Heat and Health Alert

Reported June 2005

(Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- We think of summer as carefree and fun, but for many people, super-hot weather can be more than uncomfortable. It can be dangerous, especially for children and the elderly. Now scientists have a new way to warn us when the mercury becomes menacing.

Eighty-one-year-old Mary Daneker never looks forward to the sweltering heat of summer. "Since I'm older, it's worse," she says. "When I was younger I could stand it better."

Over 1,500 people die each year from excessive heat. Meteorologist Mark Tew, Ph.D., of NOAA National Weather Service in Silver Spring, Md., says, "Heat kills more people than tornadoes, hurricanes, lightning and flash floods, combined."

Older people who live in large cities, like Daneker, are especially vulnerable. "Now I really suffer from the heat," she says.

Meteorologists at the national weather service are expanding and improving the Heat/Health Watch Warning System.

"When we get effective warnings issued and people take action based on them, we'll see a great drop in mortality from excessive heat," says Gary Szatkowski, Ph.D., a meteorologist at NOAA National Weather Service in Mount Helen, N.J.

They are now able to give cities more detailed, customized excessive heat forecasts. Szatkowski says, "Research is done by research meteorologists to determine what weather parameters best predict the threat of excessive heat in a metropolitan area."

The Warning System measures oppressive hot air masses. When an extreme heat condition is headed for an area, forecasters determine the length and expected high temperatures for the heat wave. Then an excessive heat advisory, watch or warning is issued for each city.

"We can put out better warnings instead of basing it on our current system, which is just a heat index value alone," Tew says.

A better warning system could help save lives and help Daneker beat the summer heat. Even so, she says, "I try to stay where it's cool."

The Warning System is currently implemented in 16 cities around the country. Philadelphia was the first city ever to use the system. It is now touted as the model for heat forecasting because of its large success in reducing heat-related fatalities.

Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
http://www.noaa.gov

Marcie Katcher
(631) 244-0149

The American Meteorological Society
45 Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02108-3693
(617) 227-2425
http://www.ametsoc.org

American Geophysical Union
2000 Florida Avenue N.W.
Washington, DC 20009-1277
(800) 966-2481
http://www.agu.org


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