Georgia will experience extreme heat this weekend as a heat wave sweeps eastward across the United States. Athens is expected to see temperatures in the high 90s from Friday going into Sunday and its heat index, or “feels like” temperature, is expected to sit in the 100s.
This heat wave stems from a dome of high pressure that originated in Baja, California and is currently moving over Texas. As this dome moves, the high temperatures are carried with it.
Other areas of the country, such as parts of Texas, have seen triple digit high temperatures as a result of this heat wave. Georgia is not expected to hit those levels, but University of Georgia professor and meteorologist John Knox says that this weekend’s forecast should be something that people should be aware of.
“That’s why the high temperature forecast for this weekend may be in the mid 90s, it sounds like ‘Oh mid-90s, that’s not really that different.’ But with dew points around 70 degrees or a little bit higher, the combination of those has an effect on your body that is as bad as those temperatures close to 110 degrees with dry air in Texas.”
Knox says that this hot weather is not necessarily unprecedented for Athens.
“This [June 29th] is the anniversary of Athens’ all-time record high temperature of 109 degrees set in 2012. So, we’re happy that we’re not at that extreme.”
Before the peak temperatures in the upcoming days, Knox says that there are precautions that people should prepare to take to protect themselves.
“There’s some very simple precautions— keep hydrated. Don’t exercise too much. Stay inside unless you really have to be outside, stay in the shade. Do things outside of the peak temperature time of the day, which is mid afternoon. Also, be aware that even in the mornings, you can have high ‘feels like’ temperatures because of the combination of warm overnight temperatures and high relative humidity.”
