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A heat wave or heatwave, sometimes described as extreme heat, is a period of abnormally hot weather. A time period of five consecutive days is often used to define a heat wave but the exact definition of a heat waves can vary for different countries. A heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the area and to normal temperatures for the season. Temperatures that humans from a hotter climate consider normal, can be regarded as a heat wave in a cooler area. This would be the case if the warm temperatures are outside the normal climate pattern for that area. High humidity often occurs during heat waves as well. This is especially the case in oceanic climate countries. Heat waves have become more frequent, and more intense over land, across almost every area on Earth since the 1950s, the increase in frequency and duration being caused by climate change.
This article describes severe weather terminology used by the National Weather Service (NWS) in the United States, a government agency operating within the Department of Commerce as an arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia, has a Mediterranean climate, with mild wet winters and hot dry summers.
The climate of Sydney, Australia is humid subtropical, shifting from mild and cool in winter to warm and occasionally hot in the summer, with no extreme seasonal differences since the weather has some maritime influence. Though more contrasting temperatures are recorded in the inland western suburbs, as Sydney CBD is more affected by the oceanic climate drivers than the hinterland.
Australia's climate is governed mostly by its size and by the hot, sinking air of the subtropical high pressure belt. This moves north-west and north-east with the seasons. The climate is variable, with frequent droughts lasting several seasons, thought to be caused in part by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. Australia has a wide variety of climates due to its large geographical size. The largest part of Australia is desert or semi-arid. Only the south-east and south-west corners have a temperate climate and moderately fertile soil. The northern part of the country has a tropical climate, varying between grasslands and desert. Australia holds many heat-related records: the continent has the hottest extended region year-round, the areas with the hottest summer climate, and the highest sunshine duration.
A bushfire season occurred predominantly from June 2009 to May 2010. Increased attention has been given to this season as authorities and government attempt to preempt any future loss of life after the Black Saturday bushfires during the previous season, 2008–09. Long range weather observations predict very hot, dry and windy weather conditions during the summer months, leading to a high risk of bushfire occurrence.
The 2010 Northern Hemisphere summer heat waves included severe heat waves that impacted most of the United States, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, Hong Kong, North Africa and the European continent as a whole, along with parts of Canada, Russia, Indochina, South Korea and Japan during July 29, 2010. The first phase of the global heatwaves was caused by a moderate El Niño event, which lasted from June 2009 to May 2010. This lasted only from April 2010 to June 2010 and caused only moderate above-average temperatures in the affected regions, but it also set new record high temperatures for most of the area affected in the Northern Hemisphere.
The 2013 heatwave in the United Kingdom and Ireland was a period of unusually hot weather primarily in July 2013, with isolated warm days in June and August. A prolonged high pressure system over Great Britain and Ireland caused higher than average temperatures for 19 consecutive days in July, reaching 33.5 °C (92.3 °F) at Heathrow and Northolt.
Perth, the capital city of the state of Western Australia, has a Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters. February is the hottest month of the year, with an average high of 31.7 °C (89.1 °F), and July is the coldest month of the year, with an average low of 8.1 °C (46.6 °F). 77.7% of rain in Perth falls between May and September. Perth has an average of 8.8 hours of sunshine per day, which equates to around 3,200 hours of annual sunshine, and 138.7 clear days annually, making it the sunniest capital city in Australia.
The 2016 Indian heat wave was a major heat wave in April and May of that year. A national record high temperature of 51.0 °C (123.8 °F) was set in the town of Phalodi, in the state of Rajasthan. Over 1,100 people died with 330 million affected to some degree. There were also water shortages with drought worsening the impact of the heat wave.
The 2018 Britain and Ireland heatwave was a period of unusually hot weather that took place in June, July and August. It caused widespread drought, hosepipe bans, crop failures, and a number of wildfires. These wildfires worst affected northern moorland areas around the Greater Manchester region, the largest was at Saddleworth Moor and another was at Winter Hill, together these burned over 14 square miles (36 km2) of land over a period of nearly a month.
In late June and late July 2019 there were two temporally distinct European heat waves, which set all-time high temperature records in Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
The 2020–21 Australian bushfire season was the season of summer bushfires in Australia. Following the devastating 2019–20 bushfires in Australia, authorities were urged to prepare early for the 2020–21 Australian bushfire season. The bushfire outlook for July to September 2020 was predicting a normal fire potential in Queensland with a good grass growth in many areas giving an increased risk of grass fires, an above normal season in the Kimberley region of Western Australia as a result of good rains from tropical cyclones, a normal but earlier season in the Northern Territory, an above normal season on the south coast of New South Wales and normal seasons elsewhere.
The 2021 Western North America heat wave was an extreme heat wave that affected much of Western North America from late June through mid-July 2021. The heat wave affected Northern California, Idaho, Western Nevada, Oregon, and Washington in the United States, as well as British Columbia, and in its latter phase, Alberta, Manitoba, the Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan, and Yukon, all in Canada. It also affected inland regions of Central and Southern California, Nevada, and Montana, though the temperature anomalies were not as extreme as in the regions farther north.
The 2021 Britain and Ireland heat wave was a period of unusually hot weather in July 2021 that led to record-breaking temperatures in the UK and Ireland.
The 2022 United Kingdom heatwaves were part of several heatwaves across Europe and North Africa. The United Kingdom experienced three heatwaves; the first was for three days in June, the second for three days in July, and the third for six days in August. These were periods of unusually hot weather caused by rising high pressure up from the European continent. There were also more grass fires and wildfires than average, and in August a drought was declared in many regions.
From June to August 2022, persistent heatwaves affected parts of Europe, causing evacuations and killing tens of thousands. These heat waves were the deadliest meteorological events in 2022. The highest temperature recorded was 47.0 °C (116.6 °F) in Pinhão, Portugal, on 14 July.
Since April 2024, several Southeast Asian countries have experienced record-breaking temperatures which have left several people dead. Heat indices peaked at 53 °C (127 °F) in Iba in the Philippines on 28 April 2024. The heat wave has been attributed to a combination of causes, including climate change and El Niño.
Europe has been affected by heat waves since June 2024, breaking several regional temperature records across multiple nations in Southern and Southeast Europe.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Temperatures soar across the nation as heatwave continues". ABC News. 2024-12-16. Retrieved 2024-12-16.
- 1 2 3 Rachwani, Mostafa (2024-12-15). "Temperatures soar with heatwave to hit Melbourne and western Sydney as fire bans declared". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077 . Retrieved 2024-12-16.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Wind, Emily (2024-12-16). "News live: Fijian deputy PM says many hotel guests drank the pina coladas suspected to have poisoned four Australian tourists". the Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077 . Retrieved 2024-12-16.
- ↑ http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/climate/extremes/seasonal_extremes.cgi?climtab=tmax_high&area=aus&year=2025&season=1202
- ↑ "Records tumble as heat soars into mid-40s". www.thenewdaily.com.au. 2024-12-16. Retrieved 2024-12-16.
- ↑ "Fish kill fears for Darling River as extreme temperatures scorch NSW". ABC News. 2024-12-16. Retrieved 2024-12-16.