00:00Ever wonder why Midwest summers feel so unbelievably sticky?
00:04The answer behind this may surprise you.
00:07It has a lot to do with the corn.
00:08There's a phenomenon called corn sweat when corn releases a tremendous amount of moisture
00:14into the atmosphere through a process called evapotranspiration.
00:18Just how much moisture are we talking about?
00:20An acre of corn can release at least 4,000 gallons of water every single day.
00:25To put that into perspective, a large oak tree releases about 100 gallons of water a day.
00:30That's 40 times less than one acre of corn.
00:34Normally, meteorologists look to the gulf or large bodies of water as major moisture sources
00:39when producing a forecast.
00:40But during the growing season, the Midwest becomes something entirely different.
00:44It's almost like an ocean of corn with millions of acres pumping water vapor into the atmosphere.
00:49That extra moisture sends the dew point, a measure of moisture content in the atmosphere,
00:54soaring and pushing AccuWeather real field temperatures to sultry, sticky levels of discomfort.
00:58And it doesn't stop there.
01:00All that added moisture also acts as fuel for thunderstorms.
01:04When the atmosphere becomes unstable, those higher dew points can help storms develop faster,
01:10grow stronger, and produce heavier rainfall.
01:12So the next time you're walking through what feels like a steam room in a Midwest summer day,
01:18remember, millions of acres of corn are sweating into the air.
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