Nearly half of Iowa is under a heat advisory through 7 p.m. Tuesday. It’s hot across the entire state, but the heat index is hovering near the 110-degree mark in the 44 counties along and south of I-80 covered under the advisory.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Mindy Albrecht says the combination of heat and humidity can make it dangerous for any outdoor activities."It’s harder for people to cool off when the humidity gets this high," Albrecht said.
"So, even somebody who’s regularly fit and outside doing activities can still feel some stress and be affected by this type of weather." Sunday was the first official day of summer, but Albrecht says it’s not unusual for things to heat up this early in the season.
The record temperature for this date is 103, set in 1988. "So, it’s not unusual for us to be this hot," Albrecht said. "It feels more unusual this year just because we’ve had such a cool start to June and now all of the sudden we’ve been jump started into the 90 degree temperature ranges with the heat indexes above 105."
Cooler air is expected in the state by Wednesday and Thursday, although high temperatures could still reach the low 90s. Slight chances for scattered thunderstorms exist across much of the state through Friday.