Hot, sticky and steamy conditions await the next three days.
The extreme heat warning continues through 7 pm Friday areawide. Air temperatures are now expected to reach 102 Thursday with a peak heat index reading up to 109. Similar conditions are projected Friday with an air temperature of 100 and a top heat index of 106. Even Saturday will have highs approaching 100 and heat index readings as high as 102.
This follows Monday’s high of 97 and heat index of 107, as well as Tuesday’s high of 100 and top heat index of 107.
When it gets this hot, everybody does their best to stay cool. That includes Emporia Police officers, and Capt Ray Mattas says officers — especially those on the street — can get steamed up in a hurry.
After several bouts of extreme heat already this summer, Mattas says officers know the drill.
As the heat warning continues, so does the need to stay safe — although heat’s effect is cumulative and can be more noticeable several days into a heat wave than at the start. This means an emphasis on drinking lots of water, wearing light and loose-fitting clothes, shifting schedules to avoid strenuous work or other activity in the middle of the day and taking all the breaks you need in air conditioning or shade.
Meanwhile, graphics from the National Weather Service indicate a marginal severe thunderstorm risk along and west of a line from Leavenworth to Emporia to Wichita for the 4-9 pm time frame Thursday, with wind gusts up to 65 mph and hail up to the size of quarters, and another marginal risk for areas along and west of a line from Ottawa to near Madison to El Dorado between 7 pm Friday and 4 am Saturday for the same hazards. The written forecast indicates no thunderstorm activity for Emporia until a slight chance of overall storms early Monday morning.
KVOE and KVOE.com will have updates.
