Record-setting heat wave could break soon for millions – USATODAY.com
by Oren Dorell, usatoday.comNovember 30th -0001
Relief is in sight for millions of Americans who have endured the nation's record-setting heat wave.
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By Bob Wellinski, AP
Alivia Lovejoy, 8, right, and Mikayla Jones, 8, play in the water Thursday as they try to cool off in LaPorte, Ind.
By Bob Wellinski, AP
Alivia Lovejoy, 8, right, and Mikayla Jones, 8, play in the water Thursday as they try to cool off in LaPorte, Ind.
The heat wave is forecast to break this weekend in many parts of the country.
"Early next week and even this weekend we'll see rain in Kansas and Nebraska and parts of Texas," says forecaster Bruce Sullivan, of the National Weather Service.
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PHOTOS: Summer heat
The heat wave was caused by a high pressure system that loitered for days over the Plains and the Midwest. Combined with a drought that has left little moisture in the ground to provide evaporative cooling, desert-like conditions persisted over much of the country.
"That would be great if it would come to an end," said Rick Smith, owner of Smith and Sons Tuckpointing in St. Louis, Mo., where temperatures have topped 100 every day this month.
Smith's 12 employees have been starting work at 5 a.m. and quitting by 1 p.m. for two weeks to escape the worst of the oven-like conditions. In 28 years in business, "this is about the worst I've seen it," he said.
Apart from the hundreds of daily heat records surpassed in recent days, drought in the USA is also higher than ever since the U.S. Drought Monitor was created in January 2000. In the 48 contiguous states, 56% of the total area is in some stage of drought, breaking the previous high of 55% set Aug. 26, 2003, according to the Weather Channel.
Starting this weekend, badly needed thunderstorms and rain will shower the Rockies, the desert southwest and areas to the east, Sullivan said. Showers will develop in the central southern plains, the Southeast and southern Mid-Atlantic. And a cool front will move across the Northeast late Friday or early Saturday morning, bringing a few showers followed by cooler air, he said.
Triple digits for days
A sampling of worst-hit cities by the 2012 heat wave:
Hill City, Kan.: 13 days above 100 since June 23rd
St. Louis: 13 days above 100
Chicago: 3 days above 100
Indianapolis: 4 days over 100
Source: Bruce Sullivan, senior branch forecaster for the National Weather Service
Three elderly people in St. Louis have died from the heat, said Bill Siedhoff, director of the St. Louis Department of Human Services. All had air conditioning, but it was turned off in one home to save money and wasn't working in two others.
Original Page: http://www.usatoday.com/weather/news/story/2012-07-05/heat-wave-forecast/56048518/1
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