While the extreme heat across parts of Europe and the Central U.S. remains big in the headlines, other parts of the planet continue to see below-normal temperatures as of late.
Seeing hot temperatures during the summer isn’t out of the norm. Areas around the world can get into hotter-than-normal weather patterns, but it balances out somewhere else. That is exactly what is going on right now.
We are well into the heat of the summer months in the Northern Hemisphere, where some areas are really being impacted by excessively hot temperatures.
Record high temperatures across parts of northwestern Europe soared over 100 degrees, while the extreme heat also continues to scorch parts of the Central U.S. In fact, highs exceeded 100 degrees in every Oklahoma reporting on Tuesday.
But, as is usually the case, when areas get very warm, there is a balance and many spots are seeing cooler-than-normal summer temperatures.
Europe
Parts of Northern Europe continue to bake in the heat.
The deep red coloring on this map indicates where temperatures are way above normal. Likewise, the bluer hues show where the temperature anomaly is cooler than average.
While significantly warmer temperatures are evident in the map above, it is not entirely free from any shades of blue. Temperatures are below average in spots, particularly over Eastern Europe, Russia and parts of Scandinavia. Even over the Eastern Atlantic Ocean, air temperatures are cooler.
This map view looks closer at Western Europe, revealing that Western Spain and Portugal observed below-average temperatures.
North America
In North America, sweltering temperatures continue to scorch the Central U.S., specifically across parts of the Great Plains. As mentioned earlier, there is always a balance.
Parts of the northern Plains have been slightly below average, along with Alaska and northern Canada. While a big ridge of high pressure keeps the Central U.S. very hot, a dip in the Jet Stream has left Alaska and the air over the northeastern Pacific colder than normal.
Despite the longer summer days with more hours of sun, some areas continue to stay quite cool in Alaska.
Asia
In addition, temperatures across a large part of Asia have stayed well below average. Although other parts of the continent continue to stay on the warmer side of normal. Asia is a massive land mass, so it is normal to see wild anomalies across the continent.
Africa
We also see similar occurrences in Equatorial Africa, with cooler-than-average temperatures observed across the central part of the continent.
It is important to know that seeing excessive heat in some populated areas that aren’t used to it becomes newsworthy due to a lack of air conditioning. But keep in mind that there are just as many areas with below normal temperatures around the globe this July.
How the rest of the summer pans out is difficult to tell, but it is a good bet that some locations will sizzle while others will enjoy some refreshingly cooler-than-normal weather.