A steamy, sticky few days are ahead. All 99 Iowa counties are under a Heat Advisory that runs from one o’clock this afternoon through seven o’clock on Friday night. Roger Vachelek, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service, says if there was any doubt before, summer is definitely here now.
Temperatures will be in the mid to upper-90s this afternoon while dew points will be in the low to mid-70s, pushing the heat index or “feels like” index toward 110-degrees. Vachelek says anyone who’ll be spending much time outside today will need to take it easy.
“Make sure you have plenty of water and take plenty of breaks if you must be outside,” Vachalek says. With temperatures this hot, heat stroke becomes a serious threat for some Iowans.
He says to use caution if you’re working outside, and check in on the elderly, young children and pets. A slight cool-down is in the forecast for Saturday and through the rest of the holiday weekend. See weather-dot-gov for details.
By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City