Residents across Georgia will face dangerous heat today with heat index values reaching up to 109 degrees, prompting officials to issue a Heat Advisory until 8 p.m.
What is the Heat Index?: The heat index refers to what the temperature feels like when the air temperature is combined with relative humidity. The thermometer in your car may report 90 degree temperatures, but the humidity means that to your body, it will feel like it is over 100 degrees. The heat index is sometimes called the “apparent temperature.”
🌡️ Why It Matters: This extreme heat poses serious health risks, especially for vulnerable populations like the elderly, young children, and outdoor workers. Heat-related illnesses can develop quickly when temperatures climb this high.
⚠️ What’s Happening: The National Weather Service in Peachtree City warns that the combination of hot temperatures and high humidity creates dangerous conditions from noon until evening across most of the state.
🌩️ Storm Threat: Isolated thunderstorms are expected after 1 p.m. today, becoming more widespread between 6 p.m. and 4 a.m. Thursday. Some storms could turn severe with:
- Damaging winds between 50-70 mph that could down trees and cause power outages
- Hail up to quarter size in the strongest storms
🚨 Safety Steps: Health officials recommend:
- Drinking plenty of fluids throughout the day
- Staying in air-conditioned spaces when possible
- Checking on elderly neighbors and relatives
- Taking frequent breaks if working outdoors
- Never leaving children or pets in vehicles
🔮 Looking Ahead: The unsettled weather pattern continues with scattered thunderstorms expected Thursday through Tuesday, with Thursday’s storms potentially producing damaging wind gusts between 40-60 mph.
How to Read and Understand the News
Truth doesn’t bend because we dislike it.
Facts don’t vanish when they make us uncomfortable.
Events happen whether we accept them or not.
Good reporting challenges us. The press isn’t choosing sides — it’s relaying what official, verified sources say. Blaming reporters for bad news is like blaming a thermometer for a fever.
Americans have a history of misunderstanding simple things. In the 1980s, A&W rolled out a 1/3-pound burger to compete with McDonald’s Quarter Pounder. It failed because too many people thought 1/3 was smaller than 1/4. If we can botch basic math, we can certainly misread the news.
Before dismissing a story, ask yourself:
- What evidence backs this?
- Am I reacting to facts or feelings?
- What would change my mind?
- Am I just shooting the messenger?
And one more: Am I assuming bias just because I don’t like the story?
Smart news consumers seek truth, not comfort.
B.T. Clark
B.T. Clark is an award-winning journalist and the Publisher of The Georgia Sun. He has 25 years of experience in journalism and served as Managing Editor of Neighbor Newspapers in metro Atlanta for 15 years and Digital Director at Times-Journal Inc. for 8 years. His work has appeared in several newspapers throughout the state including Neighbor Newspapers, The Cherokee Tribune and The Marietta Daily Journal. He is a Georgia native and a fifth-generation Georgian.
