Millions impacted by heat, flooding swamps parts of Northeast
More than 100 million Americans across 15 states will spend part of the weekend under a heat advisory. Death Valley is projected to be the hottest place on earth as temperatures top 131 degrees.
The Northeast will again be looking to the skies as more rain is in the forecast following a dramatic weekend of weather.
David Miller has more in our weather wrap.
Transcript
Vermont residents spent most of the week cleaning up from two months worth of rainfall that fell over two days. High water could be found on almost every street of downtown Montpelier - the state capitol grounds being one of the lone exceptions.
The community of 8,000 spent 48 hours worrying about the structural integrity of a dam upstream. However, the dam managed to hold on through the storm’s surge.
Earlier in the week, the system inundated parts of the Northeast - causing damage to this road in upstate New York.
Jeff Morrissey, New York Contractor: “Washed the road out. Came right down here to the on ramp. Went over the corner, eroded all the dirt, took all the dirt, the big boulders. And it all just went into the river. The water was so intense we found tree branches out in the middle of the bridge, which was almost 150 feet away.”
A couple of storms swept through the Midwest.
Early Wednesday morning, much of the region from Pierre, South Dakota to Lansing, Michigan received significant rain.
Later in the day, the storms intensified as they passed through the Chicagoland area. Tornado sirens sounded in downtown, but much of the damage was in Elgin, near O’Hare Airport and surrounding suburbs.
Much of the Grain Belt’s rainfall came after the data cutoff for this week’s Drought Monitor. Improvement nationally was recorded, but much of middle America is still locked in serious drought conditions.
Highs over 100 degrees stretched from California to Florida as several consecutive days of sweltering heat have residents looking for ways to endure the oppressive temperatures.
Noah Diffenbaugh, Stanford University climate scientist: "The challenge is that, you know, it gets hot in the summer, that's that's normal. But we're now in a climate where we're more likely to, to experience more severe heat more often in, in more parts of the country."
For Market to Market, I’m David Miller.
Contact: Paul.Yeager@IowaPBS.com