Heat streaks are becoming more common in Georgia
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Cities across Georgia and the U.S. have more heat streaks on average each year compared to 1970, according to a new analysis.
Why it matters: Prolonged heat — as much of the U.S. has experienced this summer — is particularly hazardous to human health.
- Extreme heat's effects on the body tend to be cumulative, and warm nights offer little reprieve for those without air conditioning.
- Multi-day heat streaks are also challenging for power grid operators, given all the energy-intensive A/C use.
Driving the news: The average number of annual extreme heat streaks rose between 1970-2024 in 80% of the 247 U.S. cities analyzed in a new report from Climate Central, a climate research group.
- The nearly 200 cities with an increase now have two more annual heat streaks on average.
How it works: Climate Central defines an "extreme heat streak" as three or more days in a row with maximum temperatures over the 90th percentile of a given location's daily max temperatures during the 1991-2020 period.
- "Across the 247 cities analyzed, this temperature threshold ranged from 66°F in Juneau and Anchorage, Alaska to 100°F in Yuma, Arizona," per the report, which is based on publicly available NOAA data.
Zoom in: Macon and Augusta experienced, on average, two additional heat streaks per year while Atlanta and Albany recorded three more.
- On the extremes were Columbus (4) and Savannah (1).
State of play: The National Weather Service issued advisories for metro Atlanta and north Georgia on Monday and Tuesday, as the heat index was expected to be as high as 105 degrees.
Zoom out: Other areas across the South, like Nashville and Raleigh, are melting more often, as they have a whopping five more heat streaks on average each year.
- A few places, like Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Sarasota, Florida, now have fewer heat streaks compared to 1970.
Between the lines: Climate change is making extreme heat more intense and more frequent, studies have shown.
- Many urban neighborhoods suffer from the "urban heat island" phenomenon, where buildings, roads and other structures trap heat, making it even hotter.
Go deeper: Millions of U.S. kids attend schools in "urban heat zones"