20 minutes ago / 9:51 p.m. EDT
Temperatures in Texas are warmer than Death Valley this week
The heat in far south Texas yesterday was almost 10 degrees warmer than in California’s notoriously hot Death Valley, according to the National Weather Service.
Rio Grande Village, Texas, which is in Big Bend National Park, had a high observed temperature of 115 degrees yesterday – the highest recorded temperature in the US – compared to 109 degrees at the Death Valley Visitor Center in Furnace Creek, sources said.
Texas has been experiencing sweltering temperatures, but excessive heat warnings were in effect today for most of the southern US
Today, the maximum observed temperature at Death Valley’s Furnace Creek was 107 degrees, said Matt Woods, meteorologist for the Las Vegas Weather Service.
While 109 and 107 will most likely feel hot enough for visitors, Death Valley temperatures peak around the second half of July, when the average temperature is 118 degrees, Woods said.
1 hour ago / 8:58pm EDT
New Orleans breaks record for excessive heat warnings in one year
New Orleans has broken a record for excessive heat warnings set 13 years ago, according to the city and National Weather Service.
Excessive heat warnings are in effect through Friday, marking the eighth time such a warning has been in effect this year, the weather service said.
The previous record was five days in 2010.
Before the current heat event, there had been warnings of excessive heat for four days, the weather service said. There will be the seventh warning tomorrow and the eighth on Friday.
“It’s going to be hot. Again…” the weather service tweeted today with a melting smiling face emoji.
The heat index readings could be 115 to 120 degrees.
1 hour ago / 8:58pm EDT
Heat is the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the United States
Among all weather-related deaths in the United States, heat is the leading cause of death each year, the National Weather Service warned today.
“Take it seriously,” the Weather Service said on social media on a day when more than 46 million people were under excessive heat warnings and nearly 62 million nationwide under heat warnings.
According to the weather service, 148 people died of heat-related illnesses last year, compared to 375 the year before.
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1 hour ago / 9:00 p.m. EDT
At least 9 heat-related deaths in Texas county
The blistering heat in Webb County, Texas, has killed at least nine people in eight days, the coroner said Monday at a county government meeting.
“We don’t see that in our district. Laredo knows heat, Webb County knows heat. And I think our county was a little unprepared,” said Dr. Corinna Stern. “These are unprecedented temperatures here.”
The Associated Press today reported two more deaths in Webb County, which sits on the US-Mexico border, citing Stern. NBC News was unable to immediately reach the coroner’s office outside of business hours.
According to the National Weather Service, the temperature in Laredo at 6:30 p.m. was 105 degrees with a heat index of 110 degrees.
Stern urged residents at Monday’s gathering to protect themselves and to check on elderly relatives and neighbors.
“What we’ve heard so many times in those nine deaths that I’ve seen this week is, ‘Well, he knew it was hot, and he was going to get the air conditioning fixed,’ or ‘Oh no, he says he went through that.’ many times; “He said he would be fine,” she said. “But this is heat like we’ve never seen here.”
3 hours ago / 7:29pm EDT
The Pirates-Padres baseball game is still on Wednesday night
Baseball at the Burgh will resume as scheduled on Wednesday night. The Pittsburgh Pirates tweeted that they still plan to host tonight’s game against the San Diego Padres but said they will continue to monitor the air quality index around the ballpark.
“We have been in contact with Major League Baseball, the Major League Baseball Players Association, our team of experienced medical providers at Allegheny Health Network, and city and county officials regarding the current and projected air quality index in our area,” the tweet said .
Fans will have the opportunity to exchange their tickets for tickets to a future game provided they do so before the start of today’s game at 7:05 ET. For further information, click here.
3 hours ago / 7:30pm EDT
The non-profit DC organization urges vulnerable groups to avoid outdoor activities
A Washington, DC-area nonprofit Thursday is urging sensitive groups to avoid outdoor activities.
The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments recommended on Twitter that certain vulnerable groups should avoid “long or intense outdoor activities” and consider postponing or moving those activities indoors.
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The group also recommended that healthy people limit outdoor activities.
3 hours ago / 7:32pm EDT
New York state health officials are issuing air quality advisories
A health alert has been issued in New York for tomorrow as air quality is expected to reach unhealthy levels, state officials said.
The warning is in effect from 12:00 p.m. to 11:59 p.m., state officials said.
According to a joint statement from State Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Basil Seggos and State Health Commissioner Dr.
The alert warns that health effects can happen to anyone and that members of sensitive groups could experience more serious effects.
People with heart or breathing problems, the elderly, and children may be more susceptible to exposure.
Health officials also recommend minimizing exposure both indoors and outdoors, where concentrations of particulate matter can be higher.
3 hours ago / 7:33pm EDT
From Chicago to Minnesota, officials are warning about air quality
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson urged young people, older adults and residents with health conditions to spend more time indoors and pledged “quick action to ensure vulnerable individuals have the resources they need to take care of themselves.” and to protect their families”.
Minnesota issued a record air quality warning of the year late into the night as smoky skies obscured the Minneapolis and St. Paul skylines. Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana, among others, issued air quality warnings, and cities like Louisville, Kentucky also advised people to limit prolonged or intense outdoor activities.
3 hours ago / 7:35pm EDT
Smoke from Canadian wildfires increases health risk in black, poorer US communities
DETROIT — The smoky air from the Canadian wildfires blanketed much of the United States from Minnesota to Pennsylvania and Kentucky today, prompting stay-in warnings and compounding health risks for people already suffering from industrial pollution.
The impact is particularly harsh on poor and minority communities, who are more likely to live near polluting facilities and have higher rates of asthma. Detroit, a mostly black city with a poverty rate of about 30%, had the worst air quality in the US today, prompting the Environmental Protection Agency to warn that “everyone should stay indoors.”
“The more breaths you take, the more you’re literally breathing fire, camp smoke, into your lungs,” said Darren Riley, who was diagnosed with asthma in 2018, a few years after arriving in Detroit.
“A lot of communities face this all too often,” said Riley, who is black. “And while this wildfire smoke is sadly leaving many people feeling the burden, it is a burden that communities have faced day in and day out for far too long.”
The Environmental Protection Agency’s website AirNow.gov classified Detroit as “dangerous.” Chicago, Indianapolis, Cleveland and Pittsburgh all have “very unhealthy” air. A larger circle of unhealthy air spread to St. Louis and Louisville, Kentucky.
In the US, smoke is exacerbating air quality problems in poor and black communities who are already more likely to live near polluting plants and in rented homes where mold and other triggers are present.
Southwest Detroit is home to numerous sprawling refineries and manufacturing facilities. It’s one of the poorest parts of the city.