Summer heat settled in right on time this year, with temperatures expected to remain in the mid to upper 90s for at least the remainder of the week, according to meterologist Kris Craven of the National Weather Service in Topeka.
The NWS placed Lyon County in a heat advisory for today, with a high predicted around 98 degrees and a heat index of 106. To the west, Chase County’s outlook was more severe, with an excessive heat warning in place.
NWS attributed the heat to a large dome of very warm high pressure that moved in on Monday and is expected to hover over the area for several days.
Afternoon temperatures during that time are expected to be in the middle to upper 90s, with high humidity levels. The combination of heat and humidity in the afternoons will make temperature feel more like 105 to 110 degrees.
While the actual temperature is definite, the heat index varies, depending upon not only the temperature, but the humidity and wind that are factored in. The result of the formula gives the heat-index temperature, a number that equates to how hot the outdoors actually “feels.”
The weather service late Monday afternoon showed Emporia at 93 degrees, with a heat index of 107.
Cravens gave a brief biology lesson to explain the heat index: one way humans cool off is by sweating, which produces moisture on the body that evaporates from exposure to the air or wind. That, to some extent, helps people feel cooler in the heat.
“When it gets too humid, the evaporation process really slows down,” Craven said. “... It’s much more difficult to cool off.”
Craven has posted the graphic at right on the NWS Web site that can be used to estimate the heat index. The graph is also available at www.nws.noaa.gov/om/heat/index.shtml.
“It’s going to be hot for a while,” she said. “We’ve got temperatures in the 90s through the week.
“We start getting some slight chance of precipitation north of here later tonight. Then we start seeing a slight chance (of rain) for us for the weekend.”
With the extreme heat and humidity forecast, health officials and the NWS issued cautions on ways to prevent heat strokes, heat-related illnesses, and sometimes death.
Information from the NWS states that approximately 175 Americans die from the heat each year during a typical summer.
“In the disastrous heat wave of 1980, more than 1,250 people died,” the NWS said in an information paper. “And these are the direct casualties. No one can know how many more deaths are advanced by heat wave weather — how many diseased or aging hearts surrender that under better conditions could have continued functioning.”
Thousands of others became sick or debilitated with heat-related illnesses.
One or two already have come into Newman Regional Health for treatment, according to emergency room director Pam Kvas.
“This is really just the beginning of the heat wave,” Kvas said this morning.
She expects people who work outside, such as construction or highway workers, to comprise the majority of the first patients who come in for ER treatment before they become acclimatized to the heat.
“By the first part of July,” she said, “we’ll start seeing the others, either small children or elderly adults.”
Those likely will be the result of ongoing exposures to heat that build until the body rebels.
Elderly people are especially vulnerable to heat-related illnesses.
“Their temperature gauge is a little bit different,” Kvas said of the older population. “What I emphasize every year is for neighbors to check in or that family check in.”
They need to ensure that older people are staying hydrated, not vomiting, are coherent and mentally alert.
Signs of heat-induced sicknesses also include nausea, headache, and lethargy, “just that mental status that’s different. They just don’t feel right,” Kvas said.
Decreased urination also is a marker to watch.
“They’re not getting rid of fluids because they’re not putting enough in,” she explained.
Kvas said to make certain that children and others are rehydrated often with water or energy drinks that contain electrolytes and are not high in sugar or contain caffeine.
“If that doesn’t help them feel better, they need to be seen by a medical professional, whether that’s the office or the emergency room, which is open 24 hours a day,” Kvas said.
Avoid alcoholic and caffeinated beverages because they cause fluids to leave the body too quickly.
“Always be safe,” she said. “Always carry the bottled water.”
When traveling, carry a cooler of ice and water.
Animals, too, suffer when they are outside or confined inside without air conditioning during extreme heat.
Pet owners need to provide animals with cool, fresh water several times a day, and check often to make sure water and shade are available.
Staying Cool
Minimize the chances of suffering a heat-related illness by following these recommendations:
• Never leave children in a hot, closed car or near a sunny window; infants need little or no contact with sunlight. Slather children in sunscreen with SPF 50 to reduce risk of sunburn. Adults also need sunscreen and sunglasses.
• Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeinated beverages that dehydrate the body, and drink at least a gallon of water a day when spending time outdoors.
• Wear loose-fitting and light-colored clothing.
• Dress children in light clothing and make sure they take frequent breaks indoors and drink plenty of fluids.
• Visit elderly people periodically and take them to a cooler environment, if needed.
• Take cool showers.
• Take frequent breaks to cool off.
• Eat light meals, like fruits and salads.
• Eat apricots, bananas, cantaloupes, oranges, beans, broccoli, potatoes and tomatoes to increase potassium lost in perspiration.
• When outdoors, try to stay in the shade and avoid being outdoors during the midday and afternoon.
• Create air flow in hot indoor work areas.
• Go to air-conditioned buildings — health department, senior citizen center, Salvation Army, hospitals, for example — if home air conditioning is not available.
Comments
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Posted by madpoet (anonymous) on June 23, 2009 at 12:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Those bandanas that have a gel in them that swell in water work well, too. You soak them the night before (in the frig even) and put them on when you're out in the heat. If you keep a couple extra in a cooler you can trade off as they dry off. We used them a lot when riding in the MDA ride in Topeka. It always seemed to be the hottest weekend of the year when they had that event! I had a heat stroke in 1992 so know it's not something to mess with. I've never been the same since and get heat exhaustion more easily now. Several people have told me the same thing, once you get heat stroke you're more sensitive to the heat from then on.
Posted by seriouslyfolks (anonymous) on June 23, 2009 at 1:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Stay in in the air conditioning if you can and watch ............... THIS!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XkD5sJww...
Posted by madpoet (anonymous) on June 23, 2009 at 3:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
You must make youtube very happy...
Not everyone has a/c or can afford to run it too cool. A pan of ice water in front of a fan is all they used to use way back when. We're spoiled.
Posted by create (anonymous) on June 23, 2009 at 4:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It's not that we're spoiled as much as it is that we aren't accustomed to the heat. For example, homes in Hawaii don't have a/c and it gets plenty hot and humid there. But there are tradewinds, and homes are built to take advantage of them.
Be sure windows are closed tight and drapes drawn; shades and blinds can shut out the sunlight too. I bought some room-darkening blinds not long ago and have noticed the difference.
And if you have central a/c, don't forget to spray off the compressor. This time of year, when the cotton from the cottonwoods is flying, those compressors can get choked up pretty quickly and they stop running efficiently.
Posted by biscuitboy (anonymous) on June 24, 2009 at 5:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)
All good tips create. Something else for people with window air conditioners......small fans are usefull for moving the air around to where its needed and it helps the window unit cycle on and off more effeciently.
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