FARGO — One of the more unusual, though rare, consequences of a thunderstorm is a heat burst. This happens when a thunderstorm downdraft dries out. As the dry air descends into the denser atmosphere near the surface, it is heated by compression. Because the air is dry, it warms faster than moist air as it rises. Thunderstorm heat bursts like this one occur almost every summer on the Great Plains, but only affect small areas for about an hour, usually at night.
On rare occasions, heat waves have caused temperatures to exceed 100 degrees. On the night of June 19, 1960, the temperature in Kopperl, Texas, may have reached 140 degrees during a heat wave. This temperature would be a world record if it had been measured with a recognized thermometer rather than one from the pharmacy. However, many crops in the area were lost due to the extreme heat.
John Wheeler is chief meteorologist at WDAY, a position he has held since May 1985. Wheeler grew up in the South in Louisiana and Alabama and says his family’s move to the Midwest was important in developing his fascination with weather and climate. Wheeler lived in Wisconsin and Iowa as a teenager. He attended Iowa State University and earned his bachelor’s degree in meteorology in 1984. Wheeler worked at WOI-TV in central Iowa for about a year before moving to Fargo and WDAY.
