Happy Independence Day,
A huge upper high is expanding out over the United States on this July 4th. And it will be centered over Kansas and Missouri the next three days. Temperatures will inch up a couple of degrees today and we are forecasting 105° again later in the week:
The map above shows the flow aloft at around 18,000 feet up. We call this a high “height” area and not high pressure aloft. This is the 500 mb level, and the pressure is the same at each point, but the high is located where this 500 mb level is at it’s highest position. The center of the high is around 595 dm, or 5,950 meters above sea level. The air underneath these highs sinks and warms. The subsidence, or sinking air, warms on it’s way to the ground and this is why I call these anticyclones “heat wave” creating machines. This year’s versions are certainly being rather effective at creating heat waves.
A very weak cold front will arrive this weekend with some cooling, but right now only a slight chance of thunderstorms. Ahead of this front we should have our hottest two days of the heat wave so far on Friday into Saturday.
Snow cover has been decreasing significantly across the Northern Hemisphere summer. This map on the left shows the snow cover anomalies across the Northern Hemisphere during the month of June and as you can see, during the past decade there has been a steady drop in overall snow cover as compared to normal and this year is by far the lowest anomaly in the 45 years of this chart.
Have a great 4th of July! I will be working tonight with Stormy the Weather Dog. If you have a dog keep in mind how hard of a day this is for them with all of the booms from the fireworks and firecrackers. I suggest turning on music inside to drown out the noise and certainly don’t leave your dogs outside.
Thank you for spending a few minutes of your day reading the 41 Action Weather Blog. Let us know if you have any questions or comments.
Gary
Here is an article from yahoo explaining “What’s Behind The Record Heat” in the US “http://news.yahoo.com/whats-behind-record-heat-125603530.html”. The pattern we are in now will get worse as we head to July and August. Stay cool!
good artical yewtrees thanks!
Here is NOAA’s drought page they will update it untill drought conditions get better or stop which they say is not any time soon
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/eax/?n=drought
lets all hope they are wrong
Thanks for sharing the snow cover anomalies Gary..That,s a ALARMING picture!!!I will share Rush Limbaughs Comments on Global Warming. Polar Bears don,t need the icepack….They,ll adapt..I wish he would enter on this blog page,and comment.
Can a heat wave be defined by any three(or more) consecutive days over ninety? Or is there a general definition at all?
We call it three consecutive days 95 or higher! There is no official definition. We had a summer a few years ago where the highest temperature of the entire summer was 95.
thanks Gary
I do not understand your question.Sorry,My Brain can,t compute that?
never mind
Immediate metro counties upgraded to Excessive Heat Warning. Not surprised with the high progged to be centered right over us soon. Surprised you’re only forecasting 105 at the hottest. With the drought raging now and such a strong high right over us, it would seem like 110 or very close would be doable. New Drought Monitor maps post tomorrow and should show a rapidly worsening drought situation for Missouri and most of Kansas.
OK, I see the 7 day updated with highs of 106 on Fri and Sat.
Quite surprised to see NWS keeping forecast highs right around 100-101 into the weekend. What’s up with that?
How dry is it? I found a discounted rose so thought I would take a chance. I dug a one gallon hole and filled it with the rose. I poured 30 gallons of water into the 1 gallon hole and not one drop ran off or stood on the surface.
Happy 4th everyone. Don’t burn anything down. This is great weather. Keep it going till November. Love the heat. I hope we hit 110 this year. That would be awsome.
Gary,
When will this all end? I am really sick of this heat. I know that July and August are suppose to be hot, but this is just plain stupid. I can tolerate the heat to a point, but 105?!
I know that there is break in the extreme heat next week, but we have to get there first. What do think the rest of July will be like?
Megan
I bet when the “cool down” shows up next week the humidity will increase. I do not feel like the humidity has been that bad yet. Does anyone know what the humidity has been? I will take 105 with little humidity over 95 with alot of humidity
Best measure of humidity during hot weather is dewpoint. Dewpoints around KC proper have been running in the low to mid 60s this week. Some summers we have highs 95-98 with dewpoints of 75+ and that’s when it’s terrible.
KCI currently at 97 degrees, but dewpoint only 63, giving heat index value of 99 degrees. Take that same 97 degrees with a dewpoint of 75 and the heat index becomes 111 degrees.
Thank you seds
semper fi to all you Marinens….UH RAH!!!!!!
Great tip on music for the dogs, Gary. My wife and I have two American Eskimos who are terrified of thunderstorms and fireworks. We’ll crank up the tunes tonight while we’re out.
BTW, is there a reason my gravatar hasn’t updated on this site? It is everywhere else but here.