TONIGHT'S LOW, ABOUT 108 DEGREES....
The other day I came across an article that made me grab a cold glass of water and down it. In late June, a town in the nation of Oman registered the highest "low" temperature ever recorded. June 26, Quriyat's 50,000 residents sweltered through a night where the temperature never fell below 108.7 degrees Fahrenheit...yea, that was the low. Can you image being the forecaster that night and telling folks their overnight low should be in the range of 105-110 degrees? I've never done that for highs let alone lows!
At any rate, that's a new world record for the hottest nighttime temperature over a 24-hour period according to Weather Underground. The previous low temperature record for any 24-hour period was 107.4 degrees Fahrenheit at Oman's Khassab Airport on June 27, 2011.
That whole Tuesday in Quriyat was a particularly nasty day. During the afternoon the high temperature peaked at 121.6 degrees Fahrenheit, just a few degrees shy of Oman's all-time hottest temperature of 123.4 degrees set last year in Quriyat on May 30.
Quriyat's intense heat can be explained by its unique location on the coast of the Gulf of Oman.
You have the scorching temps coming from the Arabian Peninsula and the warm, humid air from the Gulf of Oman. Where they meet, you get extreme heat index (what the air feels like when you combine the air temp with the humidity) and extremely high overnight lows because the air can't cool down at night because of the humidity."
The June 26 record-breaking heat resulted from a strong high-altitude, high-pressure system or heat dome anchored over the region. It pumped in air temperatures up to 15 degrees above normal. Sea surface temperatures in the adjacent waters were about 90 degrees, keeping air temperatures elevated even through the night and offering no reprieve from the oppressive conditions.
This sweltering episode marked the second exceptional weather event to affect Oman in as many months. In May, Category 3 Tropical Cyclone Mekunu slammed into its southwest coast, making landfall near Salalah. It was the most intense tropical cyclone ever to make landfall on the Arabian Peninsula.
So what's the moral of the story? Don't complain about the heat and humidity we deal with. It could always be worse, especially in Oman.
Sorry this post doesn't have much on Midwest weather but I'm out of town today retrieving my daughter from a week long summer camp near Boone, Iowa. It's called Camp Kesum and it's only for children with a parent diagnosed with cancer. Kesem is all about supporting kids (like mine) through and beyond their parent’s cancer. Camp Kesem operates over 105 free summer camps in 40 states for children ages 6 to 18.
This is the 3rd year in a row Eden has attended Kesum and every year she's come home with a greater appreciation of life and the challenges ahead of her. She gains hope, inspiration, friends, and self confidence. The camps counselors are all college students, in Eden's case from Augustana College. I urge you to consider making a small donation to this unique program. I know first hand Camp Kesum makes a difference. Thanks and roll weather...T Swails
