Very Hot This Week

If you like hot weather, you are going to like the weather this week in central North Carolina. A ridge of high pressure in the upper levels of the atmoshpere will build into our region and that will really heat things up.

So far this summer, the warmest temperatures we have seen are 96 at the Raleigh-Durham Airport and 98 in Fayetteville. We may beat those readings by a couple of degrees or so on Tuesday and Wednesday. It will feel hotter than that all thanks to the humidity. The heat index, or the "feels like" temperatures could range between 105 and 110 Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons.

The National Weather Service office in Raleigh did an excellent job outlining the dangerous heat conditions we could experience this week. Here's a look at what they said in a special weather statement this afternoon --

235 PM EDT SUN JUL 30 2006
...NEAR RECORD HEAT EXPECTED THROUGH MUCH OF THIS WEEK...

A STRONG UPPER RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL MOVE EAST... BRINGING HOT TEMPERATURES FROM THE MIDWEST INTO THE MID ATLANTIC. THIS HEAT WILL COMBINE WITH HIGH HUMIDITIES TO CREATE HEAT INDEX VALUES BETWEEN 100 TO 105 DEGREES MONDAY AND TUESDAY ACROSS CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA. BY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON HEAT INDEX VALUES OF 105 TO 110 ARE POSSIBLE... AND THIS HEAT WILL LIKELY CONTINUE INTO THURSDAY.

THIS PROLONGED HOT SPELL WITH INCREASING HEAT INDEX VALUES EVERYDAY THIS WEEK WILL POSE A SIGNIFICANT HEALTH RISK TO THOSE WORKING OR PLAYING OUTDOORS FOR EXTENDED PERIODS OF TIME. THOSE PLANNING ON WORKING OR PLAYING OUTDOORS THIS WEEK SHOULD PLAN ACCORDINGLY TO MINIMIZE HEAT EFFECTS FROM HEAT EXHAUSTION AND EVEN HEAT STROKE. THE MOST DANGEROUS DAYS FOR POSSIBLE EXTREME HEAT APPEAR TO BE LATE TUESDAY...WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. HEAT ADVISORIES AND EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNINGS MAY BE ISSUED LATER THIS WEEK.

HEAT INDEX VALUES FROM 105 TO 110 DEGREES DEGREES POSE HEALTH RISKS TO ANYONE WORKING OR PLAYING OUTDOORS AS WELL AS THE ELDERLY AND CHILDREN. HEAT CRAMPS...HEAT EXHAUSTION...AND DEHYDRATION ARE ALL POSSIBLE AT THESE HEAT INDEX VALUES...IF PROPER PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN. HEAT INDEX VALUES OF 105 TO 110 POSE A THREAT TO ANYONE WORKING OR PLAYING OUTDOORS.

IN ADDITION TO THE HEAT...THE HIGH PRESSURE WILL RESULT IN A RATHER STAGNANT AIRMASS OVER THE REGION WHICH WILL LIKELY RESULT IN DETERIORATING AIR QUALITY. AIR QUALITY SHOULD DECLINE AS THE WEEK PROGRESSES AND THOSE SENSITIVE TO POOR AIR QUALITY WITH HEALTH CONCERNS ARE URGED TO MONITOR AIR QUALITY FORECASTS THROUGH THE WEEK.

HEAT SAFETY INFORMATION INCLUDING SAFETY PLANNING AND HEAT INDEXFORECASTS CAN BE FOUND ONLINE AT HTTP://WWW.ERH.NOAA.GOV/RAH/HEAT.
$$
JO