Wet And Dry: Crazy Summer Weather
Many are doing their best to stay both cool and dry in parts of the country.
Aug. 13, 2010 — -- As parts of the country fight triple-digit temperatures, others are hoping to stay dry as they brace themselves for more rain and possible flooding.
Heat advisories are in effect in 12 states tonight, including Arkansa, Kentucky and South Carolina. There are also excessive heat warnings in parts of Kansas, Illionis, and almost all of Missouri. Government scientists have already said that this year is on track to be the hottest year in record.
Chicago endured its hottest day this year. Twin 13-month-old girls, found dead Thursday night in a house without air conditioning, may have been victims of "maternal neglect," according to the city's medical examiner.
Birmingham, Ala., saw 39 consecutive days of temperatures above 90 degrees, the longest ever in the city's history. Meanwhile in Milwaukee County, swimming pool hours have been extended to help neighborhoods keep cool, with a couple of water parks in the area remaining open late tonight.
"We've had this big blocking ridge across...the central, and at times, the eastern United States," said Phil Schwarz, meteorologist for WLS-TV, the ABC station in Chicago. "When you get a hot air mass ilke this and an extremely humid air mass...the atmosphere has so much more moisture in it. So, when you get these storms, instead of producing a half-inch or an inch of rain, they can produce several inches of rain."
Several inches may seem like an understatement to Iowa residents, who have already seen three days of rainfall, with rivers now spilling over their embankments. Hundreds of residents have already been forced to evacuate their homes. Jessica Webb, 16, drowned when a car full of teenagers was swept away.
"We're going underwater right now," she said in a 911 call. "There's nowhere to go right now -- oh my God."
Summer Heat Warnings in 12 States
At Iowa State University, the football stadium resembled an island more than a sports arena. In the city of Ames, Iowa, historic flooding disrupted the water system, forcing residents to line up for bottled water. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, is delivering 25 truckloads of water to assist Ames residents. Each truck can provide water to about 5,000 people daily.
From Minnesota to Maryland, massive thunderstorms have torn up trees and knocked down power lines. Just outside of Washington, D.C., more than 100,000 were without electricity.
It's believed storms worsen with extra moisture in the air as the world's temperature continues to rise. For every degree the world warms, about four percent more water can be found in the air. When the cool jet stream smacks into hot air, it produces what some meteorologists call a "ring of fire."
"You have this big hot air dome sitting across especially the southern and central U.S. and...on the edge of that hot air dome is what we call the 'ring of fire,'" Schwarz said. "The jet stream bounces up against that and you get enough energy you can get these monster storms...that produce the truly heavy flooding rain."