By: Eunia Zhong
Residents of the Eastern coast of the United States are boiling in a heat wave that has lasted for a week since around June 16.
The heat wave is currently passing through the Eastern coast affecting states including New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, South Dakota, Indiana, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Florida, and the District of Columbia. The National Weather Service (NWS) predicts that the heat wave will head towards the Midwestern United States and eventually hit Northwest areas like Washington, Wyoming, Montana, and more.
Areas around the Mid-Atlantic coastline are facing the highest heat risk issued by the Weather Service’s Heat Forecasts, which indicates danger to human health. In addition to the severe heat, the early arrival of record-breaking temperatures is also detrimental to the human body. This heat wave is hitting the U.S. in mid to late June, while most hit in times of July and August. A study in Boston proved that our bodies have worse reactions to initial heat waves compared to later heat waves. The research found that “older people were about three times as likely to go to the ER for heat problems during that initial heat wave versus the following one.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (C.D.C.) found that in the swaths of Midwestern and Eastern U.S., there have been extremely high cases of heat-related illnesses. The C.D.C. found that affected areas exceeded the 95th percentile of typical conditions after sampling around 100,000 hospital visits. Medical conditions and healthcare restrictions are causing trouble for the elderly in cities to avoid health problems.
For people who aren’t severely affected by illness, discomfort is still a large issue. Many citizens have tried to seek out cooler areas and other ways to avoid the heat. New Jersey has asked their people to reduce water usage to combat the heat wave, and many homeless people seek coolness while baking on the hot streets. Even with extreme temperatures, some cooling stations, such as Waterfront Rescue Mission, that are offered to the homeless don’t open until the temperature gets up to 105 degrees Fahrenheit, while most hot days in this heat wave only reach up to 100-102.
Along with healthcare records, many temperature records were broken as the heat wave swept through the states. Many cities met new temperature highs that haven’t been seen since the 1980s and 2010s. The highest temperatures have reached up to around 101 degrees Fahrenheit.
While the heat is a large concern for many, the abnormal weather following the heat wave is also a large issue. As the heat sweeps past the Northeast coasts, the cities are now confronted with a forecast of heavy storms and floods. According to the National Weather Service, it expects flash floods, damaging winds and tornadoes to hit the New England area on Sunday. A heat dome causes these extreme conditions, where a high pressure system pushes down air and traps it in a certain area, which is becoming more widespread due to climate change.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NWS, and other weather and atmospheric administrations are currently on the lookout for the path of the heat wave and the conditions it will bring.