Extreme North American heatwaves in 1941 and 2021 drove widespread but contrasting impacts
- 1School of Environmental Science, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC Canada
Abstract
The 2021 Western North American heatwave was among the most extreme heatwaves ever recorded. Recent work has identified one event of comparable magnitude and location in 1941. However, little is known about the impacts of the 1941 heatwave. Here we review 357 issues of 25 news publications from before, during, and after the 1941 heatwave, and we uncover widespread impacts including mortality, water shortages, crop damages, wildfires, flooding, and changes to social customs and behaviours. We then provide a quantitative analysis of climate reanalysis, streamflow, sea level, crop yield, and mortality data to compare with 2021. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses offer insights into how and why select impacts of the two heatwaves differed, including different continental-scale heatwave evolution and post-heatwave weather, policy responses that were related to co-occurring crises of World War II and the COVID-19 pandemic, and differing social norms, daily tidal cycles, technology, engineering, and infrastructure.
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BibTeX
@article{anderson2026extreme,
title = {{Extreme North American heatwaves in 1941 and 2021 drove widespread but contrasting impacts}},
author = {Sam Anderson and Shawn M. Chartrand},
journal = {Communications Earth \& Environment},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1038/s43247-026-04055-0},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-04055-0},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Extreme North American heatwaves in 1941 and 2021 drove widespread but contrasting impacts
AU - Sam Anderson
AU - Shawn M. Chartrand
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/19
JO - Communications Earth & Environment
DO - 10.1038/s43247-026-04055-0
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-04055-0
AB - The 2021 Western North American heatwave was among the most extreme heatwaves ever recorded. Recent work has identified one event of comparable magnitude and location in 1941. However, little is known about the impacts of the 1941 heatwave. Here we review 357 issues of 25 news publications from before, during, and after the 1941 heatwave, and we uncover widespread impacts including mortality, water shortages, crop damages, wildfires, flooding, and changes to social customs and behaviours. We then provide a quantitative analysis of climate reanalysis, streamflow, sea level, crop yield, and mortality data to compare with 2021. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses offer insights into how and why select impacts of the two heatwaves differed, including different continental-scale heatwave evolution and post-heatwave weather, policy responses that were related to co-occurring crises of World War II and the COVID-19 pandemic, and differing social norms, daily tidal cycles, technology, engineering, and infrastructure.
SN - 2662-4435
ER -