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Extreme Heat
What are they:
Extreme heat or a heat wave is a period of higher than normal heat for an area that lasts several days. This could mean many different things because in places like Florida or California, this could be a very high temperature, sometimes over 110 degrees but in places like Alaska this could be a really low temperature because they are normally cold and don't get too warm in the summer.
Levels of severity:
According to the heat wave index above, there are five levels of severity
Level Zero:
This is the mildest of the levels and there is little to no harm at this heat level.
In Fort Collins, this could be a temperature of 80 degrees with a relative humidity of between 5% and 30% humidity. This with cause a heat index of between 78 and 79.
Level 1:(Minor)
This level will not cause large amounts of damage as long as you stay hydrated and take breaks. This level could affect those who are extremely heat-sensitive.
In Fort Collins this could be:
Temperatures of 80 degrees and humidity between 35% and 100%. This will cause a heat index of between 78 and 79.
Temperatures of 82 degrees and humidity between 5% and 80%. This will cause a heat index of between 80 and 89.
Temperatures of 84 degrees and humidity between 5% and 65%. This will cause a heat index of between 81 and 89.
Temperatures of 86 degrees and humidity between 5% and 55%. This will cause a heat index of between 83 and 89.
Temperatures of 88 degrees and humidity between 5% and 45%. This will cause a heat index of between 85 and 89.
Temperatures of 90 degrees and humidity between 5% and 35%. This will cause a heat index of between 86 and 89.
Temperatures of 92 degrees and humidity between 5% and 25%. This will cause a heat index of between 88 and 89.
Temperatures of 94 degrees and humidity between 5% and 10%. This will cause a heat index of 89.
Level 2:(Moderate)
This heat level with affect a lot of people who don't have adequate cooling or hydration. This could also affect a lot of heat-sensitive industries. As long as you drink plenty of water and don't do too much hard labor outside you should be fine.
In Fort Collins this could be:
Temperatures of 82 degrees and humidity between 85% and 100%. This will cause a heat index of between 90 and 95.
Temperatures of 84 degrees and humidity between 70% and 100%. This will cause a heat index of between 90 and 103.
Temperatures of 86 degrees and humidity between 60% and 85%. This will cause a heat index of between 91 and 102.
Temperatures of 88 degrees and humidity between 50% and 75%. This will cause a heat index of between 91 and 103.
Temperatures of 90 degrees and humidity between 40% and 65%. This will cause a heat index of between 91 and 103.
Temperatures of 92 degrees and humidity between 30% and 55%. This will cause a heat index of between 90 and 101.
Temperatures of 94 degrees and humidity between 15% and 55%. This will cause a heat index of between 90 and 103.
Temperatures of 96 degrees and humidity between 5% and 45%. This will cause a heat index of between 91 and 104.
Temperatures of 98 degrees and humidity between 5% and 35%. This will cause a heat index of between 93 and 102.
Temperatures of 100 degrees and humidity between 5% and 30%. This will cause a heat index of between 94 and 102.
Temperatures of 102 degrees and humidity between 5% and 25%. This will cause a heat index of between 96 and 103.
Temperatures of 104 degrees and humidity between 5% and 20%. This will cause a heat index of between 97 and 103.
Temperatures of 106 degrees and humidity between 5% and 15%. This will cause a heat index of between 99 and 103.
Temperatures of 108 degrees and humidity between 5% and 10%. This will cause a heat index of between 101 and 103.
Temperatures of 110 degrees and humidity of 5%. This will cause a heat index of 102.
Temperatures of 112 degrees and humidity of 5%. This will cause a heat index of 104.
Level 3:(Major)
This level is guaranteed to affect anybody who doesn’t have effective cooling or a good amount of water to drink. If you can this would be a good time to stay inside and not deal with the heat if at all possible
In Fort Collins this could be:
Temperatures of 86 degrees and humidity between 90% and 95%. This will cause a heat index of between 105 and 108.
Temperatures of 88 degrees and humidity between 80% and 90%. This will cause a heat index of between 106 and 113.
Temperatures of 90 degrees and humidity between 70% and 85%. This will cause a heat index of between 106 and 117.
Temperatures of 92 degrees and humidity between 60% and 80%. This will cause a heat index of between 105 and 121.
Temperatures of 94 degrees and humidity between 55% and 75%. This will cause a heat index of between 106 and 124.
Temperatures of 96 degrees and humidity between 50% and 70%. This will cause a heat index of between 108 and 126.
Temperatures of 98 degrees and humidity between 40% and 65%. This will cause a heat index of between 105 and 128.
Temperatures of 100 degrees and humidity between 35% and 60%. This will cause a heat index of between 106 and 129.
Temperatures of 102 degrees and humidity between 30% and 50%. This will cause a heat index of between 106 and 124.
Temperatures of 104 degrees and humidity between 25% and 45%. This will cause a heat index of between 106 and 124.
Temperatures of 106 degrees and humidity between 20% and 40%. This will cause a heat index of between 106 and 124.
Temperatures of 108 degrees and humidity between 15% and 35%. This will cause a heat index of between 105 and 123.
Temperatures of 110 degrees and a humidity between 10% and 35%. This will cause a heat index of between 105 and 129.
Temperatures of 112 degrees and a humidity between 10% and 30%. This will cause a heat index of between 107 and 127.
Temperatures of 114 degrees and humidity between 5% and 25%. This will cause a heat index of between 105 and 125.
Temperatures of 116 degrees and humidity between 5% and 25%. This will cause a heat index of between 107 and 129.
Level 4:(Extreme)
This level is when lots of this starts to get affected and can cause serious health effects. This is where there is a prolonged period of extreme that is not majorly affected by the night.
Temperatures of 100 degrees and humidity of 65%. This will cause a heat index of 136.
Temperatures of 102 degrees and humidity of 55%. This will cause a heat index of 130.
Temperatures of 104 degrees and humidity between 50% and 55%. This will cause a heat index of between 131 and 137.
Temperatures of 106 degrees and humidity between 45% and 50%. This will cause a heat index of between 130 and 137.
Temperatures of 108 degrees and humidity between 40% and 45%. This will cause a heat index of between 130 and 137.
Temperatures of 110 degrees and humidity between 40% and 45%. This will cause a heat index of between 136 and 143.
Temperatures of 112 degrees and humidity between 35% and 40%. This will cause a heat index of between 134 and 142.
Temperatures of 114 degrees and humidity between 30% and 40%. This will cause a heat index of between 132 and 148.
Temperatures of 116 degrees and humidity between 30% and 35%. This will cause a heat index of between 137 and 146.
What causes heat waves:
Heat waves are caused by high-pressure systems that trap warm air in the atmosphere. This high-pressure system prevents the heat from dissipating. This will increase the temperatures at the surface.
Drought
What are they:
Droughts are a deficiency of moisture in an area for prolonged periods of time sometimes spanning months or even entire seasons.
The different levels of severity:
There are five different levels of severity and they all have their side effects.
Level Zero:(Abnormally Dry)(D0)
This is a period of short-term dryness. This could cause a slowness of planting growing and can cause depicts in plants and other things. On the Palmer drought index, this gives us a number between -1 to -1.9. The CPC soil moisture model gives us a percentile of between 21 and 30. The USGS Weekly Streamflow gives us a percentile of between 21 and 30. Finally, the standardized precipitation index (SPI) gives up a number of between -0.5 and -0.7.
Level One:(Moderate Drought)(D1)
This is a prolonged period of dryness. This will cause damage to pastures, steams, and even wells. This may even cause shortages of water and some voluntary water use restrictions may be implemented. On the Palmer drought index, this gives us a number between -2.0 and -2.9. On the CPC moisture model, it gives us a percentile of between 11 and 20. On the USGS Weekly Streamflow, it gives us a percentile of between 11 and 20.
Level Two:(Severe Drought)(D2)
This is an extremely long period of drought. This may cause crop and pasture loss. And there could be water shortages and some water restrictions could be put in place. On the Palmer Drought Index, it gives us a number between -3.0 and -3.9. The CPC Soil Moisture model gives us a percentile of between 6 and 10. On the USGS Weekly Streamflow, it gives us a percentile of between 6 and 10.
Level Three:(Extreme Drought)(D3)
At this level, there will be major crop losses and pastures may be dead if not irrigated. There will be widespread water shortages and widespread water restrictions. The Palmer Drought index gives us a number between -4.0 and -4.9. The CPC Soil Moisture Model gives us a percentile between 3 and 5. The USGS Weekly Streamflow gives us a number between 3 and 5.
Level 4:(Exceptional Drought)(D4)
At this level, there will be huge amounts of widespread crop and pasture losses. This could cause prices for food to go up in the area. There will also be shortages of water in reservoirs, streams, and wells creating water emergencies that could have a lasting impact on the area. The Palmer Drought Index gives us a number of -5.0 or less. The CPC Moisture Model gives us a percentile of between 0 and 2. The USGS Weekly Streamflow gives us a percentile of between 0 and 2.
What causes extreme Drought:
Low amounts of moisture over long periods of time can cause bad droughts and can last sometimes for years. All of the water in the rivers, streams, and reservoirs will decrease while the depth of the well water continues to decrease making the water pump have to work harder to push the water into the house.
Works Cited
National Weather Service, https://www.weather.gov/riw/drought_index. Accessed 9 2 2025.
“Defining drought.” Drought.gov, https://www.drought.gov/what-is-drought/drought-basics#:~:text=Drought%20is%20generally%20defined%20as,resulting%20in%20a%20water%20shortage.%E2%80%9D. Accessed 9 2 2025.
“frequently asked questions (FRQ) about extreme heat.” Frontline ER, https://frontlineerhouston.com/2022/08/04/frequently-asked-questions-faq-about-extreme-heat/. Accessed 9 2 2025.
“Heat Index.” Fort Collins Apparent Temperature Information, https://climate.colostate.edu/~autowx/fclwx_app_temp.php. Accessed 9 2 2025.
“Heat wave.” Wikipedia, 5 2 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_wave. Accessed 9 2 2025.
“Heatwaves – a brief introduction.” copernicus and climate change sevices, 18 7 2024, https://climate.copernicus.eu/heatwaves-brief-introduction#:~:text=Heatwaves%20are%20primarily%20caused%20by,increases%20temperatures%20at%20the%20surface. Accessed 9 2 2025.
“What Causes Drought.” USGS science for changing the world, https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-causes-drought#:~:text=When%20rainfall%20is%20less%20than,USGS%20Drought%20website. Accessed 9 2 2025.
Daniel Jacobsen
Daniel Jacobsen is a junior at Poudre High School in his first year working with the Poudre Press. He is involved in robotics, trap and skeet, and is taking a few AP classes and many other year-long classes in his free time at the school. Come back every other week for a look into nature and environmentalism with his weekly column.
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