Hundreds Of Heat Records Fall

Associated Press - Wed 05:33 PM 06/27/2012

Hundreds of heat-related records have fallen across the United States.

In the past week, 1,011 records have been broken around the country, including 251 new daily high temperature records on Tuesday.

Blistering heat is helping Hill City get a national reputation. The western Kansas town hit 115 degrees on Wednesday - a day after hitting the same mark to earn the distinction of recording the nation's highest temperature, according to the National Weather Service. Tuesday's reading was also a new record for that date in the town.

Numerous Kansas communities are shattering records for high temperatures this week as an intense heat wave bears down.

If forecasts hold, more records could fall in the coming days in the central and western parts of the country.

The heat is creating consequences ranging from the catastrophic to the comical, from wildfires in the Rocky Mountains to frying bacon on an Oklahoma sidewalk. Farmers fear they're losing valuable corn crops to the heat, and emergency management officials are urging residents to take extreme caution and avoid being outside.

University of Victoria climate scientist Andrew Weaver says the current heat wave "is bad now by our current definition," but that this will be "far more common in the years ahead."

No matter where you are this week, the objective is the same: stay cool.

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