In the coming days, temperatures in New York are expected to rise near 100 °F (38 °C), but with the humidity, it could feel like 109 °F (43 °C). Other cities from Detroit to Washington, D.C. and Boston will see temperatures as much as 20 degrees Fahrenheit above normal as the holiday weekend approaches.
Temperatures won’t be as high as they are in Phoenix. But this is not dry heat; With the humidity, anyone venturing outside is sure to have an experience almost akin to walking inside a dog’s mouth. In addition to the horrors of the hot, humid weather, there are also very serious health concerns.
Moisture hinders sweating – the human body’s most powerful tool for cooling. Sweat removes heat from the body by evaporating into the air, but this becomes less effective in humid conditions, when the atmosphere is already full of evaporated water. “When there is high humidity, especially in a heat wave, it is very difficult for the body to physically cool down,” says Richard Allen, a climate scientist at the University of Reading.
The National Weather Service warnings map is a patchwork of red and pink, with the agency indicating increased extreme heat warnings and monitoring. While daytime highs will be staggering, nighttime lows will be particularly problematic.
“Several consecutive days of hot temperatures and low overnight temperatures with little respite may increase heat stress on human bodies,” the NWS warned in its forecast.
That danger was underlined by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who wrote in a social post that New Yorkers should come up with a heating plan. First and foremost this means finding access to air conditioning, then checking for neighbors and people with illnesses that might make them vulnerable to heat-related health problems.
The extreme heat wave comes a week after Europe faced record-breaking temperatures. (The continent saw scorching temperatures and high humidity in late May.) Burning fossil fuels has ensured that almost every heat wave is more intense than in pre-industrial climates.
“The warming from rising greenhouse gases is clearly increasing global temperatures, and that’s leading to additional heat waves,” Allen says. “This promotes the transformation of moderate heat into extreme heat… These humid conditions may be more likely to lead to a hot, humid heat wave, rather than just humid and hot.”
El Nino is another culprit that could play a role in this heat wave.
The natural climate phenomenon forms every few years in the tropical Pacific, but it affects weather around the world. This includes helping to raise temperatures in the northern tier of the US and parts of Canada. El Nino was declared earlier this month, and it is expected to be a particularly powerful recurrence that will strengthen as the summer progresses. The hottest months are still to come, which means chances are good that if you missed your chance to feel what happens inside a dog’s mouth, you’ll have plenty more chances.
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