Feature: What Is A Heat Wave?

Here is the Channel 3 Weather Plus Definition of a "Heatwave:"

Feature: Heat Wave Preparedness

It looks like we will officially have a heat wave this week in the Greater Cleveland area...which means 3 days in a row of 90 degree weather. This could begin as early as Tuesday and last through Thursday or Friday when temperatures drop back a little.

Here are some tips for Heat Wave Safety:

*Slow down. Strenuous activities should be reduced, eliminated, or rescheduled to the coolest time of the day. Individuals at risk should stay in the coolest available place, not necessarily indoors.

*Dress for summer. Lightweight light-colored clothing reflects heat and sunlight, and helps your body maintain normal temperatures.

*Put less fuel on your inner fires. Foods (like proteins) that increase metabolic heat production also increase water loss.

*Drink plenty of water or other non-alcohol fluids. Your body needs water to keep cool. Drink plenty of fluids even if you don’t feel thirsty. Persons who (1) have epilepsy or heart, kidney, or liver disease, (2) are on fluid restrictive diets or (3) have a problem with fluid retention should consult a physician before increasing their consumption of fluids.

*Do not drink alcoholic beverages.

*Do not take salt tablets unless specified by a physician.

*Spend more time in air-conditioned places. Air conditioning in homes and other buildings markedly reduces danger from the heat. If you cannot afford an air conditioner, spending some time each day (during hot weather) in an air conditioned environment affords some protection.

*Don’t get too much sun. Sunburn makes the job of heat dissipation that much more difficult.

Feature: Lake Erie Continues to Get Warmer Each Year

Lake Erie continues to get warmer and water levels continue to drop.

And while the lake is much healthier than it was 20 years ago, it's still attracting the attention of scientists who worry that Lake Erie will go back to its unhealthy ways.

Robert Heath, head of the Water Resources Research Institute at Kent State University, says the average water temperature of Lake Erie has increased by about three-fourths of a degree over the last two decades. He says climate models predict further increases in air and lake water temperature.

National Wildlife Federation staff scientist Michael Murray says warmer, shallower water would allow toxins to survive and would allow more invasive species to thrive.

Courtesy: AP

Feature: The Upper Level Low

Usually weather in our hemisphere moves in a westward to eastward fashion in what is known as the "prevailing westerlies" - that's near the surface.

This week, we are dealing with an upper level system high in the atmosphere that is moving in the opposite direction - from east to west.

This will increase our chances of cloud cover and showers as we move through the next couple of days in Northeast Ohio as a pocket of trapped cold air above a lower layer of warm air leads to instability and showers.

News: May Sets Several New Records In Northern Ohio

A few records were broken across Northern Ohio in May...

Cleveland...
*2nd driest may on record with 0.66 of an inch. (Record is 0.58 of an inch in 1934)

Mansfield...
*6th warmest May on record at 62.9 degrees. (Record is 67.5 degrees in 1991.)
*2nd driest May on record with 1.68 inches. (Record is 1.50 inches in 1961.)
*May 1st, the temperature reached 83 degrees (Ties record for date set in 2003.)
*May 24th, the temperature reached 85 degrees (Old record was was 84 degrees set in1991.)

Toledo...
*May 24th, the temperature reached 90 degrees (Old record was 88 degrees in 1991.)

Youngstown...
*6th driest may on record with 1.70 inches. (Record is 0.78 of an inch set in 1977.)
*May 31st, the temperature reached 88 degrees (Tied old record set in 2006.)

Courtesy: NWS