California’s Record Heat Is Like Nothing You’ve Ever Seen... Yet
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If hot thermometers actually exploded like they do in cartoons, there
would be a lot of mercury to clean up in California right now.
The California heat this year is like nothing ever seen, with records that go back to 1895. The chart below shows average year-to-date temperatures in the state from January through July for each year. The orange line shows the trend rising 0.2 degrees Fahrenheit per decade.
The sharp spike on the far right of the chart is the
unbearable heat of 2014. That’s not just a new record; it’s a
chart-busting 1.4 degrees higher than the previous record. It’s an
exclamation point at the end of a long declarative sentence.
The high temperatures have contributed to one of the worst droughts in California's history. The water reserves in the state’s topsoil and subsoil are nearly depleted, and 70 percent of the state’s pastures are rated “very poor to poor,” according to the USDA. By one measure, which takes into account both rainfall and heat, this is the worst drought ever. (See the chart below.)
While the temperatures are extreme, they’re not entirely unexpected. The orange trend line above is consistent with rising temperatures across the globe. Average surface temperatures on Earth have warmed roughly 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit since 1880, according to NASA. The eastern half of the U.S. has had an unusually cool 2014, but it's a lone exception compared to the rest of the planet.
The International Panel on Climate Change, which includes more than 1,300 scientists, forecasts temperatures to rise 2.5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit over the next century. That puts California's record heat well within the range of what’s to come, turning this “hot weather” into, simply, “weather.”
More from Tom Randall:
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The California heat this year is like nothing ever seen, with records that go back to 1895. The chart below shows average year-to-date temperatures in the state from January through July for each year. The orange line shows the trend rising 0.2 degrees Fahrenheit per decade.
Source: National Climatic Data Center
The high temperatures have contributed to one of the worst droughts in California's history. The water reserves in the state’s topsoil and subsoil are nearly depleted, and 70 percent of the state’s pastures are rated “very poor to poor,” according to the USDA. By one measure, which takes into account both rainfall and heat, this is the worst drought ever. (See the chart below.)
While the temperatures are extreme, they’re not entirely unexpected. The orange trend line above is consistent with rising temperatures across the globe. Average surface temperatures on Earth have warmed roughly 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit since 1880, according to NASA. The eastern half of the U.S. has had an unusually cool 2014, but it's a lone exception compared to the rest of the planet.
The International Panel on Climate Change, which includes more than 1,300 scientists, forecasts temperatures to rise 2.5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit over the next century. That puts California's record heat well within the range of what’s to come, turning this “hot weather” into, simply, “weather.”
SPEI
is a drought measure that includes both rainfall and the effects of
heat. Higher temperatures increase the amount of water reserves lost
through evaporation and plant transpiration. Source: National Climatic
Data Center
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- www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-15/
california-s-record... Cached Aug 15, 2014 · The sharp spike on the far right of the chart is the unbearable heat of 2014. That’s not just a new record; it’s a chart-busting 1.4 degrees higher ...Yes. This summer is one for the record books. I've lived here on the California Northern Coast since around 1995 straight through to now and I've never seen anything like this before. Usually, in the summer time most nights are cold enough to close the windows but not this summer. This summer it is sort of like Hawaii in March where you leave the windows open 24 hours a day to stay cool enough. Also, it is incredibly humid like Hawaii and also the water 25 miles off shore is 75 Degrees Fahrenheit which makes me think we are going to have a doozy of an El Nino this fall and winter and spring. This could mean flooding after the drought which likely might be very good and very bad at the same time because there aren't the weeds in place to hold the soil because of the drought on slopes if we get flooding. This is a problem in California because we have 14,000 foot peaks all the way to sea level and everywhere in between for water in flooding to cause problems. California is sort of like the Big Island of Hawaii in that we also have the 14,000 foot high places down to sea level places which can cause flooding and carnage at times. I have had to drive my then 1968 Camaro and screech around when a four foot wall of water was coming at me out of the Big Bear Mountains onto the desert where I was. So, if I hadn't had my car to screech the tires and drive away fast I might not be here now. So, I have experienced this problem first hand here in California.The other strange thing is most summers we get into the 80s and up to 90s Fahrenheit but this summer the high temperature is about 78 Degrees Fahrenheit. The reason for this is it is so hot inland away from the coast that it keeps pulling the fog off the ocean further and further inland. So, so far where I live I don't remember it going above about 78 degrees all summer when usually we get at least one 90 Degree day before it sucks the fog back in.
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