A 1941 heat wave reveals how 2021 heat dome could have been worse

A researcher at Simon Fraser University analyzed historical records to show how a 1941 heat wave during World War II provides a warning for modern climate events in British Columbia, Canada.

Sam Anderson, a postdoctoral research fellow, examined thousands of newspaper articles and archives to compare the 1941 heat wave with the 2021 heat dome.

He argues that the 2021 event might be considered a near miss because the 1941 conditions could have caused even more severe wildfire damage to populated areas. The 1941 heat wave triggered hundreds of wildfires around Vancouver due to thunderstorms. However, the weather turned cool and wet quickly after the heat wave ended, which stopped the fires from spreading further.

In contrast, the 2021 heat dome was followed by persistent dry conditions that allowed wildfires to burn the village of Lytton to the ground. Anderson notes that while Vancouver survived in 1941, the same lightning patterns today could easily ignite fires in similar urban areas. The two events also differed in geographic spread and mortality. The 2021 heat dome stayed in western North America and caused over 600 heat-related deaths in British Columbia.

The 1941 heat wave moved east across North America, where it caused around 350 deaths. Anderson suggests that the 2021 death toll might have been even higher if the heat had persisted in the more densely populated eastern regions.