1 in 1,000 year "Heat Dome"

The friendliest place on the web for anyone who enjoys boating.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
MurrayM

MurrayM

Guru
Joined
Jul 22, 2012
Messages
5,946
Location
Canada
Vessel Name
Badger
Vessel Make
30' Sundowner Tug
A heat dome is a weather phenomena I'd never heard of, and now having experienced one, hope to never see it again!

Supposed to be a one in one thousand year event, but once in a hundred year weather events seem to be occurring quite regularly these days.

Lytton BC broke Canada's hottest temperature records three days in a row, topping out at 49.6C (121F) which is apparently hotter than Las Vegas has ever been.

Some bad craziness!

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/heat-wave-dome-2021-seattle-portland-weather/

https://globalnews.ca/news/7991383/lytton-bc-new-all-time-canadian-heat-record-third-day/
 
Murray, we're sitting under that same dome. Our hottest day thus far was 117* and temps are starting to slowly go down. It's "only" going to be 111* today. Wooooo Hooooooo.
 
Sounds absolutely miserable. Stay safe and as cool as possible everyone.
 
After many a Texas summer, here's my one tip for surviving the heat dome...

giphy.gif
 
Most years, I count on escaping the 90 degree normal temps in inland Oregon by hanging out on my boat in Western Washington...well, actually, BC, but that's another story.


This year I'm delighted to be at home with the AC cycling quite regularly.


Bill in Ashland
 
We don't have AC because, well, we live on BC's north coast.

It got up to 36C (98F) in our house yesterday...it's 25C (78F) in the house today with overcast skies and light rain. Much better!

I tried to go for a hike into a side valley off the Skeena River yesterday to photograph waterfalls running high with snowmelt, but all the roads off the highway were flooded and the Skeena was way up into the trees.

Frustrating, because I could hear all the falls roaring up the valley. Didn't leave the house early enough for wading/swimming through the pools/creeks over the road plus the long walk in, so will have to try when the waters drop.

The images I didn't get to take will haunt me for a while.
 
Here's one I did manage to take of Slicken Slide Creek...quick & dirty edit...from the valley floor...through atmospheric heat waves...through forest fire smoke...
 

Attachments

  • MXT25555 (1).jpg
    MXT25555 (1).jpg
    178.5 KB · Views: 42
Last edited:
:blush:;):MurrayM We hit 48 C/ 119 F on our upper deck and 40C/104 F on our lower deck.
We were going to try some fishing but not for awhile. Stay safe
Will
 
Capt.Will said:
:blush:;):MurrayM We hit 48 C/ 119 F on our upper deck and 40C/104 F on our lower deck.
We were going to try some fishing but not for awhile. Stay safe
Will
Click to expand...

Egad.

We didn't go out on Badger at all. Basement darkroom was the cool spot in the house :thumb:
 
Wow, finally read up on Martha Reeves. Still with us, and you're right, what a voice. I was wearing a diaper and sucking on a bottle when that song came out, but boy, she was talented. And good looking.
 
I feel for Canada. I suspect you and CA are getting what we endured in 2019,extreme heat, dryness, low humidity( a real indicator of trouble)and truly uncontrollable forest fires. Now we are getting enough rain to cause flooding at times, minor and major, and a relatively wet and cold winter, with full dams. It`s an El Nino/La Nina phenomenon.
And why I added a powerful new ac to give us respite from days of high record heat.
We just had to endure it. I remember flying back into Sydney after a boat buying trip north, and seeing the Gospers Mountain Fire snaking its way through the Blue Mountains 80km west of Sydney, it looked awful. On the coast, people retreated to the beaches, even taking to the water. It was bad. The fires even created their own little weather systems.
And beware, a lot of fires are started by firebugs, and by idiots doing stupid things on high risk days. Some bad fires have begun when fire authorities messed up or lost control of "back burns" designed to burn back onto the fire and remove fuel.


So steel yourselves, look for ways of cooling, and wait; it will pass eventually. You probably don`t have the aircon we fit, you need heat rather than cooling, we mostly use reverse cycle ac split systems which do both, and offer great respite, while doing nasty things to the electricity grid, so much we had to take some industries like aluminum smelting off line to ensure supply. I wish you well. Safety first. If you are in a danger area you need a plan, to stay and fight or to evacuate in good time, before escape routes become impassable.
 
Last edited:
Sounds like a great time for skilled sales folks that "Could sell ice to an Eskimo" to head west.
 
Thanks, Bruce.

One official compared BC's late August forest fire risk maps of 2017/18 with the fire risk map of late June, 2021, so that puts us two months ahead in terms of the forests drying out.

Will be watching weather systems out in the Pacific, hoping they sweep some moisture through BC's interior.

Lytton went up so fast...they had no evacuation warning to get ready; the first call gave them ten to fifteen minutes.

https://www.castanet.net/news/BC/338729/It-s-unclear-how-much-of-Lytton-B-C-is-still-standing
 
Last edited:
90 % of Lytton has burned to the ground.
 
We say in New England “if you don’t like the weather wait 5 minutes “. But that’s becoming increasingly untrue. Guess that’s why they call it climate change not global warming. Was in the mid 90s Tomorrow’s in the low 60s. But overall hot and humid enough you don’t want to go outside . Our pond is down two feet and the trout stay below a 30’ thermocline. Rare T storms with much lightning but only brief downpours. Read an interesting article how climate change is driving mass migrations throughout the world. Interesting times.
 
Record electrical demand here in SW BC during the hot spell. In Aus. asking industries to shut down so power can be diverted, but they (environmentalists and such) want us all to switch to electric cars???
They also don't want electricity generated by coal, oil, nuclear, or even hydro electric. Call me behind the times, but I don't see where all of the needed electricity is going to come from? We definitely don't get enough sun light in the late fall all the way to late spring for solar to be viable in BC.
I am sure the aircon contractors are very busy right now.
I feel for the people of Lytton.
 
Hippocampus said:
We say in New England “if you don’t like the weather wait 5 minutes “. But that’s becoming increasingly untrue. Guess that’s why they call it climate change not global warming. Was in the mid 90s Tomorrow’s in the low 60s. But overall hot and humid enough you don’t want to go outside . Our pond is down two feet and the trout stay below a 30’ thermocline. Rare T storms with much lightning but only brief downpours. Read an interesting article how climate change is driving mass migrations throughout the world. Interesting times.
Click to expand...
Having installed an 8KW cooling ac before last summer, I think we used it once, in anger. This winter is much more normal than past winters, and our worst ever drought has mostly resolved, farmers expect to harvest best ever crops and we are building grain silos. We are shedding water from Sydney`s largest dam for safety. But we know, from experience, drought will be back.
But I don`t think I ever heard of Canada suffering heatwave, never happened while I was there, it must come as a shock.
When humidity is low little can be done to stop wild fires. Then you get a hot wind, fires "spot" ahead of the front causing more fires, and things happen fast, beyond control. I admire the international exchange of fire fighting expertise, not just equipment like planes and helos, but actual people, who are so welcome when the locals are exhausted. We`ve both given and received help like that. We even have "remote area specialist fire fighters" we can helo into special remote areas, like the area where prehistoric "Wollemi Pines" still grow.
You are in a battle, I hope it goes well.
 
My hot take on this is… sorry. Never mind!

I picked the hottest day ever in Seattle to replace the bellows and pump motor on our Vacuflush generator in the engine room. That was damn hot and stinky work. But my wife could get up in the middle of the night and pee in our head again, so she was relieved! No pun intended…

Even so I simply can’t even relate to 115-120 degrees in BC. That is mind boggling! Hope it doesn’t happen to you fine folks up there again!
 
I hope people in Lytton can rebuild, sorry for their loss.

The heat of the past near two weeks produced some really hotter than norm days. As long as the boat was moving the wind we made allowed an escape. This morning started out overcast and 16, then cleared to become mid 20's in the Gulf Islands. Starting to cool, at 17:30 it is 21*. Prediction for all sun next 3 days.
 
The effects of three days above 100 are now starting to be obvious. I drove into Port Orchard today to clean up the boat in preparation for a cruise this weekend. I drive by these trees everyday. Alders are starting to loose leaves. Willows are brown. Hemlocks have taken a beating. Hemlocks on the north side of pastures, clear cuts, etc. had 100 degree temps and full sun all day during that time. It shows. In a hot summer, some of the conifer tips (new growth) doesn't make it on hemlocks and cedars. But this is different.

Below is a picture of a hemlock that had full exposure to southern sun during the heat bubble. South is on the right side of the tree. I could have taken thousands of pictures like this on the way into town. We had a light sprinkle this morning, but it will still be a scary 4th of July. A pop bottle rocket into one of these trees is all it would take. The PNW doesn't have enough fire fighting capability for this one.
 

Attachments

  • Sunburnt hemlock.jpg
    Sunburnt hemlock.jpg
    211.3 KB · Views: 22
The federal fire fighters get $13/hr from what I’ve read. What a shame. Really tough job. Have to want to do it. God bless them.
 
Yesterday, my wife and I were driving west on I-90 near Moses Lake, WA in 115 degree heat. The sunroof literally exploded out of its housing. The shattered pieces disappeared behind the Tahoe as we drove 80 MPH down the highway. Good thing there is no rain the the forecast.
 
The last forest fire we had on our access road was put out by a crew from the WA State Correctional Institute for Women in Purdy, WA. Yep, female felon firefighters. I doubt they got $13 an hour. We took them water and wet towels. I wouldn't do if for $130 an hour.
 
Canada's old record was 45C (113F).

Canada's new record is 49.6C (121F).

That's an amazing jump :eek:
 
Coldest July 3 on record in CT this year
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

koliver
Winterizing in Vancouver BC
Replies
0
Views
440
koliver
koliver
S
  • Locked
1974 Willard Nomad $31,500.
Replies
20
Views
5K
delirious duo
D
Adopo
Stability and righting ability
Replies
19
Views
3K
Hippocampus
H
M
1980 Mainship 34
Replies
5
Views
3K
MrM
M
Portage_Bay
An interesting read on the security of GPS
2
Replies
40
Views
3K
AMG
A

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom