#MEwx Mild temps, more melting with rain on the way, and "Heat Wave" explained
I’ve put up an Ambient WS 5000 weather station where you can view real time weather readings from my location online by clicking here.
This morning we have partly sunny skies, then mostly cloudy with scattered rain showers this afternoon. Highs in the lower 40s with light and variable winds, becoming south around 10 mph gusting to 20 mph this afternoon.
Tonight we’ll have clouds with rain likely during evening hours, then scattered rain showers after midnight. Areas of fog with lows in the mid 30s. Winds will be Southeast around 10 mph gusting to 20 mph in the evening, becoming light and variable.
We didn’t receive any rain or snow here over the past 24 hours.
The wind is East Northeast between 1.8 MPH and 3.6 MPH.
The Relative pressure is 29.66, the Absolute pressure is 29.66 and rising with a weather graphic indicating sun and a few clouds.
Visibility is 10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers with partly cloudy skies again.
The UV index is 0 placing the average person at no risk and the solar radiation reading is 17.7W/m2. Sunrise is 6:50 AM, sunset is 6:47 PM, moonrise is 4:58 AM and Moonset is 1:47 PM. The moon is Waning Crescent and is 26% illuminated. We’ll have 11 hours 56 minutes of daylight today. The next Full Moon is on April 6 with our next new moon being on March 21, 2023 .
Since the hot weather isn’t very far off, you may as well bone up on heat wave safety.
“Heat Wave”
A heat wave is a period of unusually hot weather that typically lasts two or more days. To be considered a heat wave, the temperatures have to be outside the historical averages for a given area. for a given area. A couple of 95 degree summer days in Maine, for example, might be considered a heat wave, but a couple of 95 degree summer days in Death Valley would be pretty unremarkable.
For some, a heat wave might sound like an excuse to run around with a hose or into some sprinklers. In reality, though, heat waves are no laughing matter. They are serious weather phenomena that can be quite dangerous.
You see, there’s hot and then there’s HOT. One example of a HOT time was in late June and early July 2012 in the United States. During that time period, more than 8,000 warm temperature records were broken or tied. Many of these records had been unchallenged since the 1930s. Roads actually buckled in Chicago. Many deaths were attributed to the heat nationwide.
What causes a heat wave? Heat waves are generally the result of trapped air. During the 2012 heat wave, air was trapped above much of North America for a long period of time. As opposed to cycling around the globe, it simply stayed put and warmed like the air inside an oven.
The culprit? A high-pressure system from Mexico. Between June 20th and June 23rd, this system migrated north. It grew in size, and it parked itself over the Great Plains of the United States.
High-pressure systems force air downward. This force prevents air near the ground from rising. The sinking air acts like a cap. It traps warm ground air in place. Without rising air, there was no rain, and nothing to prevent the hot air from getting hotter.
But that wasn’t all. A weather pattern that normally pulls air toward the east was also weaker at the time. That meant that there was little that could be done to push this high-pressure cap out of the way.
Heat waves like this may be less exciting or dramatic than other natural disasters like tornados, hurricanes, flooding, or even thunderstorms, but heat waves kill more people in the United States than all other weather-related disasters combined.
You can stay safe during a heat wave with these helpful tips.
Take it easy. Slow down and avoid doing strenuous work.
Dress for the weather. Wear lightweight, light colored clothing.
Avoid high-protein foods and meat. Eating these can increase your body’s heat production.
Drink lots of water. Unless you have a condition that is affected by changing how much fluid you drink, it’s a good idea to keep as hydrated as possible.
Find an air-conditioned place to hang out. Don’t have an air conditioner of your own? Find a friend with one, or go to a public place like a library that has one.
Avoid getting too much sun. Sunburns make it harder for your body to cool off.
Be very careful in cars. Cars heat up extremely fast. You should never spend time in a parked car with windows closed, and you should always be wary of hot metal objects both inside (like seatbelt buckles) and outside the car.
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