48C for two days in a row.
This hot air, loaded with dust which is visible by satellite, has now reached Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Temperatures here have risen three to five degrees since the start of June.
On Wednesday, Khasab, Sunayah and Fahud, all in Oman, each measured 49C. This looks like a record-equalling high for Khasab, on the Musandam peninsula. This region is known as Oman’s ‘Norway of Arabia’, with its fjord-like inlets and cliffs overlooking the Strait of Hormuz.
The UAE’s heat wave also affected Ras al-Khaimah, recording two successive days at 47C, while Sharjah notched up 46C and the city of Dubai 45C.
The heat has been rising in Qatar too with Doha reaching 45.8C, 45.5C and 46.1C in the first three days of this month. A gathering Shamal should reduce the heat on Thursday throughout the Gulf but that will soon ease and temperatures will rise again.
Article source - Al Jazeera
India heatwave kills 800 as capital's roads melt
Hospitals on alert to treat victims of heatstroke and people advised to stay indoors, as temperatures near 50C.
27 May 2015
At least 800 people have died in a major heatwave that has swept across India, melting roads in New Delhi as temperatures neared 50C.
Hospitals were on alert to treat victims of heatstroke and authorities advised people to stay indoors on Tuesday, with no end in sight to the searing conditions.
India's Meteorological Department said it had issued heat warnings to several states where temperatures were forecast to top 45C over the next few days.
"As of now, we don't predict any respite from the extreme heatwave for the next few days," said spokesman BP Yadav.
Hundreds of people, mainly from the poorest sections of society, die at the height of summer every year across the country, while tens of thousands suffer power cuts from an overburdened electricity grid.
Streets were deserted in Hyderabad, capital of the worst-hit state of Andhra Pradesh in southern India, where 551 people have died in the last week, the AFP news agency reported.
"The state government has taken up education programmes through television and other media to tell people not to venture into the outside without a cap, to drink water and other measures," said P Tulsi Rani, special commissioner for disaster management in the state.
"We have also requested NGOs and government organisations to open up drinking water camps so that water will be readily available for all the people in the towns."
Read more at Al Jazeera