Watch as a Car Goes Airborne on Heat-Buckled Missouri Road

This could change after someone reads this, but so far, I've not been asked, "Hot enough for ya?" since the intense heat descended upon us right at the official start of summer. (What timing.) This is our current situation. The orange indicates a heat advisory, while the purple indicates an excessive heat warning.

Car Goes Airborne After Road Buckles

I passed the "enough" stage a while ago and am ready for whenever the next cold front decides to arrive. I'm hearing next Tuesday, a long wait, but I'll take it. In the meantime, I'll give extra water to the cat, live by the air conditioner, and drink lots of water.

Oh, and I'll make sure I'm well aware of adverse road conditions created by the intense heat. The last thing I need is to duplicate the actions of one Missouri motorist in Cape Girardeau who did not see this coming. The speed limit on that stretch can't be that high, and this car still went airborne.

Why Heat Makes a Road Buckle

With the potential for relatively nasty surprises like that one, you might want to consider driving a little slower if you suspect something like that might occur. Of course, if you don't have a "sixth sense" about "thermal expansion," I have no idea how you'd know. The Minnesota Department of Transportation explains it, saying that this expansion occurs in cracks between segments of the pavement. When temperatures spike into extreme levels, the road can buckle if there isn't enough space for expansion. This nine-year-old traffic cam video shows something to similar to what we saw in Cape Girardeau.

Hopefully, road crews will be quick with the orange cones should something like that occur, and we can, therefore, keep our wheels on the ground where they belong.