Advisories issued in 23 states as dangerous heat wave spreads

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/07/12/heat.wave/index.html?hpt=hp_bn1

Advisories issued in 23 states as dangerous heat wave spreads
By the CNN Wire Staff
July 12, 2011 5:44 p.m. EDT

(CNN) -- It's hot. Not "How 'bout this weather?" hot, but buckle-the-pavement, too-hot-even-for-frozen-lemonade, three-showers-a-day hot, and it's that way across a broad swath of the country.

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In central Oklahoma, temperatures in some places shot past the 100 mark for the 14th consecutive day Tuesday, while afternoon thunderstorms brought the thermometer down in other spots. Highs in much of the state are likely to flirt with triple digits for nearly another week, according to the National Weather Service.

Crazy demand for water amid the heat wave and problems with soil shrinking as the ground warms has resulted in burst pipes and low water pressure in Oklahoma City, prompting officials to issue mandatory water-use restrictions for the first time in at least a decade, according to utilities department spokeswoman Debbie Ragan.

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The heat has been so extreme that a portion of the Cimarron Turnpike in Pawnee County, Oklahoma, buckled on Sunday, creating a 2-foot ramp that sent a motorcyclist flying 150 feet through the air. The searing temperatures are also being blamed in at least one death in Granite City, Illinois.

The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for parts of 23 states and the District of Columbia, with parts of 10 Midwestern and Southern states getting a more extreme excessive heat warning, as well.

The areas covered by the excessive heat advisory -- parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina -- can expect the heat index to rise above 110 degrees Tuesday, the Weather Service said.

The hottest of the hot looks to be Mississippi and parts of Tennessee, where forecasters warned the heat index could soar to 116.

Other states included in the heat advisory are Connecticut, Delaware, Kansas, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.
Newark, New Jersey, broke its previous record of 98, set in 1966, when it hit 99 degrees Tuesday.

JFK Airport and Islip, New York, did the same, reporting 97 and 93 degrees respectively, beating out records of 94 degrees at JFK and 91 in Islip, both set in 1993.
In addition to the discomfort and potential danger, the heat could wreak havoc on crops, especially corn, said Chad Hart, assistant professor of agricultural economics at Iowa State University. The heat wave comes at a sensitive time for corn, he said.

"That's why markets are watching the heat wave. We're entering a period of time when corn pollinates, and so if you get a heat wave in the early- to mid-part of July across Iowa, Illinois and Indiana, it can have a big impact," he said.

"The last time we had a big heat wave and drought was in 1988, and that year we saw corn production fall off by over 30% ... so if we think of where we are today with already high corn prices, a true drought scenario can push prices to highs we've never seen before."

Temperatures will return to nearly normal summertime levels by Wednesday throughout the Northeast, said Chris Vaccaro, a spokesman for the National Weather Service.

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Nighttime will bring little solace.
While record- and near-record daytime highs are being set, many areas are also experiencing record warm lows at night. For instance, the low temperature of 83 recorded early Tuesday in North Little Rock, Arkansas, set a new record for the warmest low in July, Vaccaro said.
Warm nights are a problem for people without air conditioning, he said.

"If you're exposed to the outside elements, your body can't cool down at night," he said.

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Several high-temperature records have been broken recently.
Wichita, Kansas, hit 111 degrees Sunday. The National Weather Service says temperatures of 111 degrees have occurred there only 10 times since July 1888.

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