Melakwa - Pratt Traverse, September 2021

the maple forests in autumn are my favourite 🍁

Clouds (No. 472)

Potlatch State Park, Washington (five pics)

Highway 101 Diner, Sequim

Port Angeles, Washington (four pics)

Diablo Lake, Washington and things in between

Wahkiakum County Ferry Terminal

September 22, 2021

Tacoma, Washington. (December 2020)

Mt. Rainier from Naches Peak Loop Trail, Washington, 2005.

One of my favorite easy day hikes when we lived in Seattle. Scanned from a small print.

i wanna be where the wildflowers bloom

Mount Rainier, WA by Sarah Dove Chandler

Melakwa - Pratt Traverse, September 2021

Vashon Island garden, WA

the same place three years apart

wonderland

This is beyond frightening. Extreme heat over the Pacific Northwest and in Siberia, Moscow and parts of Europe (Separate articles about Siberia, Moscow and Europe linked below.) Are the politicians paying attention? Nope, or if they are, they are ignoring it.

Excerpt from this story from Earther/Gizmodo:

The West hasn’t totally cooled off, but the region has gotten a slight reprieve from the heat that has dried up reservoirs, curtailed hydropower, and otherwise wrought havoc on the megadrought-afflicted region. Unfortunately, all good(ish) things must come to an end.

The National Weather Service is warning of a “Record-Breaking and Dangerous Heatwave” hitting this weekend and early next week. Weather models are also coalescing around blistering heat. If the forecasts come to fruition, we’re not just talking about a few daily records falling here and there. We’re talking about a heat wave for the ages that could absolutely destroy all-time records from Washington to California as well as parts of Canada.

In what’s becoming an all-too-familiar pattern for those in the western half of the U.S., high pressure is expected to move in and park itself over the region in the coming days. That will usher in sunny skies and allow heat to start to build. By Sunday, a region from the Yukon to Southern California could see temperatures well above normal. The bullseye of heat will center on the Pacific Northwest where temperatures could be an eye-watering 40 degrees Fahrenheit (22 degrees Celsius) above normal.

The Euro and GFS weather models, essentially the two gold standards for forecasters, are in agreement that the magnitude of this event will be extreme. While there are some slight differences of a few degrees up or down, the overall alignment is generally a sign something very rare and serious is about to go down. Among the more disturbing numbers coming out of the models are Portland cracking 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius), a threshold the city has never breached.

Because weather doesn’t just stop at the border, the record run of heat will continue in British Columbia. There, forecasters are already anticipating that the warmest-ever June temperature for the entire province of British Columbia will likely fall.

Overnight temperatures will also remain elevated throughout the region, and all-time hot low temperatures could also be toppled as well. That’s particularly worrisome since nighttime usually offers a reprieve. In a region where air conditioning isn’t as widespread as, say, Southern California, the relentlessness of the heat coupled with a lack of cooling options could unleash a wave of heat-related illnesses.

And then, Siberia, in this story with the caption, “Ground Temperatures Hit 118 Degrees in the Arctic Circle” from Earther/Gizmodo:

Newly published satellite imagery shows the ground temperature in at least one location in Siberia topped 118 degrees Fahrenheit (48 degrees Celsius) going into the year’s longest day. It’s hot Siberia Earth summer, and it certainly won’t be the last.

While many heads swiveled to the American West as cities like Phoenix and Salt Lake City suffered shockingly hot temperatures this past week, a similar climatological aberrance unfolded on the opposite side of the world in the Arctic Circle. That’s not bizarre when you consider that the planet heating up is a global affair, one that isn’t picky about its targets. We’re all the target!

The 118-degree-Fahrenheit temperature was measured on the ground in Verkhojansk, in Yakutia, Eastern Siberia, by the European Space Agency’s Copernicus Sentinel satellites. Other ground temperatures in the region included 109 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius) in Govorovo and 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius) in Saskylah, which had its highest temperatures since 1936. It’s important to note that the temperatures being discussed here are land surface temperatures, not air temperatures. The air temperature in Verkhojansk was 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius)—still anomalously hot, but not Arizona hot.

Now Moscow and Europe, with this story with the caption, “Records crumble in Europe, Russia amid scorching heat wave” from the Washington Post:

As temperatures approach 115 degrees in the Pacific Northwest this weekend, a second regime of top-tier heat will scorch Europe amid a record-breaking heat wave. Monthly records have already fallen as highs climb to near 100 degrees in some areas, with temperatures in the Arctic Circle spiking close to 90.

Moscow and St. Petersburg soared to their highest June temperature on record Wednesday, reaching the mid-90s, while Estonia and Belarus established new all-time highs for the month this week. On Thursday, Hungary and Malta also set new June temperature records, hitting 104 degrees and 104.3 degrees.

Highs some 20 degrees or more above average currently wrap across central and Eastern Europe, with the greatest anomalies centered on Scandinavia and parts of western Russia. A second lobe of intense heat is parked over eastern Russia along the shores of the East Siberian Sea.

Exceptional heat waves, which are becoming disproportionately more significant and frequent due to human-induced climate change, are the leading cause of weather-related fatalities in most of Europe and Asia.

Hey, if you're in Washington state (and probably other areas of the west end of the USA, too) you should know that next weekend is supposed to be extremely hot:

"Washington Emergency Management Division posted a 📷local alert for the state of Washington. 8h ·

We are about to see some very hot temperatures across the state. The National Weather Service in Seattle is tracking different models that show it could get anywhere from 90 degrees to 105 degrees at SeaTac this weekend. Find your local forecast at https://www.weather.gov/ Regardless of the exact temperature, it's going to be a hot one. The Weather Office in Spokane also says to expect triple digit temperatures in Eastern Washington and provides more details here: https://inlandnorthwestweather.blogspot.com/ Steps you can take NOW to try and keep your home cool. Do not rely on only a fan as your primary cooling device. Take other steps: > Cover windows with drapes or shades. > Weather-strip doors and windows. > Use window reflectors such as aluminum foil-covered cardboard to reflect heat back outside. > Add insulation to keep the heat out. > Learn to recognize the signs of heat illness. For more information visit: www.cdc.gov/disasters/extremeheat/warning.html > Find places with air conditioning. Libraries, shopping malls, and community centers can be a cool place to beat the heat. Stay informed and check with local authorities about possible closures prior to going to cooling centers. "

Heat kills, especially in areas not used to really hot weather. Where I live, in western Washington, it is currently forecasted to get up to 103f- most people here do not have air conditioning. Many people do not know how to live with extreme heat- because getting up to 101f is a rare event, much remarked upon.

If you are somewhere that will be experiencing a heatwave, please check in and help with any one you know who maybe at greater risk of death- elderly folks, disabled folks, unhoused folks, etc. Heat, especially in areas unused to it, can kill. I remember a heatwave in the U.K. that killed the elderly, and lots of other people too. Let's try to make that not happen here.

Please do what you can to prepare now. The quote above has some good ideas, and I'll be posting what we're doing tomorrow (hopefully) (I'm thinking space blankets blocking windows, weather stripping the doors, opening the windows at night and closing them before it warms up, etc). Look up ways to cool yourself that are cheap and easy. If it's this hot in June, how hot will it be in July? How many wildfires are going to start this weekend?

Tacoma, Washington. (December 2020)

House On The Cove, Chuckanut Bay, WA by Stephenson Collective / 📷 Andrew Pogue

Branching out

North Fork - Silver Creek, OR.

Reminder to us all to remain thoroughly “out of hand”

Granite Mountain, September 2021