18 minutes ago, LHookins said:

I remember when I was a teenager in Texas before we had central air conditioning.  I had a portable evaporative cooler in my bedroom.  It was about the size and shape of a box fan with some additional plumbing.  Enough to drop the temperature a few degrees to something more reasonable.

At the time, schools used large outdoor evaporative coolers to keep the classrooms cool.

Of course, they only work well when the humidity is low.

Hook

They actually work quite well in places with low humidity. and don’t use much electrical energy, but they do need a continuous supply of water.  I lived in both Tucson and Albuquerque as a child, and we had evaporative coolers in both locations. In those days, the evaporative pads were made of excelsior, and it gave the conditioned air a very sweet smell after new pads were installed at the beginning of the cooling season.

Edited July 17, 20223 yr by JRBarrett

10 hours ago, birdguy said:

So are forest fires.  They are destroying square miles of forest in the Western US and now in France and Spain.

Noel

 

👍 True.

10 hours ago, JRBarrett said:

They actually work quite well in places with low humidity. and don’t use much electrical energy, but they do need a continuous supply of water.  I lived in both Tucson and Albuquerque as a child, and we had evaporative coolers in both locations. In those days, the evaporative pads were made of excelsior, and it gave the conditioned air a very sweet smell after new pads were installed at the beginning of the cooling season.

Amazon has several roof-mount “whole house” evaporative coolers for sale that look just like the ones I remember. Although there is an option to use them with cooling pads made of polyester, the most popular cooling pad choice still appears to be excelsior made of shredded Aspen wood.

If I were ever to move to a dry desert climate again, I’d definitely choose one of these over a vapor cycle refrigeration unit. They are far more “environmentally friendly”, plus they actually humidify the cooled air, rather than dry it out.

Edited July 17, 20223 yr by JRBarrett

18 hours ago, Bob Scott said:

Was just doing some reading on the heat waves of 1783, 1808, and a prolonged (May-Sept) heat wave of 1911 in the UK.  Clearly, temps approaching 40C are something that happens rarely in the UK, but historically it is certainly not a new phenomena.

It's certainly is a new phenomena for those living through it for the first time in over 200 years.

Noel

1 hour ago, JRBarrett said:

If I were ever to move to a dry desert climate again, I’d definitely choose one of these over a vapor cycle refrigeration unit. They are far more “environmentally friendly”, plus they actually humidify the cooled air, rather than dry it out.

I lived in New Mexico for many years and used an evaporative cooler, aka swamp cooler, for about 6 years.  They aren't all they're cracked up to be.

For one, they use a lot of water, a scarce resource out west.  Secondly, during the monsoonal season from July-September when the air is frequently more humid, they don't cool the air as effectively, plus they pump even more humid air into the house so bed sheets actually feel damp, making it even more uncomfortable. 

Lastly, we switched to a high efficiency refrigerated air unit and our electric bill only increased by about $30 a month in the summer.  The swamp cooler had to be run 24/7 in order to keep the house cool, whereas a high efficiency refrigerated air unit can cycle on and off and doesn't have to run at all from about midnight to 6am.

Dave

Edited July 17, 20223 yr by dave2013

1 hour ago, birdguy said:

It's certainly is a new phenomena for those living through it for the first time in over 200 years.

Noel

 

Heatwaves happen, and can be regarded as a result of natural variability.

Its the fact that they are becoming more frequent, more severe and more long lasting that's the point. Heat waves are now 5 times more likely than they were according to the research.

 

Edited July 17, 20223 yr by martin-w

This short-lived hot spell only just qualifies as a heatwave as higher than expected temps will only last for 3 days. By Wednesday things return to normal with indecent haste.

Currently 30.4°C here and humidity is only 33%. It now looks like the area of greatest heat will be further east on Tuesday so tomorrow is likely to be the hottest day here in Cheshire.

27 minutes ago, martin-w said:

Its the fact that they are becoming more frequent, more severe and more long lasting that's the point

What's the baseline, the reference?  More frequent than when?  More frequent where?  More long lasting since when?

The *forecast* high temps in the UK are *forecast* to last about 2-3 days.  Does that qualify as "long-lasting"?

Anyway, let's see what actually happens first.

Dave

34 minutes ago, dave2013 said:

Does that qualify as "long-lasting"?

What does constitute "long lasting" Dave?

Let's move away from the British Isles to Roswell NM.

I looked up the average June temperature for Roswell.  93.7F degrees.  That means we should have some days below 93.7F and some days above 93.7F.  Almost all of June we were at 100+F.  It seldom dipped into the 90s.  It was the hottest June on record.

The average temperature for July is 95F.  That means some days dip below 95 and some days get above 95.

We are past the halfway point for July and have not seen a day below 100F.

According to Weather Underground here's what's in store for us for the next 10 days:

Today 101, then 104, 108, 103, 100, 100, 100, 100, 100,100.  There's no reason to think that it will cool down anytime during the rest of July or even August.

How's that for long lasting?

Noel

 

 

Just read a bit about the Europe heat wave of 1757. 

The temp in Paris at that time hit 37.5C a couple times in July.  I couldn't find other temp measurements from southern Europe, but they may have been even higher.  That heat wave lasted almost *2 weeks.*

Just a bit of historical perspective. 

I wonder how many other heat waves there have been over the past several thousand years?  Unfortunately, there are no records of these things as for most of human history people either didn't leave any records, didn't have any measuring devices, or any records they did leave behind have not survived.

Dave

3 hours ago, birdguy said:

It's certainly is a new phenomena for those living through it for the first time in over 200 years.

Noel

First time in over 200 years?  Huh??  Nope, nope, and nope.  As just one example, during the summer of 2003, something like 70,000 people are believed to have died of heat-related causes across Europe...on 10 Aug 03 temps broke records in the UK at 38.5C (101.3F).

My point is that history--from pre-industrial times to the modern era, is replete with examples of periods of extreme heat in the UK, and that people should prepare for the possibility like any other uncommon but historically-demonstrated weather threat.

30 minutes ago, dave2013 said:

The temp in Paris at that time hit 37.5C a couple times in July.

Oh, those poor babies.  Not even 100F.  A couple of times in July.  It lasted almost 2 weeks.

How about 100+ lasting over 6 weeks already and no end in sight?  What do you call that?  A minor blip?

Maybe on a geologic time frame it is.  But for we who are living it it's more than that.

I'm not making light of London's heat wave.  For people who are not used to it and haven't seen it for 20 years it's a real hardship and not to be made light of.  Those who are in their 30s now were on their teens during the last one.  Of course they're not prepared for it anymore than those living in the midwest ar prepared fr the next tornado or those living in Florida for the next hurricane.

Noel

Edited July 17, 20223 yr by birdguy

6 minutes ago, birdguy said:

Oh, those poor babies.  Not even 100F.  A couple of times in July.  It lasted almost 2 weeks.

How about 100+ lasting over 6 weeks already and no end in sight?  What do you call that?  A minor blip?

Noel

NW Europe has a temperate climate influenced by the Atlantic. You may dismiss 100F as nothing but humidity plays a huge factor. It will be higher than your desert-like climate making it far more uncomfortable and few over here have air-cond.

If you chose to live in such an extreme climate that’s your choice. Your maxima only seem slightly higher than the average. Over here the average is around 22°C for Cheshire in July. Currently it’s 31°C - 9°C (16F) above average. Hardly comparable.

20 minutes ago, birdguy said:

Oh, those poor babies.  Not even 100F.  A couple of times in July.  It lasted almost 2 weeks.

How about 100+ lasting over 6 weeks already and no end in sight?  What do you call that?  A minor blip?

Maybe on a geologic time frame it is.  But for we who are living it it's more than that.

Relative humidity makes a huge difference.  I'll take 108F at 5% RH over 98F at 90% RH any day...I've lived and worked in both.

100+ high temps every day for months at a time was quite normal in central Arizona when I lived there 50 years ago.  We had a swamp cooler in the house, and for the typical ~3 weeks of monsoon weather when the daily average RH climbed to 20-25% (usually mid-Jul to the first week in Aug) it was really sticky and uncomfortable.  Had to give up simming in favor of spending my free time reading in the library back on those summer days (simming was a hand-drawn cardboard panel mockup and a broom handle).

4 minutes ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

You may dismiss 100F as nothing but humidity plays a huge factor.

I'm not dismissing it Ray.  Only responding to those who are and say you should be prepared for it.

I realize those who are not used to weather extremes suffer more than those who are.  I didn't mean to make light of your situation.

Noel