A prolonged heat wave kept its grip on the U.S. South on Tuesday as dangerously high temperatures rising well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius) and oppressive humidity were on tap across a wide swath of the region through the holiday weekend.
Meanwhile, in Chicago, children, the elderly, and people with respiratory diseases were being cautioned to stay indoors for a wholly different reason: polluted air.
Some 62 million Americans in central Arizona, across Texas, and the Deep South and into Florida’s panhandle were under excessive heat watches, warnings and advisories that were expected to last until the Fourth of July, the National Weather Service said….