Category: Posts EN

2018 Temperature Trends: Most US Cities Warmer Than Average

Written by Meteo Expert Josef Lukas

2018 is more than halfway over, and temperatures across most of the United States are warmer than the long-term average.

2018 US Temperature Data

Climate records from the Southeast Regional Climate Center (SERCC) show that 731 stations are experiencing temperatures that are warmer than average, while 97 stations are colder than average. Stations in the SERCC database have a period of record of at least 30 years.

The city with the most anomalous warmth is Kotzebue, Alaska which is 2.4°C (4.3°F) above their 30-year average temperature, while Havre, Montana is the city with the most anomalous cold at 1.7°C (3.0°F) below their 30-year average.

Out of the 828 US climate stations, 285 have a period of record that is greater than or equal to 100 years. Within this data set a similar trend of warmer than average to colder than average temperatures are observed.

Looking even further into the data, 39 stations are seeing a top 3 warmest year on record through 11-July, while there are no stations currently experiencing a top 3 coldest year.

Just in July alone, record-breaking warmth gripped parts of the Great Lakes, Northeast, and southern California with several dozen record highs.

The US temperature data so far from 2018 is in line with predictions made in the latest version of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change from 2014.

Heavy Rains and Winds Batter Taiwan; Maria Headed for China Next!

Written by Team Morecast

 

Typhoon Maria has been holding a steady west-northwest course overnight, raking northern Taiwan with heavy rains and gust winds. Now the Chinese provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang are in the crosshairs.

Maria has been marching west-northwest at 35 kph overnight. It’s now located about 80 km north of Taipei in northern Taiwan. It’s about the same distance east of the Fujian province of China, meaning at the current pace landfall will happen in a few hours. The eye of the storm will be near or just north of Ningde, China by mid-morning local time. Maria is slowly weakening but still capable of producing destructive winds up to 200 kph! Heavy, flooding rains and a significant storm surge are also likely near and north of the landfall point.

 

 

Northern Taiwan and adjacent islands have been hit hard overnight. Pengjia Yu island, home to a manned weather observation station and not much else, was the closest to Maria’s eyewall. Gusts to at least 120 kph were measured there. Much of northern Taiwan has seen torrential rainfall over the past two days (see maps below), around or exceeding 300 mm in many areas. Maria will weaken quickly as the circulation moves into the mountains of eastern China later tonight into Thursday. Lead photo courtesy Wikipedia contributor Stephen Wheeler.

 

Typhoon Maria to Impact Taiwan; make Landfall in China.

Written by Meteo Expert Josef Lukas

Powerful Typhoon Maria is tracking west-northwest across the West Pacific Ocean en route to eastern China.

Maria briefly reached Super Typhoon status on Monday, however, slight weakening has occurred early Tuesday as the cyclone moves over a bit cooler ocean waters.

The cyclone will pass close to the Japanese island of Miyakojima Tuesday evening, then move just north of Taiwan late Tuesday night before making landfall in eastern China early Wednesday.

Maria Impacts

Flooding rain along with damaging winds and a storm surge are expected across northern Taiwan and the eastern Chinese provinces of Zhejiang and Fujian.

Along and near the center of Maria, rainfall amounts of 100-200 mm are expected, with locally higher totals. This amount of rain in a 12-18 hour time frame will lead to a high risk of flooding across extreme northern Taiwan and eastern China.

Wind gusts over 100 kph are expected to span out close to 50 miles from Maria’s center as the storm makes landfall early Wednesday.

Maria will be moving rather briskly into and through eastern China, and by Thursday Maria will be degenerating over land.

Record-shattering Heat Engulfed Southern California Friday

Written by Meteo Expert Josef Lukas

The hot weather that has gripped much of the US during the first week of July centered itself over heavily populated southern California on Friday.

Record-shattering Heat

26 daily record highs were set, and many of the records ended up being shattered by more than 6-11 degrees°C (10-20°F). All of the climate stations in the Los Angeles and San Diego areas were among the 26 record highs.

In additional to daily records, at least two stations set July record highs and six stations set all-time record highs. In Santa Ana, the previous all-time record high of 44.4°C dated back to 1917. On Friday, the city broke that 101-year record by reaching a sweltering 45.6°C.

The reason for the extreme heat over southern California can be traced to a hot dome of high pressure that was centered across the Southwest US.

The flow around the high pressure system pushed hot and dry air from the desert all the way to the coast, blocking the typical onshore flow from the cooler Pacific Ocean.

Additional record highs have been set this weekend, however, the most extreme heat has past.

Temperatures will edge down closer to average during the first few days of the upcoming week.