A strong high pressure center is developing across the central US and will bring extreme high temperatures and humidity to many locations under the “dome” of high pressure over the next few days.   You can read more about it at Weather Underground at https://www.wunderground.com/news/summer-heat-expanding-widespread-dangerous and at CNN at https://us.cnn.com/2016/07/17/weather/extreme-weather-heat-dome/index.html.  The combination of temperatures in the 90s or higher plus high humidity, especially in the Corn Belt, will bring dangerous working conditions to outdoor workers.

According to the cattle heat stress maps at https://www.ars.usda.gov/Main/docs.htm?docid=21348, the worst days will be Wednesday and Thursday.  In the Southeast, the worst days will be Thursday and Friday and the most extreme conditions will be in Alabama and farther west, although the Carolinas and Georgia could see extreme conditions on Saturday and Sunday before temperatures cool off at the beginning of next week.

For workers that spend most of their time outside, the extreme heat can cause health problems that need to be monitored carefully. The Weather Underground article contains some tips for dealing with the heat, and additional information is available from the US Department of Labor at https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/heatstress/.

The Washington Post noted today that increasing heat around the globe is leading to decreased productivity through loss of work time due to the need to keep workers cool in the hottest part of the day.  You can read about that at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/07/19/as-the-world-grows-hotter-some-workers-are-becoming-less-productive/.  This could affect the Southeast in the future as temperatures continue to increase, although so far the biggest increase in summer temperatures in the Southeast has occurred in nighttime temperatures, not during the day.

Source: CNN Weather
Source: CNN Weather