You might not consider winter a time to get a heat wave, but one accepted definition of a heat wave is three or more consecutive days with temperatures at least five degrees above average. So media reports of a “heat wave” in Calgary are correct, even if the temperatures seem low to us in the Southeast. According to Global News Canada here, they have been experiencing a heat wave in Calgary, Alberta, Canada that is making the locals look forward to an early golf season and is allowing government workers to fill potholes ahead of schedule.
By comparison, the recent heat wave in Perth, Australia is more like what we would expect from a heat wave. And it’s not surprising that temperatures are so high considering that it is mid-summer in the Southern Hemisphere now. The Weather Channel reported that “While some in the northern hemisphere are shivering through winter, one Australian city tied an 83 year-old heat wave record. Perth, Australia, sweltered through four straight days of temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) from Feb. 7-10, tying a record-long such streak in the city from February 1933, according to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology.”
Maps below from the Climate Reanalyzer show the above-normal temperatures in both regions.
