E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSIn the hot zone emergency room visits are on the rise as the number of heat-related deaths rose, especially among the sick and elderly. NBC's John Yang reports.
Cooler weather was on the horizon for the Midwest, but not before two weeks of oven-like temperatures had taken their toll: at least 46 deaths were tied to the heat over that period, according to a list compiled by the Weather Channel. Friday also saw the 9th straight day at 100 degrees or above in St. Louis, Mo., and the third straight day above 100 in Chicago.
Virginia saw the most heat-related deaths with 10, followed by Maryland (9) and Illinois (6). Three of the dead were children, with the rest adults between 45 and 83.
Temperatures in the Midwest should be back in the 80s by Sunday -- but only after another hot round on Saturday as the heat wave shifts to the East Coast.
Washington, D.C., on Saturday could break its all time record of 106, the Weather Channel reported. Same with Pittsburgh (103) and Louisville, Ky., (107).
The heat wave has included several rounds of storms that add to the misery.
The extreme heat in Indianapolis, Indiana is proving to be too much for a chocolatier's air conditioning system, reluctantly closing rather than risk having their inventory melt. WTHR's Emily Longnecker reports.
Following last weekend's storms, at least 406,000 people were without electricity on Friday in West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and Ohio, power companies said.
Indiana, Virginia and West Virginia on Thursday saw new storms and new power outages, while the same happened in Michigan on Wednesday.
St. Louis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Chicago and several other Midwest cities already have broken heat records this week.
St. Louis hit a record high of 105 on Wednesday and a record low of 83. The city hadn't seen 9 straight days at or above 100 since 1936.
In Chicago, three straight days above 100 hadn't been seen since 1947 and the city has no longer stretch on record. There's a slight chance that could be broken Saturday.
In Wisconsin, the coolest Milwaukee and Madison got was 81 in the early morning, beating previous low records by 2 and 4 degrees respectively. Temperatures didn't fall below 79 in Chicago, 78 in Grand Rapids, Mich., and 75 in Indianapolis.
"When a day starts out that warm, it doesn't take as much time to reach high temperatures in the low 100s," said Marcia Cronce, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. "You know it'll be a warm day when you start out at 80 degrees."
Investigators say at least two deaths in the Midwest are the result of the sweltering heat that continues to cook the region. NBC's John Yang reports.
When the air conditioner stopped in Ashley Jackson's Southfield, Mich., home, so too did normal conversations and nightly rest.
"Inside the house it was 91 degrees. ... I wasn't talking to anybody. Nobody was talking to anybody," said Jackson, 23, who works as a short-order cook in Detroit. "We mostly slept, but it was hard to sleep because of the heat. I probably got about four hours of sleep each night."
Related: 3 die as storms toss boats, topple trees in Tenn.
Related: Chicago seniors still do their aerobics
Related: Broiling? Why we get cranky when it's hot out
Related: Photos of pets cooling off
In Chicago on Thursday, the Shedd Aquarium lost power as temperatures soared to 103 degrees, a record for July 5. Officials said emergency generators immediately kicked in and the outage never threatened any of animals, but several hundred visitors were sent back out into the heat.
Celebrating the warm summer months, as schools let out and the cooling off begins
How's it feeling? Tell us via Facebook
The other heat-related deaths happened across a wide swathe of the country: Alabama (5), Missouri (5), Ohio (3), Wisconsin (3), Tennessee (2), South Carolina (2) and Kentucky (1).
The heat has also taken a toll on agriculture.
Dean Hines, the owner of Hines Ranch Inc. in the western Wisconsin town of Ellsworth, said he found one of his 80 dairy cows dead Thursday, an apparent victim of the heat. He said he was worried about the rest of his herd, in terms of death toll, reproductive consequences and milk production.
"We're using fans and misters to keep them cool," he said. "It's been terrible. When it doesn't cool down at night, the poor animals don't have a chance to cool down."
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:
- Drought hits more than half of continental US
- Judge sets Zimmerman's bond at $1 million
- Video: Oops! San Diego fireworks launched all at once
- Sketch released in shooting of teen lesbian couple
- It's so hot out there that roads are buckling
- Lifeguard who was fired for trying to rescue man is offered job back
Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook
Leave a Comment:
We better switch to MAGNETICALLY-DRIVEN ELECTRICAL ENERGY which is FOSSIL FUEL FREE & 100% NON-POLLUTANT before it's too late! There are 3 viable patents by Howard Johnson in the U.S. Patent Office for MAGNETICALLY-DRIVEN ELECTRICAL ENERGY that have been there a long time! There are people already using this form of energy to power their homes and Troy Reed, an electrician from Tulsa, OK has been developing a MAGNETICALLY-DRIVEN ELECTRIC MOTOR for automobiles!
It could also restore our economy by developing, producing, marketing & installing these simple systems for every home and for future automobiles! The system is extremely cheap to operate & maintain. Another side benefit is HUGE! During bad weather or other disasters, the ONLY electricity affected would be the homes that were damaged, the remainder of homes would still maintain power!
All electric motors operate by magnetism
How about getting our fat asses out of the cars and learn to walk a little? Worked very well for us for a couple hundred thousand years or more.
That would be feasible for people who live in town but when we started building suburbs, it pretty much nixed walking anywhere.
HAARP. weakening the people. next martial law, next, slave camps, next population control.
No one knows what it is rhonda, and even fewer care.
Thanx Rhonda! Ever read Tribulation now.org? You'd love it. Listen to the radio shows too. They tell it like it is. Praise God there are still some Christians left who aren't afraid to speak their minds.
They have minds?
lol! you all crack me up! This world has seen heat before and Ice ages etc etc etc. millions of years worth.
yeah ok excuse me no kiddin - but you have to be kiddin - during those severe weather patterns man did not exist - soooo we did not have to survive them - nooooow we are here and the weather is causing chaos destruction and death - if it continues to get worse ............. well i know you have not thought about that ......... because fox news told you not too -
It will keep getting worse. Read Revelations and Jeremiah if you own a Bible and find out the truth. Yes the weather was bad before, but when God puts his hand up and says stop, it will stop. When he says, THEE END, believe me, it will be over. Sorry all you educated folk can't see the truth on what's really happening.Keep taking God out of everything and see what happens. God will always win.
When I was very young, you had to look real hard to find a news story that could possibly shed some light on Bible prophecy. Today , just about every news story you see falls right in line with Daniel, Psalms , Hosea ( economy ), James and soon to be Revelation. Birth pangs anybody ? Still, people won't listen. The Bible also says that " the fool has said in his heart that there is no God " and one of my favorite end-time prophecies " professing themselves to be wise, they actually became fools ".
"see what happens", terri?
And just what will happen?
Last summer here in Texas we had over 100 for weeks. It was because of La Nina. This year it's hotter back east and we are in the 90's. It's summer - it's normal to have hot weather.
yeah this year is not much better and the worst part is not here yet - not to mention the extreme drought last year and its coming again - so i guess the 8 billion texas lost in agriculture - cattle ranchers going out of business along with farmland turning to desert - cant water lawns , forget hunting , nothing left alive to shot.................................... all that not a big concern for you then .......... last year 100's for months actually - thats never happened before ..... la nina ok lets go with that - what are you guys going to say at this point the scientist were right
If you do not like HOT weather move to Alaska and quit your CRYING and msm remove this news its not new anymore
Guess you missed this:
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2008/06/11/thawing-arctic/
We might have missed it because that is from 2008, anything a little more current?
Sure :
http://www.nypost.com/p/lifestyle/travel/heat_wave_for_alaska_lAaKDIEcSjTnpFJ6zdWWZO
and
http://www.newsminer.com/bookmark/13479127-Record-high-temperatures-settle-over-Interior-Alaska
2010 & 2011 trend??
Here is one last one. The annual graphs show record highs.
http://climate.gi.alaska.edu/Climate/Fairbanks/Fairbanks_Temperature.png
What is it caused by?? That's not my field of study. So I'm not going to argue it.
It is what it is.
What a stupid story. Heat waves? Come on. These temps wont kill people unless they have pre-exhisting health issues. Get out of your house and have some fun. Sun screen, a hat and water will ensure a safe good time. Most of the complainers are on welfare, house bound and fat.
And you base that groundless assertion on what? Oh, your very active imagination! But you knew that we all knew that.
Well said thank you
pacundo: Actually , the military has a heat standard for PT.
http://ww2.dcmilitary.com/stories/041510/quanticosentry_28276.shtml
And they do not fit your theory in any way.
You can add east TN. to the list of places hit. Two lives lost in the storm front, and lots of downed trees & power lines.
Take care all affected, hope you get back to normal quickly .
People are losing their jobs. Obama is destroying the power industry. These weather events are going to get worse unless the imbecile in the White House is held accountable. Make him tell you why he is shutting down backup power plants! Make him tell you why is regulating power companies so that they can't provide reliable power. Obama is making you suffer and the news media is hiding the facts. Dump the newspaper and turn the channel. You won't find the truth on a liberal news network or in a newspaper. Obama's turds are protecting him from the facts - yeah, everyone knows that the real unemployment rate is around 14%. But Obama and his news terrorists won't report that. Turn the channel and find the facts. Obama has done more damage to the US economy than Osama could have hoped for with a massive attack.
Your excessive tightness in the band of your tinfoil hat is disrupting the blood flow to your cranial cavity. But, in your case, it's probably already too late, and the damage is permanent. Again.
Send Barry O. back to Chi-town.
Nofool,
Some folk are born retards, you know.
Now you can understand why they said Hell is Hot instead of cold.
Got to love the reporting..triple digits.. Work in a wire mill where you dont have Ac and the temp goes above 120..Yeah like the business really cares..You go to work regardless how hot or cold it is out side...LOL
My heart goes out to the homeless during these terribly hot days, as well as those without air for watever reason. I live in Central Illinois and we will reach 104 today and tomorrow, but the forecast for Sunday is 86. That will be a welcome relief for a few days, although I believe back in the 90's next Friday. Oh well, it is SUMMER in the Midwest, at least we aren't dealing with wild fires like out West.
I also live in Central Illinois and we might as well plow our corn crop under right now.
No rain in sight.
If the earthquakes, tsunamis and hurricanes continue, places that are normally cold will be a lot warmer than usual....and that seems to be taking place rite now!
Not to mention that the warmer ocean water feeds and fuels larger and larger hurricanes. This makes it much more likely that a category 4 or 5 will hit somewhere.
Welcome to Republican utopia, Globalization, and the evil it spawns. Global greed causing global warming leading us right to h*ll literally.
Enough is enough. If your senator or representative doesn't take action at least once a week to address climate change, vote for someone who will. We have the science on our side and we need to be more aggressive. When I look at DC, I see a bunch of cowards where there should be leaders. My generation and the subsequent ones will not experience the same prosperity because these cowards in DC (including Obama) let money get to their heads and now they won't act on behalf of 7 billion people in order to save the profits of a few thousand (shareholders, execs, etc).
The politicans are puppets to the real owners of the country, rich business and banking interests that have their profits in mind.
We as Americans are to blame for allowing Campaign Finance Reform to go unheeded. It is our fault we have mass misrepresentation.
I think the sun is getting way to close to the earth's atmosphere which is also part of Global Warming.
I live in Michigan and Michigan winters are usually very cold and this past winter it was very mild here, like back in March it was still winter and we had 80 degree temps here for a week and now its in the 90's and even triple digits this summer. Way to hot and scary.
Let's send Barry Obama back to Chicago
Lets put the puppet Mutt Romney in office to seal the deal of the elitists and bankrupt this country.
Don't worry. He'll get there in early 2017.
Ever notice when the temp is colder than usual like the record winter cold in Europe it's just a weather event?
When it's warmer than normal it has to be global warming.
wb,
Global warming causes both hotter than usual and colder than usual weather. And it looks like it's going to be causing unusual storm patterns. And we're just looking at what's happening on the surface. It's wreaking havoc in the oceans but we don't see that as easily.
Spaceydude,
I think the damage being done to the oceans is probably the scariest, although you really can't separate the two.
Calling all scientists to find a way to help earth get cooler....calling the government to stop all companies that use machinery..chemicals...etc that keep earth hot....and lets not forget NASA...I'm pretty sure when they send a rocket into space that has an effect on the earths temperature as well...among other things that they do unknown to the public...we are all screwed unless someone finds a way out....
Actually they have found that too much thought activity of idiots irritates the planetary god, and his response is to get hot under the collar. Under the atmosphere I meant.
Mr. President...can you make it mandatory for the government to issue coupons to everyone to buy an electric car that will pollute less on the earth...or make it mandatory for someone to invent a car...that does not pollute at all, if there is not one out there yet...this will be a start to less pollution and helping the earth survive...making it less hot....just like we had to convert to a converter box for tv.......I think converting a car that helps the earth is a really good idea...if we do not do anything now...then I fear it will be too late if we wait any longer.....thank you Mr. President....
Now that's just down right scary!! And it's the reason I keep buying ammunition.....
Hypothesis and theory become fact with a preponderance of evidence and repeatable experiments/observations. That is how science works. No respectable scientist would relegate everything to being just a theory and unprovable in the face of overwhelming evidence. This is how things become facts. Anyone who uses that tired old line of "nothing can be proven" has no experience in science.
My question to the pious out there is this...how come God hates some people and cities so much that he sends tornados and heat waves and hurricanes to kill them? Why do people praise that God saved them in a crisis rather than question why God sent the disaster in the first place to kill innocent people? Why aren't people mad at God when he destroys rather than feeling so special that God spared them. Why does God follow sports and choose sides. According to the athletes God does this. God is for goat herders, science is for people who think. The Bible is just as non-sensical and irrelevant as Scientology or Mythology. It's just as preposterous. It's just as irrelevant regarding explaining how the world works. We are not in the dark ages. Men ignorant of science and the natural world wrote the bible. Men wrote and politicians tailored it for personal gain, corporate power, and state control. That's called history.
If people in America do not turn their hearts back to God there will be more fires, flood, drought, hail, winds and storms than the year before.
Matthew-
BS
You can whine all you want to about climate change. It is here and you better adapt or die.
Matthew,
Looks like I gotta buy fire insurance, flood insurance, crop insurance, and storm insurance then.
Naw, Capt, all you have to do is pray. However, results vary from slim to none.
Regarding climate change, arguments on both sides could be made, either for or against it.
I want to present you with some facts because opinion is like a butthole,
everyone has one. Here is an interested article to read about the type of
treatment climate scientists are receiving.
.popsci.com/node/62795/?cmpid=enews062112&spPodID=020&spMailingID=4607133&spUserID=OTc5Nzk3MzI3MQS2&spJobID=275996537&spReportId=Mjc1OTk2NTM3S0
It is a fairly long article but please read it. It may just change your mind for
or against climate change. It is very in depth with people’s names and
information about the invisible war that is being fought against climate
scientists. The article has some interesting information on the death threats
to climate scientists and their families, frivolous lawsuits and legal battles,
and an all out push (award to anyone) to find one crack to discredit their
entire life work. It will be interesting for you to learn where the funding is coming
from to discredit the science behind discussing climate change
Here is a link to graph showing global temperature over the last 1000 years:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperature_record_of_the_past_1000_years
Here is a video showing global temperatures over the years
youtube.com/watch?v=gHZzACcYJRo
I could spend hours to get into the specifics I have learned with you but I think
the biggest inner-change we all make is when we discover things on our own.
That is when our eyes truly come open. Please look into this issue! Please
research it thoroughly. If climate change is correct then we must act now. If
climate change is incorrect then we have nothing to worry about.
I’m going to leave you with this. Is there any harm in believing in the global warming
argument if it is untrue? If you honestly do your research and do not listen to
others, what do the facts show you? If global warming is true and we (people) are
having a detrimental impact on our environment do we choose to remain stubborn
about it (and our habits) even if our kids and grandkids could be negatively
affected? Positive change rests in our hands. Good luck and God speed!
A very good picture of global warming that seems to definitely tie it into our burning of fossil fuels:
From the skeptical science people who seem to have been very honest so far.
http://www.skepticalscience.com/broken-hockey-stick.htm
Any denier out there want to take a look and report back, please do.
Quit already with the global warming crap - since records have ONLY been kept for the last 150 years and those who stand to benefit financially from convincing people that global warming exists are those in powerful positions, I'm not buying ANY of it. Keep records going for another 1000 years and then decide if it is really a problem. God is in control anyway, so move on to something that really matters.....
OK, your God is in control. Unless your name is Noah you might be in trouble.
I'm glad I live in Texas. It will only be 103 today. Better get my coat!