like, and how these levees are key to minimizing the damage, i want to bring back meteorologist allison chinchar has a closer look for us. allison? >> yeah, it's the levees, the floodgates, the pumps, all of that factors in to protecting new orleans in this type of event. here's how it works if you're unfamiliar with the layout. you've got new orleans, the city, here. surrounding it, you have the mississippi river and lake pontchartrain, as well. here's how it works -- normally the city as a colander when rain comes down. it has exit points for water to go out. the problem is, we are seeing that we are going to be experiencing an intense amount of rain. look at this -- when the water comes out it goes out through the pumps. it also can exit the floodgates. the floodgates, however, are now closed. and the pumps are limited. they can only pump out one inch an hour for the first hour and up to a half an inch an hour of rain every hour after that. the problem is with this particular storm, barry, we are expecting rainfall rates of two to three inches an hour, sometimes even higher than that. that is

let's check in with meteorologist allison chinchar. >> that's right.eah, we are talking about the latest update that we got just at the top of the hour. now, upgrading that to hurricane barry. winds are sustained at 75 miles per hour. but the key thing to note, it's still moving incredibly slow. that is the main reason why we're concerned about flooding because the slower it moves, the longer it can sit over the same spots and dump a tremendous amount of rain when it's going through some of these locations, and again, it's not just louisiana, other states are going to be impacted by this as well. we're already starting to see very heavy rain for states like alabama and biloxi where at least 2 inches has already fallen in some of those locations. from there, the storm will continue to push further off to the north and continue to take the heavy rain along with it. here you can see it's going to push into places like arkansas and tennessee, all of those states we just mentioned have the potential for widespread totals of 5 to 10 inches of rain but it's n

we have cnn meteorologist allison chinchar with us now who has just gotten an update. what are you learning this hour, allison? >> right, the latest update still shows what we've been seeing the last 24 to 48 hours, that the storm is still continuing to intensify. albeit slowly, but that in and of itself presents a concern because the slower this system moves, the more time it has to dump a tremendous amount of rain. here's the latest statistics -- winds still about 65 miles per hour. keep in mind that's less than ten miles per hour off from being a category-one hurricane. we're close, we're just not quite there. forward movement is west/northwest at about five miles per hour. we need it to start taking that direct northward turn before we can really pinpoints the exact landfall point. we still expect it to be this morning. likely just a few hours from now as it makes landfall over portions of louisiana. the national hurricane center still saying they expect this to be a low-end cardigtegory-one s as it makes landfall. we're talking about a difference of less than ten m

. >>> cnn's allison chinchar joins us live from the weather center with more. llison, how high are these temperatures going to go, and how long is this going to last? >> let's start with the second question. the good news is for some after this weekend we'll finally get a little break. it's in that time, it is, it's going to get impressively hot in some areas. take a look at this map. what we're showing you is over three quarters of the population is going to have a feels-like temperature of over 90 degrees today. normally when we have these, it's for a small region, say the mid-atlantic, maybe even, say, the great lakes region. the question is, why is it so big today? why are we seeing such a large area? we've got this dome of high pressure that's basically sitting over the eastern half of the country. typically what that means, you get heat rising throughout the day. ohio pressure system you -- high pressure systems push the air back down. every time the hot air rises and tries to escape, the hot air ends up being trapped inside of that dome from the high pres

allison chinchar help us wanted what's going to happen. >> some spots are in the 80s.is still 83 degrees. 6:00 in the morning, still 83 degrees. yesterday they got down to 80. the forecast low this morning, they're only expected to drop another degree or so. if that is the case, if they cannot drop below 80 degrees, this will be the first time in recorded history they have ever had two days in a single year where they have not been able to drop below that mark. again, goes to show you the extent of this particular heat wave. yes, we are starting to see at least a little reprieve from the heat in the upper midwest but we still have areas in the ohio and mississippi available, and in the carolinas where you have excessive heat warnings and heat advisories. here's the feels-like temperatures, d.c. getting to feels-like 110 yesterday. they're likely going to do that yet again today. philadelphia, new york, again, all looking at kind of covering awfully close to that 110 mark for the feels-like temperature. that is the temperature plus the humidity combined. even boston wil

allison chinchar is with us.now a lot of people are saying, this is day two, day three for some people. when does it stop? >> for some, today will be the last day. for others, you'll have to wait at least two more days before you finally see some relief. we're talking about afternoon high temperatures that are incredibly hot across the northeast. boston being one of to those cities. it's not just the afternoon highs. we're looking at the overnight lows because in a lot of cases they're not dropping below 80 degrees, which is hard on your body. saturday morning boston did not dip below 80. they're still hovering around the 80, 82-degree mark. if that officially goes down as the low temperature this morning, this will be the first time in history that boston has had more than one day where they didn't get to that in the course of a year. again, the heat will continue even into this afternoon. not just for the northeast but the mid-atlantic, portions of the ohio and mississippi valley are under these excessive heat

cnn meteorologist allison chinchar in the cnn weather center. lison before, i mean, this thing seems to almost be sitting still at the moment, which i know has to be bad because it's just fuelling the sform. >> -- the storm. >> the slower it moves, the longer it has to dump tremendous amounts of rain. the longer it sits over the water, the more time it has to intensify and strengthen. we don't want that. we don't want the storm to get stronger than it is. here's the latest statistics, 70 miles per hour winds sustained. keep in mind, that's 4 miles per hour of being a category one storm. we're very very close. forward movement northwest at only 5 miles per hour. there are hurricane hunters out right now taking a look at this particular storm. they're going in, they're taking a look at the storm and getting up some numbers of what it's currently doing in the storm right now. here's the thing, the track of this storm is going to continue to take it further off to the north, making landfall in louisiana today. after that, it will continue to take all

. >>> and we welcome in allison chinchar from the weather center. how long will this last? >> for some folks it will be until monday and tuesday of the upcoming week. then you have 75% of the u.s. population to have the population of 95e degrees or higher with the feels like temperature warmer. this is because you have a dome of high pressure that is basically sitting over the eastern half of the country. naturally with the high pressure, you will have air pushed down to the surface, but it is hot and summertime like it should be. so the heat begins to rise, but the high pressure is pushing all of the hot air back down to the ground, and preventing it from being able to escape, but the thing is that it is not just one city to deal with the oppressive heat, but it is numerous states, and 30 of them to be exact that are dealing with the oppressive heat, and you have lots of excessive heat advisories and stretching from new mexico to maine and not just today, but through the weekend. looking at the forecasted high temperatures and not the heat index, but the temperature, and w

let's go to cnn's allison chinchar from the weather center. before we get to the years ahead, how about the days ahead? >> yes, it's going to be a couple more days. some areas are peaking today. but there's a lot more cities that are aren't going to peak tomorrow until monday. we're talking about the cities that are impacted. it's not that we're ignoring the rural areas but the cities have a little more impact. obviously, both of these places when the hot out, they both heat up in the afternoon. the overnight time line, the rural areas that heat can be released back into the atmosphere. but in the city environment that pavement that concrete that is much more prevalent in cities ends up absorbing that heat and preventing that heat from being released back in the air. keeping those cities much warmer during the overnight time line. and that overnight time line is key because that's what helps your body cool down at night. we can all tolerate the heat in the afternoon, as long as at night your body is able to cool down. you're talking about as m

we go to cnn meteorologist allison chinchar to explain why people are more susceptible in the cities rather than outlying areas? >> boat of them will be looking at the warm temperatures, but it is what happens to when the heat gets to those areas. the heat comes down and heats up all of the spaces, but it is in the rural areas when things are cooling down, some of the heat can be released back into the atmosphere, because it is grassy surfaces and trees and plants whereas in the big cities, it is different, because the pavement and the concrete which is what the cities are made of absorbs and retains the heat. so at night, the cities are not cooling down as nearly as much as the outlying areas are, and that is posing a threat, because if the temperature overnight cannot get below 80 degrees, that is when you have health problems and not just for the elderly and the children, but regular adults will have some health issues with this. again, it is not one or two degrees warmer, and in many cases, it is 22 degrees warmer in the cities than compared to the outlies areas. this is not for

for a better look at what is headed our way, i want to bring in cnn meteorologist allison chinchar who is tracking this storm. and we're starting to feel a little bit of something here. obviously, far more intense for some other folks just south and east of us, allison. >> yeah. that's the point i want to emphasize. look at the storm where it is now. this spot, this is what we deem the center of circulation, often you'll hear people refer to this as the eye. look at all the stuff to the south. that's all the rain. that's the convection. there really isn't much on the northern side of this storm. so really the majority of the rain still has yet to come. that also means the majority of the severe weather chances have yet to arrive with this storm. winds are still sitting at 65 miles per hour moving only west/northwest at only five miles per hour. again, that's incredibly slow for in type of storm. that means it's going to have a longer time period to drop a tremendous amount of rain. it's only going to move through the entire state of louisiana in the next 36 hours if that goes to show y

allison chinchar has the latest and the heat wave is getting first. >> it is. for many supreme this might peak until sunday of this weekend. yes, take a look at the map behind me. this is what we talked about. all of the accessive heat warning and advisories. it is a majority of the eastern half of the country. and even for those that may not have had some of the watches or warnings, it doesn't mean they are not hot but not hot enough to meet the criteria. for example, right now it feels like 102 in charleston, south carolina and feels like 103 in charlotte and 111 for kansas city and minneapolis. that is the temperature combined with the humidity that is out there. and that added humidity is also helping to fire up some storms. we have a moderate risk here of severe weather across portions of the -- of the midwest as well as the northeast. we're talking damaging winds, the potential for hail and even some tornados. the good news for a city like chicago is you're finally going to see relief on sunday. feels-like temperature of 108. 104 tomorrow. but back town t

let's get the latest forecast now from cnn meteorologist allison chinchar.looks like this dangerous heat is going to last through the weekend. >> it is. and what separates this heat wave from perhaps the majority of them we usually see, usually when you get these domes of high pressure it comes with dryer air. that's not the case with this one. you're getting the high temperatures and also very humid, very muggy conditions. and that makes it very hard for your body to cool back down. look at all of these people under either excessive heat watches, heat warnings or even heat advisories. look at the feels like temperature right now. in minneapolis it feels like, the heat index is 115 degrees. yes, you heard that correct. in minneapolis. dallas feels like 102. st. louis 105. even washington, d.c. feels like 104 right now. and again, it's that combination of the heat but also the moisture in the air. and that moisture is also helping to fire up some pretty intense storms across portions of the midwest where we may even have the potential for some tornadoes as we

allison chinchar joins me from the weather center. explain why people in big cities may be more susceptible to extreme temperatures than rural areas. >> it's not that both areas are not expected to stay hot the next days but it's all about that heat retention. both places will get warm as the sun from the day begins to heat up both of those spaces when the heat comes back into these areass are area, it can't escape. in the country environment, it can escape. in the city environment, it can't escape and thus it gets to stay warmer, not just by a degree or two but by as much as 22 degrees warmer in city locations than we are noticing in the areas back more rural areas outside of the location. here's the thing, this is going to be a pretty widespread area. we're talking from new mexico all the way up to maine. you're talking over 80% of the country is expected to be seeing these temperature that are going to be 90 degrees or higher. here's a look at the forecast high. 96 today in chicago, 97 for st. louis and kansas city, 99, almost trip

further of course inland and even into the midwest i want to bring in now cnn meteorologist allison chinchar who has a look at that for us. >> that's right. yeah, again, here the key thing to note is that over 70% of tropical storm barry's moisture still sitting off shore. so you have a lot more moisture still going to make its way inland over the next 24/36 hours and that's key. forward movement is still about eight miles an hour. granted, that's up a little bit from yesterday. yesterday we were averaging five miles an hour up to eight now. you can ride a bike at an average of about 9 1/2 hours. so you can ride a bike faster than this storm is moving. yes it is getting faster, but it's tell moving incredibly -- still moving incredibly slow. sustained winds at 45 miles an hour so there's the potential for some power outages as well. but flooding is the main concern, you can see some rain setting up to the west of morgan city and west to the baton rouge and heavy rain pushing into places like hattiesburg and jackson, mississippi. that's the trend. you'll get the bands that have incredibly hig

allison chinchar, thank you so much. >> immigration and customs enfor enforcement teams are gearing up. and we'll continue to track hurricane barry makes its way to the gulf coast. we're back in a moment. ♪ sport drumming starts [ referee whistle sounds ] [ cheering ] when you need the fuel to be your nephew's number one fan. holiday inn express. we're there. so you can be too. i can taste my beer! i can taste my beer. i can taste his beer. i can taste your beer. i want to taste his beer. samuel adams sam '76. finally, a refreshing lager that you can taste. barb, i can taste my beer. ♪ ♪ award winning interface. award winning design. award winning engine. the volvo xc90. the most awarded luxury suv of the century. wireless network claims are america's most reliable network. the nation's largest and most reliable network. the best network is even better? best, fastest, best. enough. sprint's doing things differently. they're offering a new 100% total satisfaction guarantee. i mean i think sprint's network and savings are great, but don't just take my word for it. try it out and decide f

allison chinchar joins us live from the weather center. where is it the worst, and when will this be over? >> right. where is it the worst, really anywhere in the eastern half of the country. you see it on the map here. all of the areas in pink, that's over 75% of the lower 48 population is going to have a feels-like temperature of 90 degrees. the second question, it's going to last through the weekend. it's not just a one-day event. it's all because of this high-pressure system that's basically positioned itself over the eastern half of the country. when you have high pressure, air gets pushed down to the surface. you also no in know it's hot naturally, heat begins to rise. the problem is when the air is trying to rise and escape, it's getting pushed back down by the high pressure. it essentially gets trapped in what we california a heat dome. it cannot escape any of these areas. and not just during the day but each the -- even the overnight low temperatures get trapped. the body is not able to cool off because the overnight temperatures

i want to bring in meteorologist allison chinchar. look at this, this may be a lull but it's certainly not any indication that barry is done with the region. >> no. all you have to do is look at the radar hypbehind me to see t. you see all of this intense rain. look over the majority of the heavy rain and lightning. look at this huge cluster of lightning to the east of houston and south of louisiana. again, that's what we're worried about. we don't want this section to come on land because that's where you're talking 2 to 3 inches an hour rainfall rates, not to mention damaging winds and a lot of lightning. we have a new cell starting to fire up over mobile, alabama. you also have this heavy band of rain sliding up from hattiesburg and jackson, mississippi. it's starting to come onshore, we just haven't seen the worst of it yet. to the west of hattiesburg, you have heavy rainfall. any of these major interstates across mississippi and portions of louisiana, you'll have off and on pockets where you'll drive through it and drive through

allison chinchar is in the weather center for us. >> christine and dave, all eyes are on this tropical continues to push out over the open gulf of mexico. as it does, it's expected to intensify. it has about a 90% chance of developing into a tropical depression in just the next 48 hours. if it continues to strengthen, this could become tropical storm barry. right now most of the models have it tipping into the gulf of mexico before turning back toward the u.s. likely making landfall between houston and mobile over the next five to seven days. the main concern is going to be the incredible amount of rainfall. when you look at places like louisiana, mississippi, arkansas, and even portions of texas, you're talking white powder spread amounts of around four to ten inches of rain. some areas could pick up in excess of a foot. the concern is that for a lot of these areas the ground is already saturated. take a look. the mississippi river at new orleans is expected to dip back up into moderate flood stage as we head into saturday. >> all right. thank you for that. >>> a st. louis woman final

allison chinchar knows that well, our meteorologist in the cnn weather center. were talking about that yesterday in terms it of the storm itself, allison, because it was only scheduled -- when it did come onshore, it was a category 1, quickly dropped down to a tropical storm. people may say, not a big deal. that is not the case. this is still a big and prolonged deal. >> it is. . and it's an odd storm. we tell people to avoid the northeast quadrant of a storm, if you think of a clock, between the 12 and 3. that's the worst part of the storm. but that wasn't the case for this storm. the bulk of the rain is in the southern half of the storm and that's still the case right now, which is why our rainfall observed amounts aren't that high yet. the keyword is yet. we do have a couple of spots in southwestern portions of louisiana that have picked up 4 to 6 inches and areas around mobile, alabama, around 4 to 6 inches. the next region to likely start seeing their numbers tick up pretty quick is the area between hattiesburg and jackson, mississippi. we have a big band o

let's go to allison chinchar in the cnn weather center. what's the latest on the storm. >> the next update should come out in the next 45 minutes or less. but right now we still know the winds are about 65-mile-per-hour. moving incredibly slow. west northwest at 6-mile-per-hour. that's part of the reason why flood flood something a concern because the slower the storm moves the longer it has to dump tremendous rain over in particular region. and we're not just talking about louisiana. because the track will bring into -- bring some of the heavy rain into places like mississippi, arkansas, alabama even tennessee. there are going to be other states impacted by in storm. landfall is still expected to be saturday morning across louisiana. as it finally crosses over. yes the national hurricane center saying there is still the potential for this to increase in a low-end category 1 hurricane by the time it makes landfall. here you can see the forecast radar. bringing the heavy rain into places like baton rouge new orleans, morgan city. knows are

just got the latest update from the national hurricane center and for more, i want to turn to allison chinchar who has those latest details for us. >> that's right, just coming in, it has increased even more from where it was. winds now up to 70 miles an hour. keep in mind four miles per hour per more would make it a category 1 hurricane. so we're very close, just not there. the question is, will we get there before it makes landfall. national hurricane center saying yes, there is still time for this to increase to a category 1 hurricane. how much time? well, actually quite a bit. the storm is still 50 miles offshore. and it is only moving at 5 miles per hour per hour. that puts landfall maybe perhaps just under the next ten hours. so in those next several hours, that will be the key, can it absorb that warm water that is beneath it in the gulf of mexico allowing to intensify more. hurricane hunters are out. they have picked up the measured wind of around 72 miles an hour. so give or take, that is why you've seen the winds being up to 70 miles per hour for this particular storm. the track, sti

let's start with meteorologist allison chinchar.g will this tropical storm get and how long will it be a problem for the gulf coast. >> let's start with the first question. we do expect this to intensify getting up to a low-end category one storm right before it makes landfall. that is expected saturday morning in louisiana. the concern going forward is all of the rain that it ends up bringing to the other locations it then continues to go on as it pushes to the north but in the short-term, everyone wants to know, what are the implications for a city, say, like new orleans, which is prone to flooding and can often have a lot of big issues with that. here is the thing. one of the biggest concerns right now is going to be storm surge. you could see the outer bands will pull that water all the way in towards the city of new orleans. here is the thing. then everybody starts to wonder how does the storm surge impact the levee. right now this region we're expecting three to five feet of storm surge but as it comes pack over it has the pot