The summer of 2012 from Denver to St Louis and really to Washington DC will be remembered for a long time as one long , brutal, hot, dry and dusty summer. Folks throughout the heart of the Plains, Front Range of the Rockies and Midwest have had no rest this year and over the next 5-7 days, the brutalising sun will have it’s focus of torturous 105-110 degree heat centered from Dallas to Wichita. While both Denver to the west and St Louis to the east see some relief with highs falling back into the 90s, those 100s aren’t far away and one or more days, especially for St Louis back in the 100s is a real possibility.

You can see why the heat has become so relentless and brutal thanks to these two charts below.. Keep in mind the feedback between dry soils and the atmosphere. Drier and often the more expansive the dry soils, the stronger upper heights can be and temperatures hot down below.

The good news is a trough is deepening over the Lakes to Mid-Atlantic in coming days and relief is to be had with more in the way of rain, less humidity and daytime highs back in the upper 70s across New England to low and mid-80s down across the Mid-Atlantic. For the upper Midwest and Great Lakes, relief is on offer here too with highs also down to the upper 70s, low and mid-80s. It’s currently 67 and falling tonight in Chicago with low humidity and a flow coming out of the NW!

The below charts show The Weather Channel’s forecast highs for the nation over the next 3 days. Notice the focus of heat directly over North Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

 

Tags: heat wave 2012, us drought