Focus shifts to western U.S. heat and eastern Pacific tropics

It’s the 100th Weather Retort! I teased the potential of winning a million dollars if you’re signed up by the time this goes out. Sadly, I later realized I don’t have that kind of money. Goals for the 1000th edition …

Weather Watch

Western U.S. heat. A spike of summerlike heat is building in the western U.S. Thursday before peaking Friday and Saturday. Highs around 100 should reach as far north as the Snake River Valley of Idaho as records threaten a large portion of the region. Excessive heat warnings are up in and around Las Vegas, while a big chunk of central and northern California is under heat advisory.

Alvin inbound. Two weeks into the eastern Pacific Ocean season, a tropical depression developed off the coast of Mexico overnight. It should become Alvin on Thursday as it heads north toward the North American continent. It’s currently forecast to strengthen to a 60-mph tropical storm at peak over the next two days before delivering moisture to the Southwest U.S., in concert with an upper-level low to its north.

Lightning links

Alaska drenched by atmospheric river as summer cruise season revs up.

Get ready for several years of killer heat, top weather forecasters warn.

Snow plowing U.S.’s highest paved road.

ClimoSpot update

I started ClimoSpot in the midst of Trump administration attacks on science and the data associated with it. To start, it is primarily a bunch of links to raw climate data.

Lately I’ve been beginning to build out climatology pages for cities and other interesting locations in the U.S. and globally.

Here are examples:

• Death Valley National Park (U.S.)

• Las Vegas (U.S.)

• Kyiv (Ukraine)

• Mount Washington (U.S.)

• New York City (U.S.)

• Punta Arenas (Chile)

• Washington, D.C. (U.S.)

Once I am done finalizing the looks and verifying it all works as hoped — I am getting close! — I will add a bunch more cities to the list.

About

Weekday morning newsletter by a journalist/forecaster. Connecting weather and climate change dots while occasionally stirring the pot.

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