By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist
June 17,2016; 7:06PM,EDT
The combination of extreme temperatures, high humidity and blazing sunshine will have millions sweltering in a dangerous heat wave across the central and southern Plains this weekend.
Temperatures already surged to above-average levels over much of the central and southern Plains at midweek.
On Thursday, a 3-year-old boy died after accidentally locking himself in a hot car in Houston, according to CNN. He climbed into the back seat to retrieve a toy he'd left behind and became unable to open the back door because child protective locks were on.
The dangerous heat will continue over the weekend with actual temperatures surging well into the 90s and even reaching into the 100s in some locations.
AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures will be significantly higher than the actual temperature and approach or exceed 110 in some areas.
The extreme conditions will make it dangerous for those partaking in strenuous physical activity or for those without access to air-conditioning.
It is wise to take precautions to beat the heat by drinking plenty of water, avoiding unnecessary outdoor activity, seeking shade or air conditioned buildings and wearing light-colored clothing.
Heavy rainfall over part of the region in recent months has dampened the soil in some areas and saturated it in others.
Some of this moisture will evaporate and add to the high humidity levels in the region.
"The magnitude of the humid air like we have now over the High Plains is quite infrequent," according to AccuWeather Enterprise Solutions Chief Innovation Executive Mike Smith.
"For that reason, this heat wave will be extraordinary over the High Plains," he said,
RELATED:
Oppressive heat to challenge all-time records across the southwestern US this weekend
Father's Day forecast
2016 US summer forecast
The heat will have some benefits, however.
In the past week or so, downpours have affected a relatively small area of the winter wheat belt.
"After a very wet May in winter wheat areas of Oklahoma and Kansas, the hot and mainly rain-free weather during June will create nearly ideal harvest conditions in many locations," Smith said.
As the weekend progresses, the core of heat will migrate slowly westward and will take root in the Southwestern states, where the most extreme temperatures are likely and could rival levels rarely felt over the past 100 years.
Seth Zoppelt
Do you think the heat will reach the east coast?
Smoky Joe ·
Works at Self-Employed
Get
used to more and more scorching temperatures forever until the earth
becomes uninhabitable . Thank the fossil fuel companies for burning up
the earth.
Karen Holmes ·
pfffttht!
BS.. Leave your Cadillac, Suburban, F250, Expedition, etc AT home. Go
ahead: "Ban Oil & gas, let em melt in the summer and freeze in the
dark, come winter.." A world without oil & gas would be smokier and
worse, like London a century ago!
1
Smoky Joe ·
Works at Self-Employed
Sheik
Mabouti Most of us are installing solar panels on our roofs because
solar electricity is already cheaper for us that fossil fuels. At
night, we buy wind electricity. We save money and no one gets sick.
Smoky Joe ·
Works at Self-Employed
Karen
Holmes We drive an electric vehicle charged from our rooftop solar
panels. We get the equivalent of 350 miles per gallon based on energy
cost. uess what the number will be when the cost of gasoline goes back
up. Why don't you buy one too? You'd love it.
Andrew Lou
smoky you should go back to your trailer in north carolina and never speak your biased mind
William Smith ·
Works at South Park
Smoky
Joe , then can you tell me why all the wild life is dying in parts of
the country because the solar panels are frying birds right out of the
sky? As far as those wind-turbines,what about all the birds that are
being chopped-to-bits by those things? Do any of you green lefties ever
think anything through? I love when you say anyone who disagrees with
your greenie agenda are tools for the fossil fuels industry and yet you
greenie lefties aren't tools for the wind-turbine and solar panel
industry.
Paul Berger ·
But
wouldn't the solar energy used to evaporate soil moisture lessen the
amount absorbed by the earth, which in turn may prevent air temperatures
from getting as high as expected?
Alex Sosnowski ·
High evap rates can hold temperatures back, but we have that factored in.
Alex Sosnowski ·
Paul Berger Yeah, you don't get 600 heights/ridge too often.
Paul Berger ·
Alex
Sosnowski, no you don't. Impressively strong ridge. Will be in
Memphis/Nashvile Saturday through Wedneday. Not looking forward to it.
Grant McGuire ·
Alex Sosnowski Will this ever reach the Eastern states? The scorching June forecast by Accuweather shows no signs of materializing.
William Smith ·
Works at South Park
Grant
McGuire , number 1, why would you want triple-digit heat anyway? Are
you a glutton for punishment? Second,do you enjoy paying sky-high
electrical bills because you have to run your AC 24/7 all summer? I
always wonder why people complain when it's not too oppressively hot in
the summer and not too bone-chilling cold in the winter, when most
"normal", people like when it's 75-80 in the summer and in the 40's and
50's in the winter.
No comments:
Post a Comment