July 6, 2012

Over 115 million bake in heat, with more scorching temps to come

On Friday afternoon, temperatures topped 100 degrees Fahrenheit from Chicago to Kansas City, Missouri, and Columbus, Ohio, and many places in between. Heat watches, warnings and advisories touched 25 states -- an area spanning roughly one-quarter of the nation and encompassing more than 115 million people, or more than one in three Americans.

Nationwide, more than 4,500 record-high daily temperatures have been set in the past 30 days, according to the National Climatic Data Center. 

And since June 23, scores of cities have been the hottest they've ever been, on any day ever recorded. That includes 107 in Colorado Springs, 109 in Nashville and 106 in Atlanta. In Washington, the thermometer has gone past 95 degrees for nine straight days -- the longest such streak since modern record-keeping began.

Thankfully, there is some relief on the horizon. A cold front should move across the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes on Saturday, and then into Ohio and the Northeast by the following day, bringing significantly cooler air with it.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/06/us/extreme-heat/index.html?hpt=us_c1