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posted by Fnord666 on Thursday July 18 2019, @09:23AM   Printer-friendly
from the scorching-news dept.

Heat Wave to Hit Two-Thirds of the U.S. Here’s What to Expect.

Dangerously hot temperatures are expected to spread across the Central and Eastern United States on Wednesday through the weekend, with temperatures soaring above 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the hardest-hit places, the National Weather Service has warned.

And even when the sun dips below the horizon, temperatures in many places are expected to remain in the 80s.

The hottest part of the country? Smack dab in the middle.

Everyone living in the region stretching from northern Oklahoma and central Nebraska through Iowa, Missouri and western Illinois should brace for a “prolonged period of dangerously hot temperatures and high humidity,” the warnings say. People in central and south central Kansas should expect to endure highs of about 102 degrees; the temperature in Des Moines was expected to hover around 100.

Excessive heat warnings have also been posted farther east, for parts of New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania.

All told, at least 15 million people across the United States are currently being warned of dangerously high temperatures that could affect human health between Wednesday and Friday.

By the weekend, what meteorologists are calling a “heat dome” in the middle part of the country is expected to spread into the Great Lakes and the East Coast.

Extreme heat can kill. Here’s what you can do to stay safe.

“The combination of heat and humidity can take its toll on someone who is outside and overdoing it,” said Richard Bann, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center. “It can be life-threatening.”

Last year, 108 people died from extreme heat, compared to just 30 who died from cold, according to statistics on weather-related fatalities released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Here are four safety recommendations from the National Weather Service:

  • Drink plenty of fluids.

  • Stay in an air-conditioned room.

  • Stay out of the sun.

  • Check on relatives and neighbors, especially the elderly.


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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday July 18 2019, @12:36PM (10 children)

    Well, OK ain't a desert but it ain't as humid as where I live in TN now either. The reason it never got down below 95F that month is the vegetation held the heat too well. Doesn't happen like that in proper deserts.

    Tangent: Don't pay any attention to the "heat index". It's completely worthless. 115F in OK is far more tolerable than 95F in TN. When it gets that hot in OK your sweat evaporates and cools you down. When it gets that hot in TN you just get wet as well as hot; no cooling effect.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Thursday July 18 2019, @12:43PM (4 children)

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Thursday July 18 2019, @12:43PM (#868468)

    The thing I've found to be most uncomfortable is when the dew point is above the current temperature, as will happen in the mornings especially in places like the Florida Keys. It's only 78F, but not only can't you cool by sweating, the air has condensed on everything around you, and the dew is maintaining that 101% humidity. After the sun bakes things a bit it actually becomes, relatively, bearable.

    --
    🌻🌻 [google.com]
    • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday July 18 2019, @12:50PM (2 children)

      Right there with ya. It was ~90F yesterday at 2pm here in TN and there was still dew on the ground.

      --
      My rights don't end where your fear begins.
      • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday July 18 2019, @01:32PM

        by JoeMerchant (3937) on Thursday July 18 2019, @01:32PM (#868492)

        I can feel the sticky air in my lungs...

        --
        🌻🌻 [google.com]
      • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Friday July 19 2019, @02:44AM

        by Reziac (2489) on Friday July 19 2019, @02:44AM (#868800) Homepage

        I am reminded why for my Southern Sabbatical, I moved to the SoCal desert and not to Tennessee. (Apparently I only live in extreme climates.)

        And those of us who have lived in real heat without air conditioning are just croggled by how easily some folks melt.

        Can't wait to hear the equally dire warnings when the next rough winter comes along...

        --
        And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
    • (Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Thursday July 18 2019, @03:05PM

      by AthanasiusKircher (5291) on Thursday July 18 2019, @03:05PM (#868519) Journal

      I used to live and work in the Southeast. Mornings like that would be the worst. Temperature was often only in the mid-70s, but by the time I parked and walked 1/3 to 1/2 mile to the building I actually worked in, my shirt was often drenched. I took to keeping a couple shirts in my office so I could change right away and not look awful. A few hours later, I could walk outside for a while and be somewhat okay, even with the higher temperature -- because something would actually evaporate.

  • (Score: 2) by KilroySmith on Thursday July 18 2019, @04:26PM (4 children)

    by KilroySmith (2113) on Thursday July 18 2019, @04:26PM (#868557)

    I've lived in Phoenix for the last 30 years, I've ridden my motorcycle around at 122F / 50C (n.b. a leather jacket helps you feel cooler at those temperatures compared with no jacket) and I'll tell you that the hottest day I ever experienced was on a trip to Houston in July. Parked in a covered parking garage, and wasn't sure I was going to make it the 100 yards to the door of the building. How people swim through air at that temperature and stay alive is something that I'll never understand.

    • (Score: 3, Touché) by krishnoid on Thursday July 18 2019, @08:36PM

      by krishnoid (1156) on Thursday July 18 2019, @08:36PM (#868671)

      Adaptation, man [youtu.be].

    • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Friday July 19 2019, @02:52AM (2 children)

      by Reziac (2489) on Friday July 19 2019, @02:52AM (#868803) Homepage

      Yeah, I'd like to know the physics of this.. only experienced it on a hot day in Reno, where the wind was blowing like a bitch, but it FELT significantly cooler OUT of the wind. Kinda like your leather jacket when biking at 122F.

      --
      And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
      • (Score: 2) by KilroySmith on Friday July 19 2019, @05:20AM (1 child)

        by KilroySmith (2113) on Friday July 19 2019, @05:20AM (#868848)

        In my experience, above about 110 or so the heat gain from all the hot air going past your body is more than the cooling you get from sweat evaporation. Not quite the same in still air, but quite noticeable at 45 mph. Putting on the jacket vastly reduces the amount of hot air interacting with your skin - so you don't gain as much heat, and sweat evaporation can keep up. Don't think I'd want to try it with a tight-fitting jacket, though.

        • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Friday July 19 2019, @07:40AM

          by Reziac (2489) on Friday July 19 2019, @07:40AM (#868871) Homepage

          I'd also thought it must have something to do with evaporation rate vs heat. But I never experienced this weird phenomenon at all in the SoCal desert (lived there 28 years), which gets considerably hotter than Reno, and if anything is more windy, but may not be quite as dry.

          --
          And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.