Days of higher temperatures coupled with higher concentrations of water vapor in the air can cause people to fall ill in large numbers, although he said more research is underway to more fully understand the effects. "It's like being in a steam room," Raymond said. Weather and climate experts measure the effects of heat and humidity with what's called a heat index. Excessive heat warnings are issued when the heat index is expected to reach 105 or higher for at least two days, and nighttime temperatures will be 75 degrees or higher.Ĭolin Raymond, a researcher at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, said adding humidity into a hot day affects the body's ability to cool itself. Rising humidity also factors into more dangerous summer days across the nation. The intersection of temperature and humidity can turn deadly with a thermometer reading as low as 100 degrees if the humidity rises to 35% or higher. In July, Phoenix broke the record for the most nights with low temperatures of 90 degrees or above and, by late August, there had been more than 25 days when the temperature remained above 90, day and night. Selover said there are more days when nighttime temperatures never dip below 90 degrees, once a rare phenomenon. Long-running factors including poverty, homelessness and isolation for the elderly further limit people's ability to escape the deadly effects. “We are seeing more intense and longer heat waves, and while everywhere is used to dealing with seasonal extreme heat events for their given city, many northern areas may not able to adapt fully to extended periods of heat the same way as the south," said Jennifer Vanos, professor of sustainability at Arizona State University.ĭesert cities such as Phoenix face rising summer temperatures. The Tennessee Valley city's summer temperatures stretched into fall, reaching 100 degrees in October for the first time since weather records have been kept.Įven Minneapolis, known as the coldest large city in the U.S., has seen a 3.72 degree temperature rise.
The city and surrounding region experienced record temperatures - Chattanooga's high temperature was more than 10 degrees above normal for late May. Deadly heat is on the rise across the United States. Cities including Burlington, Vermont Chattanooga, Tennessee and Helena, Montana, are right behind Phoenix as members in Climate Central's top 10 fast-warming cities list, experiencing temperature rises of more than 4 degrees.Ĭhattanooga experienced what one meteorologist called a "death ridge" during a May 2019 heat wave. Desert cities such as Phoenix are threatened by hotter summer temperatures, but deadly heat also is on the rise across the United States.īut it's not just desert cities like Phoenix and Tucson that are threatened by hotter summer temperatures. In the July sunshine, a man heads out to refill a water jug in west Phoenix.
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