SAN FRANCISCO.- A heat wave with temperatures that in some cities even exceed 46 degrees Celsius is hitting the southwest of USA, which in parallel is experiencing a critical drought situation and is preparing for what could be another season of major fires.
In total, some 40 million people are under “excessive heat alert” according to the United States National Weather Service, in the states of Arizona, Nevada, California, Utah y Colorado.
The desert of Death Valley, in California, where the lowest point in North America is located, has come to register in recent days temperatures above 50 degreess, which allowed some curious to fry eggs on the asphalt, as they shared in videos on social networks.
In fact, according to US Drought Monitor., current conditions are the most extreme in the last two decades and the forecast is that temperatures will remain above normal on these dates until next week in much of the Californian territory.
Faced with this situation, the authorities recommend drinking plenty of fluids, avoiding sun exposure, staying indoors with air conditioning whenever possible, being in contact with family and neighbors, and under no circumstances leave small children or pets unattended in vehicles. .
RELIEF ON THE BEACHES
Despite the recommendations, many people along the Californian coast – where the temperatures are somewhat milder than in the interior – took advantage of this Thursday to approach the beach to cool off with the water and the ocean breeze.
For the director of the Institute of Water Resources of California, Doug Parker, the current drought “is hotter than the previous ones” and, as there is less snow cover available in the mountains of the state, it means “less capacity of replacement of the reservoirs during the summer thaw. “
Thus, the current heat wave comes after a particularly dry winter in the American Southwest and especially in California -the largest and most populous state in the region-, with the snow from the mountains already practically melted since mid-May and some of its largest reservoirs at historic lows.
In the Sierra Nevada, the mountain range that separates California from neighboring Nevada, snowfall was particularly low last winter, and by April 1 (the date when accumulated snow normally reaches the greatest thickness) it stood at only 42 centimeters, which is 59% of the average historical value on that date.
“The current drought has occurred rapidly and many of our ecosystems and our groundwater systems have not yet recovered from the previous one,” analyzes Parker, who is part of the University of California of Agriculture and Natural Resources, in an interview with Eph.
According to its projections, California will be able to handle the drought of this 2021 “without too many interruptions”, but if it persists until next year, the state will need “mandatory reductions in water use throughout its territory.”
LOW RAIN LEVELS
Like snow, rainfall throughout the winter – the wet season in the state – has also been well below normal, with locations like Los Angeles, Long Beach, San Francisco and San José registering rainfall levels. that do not even reach 45% of normal.
Extremely dry conditions and high temperatures are a bad omen for the fire season, which is just beginning now with the arrival of summer and last year was already catastrophic, with five of the six largest fires ever recorded in the California history.
On this possible scenario, researcher Richard Seager, of the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University, said there is “fear” that this year an equally dire season will repeat itself.
“Extreme heat, little rain and dry soils and vegetation increase the risk of fires: our fear is that this year another extreme fire season could also occur, such as in 2020,” Seager predicted in statements to Efe.
– .
