The heat wave that has taken hold of much of the upper Midwest over the past few days is taking its toll on just about everyone -- including those who may be used to working up a sweat outdoors.
Case in point: Monday's Philadelphia Phillies vs. Chicago Cubs baseball game. Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay was forced to leave the game early as temperatures at Chicago's Wrigley Field soared into the 90's. The heat index during game time was well over 100 degrees.
The pitcher, his face beet-red and his jersey soaked, left the game in the 5th inning.
"You could tell the heat was getting to him a little bit," said Phillies' pitching coach Rich Dubee, in an article on the team's website. "I talked to him after the fourth, and he said he was somewhat lightheaded, but he wanted to go back out there. Of course, he went out there in the fifth and just had a tough time staying focused and seeing the signs."
The team said Halladay felt better after the game.
But Chicago isn't alone. High temperature records were tied or broken Monday across the Midwest from Iowa to Indiana. Ankeny, Iowa, recorded a record high temperature of 102 degrees. Bluffton, Indiana, broke a 25-year-old record with a high temperature of 95 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
The "dangerous" heat wave baking the central United States is expected to extend its reach eastward in the coming week, and ultimately cover most of the eastern part of the country, the National Weather Service said Monday.
"Heat index values in the triple digits are forecast across a large portion of the Midwest today, making it feel like 100 to 110 degrees or higher during the afternoon hours," the weather service said Monday morning.
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By midweek, the high pressure responsible for the oppressive heat will expand eastward, bringing temperatures in the mid-90s to the Mid-Atlantic states "as early as Wednesday," the weather service warned.
"Further out, this dome of high pressure is forecast to dominate most of the eastern and central U.S. -- bringing excessive heat to much of the eastern half of the country except for the Northeast and southern Florida -- through the end of next week."
Much of middle America has been suffering with temperatures rivaling those in Death Valley for days.
On Sunday, the National Weather Service declared excessive heat warnings in at least 14 states, mostly in the upper Midwest. Several daily temperature records were broken -- from Alpena, Michigan, to Miami, Florida.
"Heat index values" -- how hot it feels outside -- have been running over 125 degrees in the worst-hit areas. The scale designed to describe how intense the heat feels takes relative humidity into account along with temperature.
"This is the hottest it's been for the longest period of time," said Emily McNamara from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where the temperatures were expected to hover in the mid-90s through the middle of the week.
Jacob Beitlich, a Des Moines, Iowa-based meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said that two factors contribute to making this current heat wave especially dangerous: the lack of a significant drop in temperatures overnight to allow people's bodies to cool down, and relatively high humidity, which makes the air feel appreciably hotter than the thermometer may indicate.
In Iowa, for instance, he noted that the impact of mid-90s temperatures have been compounded by dew points in the upper 70s and low 80s. These combine to make the heat index spike so that it feels as hot as 126 degrees, according to the weather service.
"That takes a toll on your body," Beitlich explained. "When it's more humid, it's more difficult to cool down from sweating."
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The National Weather Service notes that extreme heat typically is the biggest weather-related killer in the United States, taking about 115 lives each year. That's why the weather service and other government agencies urge people to minimize their time outdoors in periods of extreme heat, drink plenty of fluids, and keep especially close tabs on the elderly and young people.
In Missouri, scores of cooling centers have been established in libraries, senior centers, schools and other sites around the state to help deal with continuously high temperatures.
While the recent stretch has been particularly difficult, it's all part of what's been a long, hot and in many cases dry summer in numerous locales. The weather service indicates that Oklahoma, for instance, already has had 27 days this year in which the temperature surpassed 100 degrees.
Not everyone in the region sweated it out, though, this weekend. McNamara notes that Sioux Falls' Wild Water West waterpark, where she is the aquatic manager, has had "record-breaking days in terms of attendance" in recent days, with several thousand flooding in to get wet and beat the heat.
"It's awesome," she said. "You see people coming out having fun. It makes for a fast day."
GTA cooking under week-long heatwave
After one of the wettest springs on record, Toronto is now under a dry spell with no relief in sight.
In the last 25 days, the city has seen only 6.4 mm of rain when we should normally have gotten 63 mm, said Dave Phillips, senior climatologist at Environment Canada.
“We’ve had a tenth of what we normally would get in a three-and-a-half week period,” he said.
But Phillips doesn’t expect the record for the driest July — which was set in 1957 with 11.5 mm of rain — to be broken this summer.
“You can get one gullywasher, you see, and a record won’t be set.”
Record or not, Phillips says, it’s dry in Toronto and next week’s forecast doesn’t look much wetter.
There is a 30 per cent chance of rain on Sunday or Monday but Phillips it’s unlikely the sky will bless us with moisture.
“I don’t even carry an umbrella for 30 per cent chance. It’s not a done deal. We’re in it for the longhaul,” he said.
The last substantial rainfall was in June, and ironically, it was on the first day full day of summer when Toronto saw 21 mm of rain. The day before, we got 15 mm.
“In that two days, we had 36.4 mm of rain. That was a significant dose of moisture — almost what you’d expect in half-a-month, we got in two days. Yet over the last 25 days, we can barely get a thimble full of rain,” said Phillips.
“Could you imagine what Toronto would look like if we didn’t have one of the wettest springs on record?”
The lack of rain and cloud cover is turning the city into a sauna.
The city has extended a heat alert today, which will likely be the coolest day of the week at 30C with a UV index of 9, or very high.
Thursday is set to break records with a high of 38C, feeling more like the mid- to high 40s with the humidex reading. The mercury will drop toward the weekend, but only slightly, hovering around 30C.
The city advises residents to drink plenty of water, avoid going outside during peak sun hours, wear loose clothing and limit physical activities.
Phillips’ advice to Torontonians: be kind to trees.
“Be good Samaritans. Hug and adopt a tree and water it because it will please you later on when it bursts forth with brilliant colours in the fall.”
Nearly half U.S. population facing extreme heat
ALERT: Triple-digit temperatures are forecast to remain in place across the eastern U.S. through Saturday.
ALERT: 141 million people are under advisories or warnings, NOAA spokesman tweets
ALERT:National Weather Service says 13 deaths are "potentially" due to heat in Midwest
ALERT:A cold front moving in will bring relief, the weather service says
Watches, warnings, and advisories cover more than 30 states
The dangerous heat wave blamed for as many as 13 deaths spread into the eastern United States on Wednesday, extending its reach across nearly half the U.S. population, officials said.
About 141 million people in a 1 million-square-mile area were under heat advisories and warnings, Justin Kenney, spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, tweeted.
The National Weather Service said "temperatures in the mid-90s will be possible across the mid-Atlantic states today. High temperatures will near 100 degrees tomorrow across much of the mid-Atlantic and parts of the Southeast. These triple-digit temperatures are forecast to remain in place across the eastern U.S. through Saturday before cooling off slightly to the mid-90s by Sunday."
While it is unclear how many deaths will ultimately be blamed on the heat, the National Weather Service said 13 fatalities were "potentially related to the heat wave in the Midwest."
For parts of the country that have already been scorched, some relief was forecast to arrive later Wednesday, the weather service said. A cold front moving across Montana Wednesday morning "will significantly drop temperatures across the north central U.S. for the rest of the week, though locations across the central and southern Plains and parts of the Midwest will not see much change from the extended period of heat."
But in the East, some of the worst temperatures were just setting in.
Excessive heat watches, warnings and heat advisories were in effect in more than 30 states Wednesday morning, in what the weather service described as "a large portion of the central U.S. and Ohio River Valley, as well as portions of the mid-Atlantic and northeastern states. Temperatures will feel like 100 to 110 degrees or higher during the afternoon hours."
The heat wave in recent days has brought heat index values -- which measure how hot it feels -- to as high as 131, the weather service said.
Heat indices on Tuesday reached 129 in Newton, Iowa; 121 in Taylorville, Illinois; 122 in Gwinner, North Dakota; and 123 in Hutchinson, Minnesota.
Minneapolis, Minnesota, recorded its highest dew point ever, 82 degrees, on Tuesday. The dew point temperature is a measure of atmospheric moisture.
Part of what makes the heat wave so dangerous is that it offers no break, even at night. Chicago on Tuesday tied its record for the warmest low temperature of 78 degrees. In Rockford, Illinois, temperatures dropped only down to 76 degrees -- the warmest on record.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said people in areas affected by extreme heat should drink more water than usual -- and not wait until they feel thirsty. "Avoid alcohol or liquids containing high amounts of sugar," the CDC says.
The CDC also recommends taking cool showers or baths and avoiding direct sunlight. "Check on those most at-risk twice a day," the CDC says.
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