Extreme Heat Scorches the Nation
July 16, 2006 — -- Dallas is going into its fifth day in the triple-digit temperatures and the heat wave now stretches across a staggering portion of America's heartland.
Fargo, N.D., is forecast to break 100 degrees today for the first time in 11 years.
One mother in Fargo said that she and her son are sitting "in the pool and stay[ing] in there all day long. In that sun it is really hot."
Over the next couple of days, the Central Plains and portions of New England will see temperatures that could break 100 degrees in some spots. Goodland, Kan., will reach 105 degrees later today.
On Monday, Philadelphia is expected to reach 100 degrees. And later this week, Boston will reach 93 degrees, which, coupled with the humidity, is dangerously high.
In Silvis, Ill., professional golfers braced for a second day of scorching temperatures after 16-year-old phenom Michelle Wie had to bow out of the John Deere Classic because heat exhaustion on Saturday.
"I'm going to stop," Wie told her friends and family.
She was taken by ambulance to a hospital as a precaution and is now fine. But the heat will not let up.
The heat broke records Saturday in places that are more used to setting winter records for cold. International Falls, Minn., hit 94 degrees Saturday, a new high. The state has ordered the National Guard to help fight forest fires, as the temperatures rise and the humidity falls.
Scientists say this heat wave is being caused by an unusual jet stream, which is blocking Canadian air from reaching the United States.
"The impressive thing about the heat," said Bernie Rayno, a meteorologist with AccuWeather, "is not only how hot it's gonna get but how much of the country we're gonna see record heat."
"It's that high pressure system across the plains states that's strengthening, that has forced that jet stream a lot farther north than it usually is this time of year," Reyno added.
More than a dozen cities from Chicago to Oklahoma City have adopted "emergency hot weather plans," which include coating old tar roofs with white plastic to help keep apartments cooler.
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