Heat domes are silent killer
Several weeks ago an early heat wave in Europe killed over 1,500 people and as I write this article another heat dome has gripped much of Europe, killing more as they try to deal with the unprecedented heat.
Temperatures in Paris reached 106, Madrid 109, Berlin 102 and London had its all-time heat record for June of 100 degrees.
Over 40 people drowned trying to escape the heat by swimming in dangerous waters. Temperatures this high are rare in Europe and most hotels and restaurants are not air conditioned. I can still remember an August trip to Europe and how surprised we were to learn that the hotels were not air conditioned.
The United Nations Health Organization recently reported that Europe is one of the fastest-warming areas on the planet due to the warming that is now taking place as a result of our changing climate.
Many of Europe’s building are centuries old and it will take years to update these structures. At first it was thought the increased heat in recent years was just a fluke, however it appears that hot summers are a regular occurrence.
Heat domes occur when an area of high pressure becomes stationary and overstays its welcome, resulting in sunny skies, few clouds and little or no rainfall. High pressure is associated with subsiding air that gets trapped under the high pressure weather system. Temperatures continue to warm and can be 20 to even 30 degrees above the normal.
An interesting heat dome in the Uniontown area occurred in July of 1988 when a high pressure system arrived and brought us a record low of 37 degrees on the morning of July 1st.
The system stalled and the heat began to build producing a reading of 102 on July 2nd and 102 again on the 17th.
Much of July of that year saw daily temperatures in the mid and upper 90s, many of which are still in our records.
In recent years we have had additional visits from heat domes. Most summers we average 14 days with temperatures of 90 or higher. The average until recently had been 10 days above 90 however this had to be upgraded with the warming that has occurred over the past several decades You may recall that last year we experienced 28 of these 90 or better days and in 2024 it was 29 days.
Simply put, Mother Earth is warming due to the increased levels of CO2 that we humans have put into the atmosphere. The ice continues to melt and our oceans are warmer and this warmth is the fuel for the increased heat, drought, fires and floods.
The people who inhabit the earth know this, however a powerful few want us to believe it is not happening and will do everything in their power to sing a different tune.
The weather does not lie and every day the scientific evidence sings a louder song.
Heat continues to be the biggest weather killer across the planet and also here in our country. Many are elderly or poor and cannot afford the luxury of life-saving air conditioning.
The Climate Prediction Center has a heat dome over our area for the final days of June and the first week of July.
Stay safe and be aware of how dangerous heat can be.