One word for the weather over the next 10 days: Hot.
Make that two words: Hot and stormy.
Temperatures in the high 80s and 90s with humidity well over 50 percent.
Add thunderstorms to the mix and the outlook for the next two weeks and through the rest of July is not pretty.
To make matters worse, the National Weather Service office in Blacksburg has high pollen alerts.
Highs Tuesday are expected to hit at least 89 in Floyd County and over 90 in other areas with zero chance of precipitation.
Then 20 percent chance on Wednesday before scattered thunderstorms forecast Thursday with a 60 percent chance of rain and 90 percent chance on Friday.
Weather forecasters say the trend is expected to remain with us for the next three weeks or more, which means outdoor summer events like FloydFest later this month could face hot and wet conditions.
Prolonged hot weather means heavy demands on air conditioning and electricity. That increases the chances of power outages and brownouts. The heat and humidity puts strain on elderly who often live in homes without air conditioning in our rural areas.
And those who study such things say it will get worse…much worse.
Reports National Geographic:
A new study has found that 30 percent of the world’s population is currently exposed to potentially deadly heat for 20 days per year or more—and like a growing forest fire, climate change is spreading this extreme heat.
Without major reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases such as CO2, up to three in four people will face the threat of dying from heat by 2100. However, even with reductions, one in two people at the end of the century will likely face at least 20 days when extreme heat can kill,
Call it the dog days of summer.
Or just call it hot…or miserable…or both.
