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| Derecho approaches Charleston, Illinois Thursday in this web cam grab. |
Heat warnings and advisories are scattered from California to Georgia.
The Midwest is digging out from a violent derecho on Thursday and more nasty storms are on the way.
And a tease we'll get to near the bottom of the post: We here in Vermont aren't immune from the bad weather over the next few days, but it won't be anything like the South and Midwest.
Let's get into the heat wave first:
HEAT GROWS
Most of Texas has been broiling under a relentless, long lasting heat wave for about two weeks now.
Mercifully, the heat has avoided most of the rest of the nation. In many parts of the United States, it's been a relatively cool June.
That state of affairs is ending.
The heat is expanding and is now starting to include almost the entire South from California to Georgia. And it's starting to creep north. Heat advisories have gone into effect as far north as Missouri.
Blame what is known as a heat dome. It's an area of high pressure with sinking air that prevents clouds and showers from forming. Heat domes trap hot, and often humid air beneath it, so people who live under one of these domes definitely suffer.
The heat dome in Texas has been especially long lasting. And brutal.
The Texas heat has been impressive. Del Rio, Texas had 10 daily record highs in a row, which is absolutely insane. If you get three record hot days in a row, that's impressive. But 10? Also, it has not been under 80 degrees in Del Rio since June 15.
Already, at least 13 deaths have been attributed to the heat in Texas. But that might be an under count.
In the dystopia that is Texas, prison inmates are dying of heat in prisons that are not air conditioned, but the cause of the deaths is often attributed by state officials as "cardiac arrest," masking the role of heat.
I agree that people who commit crimes must be punished, and prisons should not really be cushy. And what about the prison guards that have to work in those conditions?
But the Texas system is dangerous. As Texas Tribune reports:
"More than two-thirds of Texas' 100 prisons don't have air conditioning in most living areas. Every summer, as temperatures routinely soar well into the triple digits, thousands of offices and tens of thousands of prisoners are cramped inside concrete and steel buildings without ventilation, save windows broken out of desperation and fans that blow hot air. The heat has killed prisoners, likely contributed to severe staff shortages and cost taxpayers millions of dollars wrongful death and civil rights lawsuits over the last decade."
By the way, Texas lawmakers, as usual did not put any money directly toward installing air conditioning in the hot prisons, despite a $32.7 billion budget surplus, Texas Tribune says.
Over in California, they've had a pretty cool year so far. That's changing now. Much of the Golden State is under excessive heat warnings and advisories. Temperatures are expected to reach the triple digits in the Central Valley.
So much snow fell in the Sierra Nevada mountains this past winter that a lot of it is still there. Melting will become rapid during this heat wave, so creeks and rivers flowing out of the mountains could flood. Plus, people tempted to dip into these creek waters and swimming holes could be endangered by the very cold water flowing in them.
The good news is the part of the heat dome over Texas is weakening somewhat. It will stay hot there, just not as hot as it's been.
BRUTAL STORMS
A derecho swept across a swath of the Midwest late Wednesday through much of the day Thursday. It started with a supercell with an impressive tornado in the southwest corner of Nebraska late Wednesday, then a streak of big hail and damaging winds overnight in Kansas and Nebraska, followed by a great gush of thunderstorm winds of up to 100 mph roaring through parts of Missouri, Illinois and Indiana.
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| AccuWeather radar image of the derecho in the Midwest Thursday. When a line of storms forms a backwards "C" like this, winds at the front of the C are especially intense. |
I'm sure damage totals will be in the hundreds of millions of dollars if not more, given the huge area this storm covered. It also hit populated areas like Springfield, Peoria and Champagne, Illinois and and Indianapolis, Indiana.
Cities suffered widespread tree damage and downed power lines that in some instances will take days to fix. In the hardest hit towns, where winds reached 100 mph, roofs flew off buildings and houses, grain bins blew away and outbuildings were shattered.
More severe storms are expected today. This is something called the "ring of fire." Weather disturbances ride along the northern edges of that so-called heat dome in the South. These disturbances tap into the extreme heat and high moisture content of the air to create violent storms.
"Ring of fire" storms are pretty common June through much of August.
Some of the same areas hit yesterday are under the gun today and tomorrow. Not many tornadoes are forecast, but many storms with destructive winds and hail are expected to blossom
UP HERE IN VERMONT
Nothing so dramatic is in the cards for Vermont, but that doesn't mean the weather will be completely benign.
Today still actually looks fairly nice, despite the wildfire smoke that has prompted a continuation of the air quality alert. It's still not as bad as last Sunday, but people with health problems, the elderly and very young should try to limit their activity outdoors.
At least it won't rain for once. But it will still be a bit on the humid side.
The real humidity and the shower threat comes back tomorrow and last through much of the upcoming week. A few showers and thunderstorms might rumble through tomorrow.
Those showers will be more widespread on Sunday, so once again, we'll have to watch for the chance of a localized instance of flash flooding or two somewhere in the state. If any flooding happens, it won't be widespread, but could cause real trouble in a town or two.
Hit and miss storms will continue through much of the upcoming week amid the persistent humidity. It won't rain all the time, but you might find yourself dodging a downpour or thunderstorm or two during your Fourth of July fun Monday through Wednesday.
There's a chance a cold front could finally diminish the humidity in about a week, but that is an uncertain proposition to say the least.
It's possible that welcome cold front could fall apart before it ever gets here. Stay tuned.
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