A heat dome is parked over a large portion of crops in the Midwest.
That is not rare this time of year, and an Iowa state climatologist warns the heat index could climb fast, raising risks for people and livestock.
According to Dr. Justin Glisan, “With all the moisture availability with these high dew points, we could see oppressive heat index values for a few days. And of course, this affects livestock but also humans that have to work outside. But, seasonally, we haven’t really seen an extended heat wave, and the expectation for next week is it’s not going to be exceedingly hot.”
Heat domes often push storms away from affected areas; forecasters say so-called “ridge riders” could still bring strong weather threats.
“We call this the ‘Ring of Fire,’ a configuration in which you have a heat dome that forms, and then you get ridge riders or weather disturbances that move over the ridge, and this can bring above average rainfall to where that jet stream or where that pattern is locked in,” Dr. Glisan explains. “You can also get some squall line development, but overall, yes, you can get above average rainfall when this type of setup occurs.”
While row crops are expected to see softer impacts, analysts say severe weather of this magnitude will not be as kind to cattle producers.
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