Extreme heat to grip most of U.S. for a week

From left, A. Chavez, 7, Sarah McCain, 8, and B. Chavez, 5, play in a fountain in Fort Worth, Texas, on Monday July 11, 2011. / AP Photo

DALLAS — The temperature setting is stuck on broil across a swath of the Midwest and South, with Dallas and Oklahoma City sweltering through 100-degree heat for at least 10 days in a row.

Forecasters warned on Monday that the extreme heat could continue for most of the week and perhaps beyond. At the same time, many people won't be able to cool off by taking a dip: Swimming pools in some cities have closed because of budget cuts.

Heat advisories and excessive-heat warnings were issued Monday for 17 states in the Midwest and South. For Tuesday, the National Weather Service issued heat advisories for much of the East Coast, from Georgia to Connecticut, where temperatures are expected in the upper 90s but will feel as hot as 105 because of the humidity.

"It says a lot when you are dealing with such an expansive area of heat alerts," said National Weather Service spokesman Chris Vaccaro.

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Hutchinson, Kan., had reached 103 by Monday afternoon after hitting a scorching 112 on Sunday. (Records haven't been kept there long enough to tell if it was a new high for the date.) The mercury hit 99 in Joplin, Mo., by the afternoon after topping out on Sunday at 106, breaking the record of 104 for the date, set in 1980.

Oklahoma City has hit 100 degrees or higher — 110 on Saturday — every day since June 29, including Monday, making it 13 in a row. The record there is 22 consecutive days of 100 degree-plus weather, set in 1936.

Dallas recorded its 10th-straight day of 100-degree weather Monday. The city hit 100 for nearly three straight weeks as recently as 2006, and the National Weather Service issued a heat advisory Monday afternoon for the Dallas-Fort Worth area for the first time since June 18. The advisory will remain in effect until Wednesday night.

In 1980, the Dallas-Fort Worth area endured 42 days in a row of 100-degree-and-over heat.

Triple-digit highs are expected through the weekend in Dallas, and there is little chance of rain to cool things down.

"It's breaking daily records, but when you're talking about a record string of days — we're not there yet," Vaccaro said. "We're in the midst of a heat wave that's not over yet."

On Monday, 87-year-old R.F. Lanham was taking the heat in stride as he picked weeds in his shaded front yard in Dallas. "I've seen a lot of hot summers," he said.

As 40-year-old Sally Smith loaded two of her children into her minivan as she left a spin class at a Dallas YMCA, she said that even though she had lived in Texas for 18 years, the hot weather was hard to get used to.

"You feel like your skin is baking," the Michigan native said.

In Fort Worth, all of the city's pools are closed because of budget cuts. Through a partnership with the YMCA, Fort Worth residents can swim at four of its pools for two hours a day without a membership.

Authorities said a 51-year-old man suffered heat stroke and died Sunday because his mobile home in Granite City, Ill., had no working air conditioner. His body temperature was 104 when he arrived at the hospital.

In Tahlequah, Okla., 56-year-old David Vaughan, who works construction at water treatment plants, said he was using survival skills he learned while working in Kuwait.

"In Kuwait, we had a saying: Walk slow and drink a lot of water," he said.

In El Paso, Texas, 67-year-old Jesus Franco was the grateful recipient of a fan from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Franco, who is blind, said that he had a small air conditioning unit installed in his home last week, but even then, "at night it gets so hot you can't sleep."

As the stream of air cooled his shirtless torso Monday, he said, "This is much nicer."

Felix Cabrera, an employee of the agency giving out the fans, said: "With so many people unemployed and the population getting older, we are getting more calls."

In New Orleans, the heat was, as usual, heavy and suffocating — but just under 95 degrees, cool enough to allow the mule-drawn carriages to continue riding through the French Quarter. When the mercury hits 95, tourist guides are prohibited from working their mules.

Lorna Taylor, a guide and horse trainer, kept a close eye on her mule, Elvis. She threw snacks into his trough to force him to dunk his head in the water. But she wasn't worried.

"Mules are desert-dwellers," she said, sweat glistening on her brow. "So this is a walk in the park."

[cbs4111]

First of all, this article simply shows the bias of East Coast "journalists". The western 1/2 of the Nation is anywhere from slightly below normal temperatures to well below normal. Search on "weather" +"departure from normal".

Secondly, the US has been cooling for the last decade. Search on "NCDC" +"climate at a glance". This is the nation's official temperature record keeping agency. Click on the blue oval "National" Under period choose annual. Under first year to display, choose 2001. Under last year to display choose 2011. Press submit. See that green line? That's the national trend. It's going DOWN. Look above the plot. See the "Annual 2001 - 2010 trend. -0.92 deg F / decade. It's negative.

If you play around with the plots, you can change the period plotted. If you look at the whole data set, you'll see that the US warmed from 1895 to the early 1930s, cooled from the mid 1930s to about 1975, then warmed from 1975 to about 1995. There has been no warming since 1995 at all, and the last 10 years show the declining trend as we plotted before.

To all of you Global Warming Alarmists - please educate yourselves so that you can stop your constant lying.

[clcmm36]

Let's all connect to the reality function shall we? IF this is climate change based on human behavior, get used to it because there is no way in hell every human on this planet will ever be on the same page to work at stopping it. IF it is simply a cycle of weather patterns, get used to it because it's nature and can't be controlled. There you go.

[dennisall77]

You a$$es here who think you have to deny climate change (because you are so obviously smarter and more knowledgeable that the climate scientists), are so passionate that you seem to need some cause to back. So why not get passionate about forcing Congress to enact energy legislation to force polluter to clean up their acts and save this country a ton of money? Better to protect us from extreme weather than allow the energy companies to get filthily richer and richer. WE are the ones paying, not them. The jobs argument is the hoax.

[retiredgustav]

I subcribe to Dick Cheey's 2% rule (remember if there is a 2% chance that Iraq has WMD we need to go in there). If there is a 2% chance that we are the cause of Climate change, then we need to do somethng about it.

[Dgunner]

IT IS SO HOT HERE THE FLEAS ARE DRAGGING SHADE OVER TO THE DOGS!

[dennisall77]

Yes, we ALLL know it gets hot in the symmer and we ALL know some of you have to live w high temps every year. Most of you who are denying probably are the ones who said during the extreme cold weather and snows, "Where is global WARMING now?" This report is about the EXTREME heat ALL over the US. Extreme weather has been occuring now with such regularity that climate change is obvious even to the stubborn mules here... but they will not admit it. They post here as if it is a team sport they MUST defend their team. This stuff, however, has lives at stake.... and work productivity... and property damages... due to the extreme weather, like snows and droughts and hail and rains and flooding and wildfires that are beyond what usually happens in most areas. We could have avoided all of this if we had listened 20 years ago. But Rush Limbaugh and Rupert Murdoch and the billionaire energy CEOs all told us climate change was a hoax, just so they could keep making millions a day. And people like some here believed them that it would cost jobs... lol... how about lives and billions in property damage, health care, and lost productivity? Now we ALL have to live with it.

[Lifeson2112]

I knew some moron would attribute summer heat to some invented man-made cause. In summer the northern hemisphere is pointed more toward the sun than it is in winter. Hence it gets warmer. It has done this for recorded history. It will do it again next year. The highs and lows will always fluctuate due to another phenomenon known as "weather". This will make it hotter some summers than others. People driving cars does not change the weather. Also understand we're just now coming out of an ice age. Of course it will be warmer at some point. And the late Cretaceous period was much warmer than today. Did Tyrannosaurs drive an Escalade to make it hotter? Sheesh, get a clue.

[Drivelphobe001]

Try Lake Havasu. If you don't get some 125 degree days, you missed the summer. If you don't like the weather where you live, then move or quit crying. I love the heat and hate the cold and any snow. I live where it is nice and warm and enjoy the 100 degree plus days and nights.

[2menykats]

99 to 100 degrees? Sounds like a cold snap to me! We're about 100 miles south of Dallas, and we have been getting temperature of 101 to 103 daily for at least the last 3 weeks, but this area is too small to get on the National Weather Service boards. Today, it was 100 degrees by 10:00 AM and climbed to 104 to 105 degrees (if you were in the shade)!

[formrusmcsgt]

These reports every year make us in Vegas laugh out loud.

We run 100 degrees+ 5 months a year often 110 for weeks at a time.

[lindalentz54]

nobody should have to be without air conditioning in this heat! It should not cost all your pay check or fixed income to pay an electric bill!