Historic heat for February in the United States and Canada as climate change takes a toll
- An El Nino weather pattern is also affecting the meteorological conditions
- Last month marked the warmest January the world has ever seen, according to American and European weather agencies
People stroll along Michigan Avenue during an unusually warm winter day earlier this week in Chicago. Photo: AFPThe United States and Canada are seeing record temperatures for February this week. Several cities are seeing summer-like heat despite three remaining weeks of winter.
The midwestern city of Saint Louis, in Missouri, saw the mercury hit 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday, the highest temperature ever recorded in that month.
An El Nino weather pattern is at play, in addition to climate change, according to experts.
But the summery highs aren’t expected to last, with temperatures set to quickly plunge back into deep winter chills.
The National Weather Service characterised the swing as “absolutely brutal” in a post on social media, which also warned of possible wind gusts as a cold front moves in Tuesday evening.
The NWS summarised Chicago’s weather pattern as seeing summer, spring, fall and winter “crammed into the next 24 hours”.
Hong Kong set for 12-degree Celsius temperature swing later this week
Similar temperature swings are expected across the middle of the country, possibly bringing brutal storm patterns including tornadoes and hail.
Minneapolis-Saint Paul, in Minnesota, saw a record February temperature of 18 degrees Celsius on Monday, followed by blizzard warnings for Tuesday.
Canada also notched record heat, with Montreal hitting a daily record on Tuesday at 15 degrees Celsius, according to the country’s environment ministry.
Last month marked the warmest January the world has ever seen, according to the United States’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the European Union’s Copernicus agency.
And despite the impending chill setting in, “February 2024 remains the odds-on favourite to be the warmest February on record”, wrote climate scientist Zeke Hausfather on X, formerly Twitter.
Climate analyses for February are set to be released by NOAA on March 8 for US temperatures and March 14 for global temperatures.