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A2 UP FRONT
Monday 21 august 2023

Sweltering temperatures bring misery to large portion of central U.S.

Continued from Front more than 2.5 years after a taking part in orientation
deadly winter blackout. for new students at Prairie
The Dallas-Fort Worth area The heat wave causing View A&M University, 48
was expected to reach misery this weekend is just miles (77 kilometers) north-
110 F (43.3 C) Sunday after the latest to punish the U.S. west of Houston. University
hitting 108 F (42.2 C) Satur- this year. officials said they were re-
day, said Sarah Barnes, a Scientists have long warned viewing operations after 38
meteorologist with the Na- that climate change, driv- students were hospitalized
tional Weather Service. The en by the burning of fos- Friday night after suffering
record high for those dates sil fuels, by deforestation heat-related illnesses, in-
was 107 F (41.7 C), set in and by certain agricultural cluding dehydration. One
2011. practices, will lead to more student was taken by heli-
The area is not cooling off and prolonged bouts of ex- copter to a hospital in near-
enough at night, Barnes treme weather, including by College Station, while 37
said. hotter temperatures. were taken in ambulances
"That's really going to con- A man overlooks downtown Phoenix at sunset atop South The entire globe has sim- to other facilities, Waller
tribute to an increased risk Mountain, Sunday, July 30, 2023. Phoenix hit its 31st consecutive mered to record heat both County EMS Chief Rhonda
of heat-related illnesses," day of at least 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 Celsius). in June and July. And if Getschman told KBTX.
Barnes said Sunday. "That's Associated Press that's not enough, smoke "It's very easy to overheat
the main concern when it untarily reduce power use tary power conservation from wildfires, floods and quickly in this Texas heat.
comes to people and the from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. CDT was the second such re- droughts have caused We highly encourage eve-
heat." because of "extreme tem- quest in the past three days. problems globally. ryone to stay indoors as
The Electric Reliability peratures, continued high The agency said it was not The National Weather Serv- much as possible," Get-
Council of Texas, or ERCOT, demand and unexpected in emergency operations. ice set an excessive heat schman said.
on Sunday asked the state's loss of thermal generation." Many residents still view warning Sunday for parts of Much of Iowa is expected
30 million residents to vol- ERCOT's request for volun- the power grid nervously Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, to see high temperatures in
Oklahoma, Kansas, Mis- the upper 90s Sunday and
souri, Illinois, Iowa and Ne- Monday, followed by three
braska. Heat advisories or days where the reading will
watches were also in place likely top 100 F (37.8 C).
in parts of Alabama, Missis- The heat was worrisome for
sippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Sunday as thousands were
Indiana, Wisconsin, Minne- expected for the final day
sota and South Dakota. of the Iowa State Fair in
Tourism in New Orleans of- Des Moines. In a Facebook
ten slows during the peak post, fair officials urged pa-
of summer heat, and that's trons to visit air-conditioned
happening as tempera- buildings, take regular
tures approach 100 F (37.8 breaks and stay hydrated.
C). NOLA Poboys is closing Forecasters expected high
two days a week for now, temperatures to reach 99
said Lucas McQueen, one F (37.2 C) to 103 F (39.4 C)
of the restaurant's chefs. "I through Friday in St. Louis,
can't wait to be complain- and the heat's only part of
ing about being cold," Mc- the problem: Excessive hu-
Queen told WWL-TV. midity will lead to a heat
The temperature reached index of up to 115 F (46.1
a record high for the date C) each day. The St. Louis
of 104 F (40 C) Saturday Post-Dispatch reported
in Jackson, Mississippi, as that if the prediction holds,
people walked between it will be the worst stretch of
indoor and outdoor events heat in St. Louis since Au-
at the Mississippi Book Fes- gust 2014, when tempera-
tival. Volunteers distributed tures rose to about 95 F (35
chilled water, and people C) for seven straight days.
used handheld fans while Similar heat is expected all
chatting with authors and week in Little Rock, Arkan-
shopping for books at large sas, prompting the com-
tents outside the state munity to open several
Capitol building. cooling centers for people
Houston on Sunday added who live on the streets or
to its ongoing streak of high without air conditioning.
temperatures at or above Last month, the Phoe-
100 F (37.8 C). Through Sun- nix area broiled under a
day, the high temperature record-setting 31 days of
in Houston has been at daily high temperatures of
least 100 F for 22 days. Sun- 110 F (43.4 C) or above. The
day's high was 108 F (42.2 historic heat began blasting
C), breaking a record for the region in June, stretch-
the date that goes back to ing from Texas across New
1909. The stifling heat in Tex- Mexico and Arizona and
as overwhelmed people into California's desert.q