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Series: Heat Stress

Wisconsin experiences all four seasons in their full intensity, sometimes even within a few days of each other. This pattern reflects a classic example of a continental climate, a classification applied to regions of the globe with hot or warm summers and cold winters with average temperatures often below freezing. More specifically, Wisconsin has a humid continental climate, and straddles the border between its hot and mild summer subtypes. What this means over the summer season is that many areas of the state can have temperatures high enough to be dangerous — to humans, to animals and even to plants. When the mercury rises, though, people can take action to protect lives and property.
 
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As Wisconsin sweats in the midst of a July heatwave, a report shows that global warming could lead to a jump in dangerous high summer temperatures in the state. UW Nelson Institute for Climatic Research researcher Michael Notaro discusses the study and what it means.
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With brutal heat affecting Wisconsin, National Weather Service Milwaukee/Sullivan office meteorologist Tim Halbach discusses the risks associated with heatwaves.
Heat exposure kills more people each year than floods, tornadoes, lightning and hurricanes combined. Heat-related illness can develop quickly and progress to deadly stages.
Hot weather and a high heat index are a challenge for farmers each summer. During heat waves, farmers need to take precautions for their animals to minimize the risk of injury and sickness from prolonged exposure to high temperatures and humidity.
Healthy landscape plants need care and maintenance, especially when summer rainfall is inadequate.
City centers typically are hotter than suburbs, which in turn tend to be hotter than rural areas, controlling for other factors. The more developed and densely populated an area, the more buildings, asphalt and other solid surfaces amplify and absorb the heat of the sun, usually with fewer plants to help cool things down.
Complaints about living in the Midwest often hinge on its seasonal extremes as a top reason to steer clear of the region, and a July 2019 study highlights the health risks posed by dangerously high summer heat in Wisconsin and throughout the United States.