Currently in Boston — July 18, 2023: More warmth and humidity

The weather, currently.

Smoke filled skies replaced the rain of yesterday and we're looking at a partly cloudy night with temperatures falling back down only to near 70. This has been a very humid stretch of weather. Tomorrow continues the high dew points with temperatures well into the 80s. There may be a shower or thunderstorm west of 495 late in the day but they're also could be a shower overnight as close as Boston. On Wednesday it's back to more sunshine it will be a little drier with dew points in the 60s and temperatures in the 80s. It remains somewhat comfortable on Thursday with highs still in the 80s. Showers return for Friday.

— Dave Epstein

What you can do, currently.

The climate emergency doesn’t take the summer off. In fact — as we’ve been reporting — we’re heading into an El Niño that could challenge historical records and is already supercharging weather and climate impacts around the world.

When people understand the weather they are experiencing is caused by climate change it creates a more compelling call to action to do something about it.

If these emails mean something important to you — and more importantly, if the idea of being part of a community that’s building a weather service for the climate emergency means something important to you — please chip in just $5 a month to continue making this service possible.

Thank you!!

What you need to know, currently.

Shortly after midnight on Monday morning it was still a whopping 120°F (48.9°C) at Death Valley in California — the hottest early morning temperature reading in world history.

Here’s what the raw data looked like:

Even though this may not make global headlines, this feels to me like a major global milestone. Public health studies show that excessively hot overnight temperatures cause high death tolls during major heat waves, especially when overnight temperatures fail to fall below 90°F (32.2°C). The human body requires rest at night to recover, especially when subjected to high stress of record heat. Climate change — specifically the added humidity in the air due to increased evaporation rates — causes overnight temperatures to rise at a faster rate than daytime temperatures, worsening this trend.

—Eric Holthaus