A strong blocking high is currently reinforcing itself over the southern US. Last time this happened we had a heat wave, but the blocking high didn’t stay for long. This time, it’s staying for weeks. Does this mean a big July 2024-esque heat wave?
I am back to the blog, and it’s about time for a medium-range forecast. Over the next handful of days a pretty interesting pattern is about to take place over North America. A blocking high is reinforcing itself over the southern US, but more interestingly, a low is forming in the Gulf of Alaska, and is actually bringing an Atmospheric River to BC. You’ve probably heard the term “Atmospheric River” before, because they are a pretty common occurrence on the west coast. The only thing is: It’s August. Usually Atmospheric Rivers happen from October to December, but almost never August! So, if you look at the water vapor content in the north Pacific right now, it looks like winter. This high is going to try to ridge, but it’s actually still blocked by the whole rounds of lows we’ve been having. This means the jet stream is going to be stuck overhead until one side wins. Because the lows are still coming down, this means we’ll be near to slightly above normal temperatures, with continued shots of cooler air. Pretty much, this new pattern is going to end us up overall colder than the last one, since heat waves will be weaker.
So now, here is your forecast: Heat wave Sunday through Tuesday, cold wave Wednesday through next weekend, Heat wave early the next week, and cold wave mid that week. That’s it for now. More updates next week.