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Tens of millions still under dangerous heat warnings. Go indoors and hydrate

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Tens of millions still under dangerous heat warnings. Go indoors and hydrate


PHOENIX (AP) — Extreme heat alerts continued for tens of millions of people in the United States on Tuesday as cities including Chicago broke records at the start of a week of sweltering weather.

States in the Midwest started to bake Monday in what the National Weather Service called a dangerous and long duration heat wave that was expected to stretch from Iowa to Maine into at least Friday.

On Monday, Chicago broke a 1957 temperature record with a high of 97 degrees Fahrenheit (36.1 degrees Celsius). Hot and muggy conditions will continue this week with peak heat indexes near 100 F (37.7 C) at times, the National Weather Service in Chicago said in a post on social platform X.

The heat didn’t stop people in Chicago’s Grant Park from ordering the hottest dishes off the menu at the food truck where Emmanuel Ramos is a cook, WBBM-TV reported.

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“They be ordering the hottest stuff on the hottest day,” he said. “They order ramen, corn — they just want everything hot. I don’t know why,” said Ramos. “Right now, something that would be good is the smoothies.”

Wyatt Seymore pours the last drops of liquid from a water bottle into his mouth as he takes a break from unloading a stiflingly hot trailer of fireworks outside Powder Monkey Fireworks ahead of the opening of the stand, Monday, June 17, 2024, in Weldon Spring, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

The U.S. last year saw the most heat waves, consisting of abnormally hot weather lasting more than two days, since 1936. Officials warned residents to take precautions.

Much of the Midwest and Northeast were under heat warnings or watches with officials announcing the opening of cooling centers and urging people to limit outdoor activities when possible and to check in with family members and neighbors who may be vulnerable to the heat.

The heat has been especially dangerous in recent years in Phoenix, where 645 people died from heat-related causes in 2023, which was a record. Temperatures there hit 112 F (44.4 C) on Saturday. Weather service forecasters say the first two weeks of June in Phoenix were the hottest start to the month on record there.

A meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Phoenix, Ted Whittock, advised reducing time outdoors between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., staying hydrated and wearing light, looser fitting clothing. More than 100 cooling centers were open in the city and surrounding county, including two new overnight ones.

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In Southern California, firefighters increased their containment of a large wildfire in mountains north of Los Angeles on Monday after a weekend of explosive, wind-driven growth along Interstate 5.

The warming temperatures come amid growing concern about the effects of extreme heat and wildfire smoke. The nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity on Monday sent a petition to the Federal Emergency Management Agency asking it to recognize extreme heat and wildfire smoke as major disasters.

The agency did not immediately issue a specific response to the petition. A FEMA spokesperson for the western U.S. states said there was nothing that would preclude an emergency declaration for extreme heat, but noted that there would need to be an immediate threat to life and safety that local authorities could not respond to.

While much of the U.S. swelters, late-season snow was forecast for the northern Rockies on Monday into Tuesday. Parts of Montana and north-central Idaho were under a winter storm warning. As much as 20 inches (51 centimeters) was predicted for higher elevations around Glacier National Park.

Meanwhile, a fresh batch of tropical moisture was bringing an increasing threat of heavy rain and flash flooding to the central Gulf Coast.

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Hurricane season this year is forecast to be among the most active in recent memory.



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San Diego, CA

Got a medical question? This East County library has answers.

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Got a medical question? This East County library has answers.


Everyone has medical questions at one time or another, and it’s tempting to search the internet for answers instead of making a doctor’s appointment.

But that doesn’t always lead to the best information, said Holland Kessinger, head librarian at the Health and Wellness Library in La Mesa.

“Anybody can put anything out on the internet,” she cautioned. “We want people to really develop their health literacy and discern what quality and authoritative, reliable health information looks like, and Google is not always it.”

Kessinger said good advice can be found online, and staff at the library can help lead people to reliable sources such as MedLine Plus. For people who want hands-on material, the library has a collection of almost 5,000 items, including books on specific diseases, cookbooks in a nutrition section and children’s material with a play area.

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There’s also a DVD section of health-related movies and TV shows plus stations where people can check their blood pressure for free and small offices for patrons to research in private.

“We’re often stressed and emotional when we receive information about our health,” Kessinger said. “And so giving people quality information is really, really key to helping them stay healthy and get help.”

The library is at 9001 Wakarusa St., La Mesa, and was opened in 2002 by the Grossmont Healthcare District, which still runs it.

The district includes Alpine, El Cajon, Harbinson-Crest, Jamul, La Mesa, Laguna-Pine Valley, Lakeside, Lemon Grove, Mountain Empire, Santee, and Spring Valley. District residents can get a library card and check out material, while the library itself is open to anyone for on-site research.

Holland Kessinger is the head librarian at Grossmont Healthcare District’s Health & Wellness Library in La Mesa, shown here on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Residents in the district also get priority to participate in programs such as fitness classes and Wellness Wednesday talks, and Kessinger said the library had just over 9,000 visitors in 2023 and about 3,100 in the last quarter.

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For district residents who can’t make it to the brick and mortar building, a mobile version will be coming to them sometime in the spring.

Grossmont Healthcare District CEO Christian Wallis, who has referred to the library as the best-kept secret in the county, said a van is being retrofitted and will bring library material to different areas of the district when it is up and running.

“Our library is a unique community resource and one of only a few consumer health libraries in the country,” he said. “The number of users from the immediate surrounding area has grown over the years. The Board of Directors’ intention in developing the mobile outreach library is to ensure everyone in East County has access to high quality, reliable health information.”

Kessinger said the library is not unlike any public library, although this one has just one section.

“It’s consumer health written for the average person,” she said. “Not for a medical professional, not doctors, not nurses, but for the average consumer. So there are very, very few public libraries that focus just on consumer health.”

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People take part in a fitness class outside the Grossmont Healthcare District's Health & Wellness Library in La Mesa on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
People take part in a fitness class outside the Grossmont Healthcare District’s Health & Wellness Library in La Mesa on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

The library, the only one of its kind in the county, includes an art gallery that is changed quarterly and currently features work created by participants in Family Health Center’s PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) program. In January, the gallery will feature work created by the San Diego River Artists Alliance.

One section is for health careers and used by many students in Grossmont Union School District’s Health Pathways program. Students and other visitors can find books on dental schools, medical emergency dispatching and how to become a nurse or a certified nursing assistant, among other subjects.

The library also has sections on men’s and women’s health, a display a vintage medical equipment and plastic models of human organs.

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San Diego, CA

San Diegans rush to grocery stores for last-minute Christmas, Hanukkah essentials

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San Diegans rush to grocery stores for last-minute Christmas, Hanukkah essentials


In the final hours before Christmas and Hanukkah, San Diegans flocked to grocery stores across the region to pick up their final – and some forgotten – items ahead of their holiday feasts.

“We’re getting some rye bread, some turkey, some tongue, which is a Jewish deli specialty. It may turn some folks off, but it’s delicious,” Zach Bunshaft said.

Bunshaft was part of a group of 16 relatives gathering Tuesday at D.Z. Akin’s deli in La Mesa for their annual Hanukkah celebration.

“Family,” he and his mother, Lori, said in unison, when asked about their favorite part of the holidays.

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“And food — memories of good food,” she added. “The latkes, fried foods, brisket, getting together with family.”

At El Indio Mexican Restaurant, that same love of food and family meant the line for tamales and masa stretched out the door.

“It’s been fun,” El Indio manager Ed Sanchez said. “Seeing the people happy, getting here with their families, and I know they’re getting together tonight, so yeah, that’s the happiest thing for us.”

Sanchez said the restaurant — which has been open since 1940 — has sold more than 25,000 tamales in December alone and sold at least 5,000 pounds of masa on Tuesday for families to gather and make tamales themselves on Christmas Eve.

“I remember making them with my great-grandmother, my grandmother, my mom, my whole extended family, and now we make it with our nieces and nephews and just, it’s a really nice tradition,” Diana Cantu said.

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San Diego, CA

Photos: Arc of San Diego's 2024 Winter Wonderland Fashion Show

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Photos: Arc of San Diego's 2024 Winter Wonderland Fashion Show


By Jackie Bryant

Jackie is San Diego Magazine’s and Studios’ content strategist. Prior to that, she was its managing editor. Before her SDM career, she was a long-time freelance journalist covering cannabis, food/restaurants, travel, labor, wine, spirits, arts & culture, design, and other topics. Her work has been selected twice for Best American Travel Writing, and she has won a variety of national and local awards for her writing and reporting.



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