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| California Highway Patrol took this photo of a big wildfire in the northern part of the state. Wildfires are breaking out throughout the west as record breaking heat envelops the region. |
The turn toward cool, dry air Friday was pretty dramatic over Vermont. We started the day with dew points in the terrible 70s, but by evening the dewpoints were down in the autumnal 40s.
The push of cool air was so strong that northwest winds at times gusted to near 40 mph. The wind actually managed to bring down a few small branches.
By this morning, all of us except those right near Lake Champlain had temperatures down in the 40s, with a reading of 37 degrees reported at Saranac Lake, New York.
Enjoy the cool temperatures. They won't last long. This upcoming week looks like a warm one, but luckily it won't be nearly as bad as last week.
A squirt of hot air from the southwest on Monday will probably pop us Vermonters back up into temperatures of around 90 degrees again. However, it won't be as humid as last week.
A weak cold front will drop us back into the low 80s the rest of the week.
TROPICAL TROUBLE
Two tropical systems -- the ever-surprising hurricane Beryl and a tropical depression off the Carolina coast, could have some influence on our weather over the next week or two
The depression off the Carolinas will probably strengthen into Tropical Storm Chris. It won't directly influence us, but will likely make the weather kind of so-so for us during the middle of the week. The air near the surface of the Earth will stay warm, but wannabe Chris is helping develop an upper level trough over the East.
That means cooler air aloft, creating instability and the risk of showers and thunderstorms. Which would be a good thing, because we need the rain. However, there won't be much moisture to work with, so any storms and showers will be widely scattered, brief and not worth much. And they might not even happen at all. We'll wait and see.
Wannabe Chris is expected to eventually head toward the northeast, away from the U.S. coastline
Meanwhile, Hurricane Beryl, that tiny storm heading toward the Lesser Antilles, continues to surprise with its strength and resilience. It was supposedly still cranking at 75 mph near its small center this morning, and could clip some of the Lesser Antilles with hurricane conditions over the next couple of days.
But I doubt it. Beryl looked like it was already weakening, judging from the satellite pictures.
It's still forecast to weaken as strong upper level winds rip Beryl apart in a few days, but it could have enough oomph to give places like Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic some wind and rain - something they don't need after last year's devastating hurricanes.
It's possible - but highly uncertain - that the remnants of Beryl could throw some warmth and higher humidity our way by the end of next week. Nobody's sure about that, so stay tuned.
INCREDIBLE HEAT KEEPS POPPING UP
Yesterday, it was southern California's turn to get into some unprecedented heat, a phenomenon that's really been a thing so far this summer in the northern hemisphere.
Burbank reached 114 degrees and Van Nuys got up to 117 degrees, which establishes new all time record highs for any date. What makes this even more unusual is southern California is usually relatively cool in July. Their hottest month is usually September.
Downtown Los Angeles got up to 108 degrees Friday, smashing the old record high for the date, which was 94 degrees. San Diego also broke a record high for the date, reaching 96 degrees, breaking the old record of 83 degrees.
The heat, predictably, helped fuel September-like wildfires break out in southern California Three thousand people have been evacuated, and up to 20 homes have been destroyed by fire in Santa Barbara County.
WEATHER DISASTERS CONTINUE
That big cold front that gave us here in Vermont relief from the heat obviously also swept through southern Quebec, ending their deadly heat wave. At last report, 54 people had died from the heat in Quebec.
I'm sure everybody in the Montreal area was thrilled by the dry, cool air that came in during the day yesterday. This whole episode is more proof, as if we needed it, that heat waves can be among the deadliest weather disasters.
Speaking of weather disasters, western Japan has been hit by serious, deadly flooding. As many as 46 people have died, and more are missing. Two million people have been evacuated due to the flooding and mudslides, including areas around the big cities if Kyoto and Hiroshima. Up to three feet of rain has fallen in some areas.
Japan is used to heavy rain events in the summer, but not ones of this magnitude.
ARIZONA HABOOB
This is the time of year that Arizona and other parts of the desert Southwest get their famous haboobs. These are big dust storms created when a rather dry thunderstorm sends out a big gust front that stirs up a wall of dust.
These are obviously dangerous, as they can blind motorists on highway. This one, as usual, disrupted traffic. Here's a brief video of the dust storm approaching:
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