The weather is exceptionally hot and humid for any time of year. That is very hot.
“We don’t change our criteria based on the time of year,” Matt Beitscher, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service (NWS) in St. Louis, told Citizen Free Press Weather.
A heat dome that began last week in the Southwest has moved over the central United States, where heat and humidity will rise together to levels that will have a significant impact on the human body.
“This is a day where not only people who are susceptible to heat-related illnesses, but almost anyone who is going to be outdoors for an extended period of time is at risk for heat-related illnesses.” Beitscher said.
As of Monday night, more than 125 million people are under heat advisories, which include excessive heat warnings and heat watches, across much of the central and eastern US states. This is more than a third of the US population. Cities under excessive heat advisories include Tulsa, Memphis, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Raleigh and Charlotte.
“Record heat is forecast to spread from the Great Plains today and then into the Mississippi Valley and the Southeast through midweek thanks to the expansion of an upper-level ridge,” the Weather Prediction Center said Monday. the afternoon.
Daily high temperature records are already being set in several cities on Monday afternoon, here are a few:
- Columbia, South Carolina, reached a high of 39.4°C in the afternoon, breaking its old June 13 record of 38.8°C set in 1958.
- North Platte, Nebraska, reached 42°C, breaking its old record of 39.4°C set in 1952.
- St. Louis, Missouri reached 37.7°C, breaking its old record of 36.6°C set in 1952.
- Charlotte, North Carolina reached 36.6°C, breaking its old record of 36°C set in 1958.
- Nashville, Tennessee reached 36.6°C, tying the previous record of 36.6°C in 2016.
- Jackson, Kentucky, reached 34.4C°; the previous record was 32.7°C in 2000.
- Asheville, North Carolina, reached 33.3°; the previous record was 32.7° in 2016.
The sweltering conditions will be felt worst in the Midwest, putting the cities of Memphis and St. Louis in the highest-risk category with “excessive heat warnings.”
“Having an excessive heat warning this early in the year is unusual,” said Mike Johnson, an NWS meteorologist in Memphis. “We issue excessive heat warnings maybe once or twice a year. It’s pretty rare because it requires a heat index of 43 degrees Celsius.”
Why is excessive heat dangerous for your body and health?
The heat index is a graph that combines humidity and heat to indicate how the air actually feels to a human.
Taking data from this index, when the weather is very wet, it constantly looks like you’ve run a marathon just by walking outside.
It’s because the air already has too much moisture in it and it will prevent sweat from evaporating.
Evaporation is the process that cools your body. So your body won’t get cold when it’s humid because sweat has nowhere to go. It makes it feel much hotter than it is.
The reason behind the extremely high temperatures is an area of high pressure creating a transparent cap over the United States. The cap will trap any escaping radiation and send it back to the ground as the sun’s rays continue to penetrate.
The terrible heat wave is even more dangerous because it occurs in June, close to the longest days of the year. The National Weather Service measures the temperature in the shade and the heat index is calculated using the shade reading. Therefore, it will feel even hotter in direct sun.
You’re going to feel “much, much worse in the sun than in the shade,” Beitscher noted. “These values are kind of a baseline, and then they get worse from there if you talk about the impact that the sun has.”
To add insult to injury, don’t expect it to be hot one day and cold the next.
“This is going to be a long-term event, and it’s not just going to last yesterday and today, it’s going to go on all week,” Johnson said.
Sultry weather will continue to move northeast toward the upper Mississippi Valley, western Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, while continuing to grow over the southern mid-Atlantic and southeast on Tuesday, the Climate Prediction Center forecast. (WPC).
“Little change is expected on Wednesday, with many locations forecast to see consecutive record days,” the WPC wrote.
Chicago may even see temperatures rise to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, allowing the heat index to easily exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit this week.
Ice shelf in Antarctica collapses due to temperatures.
Climate change intensifies high temperatures
I hate to be the bearer of even more sultry news, but heat waves are something we’re going to have to get used to.
“Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of heat waves around the world, tipping the balance in the direction of warmer temperatures,” explained Citizen Free Press meteorologist and climate expert Brandon Miller.
“In the United States, record high temperatures are now more than twice as likely to occur compared to record low temperatures,” according to the US National Climate Assessment.
“And while much of the country is heating up in a summer-like heat spike even before the summer solstice arrives, large heat waves are also occurring simultaneously in Europe and Asia,” Miller observed.
In Europe, heat is being pumped north around an area of high pressure, similar to what is happening in the United States. It’s bringing unrelenting heat to Spain and France for the rest of the week.
In France, it is likely to peak on Thursday and Friday. Spain, where it will last until at least Thursday, is also dealing with a staggering drought. The aridity, coupled with the heat, is putting most of the country in “extreme” fire danger.
It is very similar to what is happening in New Mexico, where the fire threat is critical once again, today and tomorrow.
And then there’s northwestern China, where temperatures will hit triple digits Fahrenheit.
A heat dome and a right
Another disaster is likely on the northern and northeastern edges of this heat dome: a right could form.
To be called right, severe storms must have winds in excess of 93 km/h and cause damage extending at least 400 km. The resulting conditions can be described as a tropical storm over land. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration climatologist Adam Smith described a 2020 right to Citizen Free Press Weather as an inland hurricane, with reports of winds over 220 mph (360 km/h) and gale-force winds lasting up to 45 minutes.
“Some of the most intense summer duties, especially progressive types, occur on the fringes of major heat waves,” the SPC wrote on its website explaining the rights.
They historically happen at the edge of heat domes, because the jet stream loops around the high pressure (the level of the atmosphere where the jets fly and the strongest wind currents meet) up and around, which It helps create instability.
But as of noon on Monday, it was still unclear whether one would form later.
Even if it didn’t, thunderstorms capable of hurricane-force wind gusts (greater than 75 mph) could occur from Wisconsin to Ohio Monday afternoon and evening.
“There is a fairly widespread threat of severe wind damage tonight and into the overnight hours,” Citizen Free Press meteorologist Chad Myers said. “Expect severe weather watches and plenty of warnings beginning this afternoon. In fact, this fast-moving group of storms may even approach the Mid-Atlantic states by morning.”