What's A "Heat Dome"?

 I'm not sure where you may be located, but if you are in the upper Midwest (like here in Minnesota), it is HOT. The news keeps talking about the term "heat dome", but what is that? I found an excellent explanation from The Pour Over, a news highlight magazine with a Biblical perspective.

I highly recommend subscribing to The Pour Over. Now, about "heat domes"...

What even is a heat dome?

It’s a large area of high pressure in the atmosphere that parks above a region (rude) and traps heat beneath it for days at a time. Think: putting a lid on a pot of boiling water. The lid pushes the heat down and as it sinks, it compresses, gets even hotter, and has nowhere to go.  

Heat domes also keep rain clouds from forming, since moist air has to rise high enough to condense, and nothing is rising on the dome’s watch. In already dry places, that means a higher wildfire risk on top of the sweat. 

Is it the same thing as a heat wave?

Yes, and also no.  

A heat wave is a broader term for an extended period of hotter-than-normal temps in an area. A heat dome is one specific way to get a heat wave. Once it’s parked, it becomes a feedback loop of sinking hot air, sunny days, no rain, and… well, we all get real sweaty.  

In other words, every heat dome is a heat wave but not every heat wave is a heat dome, capiche? 

How do heat domes form?

Blame the jet streams: fast-moving rivers of air in the atmosphere.  

They usually flow in unproblematic wavy lines, but sometimes they grow into big, slow loops and stall out. That stall allows high pressure to build, and the sinking-heating cycle takes it from there. 

How do you get rid of a heat dome?

You can’t… you just wait it out.  

Eventually, the jet streams will correct themselves or another weather system will overpower them, but until then, be sure to stock up on ice cream and stay in the shade.   

CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE

When we face major weather events like heat domes or severe storms, we’re reminded of our weakness. But our God is the creator of the weather, and He holds us by the hand. He will protect us and keep us.  

“This is what God, the LORD, says—who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk on it—‘I am the LORD. I have called you for a righteous purpose, and I will hold you by your hand. I will watch over you, and I will appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations,’” 

Isaiah 42:5-6 

 

Stay cool... The Bible describes hot weather as a natural, cyclical provision from God, but frequently uses the scorching heat to illustrate spiritual truths. Heat symbolizes life's harsh trials and hardships, while the shade represents divine protection.  God's shelter and shade provide relief from the scorching sun and the heat of the day, as promised in Isaiah 49:10.

And no, it is not yet the end times - Revelation 16:8-9