Weather Update – Tuesday June 17, 2025 – CCN

CCN Weather Update for Tuesday June 17, 2025.

This weather update is sponsored by Freedom Insurance of Whiteville. When severe weather strikes, with Freedom Insurance you will always be prepared. For home, car, boat, or whatever you need, Freedom can provide customized coverage to keep you and your family safe. Contact Freedom today at 910-640-2828!

Here’s today’s Bottom Line

The focus of today’s report is the heat that will be impacting our area through Thursday.

Bermuda high pressure ridge nudging westward will temper our thunderstorm chances. Sinking and compressing air gets hotter and hotter, and as such, our highs will reach the mid 90s Wednesday and Thursday. Heat index values will soar to at least 105°F in the afternoon hours.

The NWS has a neat tool called HeatRisk. The HeatRisk is an experimental color-number-based index that provides a forecast risk of heat-related impacts to occur over a 24-hour period. HeatRisk takes into consideration the following:

How unusual the heat is for the time of the year.
The duration of the heat including both daytime and nighttime temperatures.
If those temperatures pose an elevated risk of heat-related impacts based on data from the CDC.

This index is supplementary to official NWS heat products (heat advisories or excessive heat warnings) and is meant to provide risk guidance for those decision makers and heat-sensitive populations who need to take actions at levels that may be below current NWS heat advisory levels.

Attached here is the HeatRisk map for Wednesday, showing all of eastern NC and SC under a category 3, major. This means that this level of heat affects anyone without effective cooling and/or adequate hydration. Impacts likely in some health systems, heat-sensitive industries and infrastructure.

I’m going to cut-and-paste from yesterday’s blog, with information about the heat.

HEAT:

Heat is something that we deal with in Columbus County every summer.

Wednesday and Thursday will likely be the hottest days so far this season, with actual highs in the middle to upper 90s, with heat index values pushing 105°F or higher during the afternoon.

Even higher heat index values will be noted in urban centers, in “downtown” areas.

What is heat index? Heat index represents a mathematical combination of air temperature and dewpoint (a measure of relative humidity). Heat index represents what it “feels like,” and is similar to wind chill during the wintertime.

When conditions warrant, the National Weather Service in Wilmington, NC, will issue either a HEAT ADVISORY or an EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING for portions of southeast NC or northeast SC.

A HEAT ADVISORY is issued when heat index values are between 105°F and 109°F for 2 or more hours.

An EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING is issued when heat index values are 110°F or higher for 2 or more hours.

The heat index values utilized by the NWS are recorded at area airports. These values will be a little bit lower than what is experienced in cities and towns, where people actually live.

It should be noted that these advisories are different than the heat and health advisories issued by state health department officials are not NWS advisories.

When the heat index reaches ADVISORY criteria, heat exhaustion symptoms can develop in very short order when exposed to such conditions.

When the heat index reaches WARNING criteria, heat stroke symptoms can develop in very short order.

Heat stroke symptoms constitute a true medical emergency, just like a heart attack or stroke. For a person exhibiting heat stroke symptoms, the first course of action should be to call 911.

That being said, people can experience heat exhaustion/stroke symptoms with lower heat index values of 95°F or higher.

If you must be outdoors during hotter weather periods, make sure you take plenty of breaks, wear lightweight, light-colored, loose-fitting clothing, and drink plenty of water or electrolyte-replacing drinks similar to Gatorade. Avoid alcoholic beverages and sodas.

Heat is one of the top weather-related killers, and doesn’t discriminate. People of any age, any physical condition, any race are subject to heat-related illnesses.

If you have outdoor plans this week, make sure you have plenty of water available, and listen to your body. If you start to feel unwell, there’s no shame in saying, “it’s too hot” and taking a step indoors.

TROPICAL OUTLOOK: No tropical system development is expected over the next 7 days.

Here is your Freedom Insurance Today-plus-Five Forecast: