San Diego, U.S.A. — EarthRisk Technologies, a San Diego-based weather analytics company, confirmed on August 20 that the Midwest and Eastern regions of the United States experienced the most extreme and persistent heat on record since 1948 in June and July of this year.

HeatRisk, the company’s web-based platform that utilizes historical data to analyze the risk for extreme warm weather events up to 40 days in advance, verified several key patterns conspired to drive the record-breaking temperatures.

“The cumulative HeatRisk index for the Midwest/East United States was higher than any other June-July period on record since 1948,” according to David Margolin, EarthRisk’s Director of Meteorology. “That’s nearly 10 percent warmer than the next highest HeatRisk value which was recorded in 1988.”

The geographic region in EarthRisk’s study stretches from Chicago to Boston then southward to Charlotte, North Carolina and westward to Little Rock, Arkansas. Residents may remember last summer’s blistering heat in early July, but 2011 pales in comparison to 2012.

“According to our HeatRisk index, 2012 was 36 percent more extreme than 2011,” added Margolin.

EarthRisk also quantifies a measure of extreme cold, called ColdRisk.

“As you might expect, the ColdRisk value for June/July was very low,” said Margolin. EarthRisk estimates that ColdRisk in 2012 was the fourth lowest on record since 1948. Only 1949, 2010 and 2011 featured a smaller measure of extreme cold temperatures during the first part of the summer.

EarthRisk also analyzes the overall atmospheric patterns that correspond to extreme heat and extreme cold throughout the year. EarthRisk cites a strongly northward shifted jet stream across the eastern Pacific and North America as one of the primary factors leading to heat, especially in June.

“We call this a ‘pattern dipole’ focused over the eastern Pacific and it was one of the strongest such jet stream patterns observed since 1948,” said Stephen Bennett, EarthRisk’s Chief Science and Products Officer. “This particular pattern was so strong, nearly three-and-a-half standard deviations, on June 16, 2012 – which is very rare.”

Strong low pressure in Alaska in late June and early July was also a culprit. “It’s also very rare to see this particular pattern so strong,” added Bennett. “On June 17, we observed a value stronger than 2.5 standard deviations.”

These synoptic scale atmospheric conditions are related to a broader pattern that has been stubbornly persistent throughout June and July known as the “Global Wind Oscillation” or GWO. EarthRisk scientists Dr. Klaus Weickmann and Ed Berry have been researching the GWO for the past decade and their research indicates that when the GWO is persistently low, as has been observed most of the summer so far, the weather pattern across the U.S. tends to be repetitive.

“These patterns tend to feature repetitive heat from the Rockies eastward across Canada and the Northern Tier of the U.S.,” Bennett said.

EarthRisk’s scientists believe a combination of these various patterns have conspired to drive the most extreme early summer period since 1948 across the most populous region of the United States.

About EarthRisk Technologies:

EarthRisk Technologies is a San Diego-based software company founded in 2010. The company’s product suite, TempRisk, is a web-based platform that crunches 60 years of weather data to formulate the odds of cold snaps and heat waves 40 days in advance, a lead-time that is twice as long as any in the industry.

Trading groups, power producers and energy traders on four continents use TempRisk for a climatological edge in their investments. For more information, visit www.earthrisktech.com

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Oakland, California, U.S.A. — With a protracted heat wave in many regions of the state over the past week that is slated to continue through this week, the California Department of Industrial Relations’ (DIR) Division of Occupational Safety and Health (commonly referred to as Cal/OSHA) is urging employers to protect outdoor workers from heat illness and allow for new workers to adjust to changes in weather (also known as acclimatization).

“This is the longest period of sustained high temperatures in California since 2006 and employers at outdoor worksites should stay on the alert,” said DIR Director Christine Baker. “Ensuring that new employees are closely supervised while they are acclimatizing to working in high heat – on top of providing water, rest, shade and training – is an essential step in making sure a jobsite is a safe place to work.”

A 2005 Cal/OSHA study showed that employees who are not used to working in extreme heat are at the highest risk of developing heat illness. That same study showed that forty-six percent of reported cases of heat illness occurred on the employee’s first day on the job.

“Providing water, rest, shade and training are essential for all employers with outdoor worksites. Any new employee who is not used to working in high heat conditions is at an increased risk of developing heat illness, and supervisors should use caution in acclimating them to a new work environment,” said Cal/OSHA Chief Ellen Widess. “Close supervision of heat-exposed workers is critical because life-threatening heat illness can develop and progress very rapidly.”

It can take anywhere from four to fourteen days for the human body to become properly acclimated to working outdoors in an extremely hot environment. Some best practices for employers who may have new employees working in high heat include assigning employees to less physically demanding tasks in their first fourteen days on a new job or working a new employee onto a shift slowly. But all workers can be adversely affected by “heat waves” where temperatures are still high even at night.

“Given the extreme heat we have been experiencing, employers must have emergency medical plans in place, ready to be used at a moment’s notice,” added Widess.

Under California’s first-in-the-nation heat illness prevention standard, employers with outdoor workers are required to establish and implement emergency procedures, and provide training on heat illness prevention to all workers. Every outdoor workplace must have drinking water for workers – at least one quart per hour per employee – and shade for recovery and rest periods. Shade must be provided when temperatures are above 85 degrees, and be available at employee request at any temperature. Employers are also required to train employees to properly identify heat illness symptoms.

The heat illness prevention standard was strengthened two years ago to include a high heat provision that must be implemented by five different industries when temperatures reach 95 degrees. These procedures include observing employees, closely supervising new employees, and reminding all employees throughout the shift to drink water.

The specified industries include agriculture, construction, landscaping, oil and gas extraction and transportation or delivery of agricultural products, construction material or other heavy material. However, all employers are advised to take additional precautions during periods of high heat.

Cal/OSHA’s website provides employers with a Heat Illness Prevention e-tool for reference. More information on how to prevent heat illness and training materials can be found in both English and Spanish on Cal/OSHA’s website and also at the “Water Rest Shade” campaign site. Materials in additional languages are available at the website as well.

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