The St. Louis area’s sweaty summer heat is finally letting up. While July offered a reprieve with cooler weather, June and August were much warmer than what’s expected each year.
Experts say high humidity and temperature fluctuations month to month, or even day to day, raise concerns around people’s well-being and environmental health.
“What we are seeing is a gradual increase in what ‘normal’ is. This summer in particular exceeded those normals in terms of temperature and precipitation,” said Matt Beitscher, lead meteorologist with the National Weather Service-St. Louis.
Beitscher was joined by Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford, who discussed what is driving extreme weather in the Midwest. Each addressed the challenges of predicting weather emergencies and related events, and keeping vulnerable people safe.
To hear more from Matt Beitscher and Trent Ford, including the role corn sweat plays in creating humid conditions and why the Midwest region is currently experiencing a drought, listen to St. Louis on the Air conversation on Apple Podcast, Spotify and YouTube or click the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Ulaa Kuziez, Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Jada Jones is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
