>Once again, it was bright, sunny and toasty across California and much of the West yesterday and that has really been the story for much of the past month out there. After a relatively cool overall summer in 2009 for coastal California and LA and a warmer than normal Southwest, though they too recieved a very cool spring back in May and early June even with Las Vegas and Phoenix only seeing daytime highs in the 80s. Summer overall in California we have seen much worse in recent years than this year but we have seen considerable catch up in late August and throughout September with persistently hot, dry weather from LA to Vegas.
Nationally it was a cool one with the main hot spots (above to well above normal) centered between South Texas were relentless heat records and heat streaks brought a very warm year to particularly locations such as Laredo and Del Rio in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Same goes for the Pacific Northwest and indeed remembering the stunning heat wave that brought Seattle to a new benchmark for heat of 103 degrees. I also can’t forget the fact that whilst Seattle and the West Coast all the way to Alaska and the Northwest Territories of Canada was baking into the upper 80s and even some low 90s, we saw record cold in the Rockies all the way to the lower Lakes and Ohio Valley with even snowfall reported in the upper elevations of Colorado, yes in July!.
Currently the culprit for all the hot, dry late season heat is your classic western summer bully, a large dome of high pressure sitting over Utah-Nevada and dominates the skies from Utah where Salt Lake topped 83 yesterday to Reno which hit a very warm 93 and from the northern Sacramento Valley to Mexico border where anywhere away from the coast and sheltered behind coastal mountains, saw 100s. The high is pushing into central and British Columbia and Alberta where warmth is stretching into an area that by now normal sees much crisper air and not 70s and 80s still. Western flank of the continent, bringing very warm conditions well into Canada, whilst a deep trough has brought cooler conditions and snow to the Rockies.
Yesterday’s High’s
CALIFORNIA
SANTA MONICA 84
NEWPORT BEACH 78
BURBANK 101
RIVERSIDE 105
DOWNTOWN L.A. 95
SEATTLE, WA 71
RENO, NV 93
SALT LAKE CITY, UT 83
DENVER, CO 63
Death Valley yesterday warmed to a modest 110, although it is now late September and as usual, it’s been a long, sunny and hot summer. I’m sure residents throughout the Southwest will look forward to clouds rolling in which will reduce those 90s and 100s and may even bring a few showers.
Major cool down approaching as a series of fronts dropped south and will wipe the weather-slate clean as Californians looktowards thos front to reduce highs even down to LA some 20 to 25 degrees from where we are this weekend into middle next week. I am expecting snow flakes to possibly fly from the Rockies and even northern plains and lakes. 40-60 mph winds will also whip up heavy swells across the Lakes in the coming days. A true taste of autumn on the way. More on this soon.
Thanks for reading.
-Mark
>when are we likely to see significant snowfall in the UK at low levels?