Currently in Miami — July 21, 2023: Excessive Heat Warnings likely

The weather, currently.

Temperatures will continue to soar through the weekend, with highs increasing from the low-to-mid 90s on Friday to the mid-to-upper 90s by the start of next week. Correspondingly, heat indices will start out between 105-110 degrees on Friday and rise to 106-112 over the coming days. These increases will likely require Excessive Heat Warnings over the weekend—a step above the Heat Advisories that have already been issued for Friday. The chances of showers and thunderstorms will remain elevated on Friday afternoon, but will decrease over the weekend.

El tiempo, actualmente.

Las temperaturas seguirán aumentando durante el fin de semana, con temperaturas máximas que irán desde los rangos bajo a medio de los 90 grados el viernes hasta los rangos medio a alto de los 90 a principios de la próxima semana. En consecuencia, los índices de calor comenzarán entre 105-110 grados el viernes y aumentarán a 106-112 en los próximos días. Es probable que estos aumentos requieran Avisos de Calor Excesivo durante el fin de semana, un paso por encima de los Advertencias de Calor que ya están vigentes para el viernes. Las posibilidades de aguaceros y tormentas eléctricas seguirán siendo elevadas el viernes por la tarde, pero disminuirán durante el fin de semana.

—John Morales

What you can do, currently.

The climate emergency doesn’t take the summer off. In fact — as we’ve been reporting — we’re heading into an El Niño that could challenge historical records and is already supercharging weather and climate impacts around the world.

When people understand the weather they are experiencing is caused by climate change it creates a more compelling call to action to do something about it.

If these emails mean something important to you — and more importantly, if the idea of being part of a community that’s building a weather service for the climate emergency means something important to you — please chip in just $5 a month to continue making this service possible.

Thank you!!

What you need to know, currently.

The North Atlantic Ocean heat wave is pushing further and further into uncharted territory — literally off the charts.

Versions of this graph, made by climate researcher Leon Simons, have been going viral all summer, and for good reason. Ocean temperatures in the Atlantic are right now far and above anything ever seen in the instrumental record.

The latest figures basin-wide are about 1.5°C above not only pre-industrial levels, but the recent thirty-years mean. Parts of the North Atlantic, particularly near Atlantic Canada, are right now more than 5°C above normal. These are worryingly high values, mostly because they are so far above even previous record years.

The consequences of water this warm are still playing out. Forecasters have boosted their outlooks for this year’s Atlantic hurricane season, shallow water marine ecosystems are being disrupted, and extreme weather is already plaguing people on both sides of the pond — Florida, the Caribbean, and Europe have already endured record-breaking heatwaves.

Any climate scientist who tells you they know exactly what is going on is overstating their case — there are many theories, including a response to a recent reduction in sulfur aerosol pollution (as Currently has previously covered), the weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), an ocean-wide heat-transfer mechanism, a combination of some of the above, or something else entirely.

What’s clear is, we are in a climate emergency and adapting to these rapid changes is more difficult than preventing them in the first place.

—Eric Holthaus