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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