Sweltering heat and humidity made their way into the Upper Midwest as the second major heat wave of the summer continues this week. Nearly a third of the country is under heat alerts as temperatures skyrocket.
Yes, it is summer, and it can get awfully hot in the United States this time of year. However, this type of heat can kill. Over 99 million people across portions of at least 26 states are under heat advisories and extreme heat warnings. Scorching heat will stretch from the Gulf Coast to the Midwest.
An experimental tool developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Weather Service, HeatRisk helps assess health threats from extreme heat and humidity. This week, parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin reached Level 3 (with Level 4 as the most severe), where highs will hit 90 degrees or more. Almost 40 million people face "major" conditions, per HeatRisk.
"There is high confidence that heat will reach levels that would affect anyone without sufficient cooling and/or adequate hydration," the National Weather Service warned, per NBC News.
The most "persistent and dangerous" heat will target the lower Mississippi Valley.
In Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi, the dangerous combination of heat and humidity will push conditions into the Level 4, or "extreme," category in some spots. Nearly 2 million people will experience similar weather Wednesday.
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"For people without effective cooling, especially heat-sensitive groups, this level of heat can be deadly," according to the National Weather Service. "Health systems highly likely to see increased demand with significant increases in ER visits."
Oppressive levels of heat and humidity will make it feel like nearly 110 degrees in Chicago. "Corn sweat," water vapor released from corn plants, is boosting humidity in the middle of the country, making a bad situation even worse.
"Enhanced evapotranspiration from the maturing corn crops may even locally push surface dewpoints to around the 80-degree mark this afternoon and evening, particularly in outlying areas in interior northern IL," according to the Chicago National Weather Service office. "This will effectively result in peak afternoon heat indices in the 105 to 109 range across northern IL, with the highest readings expected west of the Chicago metro."
Heat has been by far the leading cause of weather-related deaths over the past 30 years, killing nearly as many people on average each year as lightning, tornadoes, and hurricanes combined. Our overheating planet is supercharging extreme weather events.
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A brutal heat wave that scorched Europe in late June and early July claimed 2,300 lives, per CNN. Scientists say climate change was a driving factor behind the extreme event, contributing to more than 1,500 of those deaths, according to a new study.
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