People in Some States Told To Stay Inside on 4th of July
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Abnormally hot temperatures hit Northeast Minnesota and Northwest Wisconsin on Friday, with National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologists urging people to stay inside air-conditioned areas and stay out of the sun.
NWS lead meteorologist Jonathan Wolfe, who works at the Duluth, Minnesota, office, told Newsweek that temperatures in Duluth will hit 91 degrees on Friday, 14 degrees above the average of 77 degrees for this time of year.
Why It Matters
Fourth of July is often a holiday of outdoor celebrations, with grilling, fireworks, parades, events and poolside activities. However, in parts of the Upper Midwest, people are urged to stay inside on Friday as feels-like temperatures surge into the triple digits in some areas.
On Friday, the NWS office in Duluth, Minnesota, warned that "dangerously hot conditions" would hit the region, with heat index values, or the feels-like temperatures, ranging from 95 to 102 degrees.
A stock photo of a thermometer under a hot sun.
A stock photo of a thermometer under a hot sun.
batuhan toker/Getty
What To Know
On Friday morning, extreme heat warnings and heat advisories stretched across Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Nearly all of Minnesota and the western half of Wisconsin were at a "major risk" of heat-related impacts on Friday, according to the NWS HeatRisk map. The major risk also extended into Northern Iowa, Northern Illinois, Southeast North Dakota and Eastern South Dakota, as well as a small part of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, although heat advisories and extreme heat warnings have not been issued for those states.
Major heat risk "affects anyone without cooling/hydration as well as health systems and industries," according to the NWS.
Extreme heat warnings are affecting the following regions in Minnesota: Crow Wing, Aitkin, Pine, Koochiching, Cass, Itasca, Carlton, and St. Louis counties.
Extreme heat warnings are in place for Ashland, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, Sawyer, and Washburn counties, including the Tribal Lands of the Red Cliff Band, the St. Croix Band in Burnett County, the Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation, the Fond du Lac Band, the Bad River Reservation, the Mille Lacs Band, Big Sandy Lake, Hinckley, Lena Lake, East Lake areas and the Bois Forte Band, Nett Lake, Lake Vermilion and Deer Creek areas. The Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Voyageurs National Park and Madeline Island also are impacted.
In addition to the dangerous heat, NWS Duluth warned of "strong to potentially severe" storms in north-central Minnesota in the late-afternoon hours on Friday.
"Elsewhere, strong to severe storms will move in from the northwest to southeast late this evening and overnight," NWS Duluth posted on X, formerly Twitter.
What People Are Saying
NWS in a Friday morning forecast: "Well above normal temperatures are forecast to shift from the northern Plains through the Northeast U.S. over the long holiday weekend."
NWS Duluth in an extreme heat warning: "Heat-related illnesses increase significantly during extreme heat and high humidity events. Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room if possible, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors."
What Happens Next
The extreme heat warning will remain in place from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time. The heat advisory, which affects a more widespread area but with slightly lower temperatures, is in effect for the same timeframe.
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