National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO

107 PM CDT TUE JUL 12 2011

...HOT WEATHER CONTINUES...

ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES HAVE IMPACTED THE MISSOURI OZARKS AND

SOUTHEAST KANSAS THE PAST FEW DAYS. AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES SINCE

SUNDAY JULY 10TH HAVE GENERALLY REACHED THE MIDDLE 90S TO NEAR 103

DEGREES WITH HEAT INDEX VALUES RANGING FROM 102 TO 109 DEGREES.

THE HIGHEST HEAT INDEX VALUES HAVE OCCURRED ACROSS CENTRAL

MISSOURI WHERE HUMIDITY LEVELS HAVE BEEN HIGHER.

DAILY HIGH TEMPERATURES / MAXIMUM HEAT INDEX VALUES...

              JULY 10     JULY 11

SPRINGFIELD   101/106     100/102

JOPLIN        105/109     101/103

ROLLA/VICHY    94/109      95/109

WEST PLAINS    95/106      95/102

CLIMATE FACTS...

THOUGH THERE IS NO OFFICIAL DEFINITION OF A HEAT WAVE...BELOW ARE

SOME INTERESTING FACTS REGARDING HIGH HEAT EVENTS ACROSS SOUTHEAST

KANSAS AND THE MISSOURI OZARKS.

AVERAGE NUMBER OF DAYS MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES ARE GREATER THAN OR EQUAL

TO 90 DEGREES F...

MONTH         JUNE     JULY    AUGUST     LENGTH OF RECORD

SPRINGFIELD     6       15       14         1940 TO 2010   

JOPLIN          8       18       17         1940 TO 2010

ROLLA/VICHY     5       13       11         1948 TO 2010

WEST PLAINS     5       11       14         2000 TO 2010

GREATEST NUMBER OF DAYS IN A MONTH MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES WERE GREATER THAN

OR EQUAL TO 90...

                 JUNE         JULY        AUGUST     LENGTH OF RECORD        

              DAYS  YEAR   DAYS  YEAR   DAYS  YEAR    

SPRINGFIELD    19   1954    29   1954    30   1980     1940 TO 2010

JOPLIN         28   1953    31   1954    30   1983     1940 TO 2010

ROLLA/VICHY    27   1952    25   2005    25   2007     1948 TO 2010

WEST PLAINS    15   2010    24   2010    24   2010     2000 TO 2010

GREATEST NUMBER OF CONSECUTIVE DAYS OF MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES GREATER THAN

OR EQUAL TO 90 DEGREES F...

                DAYS      START DATE      END DATE     LENGTH OF RECORD

SPRINGFIELD      27       27 JUL 1983     22 AUG 1983    1940 TO 2010

JOPLIN           46       16 JUN 1954     31 JUL 1954    1940 TO 2010

ROLLA/VICHY      28       05 JUN 1952     02 JUL 1952    1948 TO 2010

WEST PLAINS      22       14 JUL 2010     04 AUG 2010    2000 TO 2010

GREATEST NUMBER OF CONSECUTIVE DAYS OF MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES GREATER THAN

OR EQUAL TO 100 DEGREES F...

                DAYS      START DATE      END DATE     LENGTH OF RECORD

SPRINGFIELD       9       12 JUL 1980     20 JUL 1980    1940 TO 2010

JOPLIN           19       03 JUL 1980     21 JUL 1980    1940 TO 2010

ROLLA/VICHY      14       07 JUL 1980     20 JUL 1980    1948 TO 2010

WEST PLAINS       4       10 AUG 2007     13 AUG 2007    2000 TO 2010

HIGHEST TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED...

                TEMPERATURE      DATE        

SPRINGFIELD        113 F         14 JUL 1954    

JOPLIN             115 F         14 JUL 1954

ROLLA/VICHY        113 F         18 JUL 1954

WEST PLAINS        104 F         12 AUG 2007

HEAT SAFETY RULES AND GUIDELINES...

AFTER SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPERATURES WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY...HOT

WEATHER CONDITIONS WILL RETURN BY THIS WEEKEND INTO NEXT WEEK.

HEAT IS THE NUMBER ONE WEATHER RELATED KILLER...ESPECIALLY TO THE

ELDERLY...INFANTS AND PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC HEALTH PROBLEMS...WHO

LIVE IN URBAN AREAS WHERE THE HEAT IS ENHANCED DUE TO

CONCENTRATIONS OF CONCRETE...WHICH IS SLOW TO RELEASE HEAT AT

NIGHT. REMEMBER THAT WHILE HEAT RELATED ILLNESS AND DEATH CAN

OCCUR DUE TO EXPOSURE TO INTENSE HEAT IN JUST ONE AFTERNOON...HEAT

STRESS ON THE BODY HAS A CUMULATIVE EFFECT...MAKING LONG LASTING

PERIODS OF HIGH HEAT PARTICULARLY DEADLY.

HERE ARE SOME SAFETY RULES...

DRINK PLENTY OF WATER AND NATURAL FRUIT JUICES.  AVOID THE

DEHYDRATING EFFECTS OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES AND DRINKS WITH CAFFEINE

SUCH AS COFFEE...TEA AND COLAS.

WEAR LOOSE FITTING...LIGHT WEIGHT AND LIGHT COLORED CLOTHING. BE

SURE TO USE SUNSCREEN AND WEAR A WIDE BRIMMED HAT TO REDUCE EXPOSURE

TO THE SUN. 

IF POSSIBLE...AVOID OUTDOOR PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES DURING THE HOTTEST

TIMES OF THE DAY. 

USE AIR CONDITIONING WHENEVER AVAILABLE.  FANS SHOULD ONLY BE USED

IN A VENTILATED ROOM.  

TAKE COOL BATHS OR SHOWERS. 

EAT FREQUENT SMALL MEALS...CONSISTING OF LOW PROTEIN FOODS SUCH AS

FRUITS...VEGETABLES AND SALADS. AVOID HIGH PROTEIN FOODS WHICH

INCREASES METABOLIC HEAT.