Extreme Heat Deaths

[jyl]

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/26/us/texas-heat-hiker-deaths.html

This article caught my eye. It starts with two hikers who died in Texas from heat and dehydration, and goes on to mention other similar deaths around the country due to extreme heat.

A couple years ago we had a period of extreme heat in Portland. It was around 106F [edit: much hotter?] I think. I measured the asphalt by my office at 145F. Just walking across the street for an (iced) coffee felt like walking through an oven. I can’t imagine hiking in even hotter temperatures - or, in one case mentioned, walking a postal carrier’s route.

Last summer I spent six hours at non-air conditioned funeral home, crematorium, and mausoleum for my aunt’s burial, in Taiwan. It was beastly hot, and super humid, the weather app said “feels like” 117F. I was in a suit and tie. Fortunately there was shade.

I gather that in some places, in the US and elsewhere, heat will eventually combine with humidity to make it actually unliveable - like you can’t actually sweat away your heat.

It seems to me that over the next few decades, heat is going to increasingly drive migration. Even in the US, the “Sunbelt” that is getting so many in-moves from other states might see a heat-driven reversal?

I’m thinking that coastal and far North is going to be where it’s at.

[otto_kretschmer]

Happens here every now and then.

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/worldandushighpointsnews/heat-blamed-in-2-picacho-peak-fatalities-t3262.html

Happend 21 years ago so there isn't much online. One story behind a paywall.

Thye were from the midwest and living in Tucson and decided to hike Picacho Peak in the summer. That's not a problem if you start early and have enough water but they started the hike around 10 AM and only had a couple water bottles. Its not a long hike and its not a big climb but they both died of heat exhaustion.

I climbed Picacho and its just a rock with no shade. Its just off I-10. If they started at 8 or turned back instead of being stubborn they wouldn't have run into trouble.



Here is a view from the top. About 6 miles round trip from the parking lot.

[Evans, Marv]

We have a place near where I live called Three Sister's Falls. There are usually a number of deaths there each year. So far this year, there have been two - both related to falling over/into the falls and drowning. Most of the deaths are heat related though. The problem is the trail is only about 2 miles down into a canyon area to the falls. It's pretty steep. The area is promoted on the internet, so lots of out of shape, overweight people go down there. some times wearing inadequate shoes/boots and not enough water for a hot day and get into serious trouble coming out. If I'm down at the bottom of my driveway in the summer, sometimes people stop to ask where it is or how many miles to arrive. I mostly ask them how they learned of it, & they almost always say the internet.

https://hiddensandiego.com/things-to-do/places/three-sisters-falls

[LWJ]

Hey JYL, the heat has broken your memory. We hit 116F! It was awful.

I worked one summer in the cast house for an Aluminum mill. It really was like being in an oven. The key is to drink large volumes of water.

But yes, external factors (heat in your example) will push populations to less adverse places. I completely agree.

[GH85Carrera]

I drove past the White Sands Park near White Sands, NM a few days ago. It was 107. The parking lot had many cars of people going to see and play in the park. I wized past at 65 MPH with my AC blasting on max. I was going to stop at the white sands missile museum, but it is mostly outdoors and just too dang hot for me to be outside that long.

[doug_porsche]

Old SCCA corner worker here.
I got to work corners with an emergency room nurse one summer and she gave a great piece of hot weather advice.

When you are in extreme heat for long periods of time, if you ain't peeing, drink more water!

And don't have the illusion that soda pop or beer are a substitute for water.

[oldE]

I know we don't hit those kinds of temps up here in the "frozen North ", but if I'm going to be in the fields for any length of time, I will mix up some lemonade with salt and drink every few minutes. As said above: if you aren't peeing, you aren't drinking enough.

Best
Les

[ckcarr]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/teen-dies-hiking-in-texas-heat-at-big-bend-park-stepdad-killed-in-car-crash-while-seeking-help/ar-AA1d0R5y?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=59c494dfcc75425badad5908e845c1fa&ei=32

The story is weird.

The teen dies, and then the step dad also dies in a car crash racing for help?

You don't go hiking when the temperatures are 119 f. Like you don't go hiking when the temperatures are - 42 f.

But, Search & Rescue will be busy here the next few months.

[jyl]

Originally Posted by LWJ

Hey JYL, the heat has broken your memory. We hit 116F! It was awful.

I worked one summer in the cast house for an Aluminum mill. It really was like being in an oven. The key is to drink large volumes of water.

But yes, external factors (heat in your example) will push populations to less adverse places. I completely agree.

Yeepers. 116F!

I think 60+ people died here, in that heat wave. Mostly older people without AC. c

Also sea and storm surge level rise in the Southeast, is going to push ppl out of some coastal areas.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by doug_porsche

Old SCCA corner worker here.
I got to work corners with an emergency room nurse one summer and she gave a great piece of hot weather advice.

When you are in extreme heat for long periods of time, if you ain't peeing, drink more water!

And don't have the illusion that soda pop or beer are a substitute for water.

I was at Roebling Road race track just outside of Savannah, GA several years back. It was 95 degrees and 95% humidity. Heat index was something over 130 degrees. Sitting in the car was brutal.

I was drinking water constantly, likely 30 bottles of water over the day. I did manage to pee a little once. I don't sweat, I spew, when it really hot.

I made sure to salt the heck out of my lunch meal to the point I almost could not eat it.

I had no ill effects and my sweat glands really were working full time. It is pretty much impossible to drink too much water in those conditions.

[Scott Douglas]

It got pretty hot here last Sept. I expect it will this year too.

And we're not that far from the ocean either.

[speeder]

Any place with plentiful water will be desirable RE in the near future. The desert SW will be a place where you can’t give away a house, if they run out of water.

[JavaBrewer]

Rather than spending $$ on a train CA could have invested in desalination plants up and down the coast. Water would be a non issue going forward. Don't want to PARF this up so tried to be as non contentious as possible.

Up until around 50 I was never challenged by hot weather. That has all changed for me now at 60. I can see how older folks who have not come to terms with their age get in over their heads. As for the OP nobody should be heading outside for exercise when temps/humidity levels are so extreme. Sad story all around.

[Seahawk]

As a counterpoint, this has been the most pleasant May/June in my part of Maryland in 10 years.

My farm is an odd micro climate: On the water, breeze, very comfortable. 1/4 of a mile off the river behind a stand of trees there are mosquitoes that look like the Millennium Falcon.

The water comments are spot on, especially the pee reference.

When I was a white water rafting guide, we really pushed water (pun intended) on our customers...no sodas at lunch, no alcohol until we stopped for the night, etc.

[masraum]

Humans can get used to certain temperatures. When I was a teen (15-17) I spent all of my time outside in the heat in the summer. I thought my parents kept the house too cold, so I'd often shut off the AC vent to my room and shut my door and open my window.

I've seen reports from the UK where a marathon was being held and the temps were in the 80s, and they were planning for lots of heat related issues and had doubled the amount of medical support folks.

Sure, some temps are just going to be crazy (my 3 day trip to Phoenix in either July or Aug years ago, comes to mind). Or even if you're used to a certain temp range, but then do some sort of physical exertion. And when it's hot, you've got to be able to hydrate.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by jyl

[
I’m thinking that coastal and far North is going to be where it’s at.

coastal is already where it's at (and has been for years). Living close to the ocean, keeps things temperate. My mother lives in south Florida. She's a bit farther south than I am so you might expect her area to be hotter than mine, but (especially now that I've moved another 80 miles farther inland) where I live is hotter in the summer and colder in the winter. My mom's area sees less variation from day to day and season to season. We live a 110 mile drive from where we lived for nearly 20 years, That location was closer to the water. It's more temperate where we used to live. And my guess is that it's only 50-70 miles further inland (as the crow flies).

Seattle being right on the water, but quite far north is also pretty temperate. But travel across the mountains to Spokane, and the weather has more variation. It's all down to Seattle being right on the Pacific.

Spokane
Dec/Jan high 33º low 22º
Jul/Aug high 84º low 56º

Seattle
Dec/Jan high 46º low 36º
Jul/Aug high 74º low 56º

[matthewb0051]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

I drove past the White Sands Park near White Sands, NM a few days ago. It was 107. The parking lot had many cars of people going to see and play in the park. I wized past at 65 MPH with my AC blasting on max. I was going to stop at the white sands missile museum, but it is mostly outdoors and just too dang hot for me to be outside that long.

I'd gladly go back to El Paso, just down the road from White Sands. Even though it gets BA 11's hot there, there is so little humidity that it isn't that bad.

Here, we pick up humidity off the Gulf and it is like a dome over SA. Yesterday going home was 110 degrees and 1,000% humidity. Hot and sticky doesn't begin to describe how it is here now.

In the time I started typing this post, my computer showed an increase from 100 to 102 degrees outside.

[speeder]

Mathew, I don’t know how anyone can choose to live in a place like that. I also don’t understand how many things function, when it’s that hot and nothing can dry off, etc.

[matthewb0051]

Originally Posted by speeder

Mathew, I don’t know how anyone can choose to live in a place like that. I also don’t understand how many things function, when it’s that hot and nothing can dry off, etc.

That's just it. If your shirt gets all sweaty in your car, it dries off very fast when you get out. (El Paso)

Here in SA, if you get sweaty, well you are just stuck with it.

I had to walk up to courthouse at 1pm this afternoon, just a block and a half. On the way back around 2, I had my sport coat off and had it over my arm. When I got inside the office, my sleeve was soaking wet.

I try and find any shade between office and courthouse and also try very hard to walk slower to keep the body temp from elevating. I'm usually not successful.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by matthewb0051

I'd gladly go back to El Paso, just down the road from White Sands. Even though it gets BA 11's hot there, there is so little humidity that it isn't that bad.

Here, we pick up humidity off the Gulf and it is like a dome over SA. Yesterday going home was 110 degrees and 1,000% humidity. Hot and sticky doesn't begin to describe how it is here now.

In the time I started typing this post, my computer showed an increase from 100 to 102 degrees outside.

Meh! SA isn't that humid (but it is darn hot). Your dew point varies throughout the day between 62º and 74º. That's actually not too bad. Where I am is wandering back and forth between 72º and 78º, and that sucks bigly.

It's miserable that for the past week, it's been 80º and 90% humidity. I have no doubt that you've been miserable as well. I'm hoping that this weather doesn't stick with us through September.