Dog Days Of Summer Will Get Rough

A prolonged period of dangerous heat is likely. This has the potential to put July 2022 and the summer of 2022 in the record books.

Once again, this is one of those posts where I think to myself, "where do I start?"

Maybe just bullet points of everything running through my head this morning

• This heat and drought will have significant impacts to our health, agriculture, and livestock.

• Drought conditions will rapidly worsen

• Temperatures will challenge record highs, but probably fall just short. It would not be surprising to see air temperatures get close to 110°, especially across western Arkansas

• This will last at least 7 days with very little signs of relief in the longer range.

• I'm very concerned about winds picking up, especially during the afternoon hours. If this happens, the wildfire danger will skyrocket

• Air quality will likely be degraded as pollutants become trapped near the surface within this strong ridge. If wildfires get going, that will only worsen air quality.

• Energy demand will soar and we'll feel this when our bills arrive

• As of July 17th, we're already outpacing July 2012. By average high temperature, it's the 6th hottest on record and will move up the list

• As of July 17th, the summer of 2022 is already the 12th hottest on record by average temperature

• We've already had eight 100° days this summer and that could easily double by the end of the month. We're still not even close to the historic summers of 1954, 1980, and 2012.

We have gotten away with some of the best summers over the past 10 years. We've had rainfall and very little extreme heat. Our farmers are hurting and will be hurting even more as this heat wave gets cranked up.

Best advice I have for you... stay hydrated, check on the elderly, bring pets inside, and stay cool. We get heat waves in Arkansas and we'll make it through this. I just want you to stay safe and our farmers to get some relief. I'll keep you updated.