Cities and towns bake as heatwave blankets central US

Mr. Dick Kraklow rolled into Minneapolis this past week with three generations of his family and several vintage vehicles in tow, excited for an annual gathering of the Minnesota Street Rod Association that celebrates classic cars.

- Chris Hippensteel, Jay Senter, Robert Chiarito and Ann Hinga Klein

NEW YORK - Mr. Dick Kraklow rolled into Minneapolis this past week with three generations of his family and several vintage vehicles in tow, excited for an annual gathering of the Minnesota Street Rod Association that celebrates classic cars.

But instead of setting up on the morning of June 21 to display their collection, Mr. Kraklow, 42, and his family were loading up to drive back to Wisconsin.

Several members of the group are in their late 70s, and the heat radiating off the asphalt at the state fairgrounds in St. Paul on June 20 caused the family to change plans.

"We love the show," Mr. Kraklow, a welder from Muskego, Wisconsin, said as his uncle angled a yellow 1957 Ford Thunderbird onto a trailer. But ultimately he added: "It's too hot."

Millions of Americans on June 21 faced sweltering conditions as a dangerous heatwave brought rising temperatures to the Midwest and Central Plains.

By early afternoon, the National Weather Service reported that the heat index - a measure of how hot it feels that accounts for both heat and humidity - had hit 33.9 deg C in Minneapolis; 36.7 deg C in Des Moines, Iowa; 37.2 deg C in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and 40.6 deg C in St. Louis.

In Omaha, Nebraska, forecasters said it would feel like it was 37.8 deg C to 43.3 deg C over the weekend in the shade.

The most extreme heat was expected to move east and south over the next several days.