After weeks of thunderstorms and heavy rainfall, Georgians should prepare for a dramatic shift to potentially dangerous heat starting this weekend.
🌡️ Why It Matters: The coming heat wave could pose serious health risks with heat indices expected to exceed 100 degrees across the state, requiring residents to take precautions against heat-related illnesses.
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.”
🌩️ By The Numbers: Georgia has experienced an unusually wet June with 112 severe thunderstorm warnings issued since the beginning of the month. Atlanta has seen rainfall on 15 of the first 19 days, while Macon has received 5.03 inches – 205% above normal for this period.
📈 Behind The Numbers: Some of you may be asking how these numbers can be over 100%. This isn’t a problem with the numbers, it just means you are bad at math. Percentages of increase over 100% mean something has more than doubled. For example, a 100% increase means something has doubled, a 200% increase means it’s three times bigger than it was at the start.
☀️ What’s Coming: The National Weather Service Atlanta forecasts “the hottest weather of the year so far” arriving early next week. Heat indices will climb steadily, reaching 100 degrees by Monday and peaking at 103 degrees on Tuesday.
🔍 Between the Lines: This abrupt weather pattern shift is caused by a high pressure system settling over the region, which will suppress thunderstorm activity while allowing temperatures to soar.
🚨 Safety Alert: With temperatures this high, residents should limit outdoor activities, stay hydrated, and check on vulnerable neighbors, especially the elderly and those without air conditioning.
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Before You Dismiss This Article…
We live in a time when information feels overwhelming, but here’s what hasn’t changed: facts exist whether they comfort us or not.
When A&W launched their third-pound burger to compete with McDonald’s Quarter Pounder in the 1980s, it failed spectacularly. Not because it tasted worse, but because customers thought 1/3 was smaller than 1/4. If basic math can trip us up, imagine how easily we can misread complex news.
The press isn’t against you when it reports something you don’t want to hear. Reporters are thermometers, not the fever itself. They’re telling you what verified sources are saying, not taking sides. Good reporting should challenge you — that’s literally the job.
Next time a story makes you angry, pause. Ask yourself: What evidence backs this up? Am I reacting with my brain or my gut? What would actually change my mind? And most importantly, am I assuming bias just because the story doesn’t match what I hoped to hear.
Smart readers choose verified information over their own comfort zone.
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.
