Currently in Portland — July 17, 2023: A brief heat reprieve

Plus, new all-time heat records in China and Europe.

AuthorAuthor

Eric Holthaus & Stella Harris
July 16, 2023

The weather, currently.

The clouds bring a brief reprieve from the heat this Monday.

I failed to take my own advice—in a spectacular fashion. No only didn’t I avoid the sun on Saturday, I worked in the garden, shoveling compost, during the hottest part of the day. And despite two sunscreen applications I still got a little pink. So I’m doubly excited to see cooler temps on Monday, including some clouds. Monday will be the coolest day of the week, so I’ll be trying to finish up my project on Monday during the reasonable temps! The high shouldn’t get above the upper 70s, and the clouds and afternoon breeze will make that number even more comfortable. Let’s all enjoy those clouds together before the rest of the week heats up.

What you can do, currently.

The climate emergency doesn’t take the summer off. In fact — as we’ve been reporting — we’re heading into an El Niño that could challenge historical records and is already supercharging weather and climate impacts around the world.

When people understand the weather they are experiencing is caused by climate change it creates a more compelling call to action to do something about it.

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What you need to know, currently.

On Sunday, China recorded its hottest temperature in history as Sanbao in Xinjiang Province hit 52.2°C (126°F) — the hottest temperature ever measured on Earth north of 40° latitude (the same latitude as Philadelphia). Also on Sunday, Death Valley, California hit 128°F (53.3°C) — one of the highest reliable temperatures ever recorded in the world. In Europe, a record-breaking heat wave is on tap this week.

New all-time record temperatures of 49°C (120°F) are expected in Italy this week that could challenge the hottest ever recorded in Europe, just days after a new report showed that last year’s then-record-setting European heatwave killed upwards of 60,000 people.

These records make sense in our rapidly warming world. June 2023 was the hottest month in world history, and July should be even hotter.