As students geared up for their first week of classes, extreme weather reaching temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit hit Iowa City.
Jim Hladik, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said Iowa City will receive several heat warnings through Thursday evening at 8 p.m. Despite the extreme heat, classes at the University of Iowa continued as normal.
Hladik said temperatures in the range of 105 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit lead to an excessive heat warning.
“The duration and intensity of this is just a very strong high-pressure heat bubble planted right in the Midwest, so it is dangerous heat for people out and about in the humidity,” he said.
The heat is also breaking records in Iowa, with Sioux City having hit a record 122 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday, according to the National Weather Service’s X, formerly known as Twitter, account. This breaks the previous record of 120 degrees Fahrenheit set on July 29, 1999, the post reads.
On its website, the National Weather Service listed a heat index of 115 degrees Fahrenheit for Wednesday, with a news headline towards the top of the page reading “Dangerous Heat This Week.”
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Other states have been hit harder, with a post from the Oklahoma Mesonet on X from Monday writing that the state reached 127 degrees Fahrenheit.
Europe has seen its own records broken as the heat wave affects the globe. In Greece, over 350 wildfires have popped up in the country as a result of extreme heat.
UI students brave the heat during first week of classes
UI Housing and Dining sent out an email Monday to all the students living in dorms with tips on keeping dorm rooms cool. These included closing the drapes over windows, keeping doors closed as much as possible, and not setting the thermostats lower than 69 degrees Fahrenheit to avoid improper de-humidification.
Students also have ideas for how to stay safe from the heat. UI third-year student Jake Gorski said he recommends lots of air conditioning during extreme temperatures.
The heat proved to not only be a safety issue but also a disruption of students' routines. Kuznetsov, for example, said the heat disrupted his workout routine.
“I definitely stayed more hydrated and took public transport rather than walking,” Kuznetsov said.
UI second-year student Gabi Michalski said the heat also can make routines more difficult for first-year students navigating campus for the first time.
“Freshmen might be running to their classes because they haven't figured everything out yet. I think for upperclassmen, it's a little easier because we already know where the buildings are,” Michalski said. “For the freshmen, you're already nervous … the heatwave can make things worse.”