Why heat waves are becoming more frequent

In the premiere episode, we talked about how the deadly Chicago Heat Wave of 1995 happened meteorologically speaking. It took less than a week to kill nearly 800 residents. It also changed how heat warnings are issued and how many municipalities respond. The co-hosts are Maddie Stover, a doctoral student in Physics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford.

In the second half of the program, Stover and Ford spoke with Dr. Kenneth Kunkel, Principal Research Scholar at North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies. Kunkel is a native of Illinois and worked for many years at the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Funding for Weather Realness is partially provided by the Backlund Charitable Trust.  If you have a question for local meteorologists, leave a voicemail at 217.333.2141 or email weatherrealness@illinois.edu.