Heat wave expected to bake two-thirds of nation through weekend

[jpak]

Source: AOL NBC News

A "major heat wave" is expected to bake two-thirds of the nation through this weekend, with forecasters calling for temperatures to soar across much of the central and eastern U.S., the National Weather Service said.

Many in those areas could see the hottest temperatures of the year, thanks to a large dome of high pressure that will send temperatures climbing in the coming days, the weather service said.

Already on Tuesday night, an estimated 34 million people were under heat advisories and another 21 million were under excessive heat warnings, according to the weather service. The affected areas stretched from Texas to much of the Plains. The East Coast is feeling the heat, too, with advisories issued from South Carolina to New Jersey.

Although he didn't declare a heat emergency, Boston's mayor on Tuesday warned residents to prepare for the heat and take precautions for temperatures expected to be between 85 and 97 degrees, with the hottest forecast on Saturday. With the humidity, it could feel as hot as 105 degrees, the mayor's office said.

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Read more: https://www.aol.com/article/weather/2019/07/17/heat-wave-expected-to-bake-two-thirds-of-nation-through-weekend/23771114/

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It's supposed to get to 100o F with high humidity this weekend here in Maine.

I was given a portable air conditioner last year - hooked it up to keep the kittehs cool...

[Wellstone ruled]

1. This is not that

unusual for the month of July. Living in the Southwest,we usually get our first Baker fourth of July week followed by another after the full moon in the middle of the month. Most years the first Heat event with hit in the last part of June with it extending into July.

Last year it was in the low 100's in Minnesota and Wisconsin at this time. Plus the mega humidity.

[WhiteTara]

7. I've always thought July was the most brutal month

in the south/soutwest and that August lets up some and then slides in the Autumn with September. But everyone leaves DC in August, so the east coast must be different.

[Wellstone ruled]

8. The Upper Midwest and

East Coast regions get our extreme heat usually by the latter part of July with a reinforcing shot again in the middle of August. But with the Climate Change happening in real time,all bets are off. Until the super High Pressure area moves from the Central part of Colorado,there will be zero change in present weather patterns.

BTW,this same High Pressure ridge was off the California coast for years before moving on land. One of the key factors in California's early 2000's drought causes.

[matt819]

2. Through weekend

And for the next 20 years.

But, hey, you can make snowballs in January, so WTF is your problem with global climate change?

[theophilus]

3. Climate change is progressing right along. It will kill millions

or billions of humans and eradicate much life on earth that is innocent. Meanwhile we just whistle along with the teapot. Oh, I remember a summer when it was hot once, so, no problemo. Stupid humans.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

4. It never seizes to amaze me how much dough has gone into un-educating people about the

catastrophe we face. These industry and bought off politician motherfuckers behave as is they have another planet they can move to.

[Dem Dean]

5. 1:55 - 3:45

Actually, the entire video is great!

[Cetacea]

6. Yes. And eventually, billions.

[Hortensis]

9. The combo of high heat and high humidity can be particularly

dangerous. In 1995 Chicago 5 days of a heat dome with nights that did not provide relief by cooling off lead to 739 deaths. Local government didn't expect and wasn't prepared for this unusual combination, was tragically unaware of what was happening as it was happening, and then only too late acted very slowly and inadequately. The news media had no idea just how bad it was until it was over so couldn't warn people. The initial death counts for various reasons were extremely low.

Most deaths were of physically vulnerable people who died quietly in their un-airconditioned homes with closed windows they were afraid to or couldn't open. I'm a vulnerable person courtesy of an autoimmune disorder, and heat can make me seriously ill when all around me are just complaining about it.

However, I've read that, after about 4 days of temperatures that stay continuously high and do not drop at night, body systems of even healthy young people can start being affected and eventually start shutting down.

These events will become more common. So far we haven't had other mass deaths in part because air conditioning is spreading to regions that generally didn't need it in the past. But when the power and/or water goes off for an extended period during a heat wave? People need to prepare for future disasters that are far from unpredictable.