Starting in May 2023, aheat wave affectedWestern North America. The heat wave entailed wildfires in Alberta, record temperatures across Canada and the US, and over 100 deaths in Mexico. The heat also accelerated snow melt in mountain ranges, causing flooding and mudslides. According to scientists,climate change increased the strength of the2023 heatwaves including in North America.[3][4][5]
Geographic extent of warming: Average temperatures in almost all regions in the U.S. have increased in the last 120 years.[6] In recent decades in the U.S., the percentage of record high daily temperatures has predominated over record daily low temperatures, with record daily highs now more than twice that of record daily lows.[7]
The heat wave has fueled thewildfires in Alberta.[8][9]Environment Canada has issued heat warnings for the northern parts ofAlberta and parts ofBritish Columbia. Environment Canada stated, "While the developing heat may result in daily temperature records being broken, it must be emphasized that the expected hot conditions will not approach those reached during the'Heat Dome' of late June 2021".[10]
On May 13, the hamlet ofArviat,Nunavut reached 21.2 °C (70.2 °F), which was about 7 °C (13 °F) higher than the previous May record.[11] The next day,Squamish, British Columbia reached a record high temperature of 35.5 °C (95.9 °F),[8] andLytton andTofino set monthly records of 35.9 °C (96.6 °F) and 28.3 °C (82.9 °F), respectively.[11]
On May 13, four locations in theSeattle region broke temperature records, with Quillayute reaching 90 °F (32 °C), SeaTac reaching 86 °F (30 °C), and Olympia and Hoquiam reaching 89 °F (32 °C).[14]
On May 14, cities such asHoquiam, Washington andFlorence, Oregon set monthly temperature records, with high temperatures of 90 °F (32 °C) or above. Seattle reached 89 °F (32 °C) the same day.[8]Eugene andPortland reached 94 °F (34 °C) and 92 °F (33 °C), respectively.[9]
In mid-June, more than 100 million individuals, or almost one-third of all Americans, were "under extreme heat advisories".[17]
Phoenix weather record report for July 2023
On July 31,Phoenix, Arizona ended a 31-day streak of high temperatures of over 110 °F (43 °C).[18] The average temperature in Phoenix during July 2023 was 102.7 °F (39.3 °C), the hottest month for any U.S. city in history.[19] On July 19, Phoenix broke their all time warmest low temperature by only falling to 97 °F (36 °C) at night.[20] The extreme heat resulted in 569 deaths in Phoenix.[21]
The summer heat wave resulted inTexas experiencing its second hottest summer on record in 2023, with the full year being its hottest on record. Over 300 people died from heat in Texas in 2023, the most since the state began tracking such deaths in 1989.[22]
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