Heat a threat to man and machine
The National Weather Service says it's dangerously hot in 15 states.
August 4th, 2011
12:41 PM ET

Heat a threat to man and machine

Dallas has seen a solid month of triple-digit temperatures, and 15 states are under National Weather Service heat advisories. To put those figures into some historical and scientific context, here's a round of hot-weather factoids. If you're in one of those 15 sweltering states, please drink a glass of water while you read them.

  • NOAA has records of heat-related fatalities going back to 1986. For the first decade of data, the number of deaths did not top double digits until a disastrous 1995, when 1,021 people died. According to NOAA, about 700 of those deaths were in Chicago.
  • Between 1986 and 1997, the median annual number of heat-related fatalities was 36. Between 1998 and 2010, it was 158.
  • Seven high temperature records were broken Wednesday, and six were tied in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Arkansas and Missouri.
  • In parts of Missouri, the previous record was from the day before. Wednesday's high of 110 degrees beat out the all-time high of 106 that was set Tuesday.
  • Participants in the raw foods movement do not eat food that has been prepared at temperatures greater than 104 degrees Fahrenheit. They should therefore steer clear of picnicking in Dallas or Oklahoma City, where today's forecast high is 110 degrees.
  • Scientists say the average temperature on Earth during the Cretaceous period was just a chilly 82 degrees, though individual locations were much hotter.
  • Apple recommends not operating its iPod Touch, iPad and iPhone in temperatures greater than 95 degrees. They can be stored at up to 113 degrees, but parked cars get hotter than that.
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Filed under: Arkansas • Heat • Kansas • Missouri • Oklahoma • Texas • U.S. • Weather
soundoff (20 Responses)
  1. banasy

    I remember the disaster is Chicago.
    It was a very sad time for our fellow Chicagoans.
    I worked in the Loop at that time, and we had to go home some days because the electric supply wasn't enough to keep many of our hi-rises air conditioned.
    I no longer work downtown, but my sister does, and she says everything has been ok....so far. (Knocks wood)

    August 4, 2011 at 1:06 pm | Report abuse |
  2. GENERAL RUFFNUTT

    the sun took out my radiator... and my ac suks

    August 4, 2011 at 1:53 pm | Report abuse |
  3. TvNYC

    Hey banasy...

    I'm back couldn't go a day without CNN blogs. Rofl. Anyway this is global warming people and it's about to get worse. The southern hemisphere is gonna bake this winter (southern hemisphere summer while the northern hemisphere shivers and digs out. This is serious yet we still drive and burn oil use air conditioning and don't look for ways to get solar and wind energy a step closer to us. No wonder the stock market is not doing well. Everyone is spending their money on air conditioning. What BS this country has become. We are supposed to lead instead we will all eventually bake once earth becomes hell! Sad!

    August 4, 2011 at 2:03 pm | Report abuse |
    • hehe

      lol, 'global warming'! Only total retards believes in that.

      August 4, 2011 at 3:45 pm | Report abuse |
  4. JB

    Don't know how my mother can fuc with this weather. Her ass is always on fire.

    August 4, 2011 at 2:07 pm | Report abuse |
  5. TvNYC

    Armageddon....

    Oh banasy how u like the weather today huh?

    August 4, 2011 at 2:09 pm | Report abuse |
  6. CSnSC

    My new iphone was delivered today. I was stoked ! Now I have to move to Alaska every Summer to use it ?

    August 4, 2011 at 2:24 pm | Report abuse |
  7. im too meee

    Wind and solar would be nice cept it takes alot of space to install all them critters! take a look at tachachapi or palm springs they have wind farms. .people get too excited over the stock market. .would be best if it crashed and burned. .invest in three things and you will be set .toilet paper coffins and urns

    August 4, 2011 at 2:42 pm | Report abuse |
  8. justathought

    Hey RUFFNUT! Maybe your AC really doesn't sck, it just can't keep up with the heat. The other day thought my AC went out, but latter in the evening it was working fine.

    August 4, 2011 at 3:33 pm | Report abuse |
  9. WOT

    Hehe, you are also what you call others! The sun will soon engulf the earth! Yes, I am a. science Graduate!

    August 4, 2011 at 3:58 pm | Report abuse |
  10. yada

    Good grief! Is there any GOOD news?

    August 4, 2011 at 4:41 pm | Report abuse |
  11. Ancient Texan

    It is HOT, but 1917 and 1934-35 was hotter and drier than now in the West Texas, New Mexico area. Did those model "A"s and Model "T"s cause global warming too? Just another hot weather cycle.

    August 4, 2011 at 5:32 pm | Report abuse |
  12. RUFFNUTT

    I just wonder if God could be punishing this country for what it's doing in the Middle East and North Africa. As the right-wing thugs in Washington have lost all sense of justice, so has the general public or so it seems. We soarly need to have a foreign policy guided by a sense of justice and equality toward other peoples in this world which is currently non-existant. In other words, get out of all these obnoxious wars overseas!!!!!!!

    August 4, 2011 at 6:05 pm | Report abuse |
    • Lyndsie Graham

      Good posting, RUFFNUTT. Well said.

      August 4, 2011 at 7:17 pm | Report abuse |
  13. fernace

    @ he he, & only teatards don't! Thanks TvNYC for daring to speak the GW words! People get irate about it, even thought it is a scientifically proven fact! They don't believe in science either so what can you do! I live in Texas & we are used to heat, but it's even too hot for us ol' pros! When I was a kid in Sweden, we were taught that the sun would eventually burn up the planet, & also that manmade waste would be our downfall if we didn't take steps to change our habits! That was in the 60's & 70's, nothing has changed, just more of the same! Stay hydrated, & out of the heat, if you can! Don't need any more heat related deaths!!

    August 4, 2011 at 6:08 pm | Report abuse |
  14. s kel

    poor hehe that person is just stupid and wont ever listen. this heat, this heat, this heat, gotta hate it. people laugh when I tell them I hate summer, love fall and winter, and spring? that season does not seem to exist anymore.

    August 5, 2011 at 4:38 am | Report abuse |
  15. Ms. Banasy

    @TvNYC:
    The weather is still ok here...Late afternoon yesterday was gorgeous!

    August 5, 2011 at 11:41 am | Report abuse |
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