This page documents notable

heat wave A heat wave, or heatwave, is a period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in oceanic climate countries. While definitions vary, a heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the ...

s worldwide in 2021. In June 2021, a heat wave set a record high nationwide temperature in Canada. The event led to thousands of heat-related deaths.

List

February

Across

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

and parts of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

, unusually high-temperatures in the late-winter period were reported from 20 February until 28 February 2021.

June

Eurasia

Parts of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

and

eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...

were hit by record-breaking

in June and July, with temperatures in the Arctic Circle above and highest June temperature were recorded in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

and

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. Temperature above average hit central and eastern Europe, with the highest anomalies centered on Scandinavia and parts of western Russia, due to the

heat dome A heat dome is caused when atmosphere traps hot ocean air, as if bounded by a lid or cap. The upper air weather patterns are slow to move, referred to by meteorologists as an Omega block. Creation of heat domes In still, dry summer conditi ...

effect.

Anticyclone An anticyclone is a weather phenomenon defined as a large-scale circulation of winds around a central region of high atmospheric pressure, clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from ...

conditions over Russia resemble those in the 2010 heat waves, with parts of Siberia were higher than normal. The shores of the

Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; no, Barentshavet, ; russian: Баренцево море, Barentsevo More) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territo ...

saw hotter temperatures than beaches in Italy and southern France, around for several days. In June 2021,

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

faced a record-breaking increase in temperatures in western parts of the country, specifically the

Kyzylorda Kyzylorda ( kk, Қызылорда, translit=Qyzylorda, ), formerly known as Kzyl-Orda (russian: Кзыл-Орда), Ak-Mechet (Ак-Мечеть), Perovsk (Перовск), and Fort-Perovsky (Форт-Перовский), is a city in south-cen ...

, Mangystau, and

Turkistan Turkestan, also spelled Turkistan ( fa, ترکستان, Torkestân, lit=Land of the Turks), is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and Xinjiang. Overview Known as Turan to the Persians, western Turk ...

regions. As a result, the Kazakh meteorological service Kazhydromet forecasted that an extreme drought would take place. By 7 July, the temperatures reached up to . Prior to the announcement of increased temperatures, photos from the Mangystau Region emerged on social media which showed emaciated horses on a verge of dying. According to the

Ministry of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...

, the cause for situation was due to lack of pasturage in the area as a result of several climatic conditions, and that measures would be implemented to prevent the further casualties of livestock. The

Khabar Agency The Khabar Agency (KA) ( kk, "Хабар" Агенттігі, translit="Xabar" Agenttıgı; russian: Агентство «Хабар») is a major media outlet in Kazakhstan. It was established in 1995, known originally as the National Television ...

on 16 June 2021 reported that approximately 2,000 livestock had died with Kazakh lawmakers calling for a state of emergency to be implemented in the Mangystau and Kyzylorda regions, citing the problems in farmers whom were unwilling to feed the cattle due to inflated costs for animal feed. In July 2021, due to worsening situation, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called on Agriculture Minister Saparhan Omarov to resign, citing his failure to provide assistance to struggling farmers. On 13 July, a state of emergency was introduced in the

Aral District Aral ( kk, Арал ауданы, , ارال اۋدانى) is a district of Kyzylorda Region in southern Kazakhstan. The administrative center of the district is the town of Aral. Population: Geography Lake Zhaksykylysh lies in the district, ...

in an attempt to solve the shortage of feed. In a visit to Mangystau Region, Acting Agriculture Minister Erbol Qaraşukeev pledged that 1.9 billion ₸ would allocated in order to reduce the costs of livestock feed and that an ban on its exports would be placed as well.

North America

An extreme

affected much of

Western North America Western North America is the western edge of the North American continent that borders the Pacific Ocean. It consists of Alaska at the farthest north, down through the western Canadian province of British Columbia, the western U.S. states of W ...

from late June through mid-July 2021. Rapid attribution analysis found this was a 1000-year weather event, made 150 times more likely by climate change. The heat wave affected Northern California,

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

, Western Nevada,

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

, and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

in the United States, as well as

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, and, in its latter phase,

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

, the Northwest Territories,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

, and

Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

, all in Canada. The heat wave appeared due to an exceptionally strong ridge centered over the area, whose strength was linked to the

effects of climate change The effects of climate change impact the physical environment, ecosystems and human societies. The environmental effects of climate change are broad and far-reaching. They affect the water cycle, oceans, sea and land ice ( glaciers), sea le ...

. It resulted in some of the highest temperatures ever recorded in the region, including the highest temperature ever measured in Canada at . The exact death toll is unknown, and growing. On July 6, preliminary statistics released by the British Columbia Coroner Service indicated 610 more sudden deaths than usual occurred in the province and

logged 66 excess deaths in the week of the heat wave; the Chief Coroner of British Columbia later said that in the week between June 25 to July 1, 569 deaths were confirmed to have happened due to heat-related causes. Confirmed deaths in the United States include at least 116 in

(of which 72 are in

Multnomah County Multnomah County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 815,428. Multnomah County is part of the Portland–Vancouver– Hillsboro, OR–WA Metropolitan Statistical Area. Th ...

, which includes

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

), at least 112 in

and one death in

; though an analysis by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' suggests that around 600 excess deaths occurred on the week the heat wave passed through Washington and Oregon.

July

In July, a

in Europe led to record-breaking temperatures in the UK and Ireland.

August

A heat wave impacted North America in August 2021. The heat wave was the second of the summer for the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Tho ...

. A state of emergency was declared in Oregon. The

National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an agency of the United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weather-related products to organizations and the public for the ...

issued excessive heat warnings for the

Portland metropolitan area The Portland metropolitan area is a metro area in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington centered on the principal city of Portland, Oregon. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) identifies it as the Portland–Vancouver–Hillsboro, ...

(including

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, located in Clark County. Incorporated in 1857, Vancouver has a population of 190,915 as of the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Was ...

), most of the

Columbia River Gorge The Columbia River Gorge is a canyon of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Up to deep, the canyon stretches for over as the river winds westward through the Cascade Range, forming the boundary between the st ...

, and the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the eas ...

. Cooling centers were opened in

. Oregon's climatologist said the heat wave is "an indicator of a troubling trend".

References

{{Heat wave, state=autocollapse Heat waves in North America 2021 in Europe