Switzerland Under Heatwave, Ozone Alerts

Heatwave, danger of forest fire, hazardous levels of ozone pollution plague Switzerland

All of Switzerland’s 26 cantons are under alerts for at least two of the following hazards: “heatwave,” “danger of forest fire,” and “hazardous levels of ozone pollution, as of posting.

Record-setting heat could hit southern Ticino this week, according to several models. The temperature in Villa Luganese rose to 33.6ºC on Tuesday.

Federal Disaster Declared for Louisiana

Louisiana Declared Major Disaster Area

Louisiana Severe Storms and Flooding (DR-4228)

The Disaster President has declared a major disaster exists in the State of Louisiana in the areas affected by severe storms and flooding during the period of May 18 to June 20, 2015.

The areas that were worst affected by the extreme weather events—severe storms and flooding—include Bossier, Caddo, Grant, Natchitoches, and Red River parishes.

Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area said additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the territory and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.

This is the 24th Major Disaster Declaration [DR 4205-4228] proclaimed for a U.S. state/territory, so far this year. Additionally, the federal government has issued five Fire Management Assistance Declarations for the year to date, as of posting.

Fire Management Assistance Declarations (2015)

[5088] 07/06/2015 Idaho Cape Horn Fire
[5087] 06/29/2015 Washington Sleepy Hollow Fire
[5086] 06/17/2015 Arizona Kearney River Fire
[5085] 06/16/2015 Alaska Card Street Fire
[5084] 06/15/2015 Alaska Sockeye Fire

Related Links

• Major Disaster Declared for Wyoming July 8, 2015
• Major Disaster Declared for Arkansas [DR-4226] June 29, 2015
• Major Disaster Declared for Nebraska [DR-4225] June 26, 2015
• Major Disaster Declared for West Virginia – (4th major disaster in 2 months) [DR-4221]May 22, 2015
• Federal Disaster Declarations
• Drought
• Agricultural Disasters Index

June 2015 Second Warmest in Contiguous U.S.

June 2015 2nd warmest in contiguous U.S., West saw record warmth, drought worsened in Northwest: NOAA

The June average temperature for the Lower 48 was 22°C (71.4°F), or 1.6°C (2.9°F) above the 20th century average, second only to June 1933 (71.6°F) in the 121-year period of record, reported The National Climatic Data Center .

Above-average temperatures recorded across the West and along the Southeast coast, where 16 states were much warmer than average.

• California, Idaho, Oregon, Utah, and Washington recorded their warmest June.
• Multiple western cities set new June temperature records during an intense heatwave the second half of the month.
• Boise, Idaho saw the temperature soaring to 43.3C (110°F).

The Alaska statewide average temperature for June was the sixth warmest in 91-years of record keeping at 52.4°F, 3.1°F above average. Homer, Alaska had its warmest June on record. Prolonged warmth and dryness and lack of June snow created ideal wildfire conditions with dozens of large wildfires impacting central and southern areas of the state during June.

“The U.S. Climate Extremes Index (USCEI) for the year-to-date was 45 percent above average and the 13^th highest value on record. On the national-scale, extremes in warm maximum and minimum temperatures and days with precipitation were much above average,” said NCDC.

• More than 400 wildfires consumed 1.8 million acres (728,000 hectares), breaking the previous June record of 1.1 million acres (445,000 hectares) charred by 216 fires, said the report.

• Texas had its wettest year-to-date on record with 61.1mm (24.04 inches), 27.2mm (10.70 inches) above average.
  • Previous record wet January-June record in 1941: 55.2mm (21.72 inches)
  • January-June precipitation total for 2011: Just 14.5mm (5.71 inches), the lowest amount on 121-year record.

• California: Drought conditions remain dire across California, with 46.7 percent of the state experiencing the worst category of drought (D4, exceptional).

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, State of the Climate: National Overview for June 2015, published online July 2015, retrieved on July 13, 2015 from http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/national/201506.