Dangerous heat wave coming for millions of Americans after severe storms end

AccuWeather

After severe storms cause hundreds of flight delays and cancellations on June 19, the next danger coming for the Northeast is the first heat wave of 2025.

Transcript

00:00John, in the short term, we have major problems coming into the Northeast.

00:05Jeff, we sure do, and that is increasing delays and cancellations at the big airports in the Northeast associated with these thunderstorms,

00:14some of which contain destructive winds, heads up in the D.C. area, a line of severe thunderstorms moving in,

00:21probably be into downtown Washington, D.C. by 420 Eastern Time.

00:26Wind gusts, Jeff, I just spoke with our severe weather experts in the AccuWeather Severe Weather Center,

00:31could gust 70 to 80 miles per hour with that line of storms coming right into D.C.,

00:37screaming from near Dulles Airport right into the downtown area here over the coming 20 minutes.

00:43And we have seen some strong winds.

00:44Numerous trees just recently blowing down in the past 20 minutes here in many areas around and west of D.C.

00:49We're going to see more reports like these.

00:51And, John, it's not just D.C., but we've also seen significant ground stops up into the New York metro,

00:56with some severe thunderstorms nearby there as well.

00:59And, John, these ground stops, what a mess this causes when we see these major airports in the Northeast with a trickle-down effect.

01:07Here we have some specifics here, major delays up in Boston right now.

01:11That's correct.

01:12And we don't have any other way to describe this other than a mess.

01:15This is why AccuWeather experts were highlighting the concerns about the evening commute and air travel here

01:21as we headed through the day across the Northeast Corridor.

01:25Lots of flights in and out of these big airports.

01:28And, Jeff, as you mentioned, when we talk about major delays from Boston down toward Newark,

01:32JFK down south toward Baltimore, Washington, Philadelphia, and Dulles and National Airports,

01:39delays in these areas.

01:40Look at this.

01:41We have a ground stop now at these three major airports here in the Mid-Atlantic.

01:45That means that flights that are destined for these locations are stopped at their departure,

01:50which means that no flights are coming in.

01:52And this has cascading impacts across the country really quickly.

01:57So hundreds of flights, maybe 650 flights may be canceled here over the coming hours

02:03and lots of delays to go with it.

02:04So pack your patience at the airport here as we head through the evening.

02:09And, John, a lot of people will be on the road trying to get down to the shore and beaches.

02:15Finally have a great beach weekend after we get through the thunderstorm hurdles this evening.

02:19A lot of people on the roads.

02:21And the heat is another huge story for us here as that begins to expand east.

02:25It's going to be an impactful and dangerous heat wave.

02:28The first one of the season, Jeff, as you mentioned, centered across parts of the central plains

02:32from Friday into Sunday.

02:34But then that shifts toward the east coast for early next week.

02:37That's the peak of the heat wave in the big cities along the I-95 corridor back toward Chicago

02:42and Detroit as well.

02:43And this heat is going to be impressive coupled with the humidity as well.

02:47And that's going to lead to some dangerous conditions.

02:49Remember, heat is the number one way, tragically, that people in the United States lose their

02:54life as it relates to extreme weather.

02:56So we've got to take preparation for heat waves very seriously.

02:59And, John, we have a unique product here at AccuWeather.

03:02We rolled this out a few years ago, the AccuWeather Heat Wave Severity Index.

03:05Could you talk about the value of this product and how it helps us to quantify the danger

03:09and impact of events like these?

03:11It's another exclusive AccuWeather tool to help you best describe the impact of heat waves.

03:16They're very dangerous, as we mentioned.

03:18So with the exclusive AccuWeather Heat Wave Counter and Severity Index, we count the number

03:23of heat waves.

03:23So let's go over to New York here.

03:25Notice we have eight severity on the AccuWeather Heat Wave Severity Index for June 22nd to June

03:3126th.

03:32That's a moderate heat wave.

03:34Notice the higher numbers there.

03:35That's where you get into strong, severe, and extreme heat waves.

03:38It's the first one of the year.

03:39We had four last year and only one back in 2023.

03:42So that heat wave severity index allows you to determine how an upcoming heat wave or

03:49any heat wave compares to other ones.

03:51And you can see this will be a moderate one.

03:52People do need to take that seriously and be prepared.

03:55And when I look at this, John, we have eight units for this one.

03:57And we haven't had one with eight for any individual heat wave in more than two years.

04:02So again, this is going to be a big deal.

04:04And by the numbers here, we're going to hang out in those mid-90s with those very warm overnight

04:08lows, also a factor.

04:09You can see the peak of the heat in the mid-90s early next week.

04:13Those overnight low temperatures, though, they only fall to between 75 and 80 degrees, which

04:18means there's very little relief at night and very little recovery time.

04:21That makes it especially dangerous.

04:22And regarding this heat wave specifically compared to maybe something of equal magnitude

04:27in August, this is going to hit us pretty hard.

04:29It is.

04:30And the risk for health impacts, heat illness is amplified because it's the first heat wave

04:34of the year.

04:35Our bodies are not used to it yet.

04:37There'll be little to no heat relief at night, as mentioned, with those elevated overnight

04:42temperatures and the humidity as well will be a big factor.

04:45And I want to highlight people that are working outside for the first time in a new job, including

04:50people, maybe high school students or college students that are working outside during the

04:54summer, while people working outside for the first time, they could be at an elevated risk

04:58for heat illness.

04:59That can be quite serious and life-threatening in the most extreme circumstances.

05:03You have to be very careful with that.

05:05Plan plenty of water breaks to stay cool.

05:07And, of course, it's also important to point out that the impacts of heat accumulate during

05:12the heat wave.

05:13So the most significant risk for health impacts from the extreme heat can be later in a heat

05:20wave or the day after the heat wave breaks, in terms of hospitalizations and tragically

05:25fatalities.

05:26So keep an eye on people that you know and make sure that people are being well prepared

05:30here for this extreme heat with frequent water breaks.

05:33Keep an eye on everybody here in this very dangerous upcoming heat wave.

05:37All right.

05:37AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist John Porter.

05:39Lots to talk about here with the severe weather and the heat.

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