High temps not going anywhere

Oppressive heat has settled in across New Mexico and west Texas and does not intend to leave any time soon, a National Weather Service meteorologist said on Monday.

The “heat dome” that has locked in high pressure and temperatures maxing out in the 90s and 100s, is resting over the Southwest, including most of Arizona and New Mexico and west Texas, Meteorologist Sara Bemis said.

That dome is a “ridge of high pressure” being held in place by the jet stream, and the Southwest is on the wrong side of the curve in the jet steam to allow rain in, usually.

The monsoon season’s rains that usually disrupt an onslaught of high heat do not seem to be coming to our rescue, Bemis said.

“The joke here is that we’re calling it the ‘non-soon,’” Bemis said, because it shows no sign of materializing.

On the other side of the jet stream, however, thunderstorms are wandering around the rest of the nation, including the mountain regions of Arizona and New Mexico, Bemis said.

Once in while, she said, a storm or two has managed to creep in along the edges of the heat dome, including in New Mexico’s northeast and northwest corners.

For the present, however, the Southwest must wait for the high-pressure system to move off on its own, and it may require the change in the seasons to push it off dead center.

On the other hand, weather is never static. “Things are always changing,” Bemis said.

Meanwhile, the nation’s drought monitor map shows moderate drought in southwest Curry County, “abnormally dry” conditions short of drought in northwest Curry County, and no drought conditions in some parts of eastern Curry County,

In Roosevelt County, moderate drought conditions persist in most of the county, except for the eastern edge, where conditions are abnormally dry.

The drought monitor is a joint venture that involves the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The National Weather Service adds these tips, among others for dealing with high heat:

• When outdoors, slow down. Reduce, eliminate or reschedule strenuous activities until the coolest time of the day. Children, infants, older adults, those with chronic medical conditions, and pregnant women should stay in the coolest available place, not necessarily indoors.

• Dress for summer. Wear lightweight, loose fitting, light-colored clothing to reflect heat and sunlight.

• Minimize direct exposure to the sun to avoid sunburn.

• Eat light, cool, easy-to-digest foods such as fruit or salads. If you pack food, put it in a cooler or carry an ice pack. To avoid spoilage, don’t leave food sitting in the sun.

• Drink plenty of water or non-alcoholic and decaffeinated fluids, even if you don’t feel thirsty. Those on fluid-restrictive diets or who have fluid-retention problems should consult a physician before increasing fluid consumption.

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

• When possible, use air conditioners or spend time in air-conditioned locations such as malls and libraries.

• Use portable electric fans to exhaust hot air from rooms or draw in cooler air.

• Take cool baths or showers.

• Check on older, sick, or frail people who may need help responding to the heat. Each year, dozens of children and untold numbers of pets left in parked vehicles die from overheating.

• Don’t leave valuable electronic equipment, including cell phones, sitting in hot cars.

• Make sure rooms are well vented if you are using volatile chemicals.

These and other tips are available at http://www.weather.gov/safety/heat-during .