...NEAR RECORD HEAT EXPECTED TO CONTINUE ACROSS SOUTHERN INDIANA
AND CENTRAL KENTUCKY...

.STRONG HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL MAINTAIN ITS INFLUENCE ACROSS THE
OHIO VALLEY INTO THE WEEKEND. HIGH TEMPERATURES THIS AFTERNOON
WILL RANGE FROM 101 TO 106 DEGREES...AND HEAT INDEX VALUES WILL BE
NEAR 105.

THIS HEAT MAY PERSIST INTO THE WEEKEND AND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK
OVER AT LEAST PART OF CENTRAL KENTUCKY...IF NOT THE WHOLE AREA.
SHOULD THIS BE THE CASE... THIS WOULD BE COMPARABLE TO HEAT WAVES
LAST EXPERIENCED IN THE DUST BOWL ERA OF THE 1930S.

A doctor at the University of Louisville

says people who are 65 and older need special attention as

temperatures soar.

Christian Davis Furman says the elderly and their caregivers

should take special precautions to avoid heat-related illnesses.

Furman says older adults have a hard time sensing when they are

getting dehydrated. They also have fewer sweat glands, so there's a

greater chance they can get overheated because they don't sweat as

much. So it's important that they drink extra fluids on hot days.

Furman is vice chairman for geriatric medicine at U of L.

According to the American Red Cross, excessive heat has caused

more deaths than all other weather events in recent years.

Kentucky is in the grips of a heat wave, sending temperatures

near or above 100 degrees.