This is something else! It is. Really! It is? Yes. And, what is it? The hot daytime high temperatures shattering records in the western U.S. That’s what!
Looking at just one, for Fresno, California for Jan. 29th, the temperature high was 76 degrees Fahrenheit, shattering all previous records in Fresno for this date. Records have been kept since 1850. For those who are interested, the concomitant air quality by the way, as forecasted by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District for Fresno County, turned out to be just as predicted: bad, in the “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” range.
And, the impact? Spring-like.
Alyssums in the yard were all abuzz with bee activity. This is the middle of the winter for goodness sakes!
Add to this the super early awakening of ground day lilies.
And, the physical manifestations don’t stop there.
Take for instance the fact that the day’s 76-degree reading will “do nothing but add to the already elevated average global surface temperature for this area, a region whose climate is classified as ‘hot, semi-arid’ with a normal average temperature for the month of January being just south of 48 degrees Fahrenheit” I wrote in “On a hotter planet, it’s wrong to equate nice with warm,” a Jan. 29, 2024 Air Quality Matters blog post. “This is more than a 26-degree increase.” The previous record was 73 degrees Fahrenheit on this same date in 1960.
Given that the time it took this day to arrive is the amount of time it will take to depart, my assessment is, it will be just about the same amount of time (okay, maybe a little longer) before this day amongst locals is out of sight and out of mind.
My take: Right here for this time of year, it’s just too warm.
Update: After I went live with this report, I heard one meteorologist in one local weather report, say that yesterday’s high in Fresno was 77 degrees Fahrenheit.