Records broken: A tale of fire and ice, right here in Canada
Meteorologist
Thursday, June 28, 2018, 3:32 PM - Can't wait until next year for Game of Thrones to come back? Never fear; we had our own tale of fire and ice this week, right here on Earth. Temperatures have been making big news - for very different reasons - this week, and June 26 made its mark on the record books both abroad and here at home. While residents of Newfoundland shivered in an unpleasant late-June surprise snowfall on Tuesday, a city in Oman set a new world heat record.
(Updated: What July and August will look like in your part of the world. Our Summer 2018 forecast.)
LOWEST HIGH TEMPERATURE
It's probably not a surprise that Newfoundland gets snow in June, but this week was a bit much, even for them. Gander not only recorded a few more centimeters of the white stuff, bringing their June total to 14.4 cm. While Gander does typically see snow in the early part of June their monthly average is only 2 cm, so, understandably, many were less than thrilled with this week's development.
HIGHEST LOW TEMPERATURE
A very different story was unfolding half way around the world on the same day, however. Quriyat, Oman saw the flip side of the record coin, setting a new world record for hottest 24 hour period. The city of 50,000 people now holds the uncomfortable distinction for warmest overnight low on record. It never got colder than 42.6ºC - in fact, it remained that warmer, or warmer, for nearly 51 hours. Not exactly great sleeping weather.
On the plus side - if there is a plus side - daytime dewpoints are generally pretty low in the region, with winds off of the Arabian Desert. When temperatures for the period peaked, at around 45ºC, the dewpoint was 0ºC - the definition of a 'dry heat'. The adjacent Gulf of Oman comes into play for the overnight, however. The Gulf is one of the hottest bodies of water in the world, and winds off the water tend to push humidity higher at night, which helps to trap heat. Overnight humidity in nearby Muscat was reported at about 50 per cent; with an overnight 'low' there of 40 degrees, that gives a humidex value of about 55.
