Heat Building
June 23rd, 2009 at 7:36 am by Jamie Jarosik under Weather
Yesterday we climbed to 85 degrees… and if you thought it felt hot… it’s only going to get worse for you today and tomorrow. At least it is good pool weather! If you’re heading out to the pool… perhaps the lake… or maybe you just want to run through the sprinkler… the next 2 days look good. Changes will come on Thursday:
While our heat it not quite out-of-control… it is opressive across the central part of the country. This is where a big ridge of high pressure is in control, allowing the heat and humidity to build. Here is a look at the ridge, at about 18,000 feet up in the atmosphere:
We are warm, on the very edge of the ridge. But under the core of the ridge, we find the most uncomfortable air… thus, some Heat Advisories and Excessive Heat Warnings are in effect:
Out in Kansas and Missouri, they will see heat index values of 105 to 110 today and tomorrow! Not much relief for them at night, either, as temperatures will only drop into the 80s for lows. At least here in the Dayton area, we’ll get to cool off after the sun sets… our lows will dip down into the 60s!
No rain is in the forecast for us until Thursday, when we could see some scattered showers and thunderstorms move through with a weak cold front. I do expect some places to miss out on the rain, as the nature of the activity will be scattered. Hopefully the places that have missed out in the past will get a little chance to catch up…
This week is Lightning Safety Awareness Week! More people are hurt by lightning then by tornadoes or hurricanes, and lightning kills more people in the U.S. than any other weather event except flooding. On average, lightning strikes 400 people every year. As of today, 15 people in the US have already died this year, from lightning strikes. Here are the stats from NOAA:
Click to enlarge
Remember, the safest place to be during a thunderstorms is indoors! If you are outside and you see lightning… apply the 30/30 rule. When you see a strike… count how many seconds before you hear the thunder. If it’s less than 30 seconds, take cover! Once indoors, wait 30 minutes after the last sound of thunder before heading back outside.
Jamie
Hey Doppler 2X Wx Team! Hope Dayton is treating you all well, I miss watching news from back home. Oklahoma is going well, I’ve been collecting significant hail and wind reports and sorting through them the past few days. I’ll start using them to analyze model data tomorrow. Ultimately, it will be used to compare the conditions leading up to sig hail and wind versus tornadoes. On another note, I went chasing twice since I’ve been out here. No tornadoes, but I did see 3 wall clouds. Norman actually got hit by an EF-1 a couple weeks ago and touched down about 5 miles from where I stayed. It was about 11pm so I couldn’t see it!
p.s. – We reached 99 yesterday and should be 100 today. It’s hot out!
HI, Darren! Great to hear from you in OK! We’ve been thinking about you this summer… wondering how things were going. The research sounds so interesting… can’t wait to hear all you’ve learned. Our other intern that you met last summer actually has had quite a bit of tornado-spotting luck this summer. I think her count is over 5…
It is hot here too… and humid. TDs in the low-70s today!!