Heat in Vehicles Can Become Deadly Quickly

Heavy Rain and Thunderstorms in the Mississippi Valley; Flooding Continues Along the East Coast of Florida

A cold front approaching the Mississippi Valley will bring heavy rainfall and isolated severe thunderstorms to the region. Thunderstorms will have the potential to produce isolated severe wind gusts and perhaps a brief tornado or two. Significant river flooding is forecast along the St. John’s and the Peace rivers in Florida through the end of the week as flood waters will be slow to recede. Read More >

On a hot, sunny day, temperatures inside a vehicle can become deadly quickly.

Here is an experiment we did at the National Weather Service on a mostly sunny day with a temperature probe in a parked van with the windows closed up. The air temperature was 94 F when the experiment began at 2:09 PM.

You can see that the temperture exceeds 100 F by 2:15 PM, 110 F by 2:28, and 115 F by 2:37 PM. Had this been a car with a smaller volume, the rise would have been even quicker.

The National Weather Service reminds everybody to never leave a child or animal in a closed vehicle on a sunny day. The results can become tragic quickly.