PNW Heatwave - stay hydrated folks!

[CuriousByNature]

CBC showed pictures of Lytton this morning.  90% of the town destroyed by the wildfire, at least 2 dead and others unaccounted for.  99 fires out of control in various parts of the province.  Not a happy Canada Day for many.

[+ Pensant]

18 hours ago, Lucky said:

I need a new A/C, or at least I will soon. The one I have has lasted 17 years and has been a faithful friend. I have had mixed luck with salesman. They don't seem to want to work.

Funny you mentioned that. I just had a heat pump installed. Not so much for the rare heat wave, but to keep the house warmer in the winter so I don’t have to depend on the expensive propane fireplace. I’m also sure we’ll have smoke from wildfires in eastern Washington and BC this summer, so I’ll be able to close the house up and use the filtered cooling.

[+ Charlie]

On 7/1/2021 at 5:25 PM, BSR said:

60+ deaths, how tragic.  I wonder why more weren't able to get to a cooling center.  Maybe some didn't know about them or know where they were (many seniors don't use the Internet). Perhaps some didn't have transportation to get back & forth (many seniors no longer drive).  Whatever the reason, it's so sad.  If transportation were the issue, I'm sure plenty of volunteers would gladly offer to drive people to cooling centers.

I think many people in the PNW are so unaccustomed to that kind of heat that they don't understand how dangerous it is.

[+ Orin]

1 hour ago, Charlie said:

I think many people in the PNW are so unaccustomed to that kind of heat that they don't understand how dangerous it is.

That's an important observation @Charlie, but we need to generalize it.

The hot spell we just went through here was about 30F warmer than normal temperatures for a large area. So, yeah, anyone expecting the weather to be consistent with the climate they've come to know wouldn't be prepared for it. But there have been hints. We moved to WA in early '91, just after the floating bridge sank And since that time we've noticed changes in the 'normal' weather patterns for the area, just not this drastic.

But there are other changes happening as well. Sea level has only risen a relatively small amount so far, but it's enough to threaten some islands, and the cities, airports, seaports, and military bases along many coastlines are already seeing high water problems even when there isn't a storm. If weather patterns shift, the areas affected by hurricanes and tornadoes could move, a prospect that people living where such things hadn't happened before won't be prepared for, either.

Replicate that around the world. Advance planning is usually done for expected events, so cities and nations won't be prepared to deal with all kinds of events that 'nobody could foresee', except those who did and were ignored. Denial won't help.

Edited July 3, 2021 by Orin