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Over 100 Million Americans Urged To Stay Indoors Over Extreme Heat and Humidity (theguardian.com) 86

Posted by msmash from the PSA dept.
More than 100 million Americans are being warned to stay indoors if possible as high temperatures and humidity settle in over states stretching through parts of the Gulf coast to the Great Lakes and east to the Carolinas. From a report: The National Weather Service Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland, said on Monday 107.5 million people will be affected by combination of heat advisories, excessive heat warnings and excessive heat watches through Wednesday. The heatwave, which set several high temperature records in the west, the south-west and into Denver during the weekend, moved east into parts of the Gulf coast and the midwest on Monday and will expand to the Great Lakes and east to the Carolinas, the National Weather Service said.

St Louis, Memphis, Minneapolis and Tulsa are among several cities under excessive heat warnings, with temperatures forecast to reach about 100F (38C), accompanied by high humidity that could make conditions feel close to 110F (43C). In Jackson, Mississippi, residents braved temperatures reaching 95F (35C) on Monday to complete their chores. Roger Britt, 67, ventured to a neighborhood garden in search of vegetables for dinner. Britt thinks the weather in Jackson has been more unpredictable in recent years. "It was so cold this past winter, so I know it's going to be a hot summer," he said.
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Over 100 Million Americans Urged To Stay Indoors Over Extreme Heat and Humidity More

Over 100 Million Americans Urged To Stay Indoors Over Extreme Heat and Humidity

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  • Once again, I'll take "No Shit" for $100 Alex... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by cayenne8 ( 626475 ) on Friday June 17, 2022 @04:10PM (#62629296) Homepage Journal
    LOL...I mean seriously.

    It's the south, it gets fucking hot.

    The humidity makes it feel miserable.

    And, it's only getting worse through September.

    If you live here, you know these things.

    I personally plan to build and alter to the person that invented AC.

    That also makes me wonder, I see pictures from the old days here in New Orleans. Middle of summer, people dressed in full suits for men, long dresses with God knows what for layers of undergarments underneath.

    In the days before AC.

    I wonder how the living fuck did these people survive back then?

    I also have to guess BO was pretty bad back in the day, if someone from modern times could go back and visit.

    But hell, I can't sleep at night if it is above 73F in the house...I dunno how people managed back then.

    I don't think it was THAT much cooler back then, I guess they were just tougher back then.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Z00L00K ( 682162 )

      In the days before AC they had mosquito nets around the porches and actually spent the time on the porch on the hottest nights.

      • In the days before AC they had mosquito nets around the porches and actually spent the time on the porch on the hottest nights.

        I dunno.

        trying to sleep at night with 80F temps and 80% humidity isn't really any more comfortable than trying those temps indoors at night....

        I can't sleep when its that hot and even above the heat, it's the humidity that just kills me.

        • Once they hit the 1950s, they had big attic fans which pulled air in thru the windows and out thru the roof of a central hallway into the attic and out the roof. Attic fans were in southern houses as long as the 1980s. As soon as the temperature was below 83/84, you were comfortable because the house didn't retain the heat and you had constant breeze across you from the window. Beds were higher and windows were lower so you got a constant draft across you to the middle of the house.

          You would then clos

    • When I lived in Texas, which was for just over a year and a half, heat killed something like 30 people in one month in Austin. That was only ~900,000 people under a severe heat advisory, and over two dozen of them still managed to die. You're pretty casual about the probable deaths of humans.

      Severe weather events are getting more severe, with greater extents, and greater durations. Pretending this is not happening is foolish in the extreme, at best.

      • When I lived in Texas, which was for just over a year and a half, heat killed something like 30 people in one month in Austin. That was only ~900,000 people under a severe heat advisory, and over two dozen of them still managed to die. You're pretty casual about the probable deaths of humans.

        I guess I'm a bit light hearted on it, because I LIVE it....it's an integral part of my life.

        More often than not, those that die like that are extremely elderly and frail or have some sort of other medical problems.

        Y

        • More often than not, those that die like that are extremely elderly and frail or have some sort of other medical problems.

          They died with high heat and humidity, not from high heat and humidity.

          Am I getting it right?

        • Actually, even here in northeast Ohio, just across Lake Erie from Canadia, a lot more people die of heat-related causes, than cold. It's often considered a colder climate, but that's only true half the the year. Life-threatening combinations of humidity plus heat can occur any other time.

          The epidemiology at first glance looks similar. Both heat and cold disproportionately kill the poor and/or elderly. But all it takes to avoid cold temps is to be indoors and to have a little heat running. Avoiding the

      • Re:Once again, I'll take "No Shit" for $100 Alex.. (Score:4, Informative)

        by dryeo ( 100693 ) on Friday June 17, 2022 @11:59PM (#62630432)

        Over 600 died from the heat last year here in BC, mostly in the Vancouver area, over one weekend.

    • Re:Once again, I'll take "No Shit" for $100 Alex.. (Score:5, Informative)

      by chill ( 34294 ) on Friday June 17, 2022 @04:56PM (#62629464) Journal

      They frequently died [history.com].

      For the record, Minneapolis is only considered "in the south" if you're in Canada.

      And Willis Carrier -- amen. Add to that altar Peter von Rittinger, the inventor of the heat pump.

      • It's one of the colder major metros in the continental U.S., but still gets pretty warm and occasionally very hot (record I think is 42C/108F).

        In my day, people didn't drop like flies from the heat, but I think that is because way fewer of them survived into their 70s and beyond, than what is typical today.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Ichijo ( 607641 )

      In the days before AC. I wonder how the living fuck did these people survive back then?

      Not using the A/C whenever it got hot gave their bodies a chance to acclimate to the hot weather.

      • Re:Once again, I'll take "No Shit" for $100 Alex.. (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Patent Lover ( 779809 ) on Friday June 17, 2022 @05:01PM (#62629482)
        They also didn't cut down all the trees and pave over every fucking piece of ground they could find.

      • Not using the A/C whenever it got hot gave their bodies a chance to acclimate to the hot weather.

        I've had to, at times, go extended periods of time without AC.

        No...body didn't acclimate to the extent you are putting forth.

        I'm guessing it they were either tougher people (most likely)....or maybe it was cooler then, I dunno....but it gets fucking miserable here now through early October.

        My AC clicks on about early April and doesn't click off till maybe mid November.

        I bitch about it all summer, but when i

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by fermion ( 181285 )
          Growing up in the heat of summer, with no AC, days of end with temperatures above 100, never getting below 80, I can say it is just is the norm. My first apartment did have AC which it needed because it had no real widows for cross ventilation, not enough trees.

          It is either something one tolerates or it kills you, which is what we are talking about here. Exposure and the ability of the body to cope. In the developed world it is not reasonable to expect people to cope or die.

        • I'm from northeast Ohio (humid but not usually hotter than 35C), and my wife from southeastern Europe (hotter than 35C in summer but usually not humid).

          Both of us find it very much more difficult to acclimate to humidity, than to dry heat.

          Sweating can lower body temperature in dry heat even if outside temperature is hotter than normal body temperature, which is why people in really hot, but dry, climates can survive.

          A sufficient humidity level makes sweating ineffective, so even if it is less than normal bo

      • Or they adapted their work hours to the times when you could actually do work without overheating. The Spanish and Mexicans don't hold their Siesta because they're lazy, ya know...

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by sjames ( 1099 )

      Yes, it gets hot and humid in the deep south. But this year it has gotten hotter than usual and earlier in the year than usual.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Reziac ( 43301 ) *

        Conversely, here in Montana we had spates of winter into mid-May, and today are finally getting the first day that's normal summer-hot. Growing season is at least a month behind.

        When I was a kid here, all the girls broke out their summer dresses on Easter weekend. In recent years, parkas and long underwear are more appropriate.

    • We do keep records of this stuff (Score:4, Informative)

      by divide overflow ( 599608 ) on Friday June 17, 2022 @06:21PM (#62629756)
      You don't have to guess. The US has been keeping records of the weather since 1849 [weather.gov].

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by suutar ( 1860506 )

      Yeah, it always gets hot. The interesting part for this is the models [ou.edu] are predicting unusual levels of hot, like 90+ percentile to recordbreaking temperatures for large areas by the middle of next week.

    • That whooshing sound you hear overhead is the point. Of course it gets hot in the summer. However, weather history data shows this is heat wave is exceptionally hot.
    • I've been in the copier/printer business for over 40 years. I found out, the printing business, gave birth to the air conditioner. In Buffalo NY, early 1900's a lithograph company was having all sorts of problems printing, in the summer, due to the heat & humidity. (back then they had to run the same sheet of paper 4 times, one for each color). Willis Carrier invented a device to take down the humidity. It had a side effect of bringing down the temperature. After a lot of work, commerical units went

    • 100 F is just not that hot...when you're used to it. I was outside all day today in the Virginia Beach area.

      106 on the thermostat at 3:00 pm. I drank water, wiped my sweat when working, and...ate lunch outside in the shade, while enjoying the tree canopy and the shade.

      But I've been at this for 20+ years. YMMV

      • There is definitely a "your get used to it" part. If you stay indoors in an environment always at a preferred temperature and humidity, everything else is either too hot or too cold.

        There is also the part where above or below a temperature range death is likely for those with weak health.

        Yes, YMMV.

      • 100F is acceptable, if it's dry heat. And you have drinking water with you.

        100F with 90%+ humidity is torture if you're supposed to do work.

    • I wonder how the living fuck did these people survive back then?

      Have you considered that they didn't survive?

      Infant mortality was quite high. Many older people died from the heat, cold, etc.

      What we see in the photos are those that made it. We don't see the ones that did not.

    • Mostly, they died untimely deaths.

    • I have just returned from a holiday in Indonesia. People there also wear shoes, socks, long pants, a hoodie, jacket and helmet while riding on their motorbikes. Women are wearing pants, a skirt, pullover and head scarve. I asked them if they weren't hot and they replied that they are used to it. I was feeling miserable in just shorts and a t-shirt. Apparently you can get used to it. I for the life of me don't know how but still.

    • Mainly? It's about not having a choice, and never feeling cool in the first place.
      Our house is not air conditioned, and (driving a car with AC, sitting in an office with AC) it's far more miserable for me to try to sleep at night than it ever is for my kids or wife who don't mind the heat much at all.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ffkom ( 3519199 )

      In the days before AC.

      I for one do not have an AC at home, and I don't miss one. Currently, it is 36C outside, but only about 22C at night, so the indoor temperature averages at about 30C over a couple of days in the thick walled building where I live. Why should I be bothered with a temperature that is still well below my body temperature on average? Actually, I'm soon on vacation in a country where it is considerably warmer and more humid.

      These days the media hypes any weather into a deadly scare. Yes, temperature extrema, l

    • My dad did not believe in AC, I was 27 with a wife and two kids and had lived in my own small house since I was 20 before I bought a window unit. You get a fan and sweat. I was in the Navy, 1972-1978, served on WWII era destroyer training ships. No AC in the engine rooms or sleeping quarters of those steam powered ships. More sweating.

  • Why is this on Slashdot? (Score:5, Funny)

    by TwistedGreen ( 80055 ) on Friday June 17, 2022 @04:14PM (#62629308)
    I'm pretty sure the average Slashdot reader won't be going outside anyways.

    • I'm pretty sure the average Slashdot reader won't be going outside anyways.

      I'm sure as hell not.

      Heat index was 117 yesterday, today it's a chilly 112.

      • Heat index was 117 yesterday, today it's a chilly 112.

        66 and sunny here on the central california coast today. 52 was the overnight low.

        It's a rough life

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by jmccue ( 834797 )
          Just shy of 80F (27C) here, a bit warm for me, but I did love my hour long shower I took today :)

          • Water??? You guys have WATER?

            We have an ocean full of the stuff, but there is massive resistance to building desalination plants to make it into water we can use...

    • Well, why would I? I can work from home, I can buy my groceries from here, and everything I need for my entertainment is here.

      There isn't really a compelling reason to leave this house, unless it's on fire.

  • Up next: Dimwits defiantly declaring that da man can't tell them they can't leave their home because of a fake problem, followed closely by the same dimwits clogging emergency rooms with their carcasses.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gtall ( 79522 )

      It's worse than that. Some woman and a rancher in the upper midwest combined their effort to stop a pipeline. When the woman was asked whether she was doing it to help combat global warning, her response was, no, God controls the weather. Given the "weather" issues around the world, we can only conclude God wants us all soon dead.

  • Get some infrared and UVB if you want to stave off covid. Actual science.

    I am just wondering how many Americans died from heat each year before electrification.

  • It'll get worse... (Score:3)

    by Petersko ( 564140 ) on Friday June 17, 2022 @04:48PM (#62629436)

    Having to hide indoors with A/C sucks, and it really doesn't help the large picture problem... but couple that with the upcoming rolling blackouts in some regions... yikes. If unrefrigerated folks are dying, that's probably not somewhere people are supposed to live. Will we see climate refugees in large numbers in the U.S.? Probably not tomorrow... but I'll likely live to see it.

  • It's a cool, slightly rainy 61 degrees in Seattle, but to all of you who are baking in the heat right now, you have my sympathy.

    Stay cool and drink lots of fluids.

  • We had those in the 1980s even up here in the NorthEast. Now the humidity I wish was still like in those early 1980s though. Or maybe it is just that I am getting old and so any humidity at all effects my out of shape ass now.

    -its not the heat its the humidity

    • Summers in PA are too uncomfortable for me. All that shitty humid air from the south blows up here. We don't even get good storms in this region. They always split apart or evaporate along the way.

    • Well, the thing is, we also got those 95-105F days here in the 80s. The difference is that it wasn't all Summer, every Summer. It was maybe a week total this year, and then we spent the next 4 years dreaming of this awesome Summer week that we wish we could get back.

      Yeah, careful what you wish for...

  • increase the temp for next year after all a 100,000 million of you not believing in global warming cant be wrong.

  • So nobody's going to work?

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