Southwest US To Bake Under Record “Heat Dome”

June 5, 2024 Climate Change, Weather

CNN reports:

Daily temperature records will tumble as sizzling early season heat from a summerlike heat dome sends thermometers skyrocketing into the triple digits in parts of California and the West this week. Death Valley, the hottest place in the world, is likely to reach a high temperature of at least 120 degrees by Thursday.

The Southwest will start to bake by Wednesday as temperatures in parts of southern Arizona and far southern Nevada approach 110 degrees. Phoenix will likely have hit 110 degrees for the first time this year by Thursday even though the city doesn’t typically encounter these temperatures until mid-June.

The Los Angeles Times reports:



The term “heat dome” refers to a ridge of high pressure that persists over a large geographical region, delivering high temperatures that linger for days or weeks on end. An infamous heat dome occurred in 2021, when triple-digit temperatures stifled the Pacific Northwest for 27 days, contributing to hundreds of deaths.

Experts say it’s not the same as a heat wave, which is conventionally defined as a spell of three or more abnormally hot days. But the term has gained prominence in recent years as climate change, El Niño and other variables have warmed global temperatures, shifted weather patterns and contributed to worsening hazards.

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