Commentary 
It is the middle of summer, and the weather has been unavoidably hot across the globe and the free world. Here in Atlanta, where I am based, the summer heat is impossible to escape. Apart from certain mountain communities in the southern Appalachians, Atlanta is completely surrounded by similar geography and heat indexes. It is always hot in the summer in the Southeast, let alone in parts of the Midwest and East Coast. The only differentiator is whether or not the humidity is manageable or if it is completely off the charts.
Regardless, this particular heat wave is scheduled to last through the weekend and next week, as the National Weather Service warned Wednesday: “Across the southern tier of the U.S., monsoon showers and thunderstorms will develop each day in the Southwest, with heavy downpours potentially leading to areas of flash flooding. The WPC [Weather Prediction Center] has issued a Marginal Risk (Threat level 1/4) of Excessive Rainfall for parts of eastern Arizona, southern Colorado, and most of New Mexico. A stronger push of tropical moisture arrives this weekend, prompting the issuance of a Slight Risk (Threat level 2/4) of Excessive Rainfall in southeast Arizona both Saturday and Sunday, while a Slight Risk was also issued for parts of the Colorado Rockies for Sunday. In the Deep South, a Marginal Risk of Excessive Rainfall is in place today, from the ArkLaTex [Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas region] on east to the Carolina coast and Virginia Tidewater. Torrential rainfall within slow moving thunderstorms may lead to flash flooding Friday afternoon and evening.”…