THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SHREVEPORT HAS DECLARED THE WEEK OF JUNE 24TH THROUGH JUNE 29TH...LIGHTNING AND HEAT AWARENESS WEEK. DURING THIS WEEK A SERIES OF SIX PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED ON THE FOLLOWING TOPICS:

.SUNDAY...HEAT AND LIGHTNING AWARENESS WEEK INTRODUCTION
.MONDAY...LIGHTNING OVERVIEW
.TUESDAY...LIGHTNING SCIENCE
.WEDNESDAY...LIGHTNING SAFETY WHILE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE
.THURSDAY...ARKLATEX SUMMERS AND HEAT STRESS CASUALTY
STATISTICS
.FRIDAY...NWS HEAT INDEX AND HEAT STRESS SYSTEM

...HEAT...

ALTHOUGH RARELY RECOGNIZED...HEAT IS BY FAR THE NUMBER ONE KILLER OF ALL WEATHER EVENTS. OVER THE LAST TEN YEARS HEAT HAS AVERAGED NEARLY 200 FATALITIES A YEAR...WITH FLASH FLOODING BEING SECOND TO HEAT...AND AVERAGING 90 FATALITIES A YEAR. IN 1995 ALONE THERE WERE OVER 1021 HEAT RELATED FATALITIES. EXTREME HEAT AFFECTS ALL WHO LIVE IN THE ARKLATEX...BUT THE ELDERLY...POOR...INFANTS...AND THOSE WHO WORK OUTSIDE DURING THE SUMMER ARE THE MOST LIKELY TO SUCCUMB TO HEAT.

...LIGHTNING...

THUNDERSTORMS OFTEN GIVE US SOME RELIEF FROM SUMMERTIME HEAT...BUT LIGHTNING ASSOCIATED WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS CAN BE DEADLY. AN AVERAGE OF 66 PEOPLE ARE KILLED BY LIGHTNING EACH YEAR IN THE UNITED STATES... AND HUNDREDS ARE INJURED. ONLY ABOUT 10 PERCENT OF LIGHTNING STRIKE VICTIMS ARE KILLED...HOWEVER THE VAST MAJORITY OF LIGHTNING CASUALTIES AND INJURIES CAN BE AVOIDED IF YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO.

SO THIS WEEK THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SHREVEPORT...IS ASKING YOU TO JOIN US AS WE PREPARE FOR THE POTENTIAL DANGERS OF HEAT AND LIGHTNING THIS SUMMER.