Scorcher sears area with 97 temps

Kane County Chronicle
July 21, 2011
by Brenda Schory

This summer’s sizzling, sweltering scorcher of a heat wave most likely hit its peak on Wednesday, with official high temperatures measured at 97 at DuPage and Aurora airports, 99 degrees at O’Hare and 100 degrees at Midway.

But to those in the trenches, it feels and measures hotter.

“Our foreman came in today and said the thermometer in his truck was 105 degrees at 2 p.m.,” said St. Charles Township Highway Commissioner Ron Johnson. “It’s very hot.”

Mike Bardou, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Romeoville office, said Wednesday would be recorded as the hottest day of the week’s hot streak, with Thursday a bit “cooler” in the low 90s.

“Today is the worst combination of heat and humidity since July 1999, a period when we had five days in a row of 90 or better, a one-day break, and then three more of 90 or more,” Bardou said.

“It’s been a while since we’ve seen this heat and humidity.”

But there is hope for cooler temperatures, he said.

“We should see a reprieve [Thursday] because we have a weak cold front dropping across Minnesota and Wisconsin,”

Bardou said. “What may happen is we’ll get more cloud cover and the hottest air will be pushed south. But it will still be in the mid-upper 90s. It’s still going to be hot.”

Blame the torrid temps on a weather pattern that has North America in a fevered grip.

“We are in a stagnant weather pattern – that’s why it won’t go away,” Bardou said. “What we have in place is a big ridge of high pressure over most of the middle part of the country on the scale of North America. It’s been there all week.”

High pressure brings clear skies, low pressure brings precipitation, he said.

“We have seen ... high temperatures move eastward,” Bardou said. “A couple days ago, the hottest temperatures were in the Plains, now closer to the Mississippi River in the axis of the hottest air, pushing into the Midwest.”

Going into Friday, Saturday and Sunday, however, Bardou said the hottest air will be displaced south and east, but the area will still be burdened with 90-degree temperatures.

“By Monday, we may see highs in the low 80s,” Bardou said. “A noticeable difference.”

As the heat continues, health officials caution against exposure to extreme temperatures and staying hydrated.

The Kane County Health Department advisory warns those working outside to take frequent breaks and drink plenty of fluids.

It also directs people without air conditioning to go to a public cooling center such as a library to avoid heat exhaustion or heat stroke – serious medical conditions.

The body normally cools itself by sweating, but under conditions of high heat and humidity, the body cannot cool itself and a person’s body temperature can rise, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Heat exhaustion can occur after several days of exposure to high heat and not enough fluids. Heat stroke occurs when the body can no longer cool itself and its internal temperature rises. If untreated, heat stroke can cause death or disability, according to the CDC.

Dr. Madeline Kwiatkowski, M.D., a doctor from the Central DuPage Hospital Convenient Care Center at Charlestowne in St. Charles, said the center has treated several patients for heat exhaustion this week.

“People are working a little too hard, two or three days in a row in the heat,” Kwiatkowski said.

“They have muscle cramps, dehydration and we had to give IV fluids. We have not seen heat stroke that required us to transfer [a patient] to the hospital.”
Kwiatkowski also cautioned that area residents not only take care of themselves, but not to leave children or pets in a car,and to check on elderly neighbors.

Connie Barrera, the office administrator at the Salvation Army Tri-City Corps in St. Charles said the volunteers who deliver Meals on Wheels to the area’s elderly also stop to check on them to make sure they are all right.

“We have been prepared, if anyone came to us and said they did not have air conditioning, we would supply them with a fan,” Barrera said.