{"id":270432,"date":"2023-07-30T16:40:49","date_gmt":"2023-07-30T14:40:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=270432"},"modified":"2023-07-30T16:40:52","modified_gmt":"2023-07-30T14:40:52","slug":"heatless-in-seattle-summer-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=270432","title":{"rendered":"Heatless in Seattle Summer\u00a02023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Science Matters<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Ron Clutz<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With all the media noise about \u201cGlobal Boiling\u201d, they must think we are all frogs in a pot on the stove (electric, no gas permitted).\u00a0 And yet, what a difference a year makes in the US Northwest, as Cliff Mass reminds at his blog\u00a0A Summer Without Extreme Heat in the Northwest.<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0 Excerpts in italics with\u00a0 added image<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With all the talk of heat waves in the media these days, it is fascinating to note that the Pacific Northwest has NOT had extreme heat this summer.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No major heatwaves.\u00a0 \u00a0A lack of warm temperature records.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A really moderate, benign summer regarding high temperatures.\u00a0 And the temperate weather is not over.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And more surprises\u2026there is really little evidence over the past decades of increases in extreme July heat in our region.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me show you some data, to prove the above to you.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just a reminder\u2026.the end of July is climatologically the warmest time of the year (see the climatology of SeaTac Airport, below).\u00a0 \u00a0By the end of August, solar radiation has declined so much that the temperatures inevitably decline.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A July Without Extreme Heat<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below you will find plots of the highest temperature in July over many decades for five local stations:\u00a0 Olympia and Bellingham in western Washington, Wenatchee and Kennewick in eastern Washington, and Portland, Oregon.\u00a0 I have plotted the July highs for the entire period of record and plotted a linear trend line for your reference.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Really interesting.\u00a0 \u00a0The high temperatures in July at these stations have been very average and FAR below record levels.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of you have not needed AC this month.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps Shocking to Some<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now look at the trend of the extreme July temperatures above (brown lines) and you will notice something that is perhaps surprising:\u00a0\u00a0there are no large increases in record July temperatures over many decades.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

About a 1\u00b0F increase at Bellingham and Olympia, roughly .5 \u00b0F at Portland and Wenatchee, and a DECLINE of roughly 2 F at Kennewick over many decades.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The background global warming of mean temperatures is about 2F.\u00a0 Our regional extremes are going up LESS than that.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no local amplification of extreme temperatures as the planet slowly warms.<\/strong>To bring home the message of the lack of extreme temperatures this July, below are the temperatures at Olympia and Wenatchee (blue bars showing observed highs and lows), with record daily highs shown by the red colors.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No daily high-temperature records were broken.\u00a0 None. Nada. Zippo.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Finally, the moderate temperatures are not over.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To illustrate, the latest 7-day forecast from the European Center ensemble (shown below) indicates cooler than normal conditions (blue colors) over and west of the Cascade crest (this is for the daily average temperature, NOT the high temperatures).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As noted in my previous blogs, the lack of extreme high temperatures is associated with a persistent atmospheric circulation pattern.\u00a0 It also helps explain the lack of wildfires over the region.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With all the talk of heat waves in the media these days, it is fascinating to note that the Pacific Northwest has NOT had extreme heat this summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":270444,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691821437,691821467,691820078,691820077],"class_list":["post-270432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-global-boiling","tag-heatless","tag-pacific-northwest","tag-seattle","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0seattle-sperm-bank-donor-program.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-18lO","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":272450,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=272450","url_meta":{"origin":270432,"position":0},"title":"Continued Major Errors and Misinformation In Seattle Times Climate Stories: Damaging and Unnecessary.","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"08\/09\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"During the past weeks, profoundly flawed and error-filled stories on climate change have been headlined in the Seattle Times.\u00a0 Stories that can easily be demonstrated to have serious factual and interpretative errors.\u00a0\u00a0","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/00fake-News-1920x1080-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/00fake-News-1920x1080-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/00fake-News-1920x1080-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/00fake-News-1920x1080-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/00fake-News-1920x1080-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":261381,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=261381","url_meta":{"origin":270432,"position":1},"title":"How Unusual Is the Recent Dry Period?","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"06\/09\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Let's check the numbers, starting with Seattle.\u00a0 Below I have plotted the total precipitation for May 1 through June 5 for SeaTac Airport and added a best-fit trend line as well.","rel":"","context":"In \"El Nino\"","block_context":{"text":"El Nino","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=el-nino"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0seattle.jpg?fit=1200%2C648&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0seattle.jpg?fit=1200%2C648&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0seattle.jpg?fit=1200%2C648&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0seattle.jpg?fit=1200%2C648&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0seattle.jpg?fit=1200%2C648&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":293546,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=293546","url_meta":{"origin":270432,"position":2},"title":"Is the Low Snowpack this Year a Sign of Global Warming?","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/02\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"This incurious article does not review the trend of mountain snowpack over the past several decades:\u00a0a crucial test of whether climate change could be blamed.","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0seattle_skyline.jpg?fit=1200%2C960&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0seattle_skyline.jpg?fit=1200%2C960&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0seattle_skyline.jpg?fit=1200%2C960&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0seattle_skyline.jpg?fit=1200%2C960&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0seattle_skyline.jpg?fit=1200%2C960&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":407249,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=407249","url_meta":{"origin":270432,"position":3},"title":"Scare du jour Marine Heat\u00a0Waves","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"10\/09\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Marine heatwaves are\u00a0influenced by natural climate variability,\u00a0such as El Ni\u00f1o, Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), and other oceanic and atmospheric processes. These phenomena can cause fluctuations in sea surface temperatures\u00a0independent of long-term climate change, leading to periods of warmer ocean conditions that may be mistaken for climate-driven trends.","rel":"","context":"In \"Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC)\"","block_context":{"text":"Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=atlantic-meridional-overturning-circulation-amoc"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AQMk4mW_R62rSlWyQ0f9ZYERrn4ClJCdz-qm6Nae-zOyEQFNiT_w3eCLyOs-wQ1itJJ0y-JUYeQqcFYkxogYYGKwJkPwSjL7Jnxn9Lm0rPcK0-RdKs273edFaL2nx8Krn0rxBMPfhk0m4rTIgS7pKKMMD-h5Ow.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AQMk4mW_R62rSlWyQ0f9ZYERrn4ClJCdz-qm6Nae-zOyEQFNiT_w3eCLyOs-wQ1itJJ0y-JUYeQqcFYkxogYYGKwJkPwSjL7Jnxn9Lm0rPcK0-RdKs273edFaL2nx8Krn0rxBMPfhk0m4rTIgS7pKKMMD-h5Ow.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AQMk4mW_R62rSlWyQ0f9ZYERrn4ClJCdz-qm6Nae-zOyEQFNiT_w3eCLyOs-wQ1itJJ0y-JUYeQqcFYkxogYYGKwJkPwSjL7Jnxn9Lm0rPcK0-RdKs273edFaL2nx8Krn0rxBMPfhk0m4rTIgS7pKKMMD-h5Ow.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AQMk4mW_R62rSlWyQ0f9ZYERrn4ClJCdz-qm6Nae-zOyEQFNiT_w3eCLyOs-wQ1itJJ0y-JUYeQqcFYkxogYYGKwJkPwSjL7Jnxn9Lm0rPcK0-RdKs273edFaL2nx8Krn0rxBMPfhk0m4rTIgS7pKKMMD-h5Ow.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AQMk4mW_R62rSlWyQ0f9ZYERrn4ClJCdz-qm6Nae-zOyEQFNiT_w3eCLyOs-wQ1itJJ0y-JUYeQqcFYkxogYYGKwJkPwSjL7Jnxn9Lm0rPcK0-RdKs273edFaL2nx8Krn0rxBMPfhk0m4rTIgS7pKKMMD-h5Ow.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":415590,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=415590","url_meta":{"origin":270432,"position":4},"title":"La Nina Strengthens: What are the Implications for this Winter?","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"12\/01\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"La Ni\u00f1a, associated with cool water over the tropical Pacific, has a significant impact on Northwest weather, influencing temperature, precipitation, and snowfall.\u00a0\u00a0","rel":"","context":"In \"ENSO (El Ni\u00f1o-Southern Oscillation)\"","block_context":{"text":"ENSO (El Ni\u00f1o-Southern Oscillation)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=enso-el-nino-southern-oscillation"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/00Screenshot-2025-12-01-181306.png?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/00Screenshot-2025-12-01-181306.png?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/00Screenshot-2025-12-01-181306.png?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/00Screenshot-2025-12-01-181306.png?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/00Screenshot-2025-12-01-181306.png?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":296150,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=296150","url_meta":{"origin":270432,"position":5},"title":"The Cold Truth About Renewable Energy in the Pacific Northwest","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/17\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Over the weekend I received several messages from Puget Sound Energy to reduce my energy use, both gas and electric, with the implicit threats of potential blackouts","rel":"","context":"In \"Bonneville Energy Administration\"","block_context":{"text":"Bonneville Energy Administration","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=bonneville-energy-administration"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/image-291.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/image-291.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/image-291.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/image-291.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=270432"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":270446,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270432\/revisions\/270446"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/270444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=270432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=270432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=270432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}