Temperatures climb above 40C, while a powerful hailstorm in the US lashes Kansas and Oklahoma
A spate of extremely hot weather in British Columbia has broken Canada’s national maximum temperature record for September.
On Tuesday, it reached 40C (104F) in Lytton, matching the previous all-time high. That was only the third time that temperature has been recorded in the country in September.
The mercury rose again the following day, climbing to 40.8C in nearby Ashcroft. It has been an intensely hot and dry summer across Canada, which has fuelled an extreme fire season – its second worst on record. The country experienced its worst wildfire season on record in 2023, when more than 17m hectares (42m acres) burned.
Smoke from wildfires has travelled over the Atlantic this summer, bringing hazy skies to Britain. Extreme heat and damaging wildfire seasons are expected to continue as the climate crisis alters weather patterns around the world.
Meanwhile, farther south, a large and destructive hailstorm lashed parts of central and southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma on Wednesday afternoon, damaging infrastructure and property in the city of Wichita and neighbouring towns.
The US National Weather Service had warned of severe thunderstorms in the area from 4pm local time, highlighting the danger of large hail and strong winds.
Two powerful supercells developed near Salina and moved south towards Wichita, Kansas’s largest city. A supercell is a thunderstorm that contains a rotating updraught that allows it to maintain its strength for long periods. Strong updraughts such as these can produce large hailstones by keeping them aloft within the storm for longer, giving them time to grow.
Wednesday’s deluge produced large hail along a 120-mile (190km) path through Kansas and into Oklahoma, with the largest stones up to 75mm (3in) in diameter, as big as a baseball.
There were reports of damage across Wichita, including smashed windscreens and sunroofs on vehicles, damage to houses and trees, with gusts of 75mph (121km/h) recorded in Sedgwick County.
Hailstorms cause billions of dollars of damage in the US every year.
Source: www.theguardian.com