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- Currently in D.C. — October 3, 2023: The sun before the storm
Currently in D.C. — October 3, 2023: The sun before the storm
Plus, El Niño continues to accelerate global temperatures.
Eric Holthaus & Myriam Vidal
October 02, 2023
The weather, currently.
Clear and sunny
We have another perfect sunny day. Today’s highs will reach 82°F around two in the afternoon, and drop to 71°F by nine. And, sorry to say, but it will be very humid too. I guess the summer refuses to leave. Well, we might as well enjoy it because this week will be a weather roller coaster with clouds, sun and showers in between.
As Mark Twain once said: “Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get.”
What you need to know, currently.
New data show that the last week of September was the most anomalously warm week in history. That’s not so surprising given that we’re going into what looks like a very strong El Niño — the tropical Pacific warmth that defines these linked ocean-atmosphere patterns typically starts spreading worldwide during the last four months of the year.
Here’s more, from CarbonBrief:
Global surface temperatures set a new record this week for the highest daily temperature anomalies (departure from the norm) ever observed. They were recorded by a Japanese climate database called the JRA-55 reanalysis product. These were approximately 1C warmer than the 1991-2020 baseline period used by the dataset and around 1.9C warmer than the pre-industrial (1850-1900) temperatures.
As Currently reported last week, these data add to the increasing likelihood that we may already be living in the first 12-month period that’s 1.5°C warmer than pre-industrial levels, and that a few upcoming weeks may top 2°C for the first time ever.
What you can do, currently.
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One of my favorite organizations, Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, serves as a hub of mutual aid efforts focused on climate action in emergencies — like Hurricane season. Find mutual aid network near you and join, or donate to support networks in Florida:
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