People in Canada die of record heat. In Switzerland, violent storms caused millions in damage. A meteorologist classifies.
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- Canada is currently experiencing record heat levels – hundreds of people have died.
- Millions of damages have been caused by strong storms in Switzerland.
- Meteorologist Hannes Tobler classifies weather phenomena.
Many places in Canada are breaking one temperature record after another at this time. The city of Litton in British Columbia recorded a temperature of 49.5 degrees Celsius on Wednesday. The scorching heat has claimed at least 486 lives so far.
In Switzerland, strong thunderstorms and hailstorms caused damage worth millions the size of tennis balls. Here, the weather also claimed deaths: in Meikirch BE a woman died after being cut from a tree.
The weather in Canada is “really extreme”
But can these weather events be described as “extreme”? Nau.ch asked Hannes Tobler from the Meteonews weather service. “Yes, the heat wave is really peaking in Canada and parts of the US. Canadian officials speak of a millennium heat wave.”
Tobler makes a big difference to Canada in this country: “We had local stations that measured a record amount of rain in June.” Old records are not as shattered as in Canada. “Thunderstorm conditions have been exceptionally severe over the past two weeks, but I wouldn’t rate it as extreme just yet.”
The perception of rain is distorted because the summer is too dry
But where do these severe weather events come from? Tobler: “In the northwest of North America, a strong high pressure area persisted for weeks. The heat could increase further. In addition, there was a severe drought in the southwest of the United States, from there the heat eventually headed to Canada Enhanced.”
Tobler points out that spring, on the other hand, is often determined by the low pressure for us. “That’s why it rained more than the long-term average. However, we humans have a distorted perception as well—the last few years we remember were all very hot and very dry.”
Climate change brings longer heat and storms
Summer drought and heat waves are one of the main consequences of global warming. “Thunderstorms are also potentially stronger in warm climates because warmer air can absorb more energy, that is, more water vapor. Strong thunderstorms with hail and heavy rain are more likely in warm climates,” Tobler says.
In the future, these weather events will occur more and more often. «We have to calculate with longer duration of summer and longer duration of storm. This is because, during global warming, there is more heat in the atmosphere,” Tobler says.
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