As LCHS welcomes its students back, all of central and southern California welcomes back a very unwelcome visitor–an extreme heat wave. A wave of unusually high temperatures has been sweeping across southern California as a result of a weather phenomenon called a “heat dome.” This phenomenon typically brings broiling conditions as the seasons transition from summer to autumn. UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swaim describes that a heat dome is a term for, “a particularly persistent and strong region of atmospheric high pressure during the warm months.”
Temperatures pushed beyond 100 degrees Fahrenheit, even continuing through the Labor Day weekend and the week after.
Even the National Weather Service weighed inon the event, saying that, “High pressure will produce a prolonged warming trend with only a minimal marine layer. By midweek, very hot conditions will develop with triple-digit heat for many valley and mountain locations through the Labor Day weekend. This heat may be record breaking and will very likely produce a very high heat illness risk.”
California Governor, Gavin Newsom, took the opportunity to highlight the current heatwave as a larger affect of global climate change. “We’ve never seen this kind of extreme heat for this extended period of time,” Newsom said from the Code Conference, an event hosting the biggest executive leaders and entrepreneurs from techin Beverly Hills. “And so we have thrown all of the old books and rules and regulations out, and we are moving in a completely different mindset in order to stay a step ahead of Mother Nature.”
Retired climatologist from the Los Angeles area, Bill Patzert, agreed with the governor’s sentiments, stating, “We’ve always had these systems, but not as frequently, not as intense and not as long lasting.”
ASB has already been working to put out announcements warning about the heat and pushing students to use the new water coolers put on campus.
Luckily, temperatures are expected to cool down soon around September 10th this Friday. Hopefully then, students will actually begin to feel the autumn weather instead of just wishing for it.
And in case the heat wave comes back, here are some effective tips to survive the heat:
- 1. Stay inside when you can.
- 2. Stay hydrated, drink lots of water — do not wait until the last minute!
- 3. If you are outside of extended periods of time, be sure to wear sunscreen.
- 4. Wear loose, lightweight clothing.
Stay hydrated, Spartans!
