Triple-digit temps scorch the Midwest, smash a host of records
Summer does not officially begin until Tuesday, June 21, but the hottest weather in years already set records across a large part of the United States this week.
Parts of Chicago reached triple digits for the first time in nearly a decade as extreme heat gripped the midwestern U.S. The Windy City was actually somewhat windy Tuesday, but those breezes provided little relief from the heat. The temperature climbed to 100 degrees F at Chicago Midway International Airport, located right outside of the city, making it the first 100-degree reading at the airport since July 25, 2012.
Chicago Midway Airport was the only location in the immediate Chicago area to reach 100 degrees F, but other places in the city topped out in the upper 90s. The triple-digit reading at Midway, however, won't rewrite any pages in Chicago's record book because it's not the city's official weather reporting site.
That distinction goes to Chicago O'Hare International Airport, where temperatures peaked at 98 degrees F Tuesday. The last time the thermometer showed a reading over 98 F at O'Hare was about a decade ago when the temperature reached 99 F on June 25, 2012.
The unusual warmth was not just a daytime occurrence as the low temperature at O'Hare Tuesday night made it down to 81 F, which is the typical high temperature for June 15.
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Beachgoers try to cool off as temperatures reach the triple digits in Chicago on Tuesday. (AccuWeather / Emmy Victor) |
And it felt even hotter than the numbers on the thermometer during the height of the heat. On Tuesday, AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures soared into the triple digits for much of Chicago. Chicago Midway Airport reached an AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperature of 104 degrees.
To help combat the heat in the Windy City, cooling centers were opened and pool hours were extended.
"The Chicago Park District offers 34 designated cooling at our park field houses located throughout the city," General Superintendent and CEO of Chicago Park District, Rosa Escareño, said in a press conference on Tuesday. "The facilities offer air conditioning spaces and are open to the public during the park's regular operating hours."
The city's improved efforts to respond to brutally hot weather come just a month after three women had died at a senior housing facility during a brief heat wave in May.
Chicago wasn't the only city sweating from the heat. According to AccuWeather's analysis, more than 103 million people were affected by the hot weather this week. Excessive heat watches and warnings and heat advisories covered a large swath of the country, stretching from Wisconsin to Lousiana Monday and Tuesday.
St. Louis was one of the cities under an excessive heat warning early this week. The temperature reached the century mark Monday, breaking the previous record of 98 degrees F set in 1952. On Tuesday, another record was broken when the temperatures reached 99 degrees, breaking the old standing record of 97 degrees from 1987. On both days, the AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperature reached 105 degrees F, making for sweltering afternoons.
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Workers brave the oppressive heat in Jackson, Miss., as they reroof the Barfield Complex, Monday, June 13, 2022. Heat advisories, excessive heat warnings and excessive heat watches were issued over states stretching through parts of the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes and east to the Carolinas. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) |
To make matters worse, thousands of people across the region did not have the power to run air conditioning units due to severe weather. In Ohio, more than 20,000 households and businesses were without power Wednesday, according to PowerOutage.US, after severe storms ripped through the area Monday night.
In what is known as the "urban heat island effect," heat during the day is absorbed by concrete and buildings in cities and other urban areas, which makes it harder for those areas to cool overnight. Due to this phenomenon, the overnight low temperatures remained elevated, which provided little relief to residents at night, especially in the cities where power outages were widespread.
In Franklin County, Ohio, home of Columbus, the AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperature reached 108 degrees F Tuesday. By Wednesday morning, more than 50,000 customers were still without power in Franklin County. Unfortunately, the overnight low temperatures didn't cool much and many residents woke up to hot and humid conditions with AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures in the 90s.
Power outages were also high in West Virginia Tuesday after Monday night's storms. Cooling centers were opened in Winfield, West Virginia, just west of Charleston.
The Teays Valley Fire department headed up to Hurricane, West Virginia, which is northwest of Charleston, to help the kids at the High Tor YMCA Camp beat the heat. Using their firehoses, the fire department sprayed water across the camp field, cooling off the campers.
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, at least 14 schools that weren't fully air-conditioned shifted to distance learning Tuesday as the city braced for the high temperatures, according to The Associated Press. Schools in Minneapolis were slated to release students for summer vacation on June 10, but due to a three-week teacher's strike in April, the student's final day was pushed to June 24.
And record heat was an issue farther south as well. A new record high temperature was set in Nashville Tuesday when the mercury reached 97 degrees F, beating the previous record of 96 degrees F set back in 1990.
Due to the heat, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) issued a power supply alert and the Nashville Electric Service (NES) asked all customers to reduce their electricity use.
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Record-breaking heat on Wednesday was felt in Toledo, Ohio (98 degrees F, breaking a previous record of 96 degrees F set in 1994), as well as Clarksburg, West Virginia (96 degrees F, smashing the daily record of 94 degrees F set in 1967). The southern hub of Atlanta also received record-breaking heat Wednesday by rising to 99 degrees F, ending a record of 96 degrees set in 1943.
Macon, Georgia, topped out at 104 F on Wednesday, setting a new record for the date and coming within a few degrees of the city's all-time record high of 108 F last reached on July 1, 2012.
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By the end of the week, a cold front will bring some much-needed relief from the heat to portions of the Midwest and Great Lakes.
Additional reporting by Emmy Victor.
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