Thousands of records broken: Jet stream pulled up towards Canada, out of whack says meteorologists

I know there's a thread for the extreme heat in the US, but I wanted to pull more attention towards Canada, the UK and other places that are experiencing odd climate, too.

People have been preaching 2012 for a while, and at this point I'm questioning why this year is so different it seems. Why have so many records been shattered since winter?


While temperatures throughout Canada and the US don't look too bad on this map, I'm looking more towards further up North on Tuesday. (Link to 5-day maps below)

If Alberta/Saskatchewan/NWT sees as much as a 5 degree increase from the map above then surely heaps of records will become broken further up North for the month of July.

I believe the next week or two will shatter many temperature records for Canada while the South gets somewhat of a break (and hopefully rain in places that need it.)

As of the past few weeks I cannot even rely on the weather forecast as it is shifting every few hours to something entirely different than the hours beforehand. It's a total mess.

UK weather: No sign of sun for the next ten days, say forecasters

Rain rain go away: How the Jetstream is blocking a UK summer

Russia's Weather to Become More Extreme, Scientist Says

Heat wave: Midwest plain 'out of whack' as records shatter

Canada's top weather forecaster calls for hot, dry summer across the country

Recent extreme weather in U.S. will become new normal, scientists predict

United States Broke 2,284 Daily High Temperature Records in June

U.S. Heat Wave Persists, Kills 30

US - 4500 record highs broken

It’s not that the Midwest hasn’t been extremely hot before, and it’s not that it hasn’t been incredibly dry. But it’s unusual for a vast swath of the Midwest to be so very hot and so very dry for so very long — particularly this early in the summer. The current heat wave — which is spurring comparisons to the catastrophic heat of 1936 — is “out of whack,” meteorologist Jim Keeney said Friday in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “Even on the East Coast today, temperatures are 100 or above” — basically, Keeney said, the heat wave extends from Kansas all the way to the East Coast. “It’s a good chunk of the eastern half of the country, barring the far northern states, of course. So it’s pretty intense.”

Temperature records are being broken and residents are suffering in what Keeney called a “corridor of extreme heat,” generally through Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and into western Kentucky. Heat records are being shattered as are records for the number of days in a row the temperature has hit 100 or higher, he said. Take St. Louis, for example. The last time the city was this hot for this long was in 1936, said Keeney, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Central Region Headquarters in Kansas City, Mo. Then, the city recorded 13 days in a row of temperatures 100 degrees Fahrenheit or over. That devastating heat wave of the mid-’30s killed thousands of people and destroyed many crops.

The culprit in the current wave is a dome of high pressure that has been hovering over the eastern part of the U.S., said NWS spokesman Pat Slattery in an interview with The Times on Friday. “It’s kicked the jet stream way to north, in some places into Canada, so there’s no way for the normal rotation of weather systems to get here into the middle of the country, which would bring us some moisture. So drought becomes more and more a major factor.”

UK - It could rain until September

BRITAIN is facing its “worst ever” summer with cold wet weather ruining family holidays and blighting the Olympics, forecasters warned last night. August is set to be a washout following a miserable July and the wettest June since records began – meaning summer is effectively over.

Gloomy forecasts suggest dire weather will continue as officials last night put Britain on flood alert after torrential downpours yesterday wreaked havoc.

As the Environment Agency warned of a “potential danger to life” with rivers swelling to breaking point in the Midlands, Yorkshire and Wales, Government forecasters were on standby to brief the Cabinet if severe floods strike.

The agency last night issued 51 flood warnings – meaning flooding is expected – and 135 alerts. Monsoon-like downpours hit 85,000 music fans at the T In The Park festival in Kinross, Scotland, and 28,000 Formula 1 spectators camping for the British Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone. Race meetings today in Nottingham and Carlisle were cancelled while play was delayed on all courts at Wimbledon – other than Centre Court.

Helpful links:

Jetstream - NOAA - TOR:CON - Intellicast

NA - 5-Day Weather Map

Global Real-time Weather Maps

1936 North American Heat Wave

I know my one example probably is the exception to the rule.

I live in Perris Ca, the ass end of so ca desert, our summers are always harsh here.

Ive seen 112 here before.

And I gotta say Im not noticing any worse weather than usual, Id even say the hottest days haven't even started for the avg summer here yet.

Got the pool up and waiting to use it, some days ive actually passed on swimming as the weather was still bearable.

reply to post by murkraz


finally we have summer in canada after many periods of snow and RAIN!!!

reply to post by benrl

The weather here in NFLD has been great this summer.

Half of the days are a nice bearable dry heat, the other half are full of rain or mild temperatures.

We are some of the lucky ones. Still I'm noticing that the weather is off quite a bit.

This whole upcoming week will be below average for Fort Worth, TX.

Yes...temperatures ranging from 92-96 are considered a "cold front" here in Texas especially in July

It's funny becuase i live in Los Angeles, California, and I keep hearing/reading of this heat wave that's happening all over the continent and how 'this year is different', but here it's the same as when i moved here two years ago. In fact apparently we've been below average, of course it's still hot, but at this point last year i'd be soaked in sweat, but not now, hopefully this heat wave that's been affecting everyone else doesn't come here!

reply to post by NightFlyer96


Really right? is it me or is So Ca experiencing a magical time, no earth quakes, nice weather...

How'd we hit the planetary jack pot...

Guess all them years of getting the crap shaken outta us someone decided to give us a break for once.

All though I am currently in the portland area looking at properties (left at 4am and just got to the hotel right now), and damn its muggy up here right now...

Its July. We are finally getting warm enough temperatures this week to put the fan on. Up until now its been like March, a few days ago it was 14 C.

I grew up in the Okanagan. We swam in April and it was often 105 in the summer for some stretches. I like heat. I love the lakes warming up enough to swim and don't like cold water.

The temperatures on that map are cool for July in Canada. We usually look to the mid 30's or 40's, in the summer, at least for a certain stretch of the summer.

reply to post by benrl


That is incredibly true, though I'd like to be have that weather in Portland. I grew up in San Francisco so I love the cold, anything above 60 degrees is hot for me! But yeah, the weather has been very nice lately, and so is not having any quakes! Glad we're not in the East Coast, I'd probably get heatstroke by the 1st hour!

Originally posted by Unity_99The temperatures on that map are cool for July in Canada. We usually look to the mid 30's or 40's, in the summer, at least for a certain stretch of the summer.

I know that the average temperatures for the NWT and Alberta are on the verge of being beaten this week. A number of articles are anticipating this at least.

Here are a couple more for Canada...

Toronto weather: Friday temperature breaks record

Sweltering heat topples 11 Ontario records

Hot time in the city as Edmonton temperature records poised to fall

Yellowknife's record high is 29-30C I believe, and we're calling for 28C for a few days this week that far up north. While the temperatures in Ontario and in other places near the border seem to be around the average a fair bit of the time in the past few weeks, the heat seems oddly dispersed the further up north we go this week coming.

I feel sorry for all the people who are dealing with record breaking heat. Today was the first 90 degree day in Portland, and no humidity to speak of. Much of spring has been in the 60's and rainy, and I feel lucky to live in a marine climate where everything is still green.

This weekend in the UK where i live has been good for once.
Hadn’t seen the sun for weeks until it showed up on Saturday. When it does put in an appearance it is hot. Haven’t sat in the garden at night this year so far. This is my guide to whether we have had a good summer or not. It’s too hot to wear a jacket and too wet not to. At least i haven’t been flooded out. My heart goes out to all those that have been. They say that the UK winters are going to get milder and the summers wetter. Well that seems to be coming true especially where i live in Oldham.

I live in Phoenix, and summer temps hitting 115f are normal.

But I am concerned for the rest of the country when I see a blanket of 100 degree plus days on the tv in areas that never get that high. I feel bad for all of the people that experience this extreme heat with out being used to it.

Then they lose power for days at a time.

Sucks for them and I hope that relief is very near.

reply to post by benrl


I'm in central WV at the moment. Last week when the storms went through and killed the power to some half million people between Indiana and Jersey, we had a temperature of, I believe 112 and 107 in the shade. And we NEVER get this kinda heat here.

Its hot, but not THAT hot... It's been alot worse.. Its about to be around 105 and thats normal for summertime.. Idk what all the commotion is about, theirs always heat waves. A few years back their was hundreds of deaths in the US due to heat and nobody cried doomsday... So shutup

Originally posted by dayve
Its hot, but not THAT hot... It's been alot worse.. Its about to be around 105 and thats normal for summertime.. Idk what all the commotion is about, theirs always heat waves. A few years back their was hundreds of deaths in the US due to heat and nobody cried doomsday... So shutup

You see, where I live records aren't being broken left, right and center, but that doesn't mean that they aren't being broken in thousands of other towns/cities. Be thankful things are good for you. And for some places, no it hasn't been a lot worse. Not by much at least.

Nothing out of the ordinary here in WA.

I feel like people want there to be something strange happening, so they buy into news outlet telling them things are different. Just my humle opinion of course! I don't know enough about weather to know if there are jetstream issues, or anything like that going on. However, as far as I can tell things are pretty normal on the surface.

North of England UK..............No summer............Flooding and extreme rain for the last month, no sign of change in the next two weeks.

Originally posted by murkraz
I know there's a thread for the extreme heat in the US, but I wanted to pull more attention towards Canada, the UK and other places that are experiencing odd climate, too.

People have been preaching 2012 for a while, and at this point I'm questioning why this year is so different it seems. Why have so many records been shattered since winter?

reply to post by murkraz



Actually things have been ramping up for the past two years or so. Things don't look good:

The Pattern Of Disastrous Weather And Extreme Swings: Will It Get Worse In 2012?
www.abovetopsecret.com...
by this_is_who_we_are
started on 3/22/2012 @ 06:52 AM

New Zealand - Coldest winter in years - send some of your sun down here!