2021 Western North America heat wave

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2021 Western North America heat wave

Air temperature anomalies across North America on June 27, 2021

Date Late June 2021 – present

 Canada
Location
 United States

Type Heat wave

Deaths  486 (in British Columbia, Canada), 100+ (in the

United States) linked to the heat[1]

An extreme heat wave is affecting much of the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada,

particularly, in western Nevada, Northern California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho in
the United States, as well as British Columbia, and in the later
phase, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Yukon and Northwest Territories in Canada.[2] It also
affected inland areas of central and southern California,[3] as well as northwestern and
southern Nevada, though the temperature anomalies were not as extreme as regions
farther north.
The heat wave appeared due to an exceptionally strong ridge centered over the area. It
caused some of the highest temperatures ever recorded in the region, [4] including the
highest temperature ever measured in Canada at 49.6 °C (121.3 °F).
 The exact death toll is still unknown but is growing. On 30 June 2021, the chief coroner
of British Columbia said 486 more sudden deaths than usual were reported in the
province, suggesting the majority or all of them could have died as result of the heat,
with the toll suspected of being even higher as some people's deaths were not entered
into the databases.[5][6] Human losses in the United States include at least 63 in Oregon
(of which 45 in Multnomah County, home to Portland);[6][7][8] Washington has also seen
some people die of hyperthermia.[9]

Contents

 1Meteorological background
 2Temperature records
o 2.1Canada
o 2.2United States
 2.2.1Oregon
 2.2.2Washington
 3Impact
o 3.1Canada
o 3.2United States
 4References
 5Further reading
 6External links

Meteorological background

Geopotential height chart at 500mb at 11:00 UTC on June 28, 2021. The center of the heat dome, which
caused the heat wave, can be seen over the British Columbia Interior

This section may be too technical for most readers to

understand. Please help improve it to make it understandable to non-experts,
without removing the technical details. (June 2021) (Learn how and when to
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The Pacific Northwest lies close to the North Pacific High, a semi-

permanent anticyclone which is most active in summer. In addition to that, 2021 is a
year of La Niña, a phenomenon during which warmer waters stay on the western part of
the Pacific Ocean.[10] The origins could be traced to torrential rains in China on June 23.
[11]
 Afterwards, the warm, moist air rose and was eventually sucked up by the jet stream,
which transported it east over cooler waters. When that air current encountered an
upper-level high-pressure zone, also called a ridge, it started to significantly deform in
late June 2021, forcing to accommodate the high-pressure area south of the jet stream's
meander.[10] At the same time, the Southwestern states are enduring an intense drought,
[12]
 which allowed higher-than-average temperatures over the Southwestern United
States; that hot and dry air then moved north to the Pacific Northwest. [13]
These conditions made way for a massive Rex block, also called an omega block due to
the specific shape of the jet stream that surrounds the area of high pressure, looking
like the last letter of the Greek alphabet, Ω.[14] In this situation, a high-pressure area
stays there for a long time and does not let cyclones pass through it, which could have
cooled the region.[15] As the ridge was exceptionally strong, the weather over the area
was sunny, which led to the creation of a heat dome. [16] In this scenario, the high-
pressure area forced the air downwards, heating the air column; [17] but even as the air
became increasingly lighter and hotter due to the sun's energy, it could not escape the
dome because of the high pressure,[18] a situation which has been compared to
a pressure cooker.[19] The downslope winds from the Cascades and other mountain
ranges further warmed the air in the valleys.[17][19][20][21]
Climate change in Canada and climate change in the United States are widely
considered to be the major causes of the heat wave's unprecedented intensity, [22][23][24]
[25]
 although whether the frequency of these omega blocks is due to global heating is not
yet known.[16] All of these events contributed to what has been described as a
phenomenon that could statistically occur only once in several thousand years. [16][26]

Temperature records
Much of the Pacific Northwest, normally known for its temperate weather in June,
received maximum temperatures 20-35 °F (11-19 °C) above normal during this heat
wave.[27][28][29][30] In fact, the temperatures were so anomalous that nighttime lows were
higher than the average high temperatures that this region would normally observe at
this time of year.[27][31][32]
Canada
On June 29, the temperature in Lytton, British Columbia, hit 49.6 °C (121.3 °F), the
highest temperature ever recorded in Canada.[33] This occurred after consecutively
setting new record highs of 46.6 °C (115.9 °F) on June 27 and 47.9 °C (118.2 °F) on
June 28.[34] It is also the highest temperature ever recorded not only north of 50°N,[31] but
also north of 45°N, and is also the highest temperature in the U.S. or Canada recorded
outside the Desert Southwest.[35]
On June 27, local records were set in areas such as Cultus Lake, Lillooet,
[36]
 Ashcroft (43.8 °C (110.8 °F))[37] and Kamloops (44 °C (111 °F));[38] in all, there were 59
weather stations in B.C. that set records for hottest temperatures recorded for June 27.
[39]
 These were largely beaten in the following days (Kamloops, for instance, has
registered 45.8 °C (114.4 °F) on June 28 and 47.3 °C (117.1 °F) on June 29).[40][41] On
June 28, records were set in Abbotsford at 42.9 °C (109.2 °F), Victoria at 39.8 °C
(103.6 °F) and Port Alberni at 42.7 °C (108.9 °F).[42] As of June 29, 103 all-time heat
records were set across Western Canada, [43] including east of the Rocky Mountains.
In Alberta, Banff 37.2 °C (99.0 °F), Beaverlodge 40.5 °C (104.9 °F), Cochrane 34.5 °C
(94.1 °F), Jasper 40.8 °C (105.4 °F),[34] Grande Prairie 41.1 °C (106.0 °F),[34] Hendrickson
Creek 38.1 °C (100.6 °F),[34] Nordegg 36.9 °C (98.4 °F) and Red Earth Creek 39.6 °C
(103.3 °F) have all seen the strongest heat ever measured in these communities.
[44]
 Nahanni Butte, Northwest Territories, also set a regional record at 38.1 °C (100.6 °F).
[34]

Sweltering conditions are also expected in the final days of June and early July as far
east as Saskatchewan and western Manitoba.[45]