It is a bit amusing.
Under the German national weather service, for decades....there was a defined wording for a heat wave. You had to have five days in a row (consecutive) of 30 C (86 F) to be defined as a heat wave.
This past summer, the 'weather-gang' met and decided that they needed a new definition. So they changed the wording to be three days (not five).
How this plays into things?
Well...you end up with more heat waves. If you asked me of my location and getting five days in a row of 30 C-plus temperatures? I'd tell you there are probably three heat waves per year. Under this new definition? I would take a guess that there are probably eight heat waves a year.
Yeah, in a way, it makes things look pretty bad on climate change. If you asked some German over 80 years old....they'd cite just four really harsh years (2003 for example) where it was dreadful hot (that heat wave continued for about four weeks straight with 30 C temperatures).
Why the hype over hot weather? This is a puzzling thing because with almost all of the three to ten day heat waves....it is greatly dependent upon a high-pressure system that drags in southern air (from the Med or Africa) and the high-pressure system 'lingers'. In simple terms.....instead of an arrival and an exit in two days....it ends up being an arrival and exit that lasts for a week generally.
Why is 30 C the chosen temperature? Simply weather guy agreement. If you asked me personally....once it gets above 26 C (79 F), I consider it hot. I'd rather have it 15 C to 20 C myself.
So next year, as you hear all this chatter from Germans about more heat waves....it's just that the 3-day thing is in effect....not 5-days.
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