KANSAS CITY,
Mo. (Reuters) - When it's 80 degrees at dawn, you know it's going
to be a hot one.
Record and
near-record temperatures blasted Kansas Monday, making the Midwestern
state the hottest place in the United States, as the thermometer
climbed to 109 degrees Fahrenheit for the second day in a row.
The searing
heat was also felt in Oklahoma, Nebraska, Texas and parts of Missouri
as temperatures soared to 100 degrees Fahrenheit or higher throughout
the region, adding to a stretch of extreme heat that has persisted
for weeks.
In the Kansas
City area, where the thermometer read 84 degrees at 6 a.m. and
hit a record of 105 degrees at the airport and 108 in the southern
suburbs, many people were rapidly growing weary of the weather.
"You
feel like you're trapped in your house," said suburban Kansas
City-area resident Ann Simpson. "You can't take your kids
outside to play, you can't even take your kids to the pool. It's
just too miserable."
After hitting
108 degrees in the state capital of Topeka Sunday, the temperature
climbed to 107 degrees there Monday, tying a record set in 1984.
Manhattan and Lawrence, Kansas, each saw 109 degrees, according
to Weather Services Corp.
Five people
in the Kansas City area have died in recent weeks because of the
heat, according to the city health department. And more than 100
people were overcome by the heat Saturday at a football game in
Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium. First aid workers treated many
on the scene while 18 people were rushed to area hospitals.
The intense
heat forced schools to close early in Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri
and elsewhere and led numerous government agencies throughout
the region to issue heat advisories, ozone alerts and limit water
usage.
The blame
for the extreme heat is being placed on a high-pressure ridge
that has settled over the Plains states and refused to budge,
building intensity and resistance to cooling air systems.
CROPS WITHER
While homeowners
fret over dying lawns, farmers are watching their crops wither
in the fields. Those growing corn, soybeans, sorghum and other
fall crops are badly in need of rain and a respite from the heat,
particularly those who farm dry land and rely on rain to provide
needed moisture.
In southwest
Nebraska, even irrigated fields were struggling as farmers trying
to keep corn and soybean fields from burning up were running low
on water as natural resource agencies rationed water supplies
for the first time in decades.
In Missouri
thousands of fish have died in lakes and ponds due to the suffocating
heat, according to conservation officials.
Individuals
who must work outside were adjusting their work schedules to try
to avoid the heat as much as possible. For the Kansas City, Missouri-based
Sellers and Marquis Roofing company, that means starting work
about 3 a.m. and working no more than six-hour shifts.
"This
has been pretty nasty. It is totally miserable out there,"
said the firm's owner L.B. Morris.
In Oklahoma,
where the temperatures hit 106 degrees , a statewide ban on outdoor
burning was in force as wildfires raced through many areas, including
the outskirts of Oklahoma City, where firefighters have fought
about 25 wildfires in the last week.
"This
is one of the longest hot dry spells we've had in a number of
years," said Mike Bailey, consumer protection manager with
the Oklahoma City County Health Department.
Wildfires
have also been raging through Texas, where temperatures reached
103 degrees Monday and little to no rainfall has been seen in
two months.
Still, as
hot as it is, it still is cooler than it was when Kansas recorded
an all-time high of 121 degrees in 1936.
"There
are several areas making a run at the all-time record, but they've
got a few degrees to go," said National Weather Service meteorologist
Scott Whitmore.
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