Life-threatening heat domes confounding forecasters

Record-breaking temperatures seared the eastern US last month, leading to power emergencies across the region.

- BRIAN K SULLIVAN

Record-breaking temperatures seared the eastern US last month, leading to power emergencies across the region. The cause: an enormous ridge of high pressure that settled on the region, known as a heat dome.

This phenomenon has also already struck Europe and China this summer, leading to the temporary closure of the Eiffel Tower and worries about wilting rice crops. But while heat domes are easy to identify once they strike, they remain difficult to forecast—a problematic prospect in a warming world. "There is a world of difference between normal summer heat and record or near-record breaking extreme heat," said Scott Handel, lead forecaster at the US Climate Prediction Center.