Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Early Summer Heat Broils Northern Hemisphere

By: Christopher C. Burt , 9:06 PM GMT on June 10, 2014


While the summer has started off relatively cool for the eastern two-thirds of the U.S. many other locations in the world have been broiling the past several weeks. Record or near-record heat has been observed in portions of Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Russia, India, Nepal, China, Japan, Korea, Libya, Chad, and Mexico. Here’s a brief summary of the highlights.

An intense heat wave has developed in portions of Europe the past few days. On June 9th Ihringen inGermany reached 37.9°C (100.2°F). This was close to the all-time German national heat record for the month of June (which was 38.2°C/100.8°F at Frankfurt on June 27, 1947). This time, Frankfurt reached a sweltering 35.0° C (95.0°F), unheard of so early in the summer. Severe storms have broken out along the heat boundary in Germany and France with six storm-related deaths reported so far in Germany. A thunderstorm brought a 150 kmh (93 mph) wind gust to Dusseldorf Airport causing it to close for several hours. In France hail up to 8 cm (3”) in diameter fell in Ile-de France, Paris.


Map courtesy of ClimateCouncil.org.au

Mexico saw some amazing temperatures last week with a site in Sonora State called Moris reporting 51.5°C (124.7°F) on June 4th. This figure, however, is suspicious and not well verified by surrounding stations. A more believable 50.5°C (122.9°F) was registered at El Oregano on June 4th. This is just 1.5°C (2.7°F) short of Mexico’s all-time national heat record of 52.0°C (125.6°F) set at two sites in the Mexicali area in July 1995. The heat in northern Mexico brushed the U.S. Southwest during the first week of June. El Paso, Texas saw a string of four consecutive record-breaking days June 2-5 with a peak of 109°F (42.8°C) on June 3rd. This was the hottest temperature ever measured so early in the summer for the city.

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