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SCIENCE Wednesday 8 July 2020
Heat will stay stuck on extra high for July in most of U.S.

BY SETH BORENSTEIN cord and that's a base to
AP Science Writer add natural variable warm
The heat is on. And for weather factors on top of,
most of America it'll stay Masters said.
on through the rest of the So what about relief? When
month and maybe longer, do long-term forecast
meteorologists say. computer models show be-
Widespread and pro- low-normal temperatures
longed extreme heat is bak- for significant parts of the
ing the contiguous United country?
States and meteorologists Masters scrolled through
see no relief in sight, except the simulations. Not the
for a brief time in a corner rest of July. Not August. Not
of the Pacific Northwest. September. Not October.
Next week is likely to be Not November.
worse than this week. And "It does not give us any
the entire Lower 48 states false hope," Masters said.
and Alaska are likely to be "False hope or real hope is
warmer than normal for the hard to come by."q
last two weeks of July, tra-
ditionally the hottest time
of year, according to the
National Weather Service's
Climate Prediction Center. In this Monday, July 6, 2020 file photo, firefighters douse hot spots along Agua Dulce Canyon road
"It's very widespread and in Agua Dulce, Calif.
it's going to be very long Associated Press
lasting," said Jeff Masters,
founder of Weather Un- Friday and then 108 on Sat- crans said. And the worst of that, dry weather feeds
derground and now a me- urday. Little Rock is forecast prolonged heat looks to be the heat in a "vicious feed-
teorologist at Yale Climate to feel like 107 and 109 on around western Nebraska, back cycle," he said.
Connections. "It's not a re- Friday and Saturday. Hous- Oklahoma and the Texas In Miami, which has experi-
cord-breaking heat wave, ton should feel like 109 Fri- panhandle, with tempera- enced its hottest stretch on
but it is notable for its per- day through Sunday. Phoe- tures approaching 110, but record, an unusually hot At-
sistence." nix is forecast to feel like 108 without the sticky humidity. lantic Ocean is adding to
This is a dangerous type of on Friday and 110 on Satur- The weather maps are the problem, not allowing it
heat where people need day and Sunday. covered in blood red, dark to cool below 80 at night,
to be careful about heat Then it goes up a notch brown and purple — col- said Ryan Maue, a private
stroke, stay indoors and more. ors signifying much hotter meteorologist for BAM fore-
drink plenty of water, me- Next week, while close to than normal temperatures. casts. Masters said there's
teorologists said. two-thirds of the country Rosencrans said he's never "very toasty water pretty
The National Weather Ser- will be warmer than nor- seen temperature forecast much everywhere," except
vice warned of excessive mal, about 40% of the Low- maps like that at the hot- near Greenland.
heat on Tuesday for 18 mil- er 48 has a moderate risk test time of the year. Without extensive statisti-
lion people, but that's noth- of extreme and dangerous A giant ridge of high pres- cal and scientific analysis,
ing compared to what's heat, said Climate Predic- sure, parking hot air, is stuck meteorologists can't say
coming up. tion Center meteorologist in the Southwest and ex- for sure that the heat is due
At the end of this week, Matthew Rosencrans. tends farther east that usu- to global warming, Rosen-
much of the nation will like- Next week, Wisconsin could al, blocking cold fronts from crans said. But this is what
ly be passing or flirting with be battling it out with the moving in, Rosencrans said. scientists expect more of
temperatures in the 90s. Southeast for the nation's And the jet stream, a river with climate change, he
And it will likely feel even hottest feels-like tempera- of air that keeps weather and others said.
hotter in the South. ture — which factors in hu- moving, has retreated to Going into July, the world
Charleston, South Caro- midity — with heat indices Canada, so nothing is push- already was feeling the
lina, likely will feel 105 on pushing past 100, Rosen- ing the heat along. On top second hottest year on re-

Fossils reveal dinosaur researcher at the North
Carolina Museum of Natu-
forerunner smaller than a ral Sciences. Looking like a
small dinosaur that could
cellphone fit in your hand, Kammerer
mused that it "would prob-
ably make a great pet."
BY SETH BORENSTEIN tall, according to a study Of course, no humans
AP Science Writer published Monday in the were around when Kongo-
Meet Kongonaphon kely, journal Proceedings of the naphon was roaming the This illustration provided by
a pocket sized dinosaur National Academy of Sci- wild, jumping around with the American Museum of Nat-
forerunner that was smaller ences. its strong hind legs and ural History in July 2020 de-
picts a Kongonaphon kely, a
than your cellphone. "Some of these things feeding on bugs with its newly described reptile near
The creature, which pre- would have been quite peg-like teeth, Kammerer the ancestry of dinosaurs and
dated dinosaurs and flying cute animals," said study said. pterosaurs, shown to scale
pterosaurs, was just shy of lead author Christian Kam- The name means tiny bug with human hands.
4 inches (10 centimeters) merer, a paleontology slayer.q Associated Press