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WEDNESDAY, JULY 7, 2021 | Volume 34 No. 27
#YKASTRONG
Get ready for wave after wave of record heat
GWYNNE DYER World
WATCH
F
irst the “heat dome,” with temperatures in the mid-to-high 40s Celsius in many parts of western North America for up to a week (49.6 C in Lytton and above 47 C in Kamloops). Then, when the forests were tinderdry, came the fires, which essentially wiped away Lytton, the blaze starting in the town and aided by intense heat. From northern California to northern B.C., the records were being broken every day. The extreme temperatures were
unprecedented, but the weather forecasters had an explanation of sorts — a heat dome that trapped hot air in the same area for a long time while the heat kept rising. They didn’t speculate beyond that because it would get them into a new and unproven hypothesis, but many meteorologists know this could be our first glimpse of a new normal cycle of killer heat waves. The proposed name for these new, lengthy super-hot spells is “Wave-7” or “Wave-5’” events because the heat waves strike simultaneously in several large regions around the planet. Wave-7, the likelier candidate in this case, hits western North America, western or central Europe and western Asia, all at the same time. See CHANGES, A20
kamthisweek
After dousing a fire last week in the empty Pool Mart building in North Kamloops, a shower was in order for this overheated firefighter. The June 30 call came as the mercury crested 43 C. MICHAEL POTESTIO/LJI
A SEARING SUMMER BEGINS
Historic heat, an explosion of wildfires and a debate over egress from Juniper amid flames — those stories and more are inside today’s edition of KTW
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