Canada weather: Heat hits record 46.6C as US north-west also sizzles

Canada has recorded its highest ever temperature because the country’s west and therefore the US Pacific north-west frazzle in an unprecedented heatwave.

Lytton in British Columbia soared to 46.6C (116F) on Sunday, breaking an 84-year-old record, officials said.

A “heat dome” – static high acting sort of a lid on a cooking pot – has set records in many other areas.

The US and Canada have both warned citizens of “dangerous” heat levels that would persist in the week .

Experts say that global climate change is predicted to extend the frequency of utmost weather events, like heatwaves. However, linking any single event to heating is complicated.

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BBC forecaster Nick Miller says that “heat dome” isn’t a strictly defined meteorological term but has become related to describing large areas of high , resulting in clear skies and hot sunny days. The longer the high pattern lasts, the longer the heatwave is and temperatures can build day by day.

This high zone is large , from California right up to Canada’s Arctic territories and stretching inland through Idaho.

media captionExceptional heat brings record temperatures across parts of Canada and therefore the US
Sales of air-conditioners and fans have surged, and cooling shelters have sprung up. Some bars and restaurants – and even a swimming bath – were deemed too hot to function.

Lytton, which is about 150 miles (250km) north-east of Vancouver, surged past the previous Canadian record.

That was set in two towns in Saskatchewan – Yellow Grass and Midale – back in July 1937 at a balmy 45C (113F).

Lytton wasn’t alone. quite 40 other spots in British Columbia set new records.

Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips told CTV: “I wish to break a record, but this is often like shattering and pulverising them. It’s warmer in parts of western Canada than in Dubai.”

He said there was an opportunity of topping 47C somewhere, with Monday the likeliest day.

British Columbia’s power providers said there had been a surge in demand for electricity to stay air-conditioners running.

Environment Canada said Alberta, and parts of Saskatchewan, Yukon and therefore the Northwest Territories , should even be on alert.

In its warning, it forecast a “prolonged, dangerous, and historic heatwave will persist through this week”, with temperatures 10C-15C above normal, at near 40C in many places.

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‘Historic’ heat in US north-west
The Pacific north-west has also been breaking records, particularly in parts of Washington and Oregon states.

The US National Weather Service called the heatwave conditions “historic” and said they might persist through the week, “with numerous daily, monthly and even all-time records likely to be set”.

A worker tends to a fibre-optic line in Lake Forest Park, Washington, amid the scorching heat
IMAGE COPYRIGHTREUTERS
image captionA worker tends to a fibre-optic line in Lake Forest Park, Washington, amid the scorching heat
Seattle and Portland, cities with famously rainy climates, both recorded their hottest temperatures ever on Sunday.

Portland shattered its prior record when temperatures reached 44C, consistent with the US National Weather Service. Seattle also passed a historic high because the mercury hit 40C.

Oregon eased Covid attendance restrictions to open up swimming pools and air-conditioned areas like shopping centres. But Seattle in Washington had to shut one pool due to “unsafe, dangerous pool deck temperatures”.

Fruit growers are rushing to select crops, fearing the warmth could shrivel cherries and other fruit. Pickers are starting at dawn and stopping at lunchtime within the unbearable temperatures.

BJ Thurlby, president of the Northwest Cherry Growers, told the Seattle Times: “We are travelling in absolutely uncharted waters.”

People sleep at a cooling centre found out in Portland within the US state of Oregon

image captionPeople sleep at a cooling centre found out in Portland within the US state of Oregon
The US track and field Olympic qualifying trials had to be halted in Eugene, Oregon, on Sunday, because the crowd was told to go away the stadium for safety reasons.

Some Covid vaccination centres also closed due to the warmth .

Some areas along the coast could cool a touch later within the week, but Boise, Idaho, could see every week of 40C+ temperatures. The National Weather Service said parts of the state could suffer “one of the foremost extreme and prolonged heatwaves within the recorded history of the Inland Northwest”.

The warnings for all were to remain hydrated, avoid strenuous activities, and check on vulnerable neighbours.

Analysis box by Roger Harrabin, Environment analyst
We can’t say surely this brutal heat storm has been caused by emissions from industrial society, but scientists studying extremes say every heatwave occurring today is formed more likely and more intense by human-induced global climate change .

In fact scientists have gotten far better at linking some extreme events to global climate change , like the heatwave that scorched Europe in 2019, which researchers say was made 100 times more likely thanks to CO2.

What’s extra-concerning is that these temperatures are reached with global temperatures just 1.1 C above preindustrial times.

Science body, the Intergovernmental Panel on global climate change , judges that we’re likely to exceed 1.5C above that level soon . And at current rates we’ll overshoot a 2C rise – possibly higher.

Yet China and India still build new coal-fired power stations. and therefore the G7 – Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the united kingdom and therefore the US – won’t provides a date to phase them out.

The UK et al. are still drilling for more oil and gas to burn, saying it’ll be needed to 2050.