Extreme heat in Canada - "Heat Dome" sets heat records

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Western Canada is battling scorching heat. Temperature records have been broken in many places, and in some cases new records are even several degrees above the previous record. The reason for this is a “heat dome”, a so-called heat dome.

powerful high pressure system

In theory, such a “heat dome” is a powerful, more or less stable high pressure system that spans large parts of Canada. This directs the jet stream farther north. In Europe, similar weather patterns are known as “omega conditions” or “blocked weather patterns”. In addition to the high pressure system, the Pacific also plays an important role.

Legend:

SRF METO

The constellation is similar to the Greek letter “omega” (Ω). In the picture, the letter is slightly wider. The lows and highs stabilize each other, the weather is blocked and pressure structures barely move.

warm pacific

The western Pacific is particularly hot at this time. The air over the warm ocean heats up significantly and is then carried towards North America by the prevailing westerly winds. At higher altitudes, warm air from the Pacific is continuously directed into a high pressure system, where it sinks and heats up further. The hot air is literally “captured” by the high pressure system.

extremely extraordinary

There has never been such a scorching heat in this region. The temperature record was broken in many places and the mercury reached around 50 degrees at the local level. Some of the new records were several degrees above the previous records. Such an extreme event would be nearly impossible without man-made climate change, the World Meteorological Organization announced on Twitter today. Naturally, such an event occurs every 10,000 years.