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gb
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Joined: 01 Jul 2010
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gb
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 Sat Jun 17, 2017 4:14 am |
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NWS forecast: Death Valley above 125 for 4 days
The Death Valley forecast keeps getting bumped up.
The Southwest may well experience the hottest and most prolonged heatwave of all-time next week.
Check out NWS Phoenix discussion or NWS Las Vegas discussion. This is because the 500mb heights are at or near record levels - 5970 to 5990 meters (the record set on the east coast was 6030 meters). This is described by NWS Phoenix forecast consistently to peak above the 99.5 percentile. In the long run this threatens us as well but not this week.....as extreme high 500mb heights in the SW seem to keep coming back just as we seem at present to remain under the influence of a series of troughs.
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Brockton
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Brockton
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Tue Jun 20, 2017 9:33 pm |
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I feel the need to comment here, as I've been a little fascinated by this SW heat wave. 127 degrees in Death Valley, "cooling down" to 95 at night? My brain reels to process this.
I heard a story on NPR this morning about smaller planes being grounded in Phoenix this week. The super heat causes less dense air, so small planes have trouble getting the lift they need. (Not to worry, large commercial jets have enough thrust or mass or whatever to fly in these temps.)
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gb
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gb
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Wed Jun 21, 2017 9:05 am |
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| Brockton wrote: | | I feel the need to comment here, as I've been a little fascinated by this SW heat wave. 127 degrees in Death Valley, "cooling down" to 95 at night? My brain reels to process this. |
I suspect that overall this is the worst heatwave ever experienced in the SW. Perhaps not the hottest all-time temperatures except in a few localities, but darn close, and with many records, including June records. But the duration of record to near record heat is likely off the charts. It kind of keeps going just off peak until about the 27th. My interest wasn't initially about the SW, just looking at weather maps for my own planning. But then, whoa! We luck out and just get 2-3 warm to hot days but may break a daily record Sunday.
| Brockton wrote: | | I heard a story on NPR this morning about smaller planes being grounded in Phoenix this week. The super heat causes less dense air, so small planes have trouble getting the lift they need. (Not to worry, large commercial jets have enough thrust or mass or whatever to fly in these temps.) |
In 1978 or so I was heliskiing in Canada and was at the bottom of a long run. Standing with the guide, we heard an avalanche. The helicopter never showed up. After a couple of hours a client hiked to the top of the mountain and issued a Mayday. The helicopter, fully loaded (actually +1 client and with a big pot of tea and lunch, did not have enough lift on the south side at 9000' in warm air aloft. It hit the mountain below the landing and slid in an avalanche 1500' down the back side. Five were killed. The pilot was the safest pilot I ever flew with - Dan Hayes.
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