#WorldMetDay: ‘These temperatures are completely off the scale for March’

By the Climate Centre

A new World Weather Attribution rapid analysis released Friday has found that the heatwave affecting the western United States “would be virtually impossible for the time of year in a world without human-induced climate change”.

All-time March records were set to be broken in 100 cities across ten states, with temperatures as much as 17°C above average for the time of year.  

In the last decade, the heatwave currently impacting tens of millions of Americans has become about four times more likely due to climate change, they added.

The team stressed that extreme heat is the leading weather-related killer in the US “with early-season heat posing a higher risk due to lack of acclimatization.” 

Dr. Ben Clarke, Research Associate in Extreme Weather and Climate Change at Imperial College, London said:  “These temperatures are completely off the scale for March,” adding that, “It’s sobering that a child born in 2016 has already seen a significant shift in the extremes that are possible in this part of the United States before they’ve even finished grade school.

“Climate change is not a can we can kick further down the road.”

Earliest 100°F-plus day on record

NOAA satellite imagery (pictured) depicted the atmospheric set-up for the unseasonal heat: an area of persistent high pressure, trapping heat close to the ground that drove record-breaking temperatures. 

The US National Weather Service said many locations across the desert south-west were expected to see their earliest 100°F-plus (37.8°C) day on record.

Las Vegas suffered an all-time March record high of 94°F degrees, and central Los Angeles set a daily record of 95°F degrees.

“Elevated to critical fire weather conditions for portions of the southern Plains and the south-west” were forecast as one stage by the National Weather Service.

(Photo: NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service)