Heat Wave Kills At Least 22 People

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A searing heat wave in the central and southern United States has killed at least 22 people this week, and forecasters Wednesday said the heat was moving east and could last for weeks.

The National Weather Service said 141 million people in more than two dozen states were under a heat advisory or warning because of the soaring temperatures. The country's midsection has been scorched off and on since late May.

In Wichita, Kansas, forecasters warned temperatures would hit at least 100 degrees Fahrenheit every day through Tuesday.

"It's just draining, physically draining,'' said Chris Vaccaro, a Weather Service spokesman.

The inferno moved into the mid-Atlantic states. Temperatures reached above 90 degrees F in Washington, D.C. and were expected to hit 100 degrees Thursday.

Meteorologists said the heat wave could last into August over much of the eastern United States.

The cumulative effects in terms of lost lives, stress on the power grid and damage to roads and bridges could eclipse the effects of the deadly heat wave of 1995, which claimed hundreds of lives in Chicago alone, AccuWeather.com predicted.

"When all is said and done, with the number of days of extreme heat and humidity of the current heat wave, it may be more significant and impact a larger area,'' said AccuWeather's Jim Andrews.

Hospitals in Wichita treated 25 heat-related illnesses, according to the National Weather Service. In Des Moines, Iowa, 16 people have been hospitalized because of this week's high temperatures.

The high heat and humidity have been stressing U.S. crops, particularly corn, which is now in a key growth stage, and endangering livestock. Up to 1,500 cattle have died in South Dakota because of the heat wave, according to the state's veterinarian, Dustin Oedekoven, and he expects that number to rise.

In Indianapolis, homeowners were being asked to stop watering their lawns through at least Sunday.

(Reporting by Karin Matz, Sam Nelson, Bob Burgdorfer, Meredith Davis, Steve Olafson, Tim Ghianni, Kevin Murphy, Daniel Lovering, Susan Guyett and Brendan O'Brien; Writing by James B. Kelleher; Editing by Jerry Norton and Cynthia Osterman)

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

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Comments

[llstudent]

05:56 PM on 07/22/2011

Bluntobject Ok, thanks.

[thursdaychild]

11:44 AM on 07/22/2011

In Los Angeles, the greedy politicians raised the electric rates by 36% so that elderly on fixed incomes are now afraid to use their A/Cs. Meanwhile, the city buildings have their A/Cs set at a cool 68 degrees.

[TYRANNASAURUS]

09:48 AM on 07/22/2011

Heat Wave Kills At Least 22 People.......

Not to worry........as time goes by many more will.

[InformationSeeking]

12:15 AM on 07/22/2011

The federal government is damaging the ozone with planes. They are running harmful airplane investigation that result in global warming. The amount of jet smoke put into the air on a daily basis causes extreme weather conditions. Someone save us from the feds who plot for weather genocide

[bamboozled]

10:09 PM on 07/21/2011

All part of the liberal conspiracy. As we all know, every weatherman in America is on George Soros' payroll. They want us to believe it's hot. But not to worry, the Heritage Foundation is hiring its own weathermen to provide a counter-opinion to those temperature readings, and they're working with the Washington Times, WorldNetDaily, Clearchannel and Fox News to get the Truth out to the people.

[Chris Grimley]

03:34 AM on 07/22/2011

I assume these weathermen will have the same sterling credentials as David Barton?

[Yota Daga]

05:03 AM on 07/22/2011

Dr Bachman will see you now, and did I mention his First name is Marcus?

[ILoveFiction]

06:46 AM on 07/22/2011

Hah!

[Red-bone]

05:52 PM on 07/21/2011

The quickest ay to cool the weather would be to organize some global climate change confrence. Seems the past ones have always been on just about the coldest day of the year.

[booboo111]

05:25 PM on 07/21/2011

It's winter in Australia where I'm posting from, on vacation, of course. It's a balmy 68 degrees here in Melbourne. Schadenfreude.

[Thermoguy]

05:03 PM on 07/21/2011

I wanted to share important information with you regarding heat and how it affects skin as well as building development. Buildings are supposed to reflect UV or they will be radiated. UV burns skin and in effect burns buildings causing them to generate heat they aren't insulated for. Air conditioning is in fact refrigeration and the same as leaving the fridge open in every room trying to cool off the rooms. A/C use shows you the building has become the source of heat.

Have people really be careful with UV on skin as well, we documented significant changes in 5 minutes before 8 AM. Here is what it looks like in the infrared spectrum. http://www.thermoguy.com/blog/index.php?itemid=72

Here are 2 time-lapsed infrared videos showing buildings being imapcted by the sun right after sunrise, shade effect and the second video shows how people are cooked by their buildings. http://www.thermoguy.com/blog/index.php?itemid=71

[Thermoguy]

05:00 PM on 07/21/2011

I want to provide some important information for people and officials on these hot weather. We completed several years work showing UV impact on building development as well as people. Los Angeles alone spends over 100 million a year in energy costs responding to urban heat.

UV burns skin and it can burn buildings depending on color or shade. Here is a link so you can see UV impact on skin before 8 AM and it was shocking to see them heat up 10 degrees F in 5 minutes. You will also see a building on a 96 deg. F day where the building is 178 F and the upstairs bedroom on the inside is 119 F. http://www.thermoguy.com/blog/index.php?itemid=72

Here is a link to 2 time-lapsed infrared videos showing buildings being radiated first thing in the morning and there is shade effect as well. The second video was completed inside the building and you will see how people are literally cooked by their building. Air conditioning is refrigeration used because the building is radiated. http://www.thermoguy.com/blog/index.php?itemid=71

[Fred Enfield]

04:55 PM on 07/21/2011

A few days ago, upon waking, I informed the other person in the room that I must be going
nuts ( try to restrain yourself ) but it looks like the sun is rising slightly out of place. We just chalked it up to another of my fantasies caused by watching too many TV programs about black holes and asteroids. Apparently, I'm not the only one. There was a letter to a local newspaper today about the exact same thing. This person talked about a shift in the earth's axis, solar activity and gravitational forces from who knows where. While there have been extreme heat waves throughout history, wouldn't a shift or a tilt in the earth's axis intensify heat in certain areas? Scientists theorized that there may have been monumental changes after the earthquakes in Chile and Japan. Has anyone else heard of this?

[Elle Shepard]

05:26 PM on 07/21/2011

You weren't wrong Fred:

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s (JPL) specialist Richard Gross has stated that following the earthquake the Earth’s figure axis (the axis around which the Earth is balanced by mass) has shifted by about 15 centimeters - 2 times greater than after the Chilean earthquake of 2010.

"According to my calculations, the length of the day should be reduced to 1.6 microseconds (millionths of a second). The earthquake in Chile gave, in my opinion, a reduction of approximately 1.2 microseconds,” he said.

According to Gross, the Earth’s axis shifted to the 139th degree east longitude. After Chilean cataclysm in 2010 it shifted to 112th degree east longitude.

The Earth has its own mass-shifting movements, according to Gross: for example, in February 2010, the Nazca tectonic plate in the eastern Pacific Ocean basin moved, causing a destructive 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile. But its type—a thrust earthquake—counted most for Earth’s rotation.

[mbkeefer]

05:28 PM on 07/21/2011

Yes, but you would need a high precision instrument measure it.

[mbkeefer]

05:33 PM on 07/21/2011

Actually should have said need a high precision instrument to detect the change.

[neuro doc]

04:49 PM on 07/21/2011

As I posted last winter re: the record snowfall on the east coast it is not evidence of global warming, it's global climate change. The weather will be ever more drastic everywhere; too hot, too cold, too wet or too dry, it is changing and the rate of change will accelerate.
But that's just science and facts and stuff. Lets talk about some conspiracy somewhere instead.

[Counterintuitive]

04:47 PM on 07/21/2011

I'd like to organize a series of Climate Denial Marathons to run in various cities under the heat dome. The races will start at around 3:00 in the afternoon. I insist that participation be completely free so that we get the largest possible turnout, and the water stations will all serve the Deniers favorite flavors of Koolaid.

Sorry liberals, you're not invited. (I can't explain my ethical reasons right now, but I'm sure you're used to being ignored.)

[Elle Shepard]

04:50 PM on 07/21/2011

And they have to run in snow suits...

[mbkeefer]

04:54 PM on 07/21/2011

Business suits are also accepted.

[Yota Daga]

05:07 AM on 07/22/2011

please make it mandatory for climate deniers!

[Elle Shepard]

07:44 AM on 07/22/2011

I second that!

[Elle Shepard]

04:39 PM on 07/21/2011

But, of course, there is no global warming or climate change.

[llstudent]

04:34 PM on 07/21/2011

Where's the big global warming denier James Inoffe from Oklahoma, you idiot liar!

[Cindy M Brito]

04:14 PM on 07/21/2011

PLEASE! Everyone, check on older folks and people who are sick and/or cannot leave their homes. You can potentially save a life! I was here in the Chicagoland area in the summer of 1995, and we cannot afford a repeat of that horrible scenario, hundreds lost their lives. CHECK ON PEOPLE, PLEASE!

[chrispychilla28]

02:07 AM on 07/22/2011

And make sure people stay hydrated!